I believe the facility actually started as a true aquarium but overtime has morphed into something much bigger. They still have numerous aquariums with sea creatures in the basement (some of them rare - sea dragons, for example - I believe they were one of the first, if not the first, places to breed them outside of the native range), as well as good collection of fishes from the Amazon and Caribbean, but I believe that the owner's interests have now shifted to rare birds and other animals. The name "aquarium" is pretty much a misnomer nowadays, as the facility by now turned into a large indoor rainforest zoo. I am not very knowledgeable in fish and marine inverts, but the place also houses a number of aquatic reptiles (2 croc species, anaconda, turtles, etc.), and some aquatic or semi-aquatic mammals (manatee, giant otters, water opossum). The bulk of mammal, avian, and reptile collection is non-aquatic.
It did indeed start as a true aquarium (basically, just what makes up the aquarium section now was the entirety of the aquarium before). Then the owner got interested in birds, and that’s all she wrote! There are quite a few highlights among the fish collection still - spectacled angelfish, ribboned pipehorse, white-spotted guitarfish, lesser devil ray, etc They have kept the species on and off for at least 10 years. I think the current individual went on exhibit in 2017 or early 2018.
Hey..great work. As a former keeper and someone who has toured a lot of collections, this place sounds great. Such a variety of lesser seen raptors too. We have some big specialist raptor collections in the U.K., I worked with one. But there are some amazing raptors in your list. I still want to see the unicorn of eagles..the Philippines eagle..not much chance now..used to be in collections in the past, now I think only in a sanctuary in Philippines. Love the species lists on here, made a few myself over the years.. Thanks.
There's a pair on display at Jurong in Singapore, and there may be future holders in the future. It's on here somewhere but I don't remember exactly what thread. Your chances may not be as slim as you currently think...
Hey!..thats great. I worked at one U.K. zoo that had a huge library full of international zoo year books and scientific papers, as well as hundreds of guide books worldwide. One of the enjoyable bits of the ancmza keeper qualification. They had an article in one year book about the history of the Philippines eagle in captivity. Berlin zoo was a good one for that, harpys and martial eagles!.
Some other changes to note (only off the top of my head): - Tree kangaroos now occupy both of the enclosures next to the shoebill aviary. - The versicolored barbets are still signed but their enclosure is being inhabited by curl-crested aracaris instead. - Budgett's frog has been replaced with Surinam toad, which is also in the PDF terrarium. I did not see it in either one.
According to the species list, there are 333 species at DWA, (borneo 26, orinoco 116, aquarium 82, south africa 10, mundo maya 99). There probably is 150-300 species that are not on the list/not posted on signage/mostly off exhibit. A rough estimate would place DWA's collection at near 600, as most species lists are inevitably off, and DWA has terrible information and probably is 'hiding' a lot more species. Species lists are still incredibly helpful, though.
This place has so many unique species found nowhere else in North America. I will have to make a trip sometime (probably post-COVID). It sounds like an amazing experience.
I've finished compiling an updated (Dec. 2021) species list for Dallas World Aquarium in this thread: Dallas World Aquarium Species List and Review [Dallas World Aquarium]
