What are the confirmed superstars that zoos can build exhibit capital campaigns on?

I'm sure Chleby in the Czech Republic will be building upon it's acquisition of douc langur from obscure provincial collection into a major player (in their own eyes).

 

I hope Chleby is right. Douc langurs tick the boxes by being attractive and rare, as well as being uncommon in zoos. Prague Zoo put notices around the zoo to encourage people to see gharials. The Rare Species Conservation Centre used tarsiers in their logo, but it is a shamethat it didn't have signposts around the Sandwich area.

 

Actually, I disagree. My home zoo, Turtleback Zoo, had a multimillion dollar project for a huge giraffe exhibit, with a large indoor giraffe house and at least 3 acres of space. It contains a group of white faced whistling ducks, 4 male Masai giraffe, 3 male common eland, and 3 female ostrich.

 

Also, I think that occasionally a zoo will have a special event for a lesser known animal that will get people interested in a less exciting animal. For example, at Nortwest Trek they do an annual Slug Fest in which they celebrate banana slugs.

 

Some personal notes of mine (all of these applicable for the US, I don't know about the situation elsewhere):

- I would say that sharks are a superstar species for sure
- Penguins are DEFINITELY an established superstar animal, and countless zoo advertising campaigns have focused on them
- Komodo dragons seem to be bucking the trend of no superstar reptiles. Giant tortoises are popular, but I wouldn't call them a superstar species
- I would absolutely say that river hippos are a superstar animal. Pygmy hippos less so
- Otters can be superstar animals for smaller zoos and aquariums, but for larger institutions they easily get overshadowed
- I didn't see if anyone had mentioned it, but a jaguar could potentially be a superstar (it would require marketing, not popular enough to be a superstar on its own). Same with cheetahs
- Sea lions are also definitely a superstar animal, with several new pinniped exhibits being evidence of that. Seals less so. Walruses are borderline; with proper marketing, I think they could be
- A suggestion for small-scale superstar: Tasmanian devils?

 

Quite. Now that they have established beachheads in both Europe and North America I can see them expanding internationally quite rapidly. 100 collections outside Australia by 2025 is quite feasible.

The challenge is displaying them. I've seen devils that are reliably hyper-active through the day, and others that never leave their dens during visitor hours. I wonder if the solution might be to hold 3-4 devils and rotate them through a single display enclosure through the day, as this might stimulate more activity whilst the animals are in the exhibit they associate with scents of the other devils, scatter feeds and the like.

 

Also in Japan. Is 100 the actual goal that the ZAA set? That is quite a large number, especially if they don't intend any of them to breed. Also, any idea about what additional zoos might acquire them?

I agree with you about the variability in activity. The devils at Los Angeles were extremely active when they arrived; they were running loops constantly around their new enclosure. When I visited them later in the year, I only saw one resting in plain sight. Both times I've seen them elsewhere (San Diego and St. Louis, respectively) they were sleeping in their den.

 

No, there is no significance to that number at all, it's just my speculation. There is no reason to assume they can't eventually become as relatively ubiquitous as red pandas or red river hogs. The captive population in Australia is massive thanks to the insurance breeding program, and I dare say they will need to off-load many more animals overseas before large-scale re-introductions occur. A lot of those will no doubt be post-reproductive, but not all.

 

This thread pops up again and again, so I dediced to make this:

JUREK'S COMPLETE LIST OF ZOO ANIMAL STARS

This is the full list of animals I ever saw average zoo visitors excited about. It lists species only as closely identified as the layman people recognize them. For most people, for example, jaguar, leopard and cheetah are just big spotted cats.

