What ungulate would you choose?

What ungulate (and how many) would you choose to display given the following parameters?:

1. It must be a species whose normal habitat includes open temperate hardwood or tropical dry forest. May be native to any continent.
2. A species that is part of a conservation project would be preferred, but it should be realistic in terms of probable availability to a typical accredited zoo in the U.S.
3. Display yard is approximately 1200 square meters, grassy, gently sloping, with shade provided by surrounding deciduous trees. Public viewing is from elevated walkways on two sides of enclosure. Average local temperatures range from a high of 34C (93F) in summer to -2C (28F) in winter. Average annual rainfall is 42 inches.

You may also recommend a mixed species exhibit (i.e. white-tailed deer and wild turkey).

If you need more, info, just ask. Otherwise, make your recommendation.

 

Columbian Whitetail Deer is endangered and Rio Grande Wild Turkey

 

Breeding herd of banteng.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. White-tailed deer and turkey make a good, natural looking pairing. The only issue with the two subspecies suggested is that their normal ranges are pretty far apart and don't overlap. I'd prefer any pairings be of species or subspecies that might normally be found together. Perhaps Merriam's wild turkey (M.g. merriami) could be put with the Columbian White-tailed instead, or pair Key deer (O.v. clavium) with Osceola wild turkey (M.g. osceola).

 

Thanks. I like any species that shows good sexual dimorphism.

 

What does anyone think about the suitability of Nyala (Nyala angasii) for this enclosure? Maybe paired with Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) ?

 

That actually sounds great, I was thinking woodland antelope so - something from the Kudu family - Nyala, Greater/Lesser Kudu, or even it was planted right (pipe dream) mountain nyala.

 

- Bongo paired with duiker and perhaps congo peafowl
- Pere David's deer with a chinese pheasant species
- Visayan spotted deer with Visayan warty pigs
- Okapi and red forest hog/duiker
- American forest bison with Moose and turkey (already done in Emmen btw)

Need more?

 

Yes, the more ideas the better.
Do you know the general availability of the species listed to zoos in the U.S.?
Also, I have been told that zoos are not getting, or have trouble getting, deer species due to Chronic Wasting Disease. Can anyone comment?

 

Alabama doesn't let Cervids of any kind imported into the state to protect the native whitetail herd.

 

Thanks. Appreciate the information. I've started another thread specifically about CWD to get more information and to help keep this focused on answering the question of what ungulate people would choose to display.