Zoo Animals that have done better in Asia, but not in the Western World

You maybe are referring to the group at White Oak?[/QUOTE]
Maybe, but that time White Oak was not mentioned. If the WOCC is owned by a former foodball player, then definitively that is the mentioned farm.

 

No, not as pets. I just meant non-AZA zoos and collections, which are usually privately owned. I don't know the number; probably not that large, but definitely larger than the AZA population. Rum Creek is the largest private holder I know of, and they have nearly 50 so that's already more than are in accredited zoos.

 

But is it possibile for these 50 pygmy hippos do not be recorded in the studbook from Basel zoo from 2012?

 

Yes, for multiple reasons:

1. They could have acquired more hippos or had several births in the last five years.
2. Studbooks are almost always incomplete records; although they are normally quite accurate, they cannot account for all individuals of a species in captivity.
3. Rum Creek (and other facilities) are not required to share their statistics with a studbook keeper or to the public, and so they may choose not to report births or deaths, which will then not be included in the studbook.

 

Given that this place is very secretive about details and also privately-run (with no official links to American zoo organisations), can it be certain that they maintain 50 individual pygmy hippos? Seems like a very large number for a species which must be kept seperately or in pairs, and would hardly be the cheapest species to keep.

 

The number is large, but it's accurate. The hippos are kept in a semi-free range state and are largely left to their own devices, as are other species at the center, so they are not as cost- and labor-intensive as you might think them to be or as they may be in normal zoological settings.