Zoobat Collections (N. America)

Little ( old ) abstract of the breeding of Little golden-mantled flying foxes at the Lubee Bat Conservancy ( found on the net ) :

A study in 1991–2005 at a zoo in Florida, USA (Pope 2010) found that over 13 years 63 little golden-mantled flying foxes Pteropus pumilus were born in captivity, 45 of which survived their first year after birth. In 1991, seven male and six female bats were either imported or donated to establish a breeding colony. Breeding was initiated every year in 1992–2005. In 2005, breeding was temporarily stopped and individual bats were loaned to other institutions to reduce the population.

 

Capron Park Zoo has Indian Flying Fox and Rodrugues Fruit Bats.

 

An updated list for August 2020. I am re-evaluating my decision to include insectivorous bats in these lists, so I have removed that section for now; you can still post updates about them in this thread, but they will not be acknowledged on the list until I decide what to do with them.

Megachiroptera

Rodrigues flying fox (Pteropus rodricensis) - 16 holders
Akron Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Capron Park Zoo
Central Park Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Lincoln Children's Zoo
Louisville Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Moody Gardens
Oregon Zoo
Philadelphia Zoo
Pueblo Zoo
Riverbanks Zoo
San Diego Safari Park

Large/Malayan flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) - 7 holders
Busch Gardens Tampa
Columbus Zoo
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Lowry Park Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
National Aviary in Pittsburgh
Oakland Zoo

Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus) - 15 holders
Baton Rouge Zoo
Boise Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Capron Park Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Houston Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Metro Richmond Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Sedgwick County Zoo
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Topeka Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo
Wildlife Conservation and Education Center (Garfield, NJ)

Island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) - 4 holders
Brevard Zoo
El Paso Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Oakland Zoo

Little golden-mantled flying fox (Pteropus pumilus) - 3 holders
Columbus Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) - 2 holders (1 bts)
Lubee Bat Conservancy
National Aquarium in Baltimore (bts)

Spectacled Flying Fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) - 1 holder
Lubee Bat Conservancy

Straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) - 30 holders (2 bts)
Akron Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Bronx Zoo (bts)
Busch Gardens Tampa
Calgary Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Detroit Zoo
Elmwood Park Zoo
Franklin Park Zoo
Hogle Zoo
Houston Zoo
Jacksonville Zoo
Kansas City Zoo
Lake Superior Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Metro Richmond Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
Minnesota Zoo,
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Palo Alto Junior Musem & Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Prospect Park Zoo
Racine Zoo
Sacramento Zoo (bts)
Saint Paul's Como Zoo
Toronto Zoo
Tulsa Zoo
Wildlife Conservation and Education Center (Garfield, NJ)

Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) - 21 holders (1 possibly bts)
Bird Kingdom
Blank Park Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Capital of Texas Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
GarLyn Zoo
Gladys Porter Zoo (bts?)
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lubee Bat Conservancy
Lupa Zoo
Memphis Zoo
Minnesota Zoo
Moody Gardens
Museum of Discovery and Science (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Palo Alto Junior Musem & Zoo
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Timbavati Wildlife Park
Toronto Zoo
Wildlife Conservation and Education Center (Garfield, NJ)

Ruwenzori long-haired fruit bat (Rousettus lanosus) - 8 holders
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Bear Creek Sanctuary
Boise Zoo
Franklin Park Zoo
Lincoln Children's Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
Minnesota Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo

Microchiroptera (frugivorous/nectarivorous)

Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) - 14 holders
Audubon Zoo
Buffalo Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
Dallas World Aquarium
Denver Zoo
Jacksonville Zoo
Louisville Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
North American Wildlife Park (Hershey, PA)
North Carolina Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Philadelphia Zoo
Texas State Aquarium

White-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi) - 1 holder
Rosamond Gifford Zoo

Greater bulldog bat (Noctilio leporinus) - 2 holders
Memphis Zoo
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

Greater spear-nosed bat (Phyllostomus hastatus) - 3 holders
Assiboine Park Zoo
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Peoria Zoo

Pale spear-nosed bat (Phyllostomus discolor) - 1 holder
Miami Zoo

Pallas's long-tongued bat (Glossophaga soricina) - 3 holders
Houston Zoo
Mesker Park Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo

