Zoo Animals Well-Represented & More-Numerous in America, but not in/than in, Europe

As zoo_enthusiast says, we have nothing anywhere near as comprehensive. In addition to what was listed in the previous post, the US also has blue-pigeons, turtle doves, and buttonquails from Madagascar, but in small numbers. We also have Bernier's teal but I don't know how common it is or isn't.

 

In my experience there are virtually no European passerines in the US zoos - I don't recall ever seeing any purely European passerine species in the US collection. Actually, even North American passerines are very scarce in the US. I believe this is due partly to Migratory Birds regulations and partly to lack of interest

 

It will be interesting to see how the National Zoo's new Bird House concept, which will prominently features native migratory species (including several passerines), is received. I'm not sure how the Zoo will obtain its birds. Columbus Zoo, which has to my mind the best native North American bird exhibit in the country with an emphasis on passerines, stocks its aviary with non-releasable rescued animals. I remember the Bronx Zoo used to have a decent North American aviary in World of Birds with several rarely-seen native species, but it's long gone, as is the long-gone native collection once held in the old aviary at the Akron Zoo.

 

Also,

-Reticulated giraffe
-Matschie's tree kangaroo
-Raggiana bird of paradise and red bird of paradise
-Great blue turaco

, should be more numerous in America.

 

We do not have "pure" reticulated giraffes. We have a large population of reticulated-Rothschild's hybrids and a smaller population of pure Masai. It's confusing because most zoos advertise their giraffes as reticulated, but the genetic analysis done on the population have shown that they have been hybridized.

 

* Reticulated giraffe: Europe's are pure, North America's aren't. Kordofan is exclusively European, too.
* Matchie's tree kangaroo: Yes, this is the species North American zoos focus on. European's main forcus is Goodfellow's.
* Raggiana bird of paradise and red bird of paradise: Certainly for Raggiana. Not entirely sure about the remaining number of red in North America, but that species is also quite rare there. Anyone know remaining numbers in USA?
* Great blue turaco: Quite low numbers in both North America and Europe. I suspect they're fairly equal.

Puffins mentioned in earlier post and certainly true that the Pacific species (true for Pacific alcids in general) are more common in North America, but Atlantic puffin too? I suspect not, but don't have exact figures. There are more hummingbird species in North American zoos than European; partially explained by the addition of native species (mainland USA and Puerto Rican). Little penguin has already been mentioned, but don't forget Emperor.

... if using the fairly narrow separation suggested in the thread started (e.g., one continent having c. 2/3 the population of the other) most species can be listed as mainly North American or mainly European.

 

Thank you Coelacanth18. I thought that yet reticulated giraffe exist as ''pure'' subspecies in N. America and that is more numerous than hybrid giraffes. I knew that there is not ''pure'' Rotschild's giraffe(s) in America. I was also surprised by relatively low number of reticulated giraffes in Europe (110 in 2008), compared to over 310 Rotschild's giraffes, so I thought America eventualy, holds the greater proportion of the world captive reticulated giraffes.

 

Also hairy-nosed wombats are only present in the US, I believe, and this is the most common wombat species in America (but still very rare). Common wombat, on the other hand, is only present in a couple of US collections, but is the only species found in Europe

 

About gharial: Perhaps a year ago I did a count (I'll see if I can find it again) and came up with 7 or 8 (?) places keeping it in North America. That's pretty close to Europe's 6 places.

 

I don't know if your statement is true or not, but at least the European population of giraffes is managed at subspecies level for the reticulated. I though (correct me if I'm wrong) that in the USA, the rothschild's and reticulated (including hybrids) are managed as one population.

 

I think all ''pure'' giraffes in Europe are managed at subspecies level, including Kordofan, Angolan, Cape, or at least reticulated, Rothschid's and Kordofan. And hybrid giraffes (numbering appx. 200 in Europe) are prevented from breeding. ( http://eaza.portal.isis.org/activities/cp/yearbook20072008/41_Antelope_Giraffe_TAG.pdf )

 

It's currently 7 places. However, that will soon change with Bronx's import. It seems Los Angeles could be a new holder, but nothing is confirmed.

 

USA is also much better in cetaceans, pinnipeds, sea otters and marine fish and invertebrates, especially from the Pacific. No whale sharks in Europe...

 

I doubt that there is more than 47 holders of dolphins in the USA, Canada and Mexico combined, compared to 47 holders of dolphins in Europe? Also Europe have 93 holders of Californian sea lions; other pinnipeds not considered? Is there more than 93 holders of Pinnipeds in the all of North America?

 

In pinnipeds I think Europe is ahead, but that obviously depends on how you rate the individual species. Harbour is the standard seal in both continents and California the standard sea lion; both very numerous in Europe and North America. Steller's sea lion and northern fur seal far less numerous but still in a good handful of places in both continents. Grey seal common in Europe; only somewhat less so in North America. Harp seal is present in tiny numbers in both continents (less than a handful in total). Walrus, present in relatively small numbers in both continents, has been discussed in detail in this thread.

Pinniped species in Europe (* = Russian Europe only), but as far as I know not in North America: South American sea lion, South American fur seal, brown/Cape fur seal (fairly common in Europe, not sure if the single North American at Lousville still is alive?), ringed seal (any in North America? Assiniboine?), Baikal seal*, bearded seal, ribbon seal*.

The only pinniped species that are in North America, but not Europe are Hawaiian monk seal (Minnesota; also Waikiki - politically but not geographically North America) and Guadalupe fur seal (SeaWorld San Diego). Not sure about the current status of northern elephant seal in North America. There might be a few, essentially occasional rescues.

Northeast Pacific fish and inverts are far better covered in North American aquariums than European, but that's the same issue as other native species discussed earlier. Similarly, northeast Atlantic fish and inverts are far better covered in Europe than North America. Marine fish and inverts from other regions are overall fairly equal in coverage in North America and Europe, but North America does have three "big ones" not present in Europe: Whale shark (as mentioned by Jurek7; Georgia Aquarium), manta ray (Georgia) and large tunas (Pacfic bluefin at Monterey Bay). Freshwater fish and inverts follow a similar pattern: Unsurprisingly native North American far better covered in North America and native European far better covered in Europe, with species from other continents overall equal.

 

Speaking of "big oceanic fish" kept in North America but not Europe (whale shark, manta, large tunas), it seems that ocean sunfish now only is in Europe as Monterey doesn't keep this species anymore. Of course all these are also kept in Asia.

 

Pittsburgh Zoo has a young male elephant seal, currently off exhibit, but is supposed to go on exhibit this year

 

They are managed as one population. Additionally, just to clarify, it's not a combined population of pure and hybrid animals; the entire population is considered generic and hybridized. A genetic analysis done in 2000 revealed that the reticulated and Rothschild's populations were genetically indistinguishable from each other. A subsequent analysis in 2004 compared individuals of the "reticulated" and "Rothschild's" populations to wild giraffes of known subspecies. It found again that the two populations were indistinguishable from each other and that neither population matched up with its wild counterpart. The research is summarized quite well here, on pages 17-20: http://alouattasen.weebly.com/uploads/8/9/5/6/8956452/giraffestudbook2009-d6dc55d9.pdf

 

zoo_enthusiast, thanks for the info on the Pittsburgh elephant seal.
The other species where I was uncertain: Yes, Assiniboine has ringed seal. More widespread in Europe, but still only at four places.

 

Also @temp: The number of Atlantic puffins are most likely comparable between the two continents (8 European holding facilities vs 7 North American), but Pacific species are more common than Atlantic here and are almost nonexistent in Europe and so overall, we have far more puffins in North American institutions.