1. large tarantula or scorpion
2. ants (the more individuals the better)
3. butterfly (the more species the better)
4. *jellyfish
5. giant crab
6. *octopus
7. **any fish or invertebrate in a touch tank (the more species the better)
8. **large shark
9. *ray (only in a touch tank)
10. *manta ray
11. large moray eel
12. colorful reef fish (more species the better)
13. swarming pelagic fish ( the more individuals the better)
14. *large crocodile or alligator (the bigger individual the better)
15. giant tortoise (the bigger individual the better)
16. sea turtle
17. *komodo dragon
18. large python, boa or anaconda (the bigger individual the better)
19. any large active snake (colubrid or cobra)
20. rattlesnake
21. ostrich or emu
22. **penguin
23. **king or emperor penguin
24. *pelican (public feeding)
25. flamingo (the more individuals the better)
26. large eagle, vulture or condor (especially flight display)
27. large owl
28. macaw
29. *colorful small flocking bird (any active species, especially if can be fed)
30. large kangaroo
31. **lemur (in a walk-through)
32. **monkey (active group with young)
33. gibbon (in an exhibit showing their leaping abilities)
34. **gorilla
35. **chimpanzee (active group with young)
36. **orangutan
37. **praire dog
38. **elephant (especially if can be fed)
39. zebra
40. rhinoceros
41. **nile hippopotamus
42. **camel (especially if can be fed or ridden)
43. *llama
44. **giraffe
45. *american bison
46. **seal/sealion/walrus (training)
47. **meerkat
48. **lion or puma
49. **tiger
50. large spotted cat (jaguar, leopard, snow leopard or cheetah)
51. **small cat (only if active and interacting with keepers or the public)
52. wolf
53. *otter
54. *raccoon
55. coati
56. **bear
57. **polar bear
58. **giant panda
59. **dolphin
60. *beluga whale
61. **killer whale

*At least once I saw the people filling the exhibit of this species
**At least one I saw the people queuing to the exhibit of this species

 

@Jurek7: All of those make sense to me except for prairie dogs and raccoons. I have never seen people crowd around an exhibit for either species, or even show any interest in them (unless the prairie dog exhibit has a pop-up dome or two, children flock to those).

 

Prairie dogs and raccons are quite popular. They tend to be quite visable and active, and are cute. They are not as popular as giraffes, but more like the level of coati or otter.

I personally think many zoochatters (and also some zoo directors) overestimate the importance of superstar species. Very, very few mainstream zoo visitors will be drawn to a single species (except people who already visit regularly). They hardly know which zoo has which species. They just want to see a lot of (preferably active) animals in a nice setting. But if it's a big an thus expensive zoo, visitors do tend to expect large animals, which is probably why almost any well known species of megafauna has been suggested in this topic. If a superstar species is a species that (because of it's presence alone) makes people choose that specific zoo, I think there a very few real superstar species:

1. Dolphin
2. Killer whale
3. Giant panda
4. Maaaaybe elephant (I'm not sure about that one)

All others can be discribed as "crowd pleasers", including gorilla, giraffe, tiger, lion, penguin and polar bear. But so are yellow-thoated marten, little pied cormorant and rhino iguana, if a zoo displays them well. I've seen visitors being really enthousiastic about those three species too (probably more so than most regular visitors seeing a tiger again).

 

They are popular in Europe. Possibly Americans don't pay attention because they are common native species.

The question was about species, so species I listed.

But I fully agree with you. For average visitor, the priorities are: I myself can interact with animals, e.g. feed them > I see keepers interacting with the animals > Animals are active, especially cute young playing > Animals are interesting.

I once saw a crowd of visitors ignoring a sleeping Giant Panda and crowding to a nearby exhibit of Geoffroy's Cat, where there were two hand-reared kittens playing with the keeper. They looked exactly like normal domestic kittens but were very active.

Zoo directors who want to boost attendance will really do better when they develop interactive exhibits like public feedings rather than import superstar animals like giant pandas.

 

Do visitors really not like/care about hoofstock as much as everyone on this site makes them out to?

 

If they did, they wouldn't be disappearing from zoos. To many guests, they are all "deers".

 

But don't people love giraffes, zebras, bison, moose, wildebeest, gazelles, okapi, camels and Mongolian wild horses

 

They do, and most of those are not phase-out.

 

I think the reason walrsues aren't a "superstar" animal is that they're fairly rare in captivity. If more zoos had them, I'm sure they'd be hyped up like crazy. Walruses and big and recognizable, while at the same time unique.

 

I would have to agree. There are few species that will make people visit a zoo just on themselves alone. I suspect that "superstar" species are species that are recognizable and popular, but at the same time somewhat rare (or at least not widespread) in captivity. Tigers and lions and extremely popular animals, but they're also extremely common in captivity, so the average person won't go out of their way to visit a zoo just for its tiger exhibit. Giant pandas are extremely popular, but also rare in captivity, so someone visiting San Diego could be drawn to the zoo for the pandas alone. Elephants, as you say, are a little iffier, but since a lot of zoos got rid of their elephant exhibits during the past 10 years, I suspect they have more superstar status than they used to.

 

Giraffes and zebra yes. Camels have recognizability. The rest not as much.

 

Giraffes seem to be getting more popular now that feeding programs have caught on. (and feeding giraffes is really cool. THEY'RE SO MUCH BIGGER UP CLOSE YOU GUYS)