Lesser long-tongued bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) - 1 holder
Fort Worth Zoo

Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) - 13 holders (2 bts)
Cameron Park Zoo
Denver Zoo
Detroit Zoo (bts)
Edmonton Valley Zoo
Houston Zoo
Miami Zoo
Miller Park Zoo
Pittsburgh Zoo
Potawatomi Zoo
Roger Williams Park Zoo (bts)
Tulsa Zoo
Vancouver Aquarium
Wildlife World Zoo

Seba's short-tailed fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata) - 30 holders (1 bts)
Akron Zoo
Assiniboine Park Zoo
Audubon Zoo
Busch Gardens Tampa
Catoctin Zoo
Central Park Zoo
Dallas World Aquarium
Denver Zoo
Detroit Zoo (bts)
Elmwood Park Zoo
Gladys Porter Zoo
Henry Vilas Zoo
Houston Zoo
Jacksonville Zoo
Lake Superior Zoo
Lincoln Children's Zoo
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
Memphis Zoo
Miami Zoo
Miller Park Zoo
Moody Gardens
Nashville Zoo
Oklahoma City Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Pittsburgh Zoo
Potter Park Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
Staten Island Zoo
Stone Zoo
Tulsa Zoo

 

Sadly, I've heard that the Omaha population of Pallas's Long-Tongued Bat has seen a rapid decline over the past year or so and they're unlikely to have any animals (from this current colony anyway) by this time next year

~Thylo

 

Brevard Zoo's Island Flying Foxes and Straw-colored Fruit Bats went off exhibit several years ago. I don't know the current status of them in the collection now.

 

Out of curiosity , have there ever been any zoos that have historically kept Vampyrum spectrum in the USA? (I know that the species doesn't last long in captivity , I'm just wondering if it was once kept at any zoo).

 

Lake Superior zoo no longer keeps seba’s short tailed fruit bat. They haven’t kept them in 2 years.

 

The Philadelphia Zoo currently has Rodrigues Fruit Bats and Common Vampire Bats. They used to have Egyptian Fruit Bats, Hammer-headed Bats, Greater Bulldog Bats, and Jamaican Fruit Bats.

 

Yep, that's why they are on the list

Wow, I didn't know that - a fourth zoo known to keep hammerhead! Do you know when they had the Hammerhead and Bulldog Bats? I assume they were in the since-closed nocturnal wing of the Small Mammal House?

 

Sorry, I'm honestly not quite sure when they had them, definitely not in the recent years. I do believe that they were in the small mammal house though.

 

Does the species not last long in captivity? A quick Google search into the subject led me to this paper which claims that a pair lived in captivity for at least 5 years (specifically, it discusses how they refused to feed on the fruit being supplemented into their diet over the course of 5 years, though I do not know if that's how long the lived or if the zoo in question simply stopped trying to feed them fruit). Additionally, I found references to "La Selva Wildlife Refuge & Zoo" in Costa Rica which reportedly has (or had a few years ago) a breeding colony of Spectral Bats.

As for the species in US zoos, I found this article which includes a photo of the first curator of reptiles at the Bronx Zoo observing a small group of Spectral Bats brought to the zoo in 1935. As a side note, the article also shows a photo of him holding a live(?) Common Vampire Bat with the caption that Bronx was the first zoo in the US to exhibit the species.

~Thylo

 

Ah , thats interesting , I remember reading somewhere that a pair kept in captivity only lasted maximum 2 years so I've learned something new today. I'll give the paper a read, very interesting.

It doesn't suprise me that these bats would refuse fruits as they are very much a carnivorous species (one of the most carnivorous of all bats in fact).

I'll check out that link too , thanks for sharing !

 

A species list I found online listed former animals.

 

Philadelphia Zoo Animal List by chewitt99 on DeviantArt

 

I'm confused, that source doesn't say anything about the bats you mentioned nor is it a list of former animals kept at the zoo.

 

Ah, I see that now (I'm on mobile, so I couldn't do a Find search like I usually do). I wouldn't have thought "along the way" meant "former", though, so I probably would have been confused either way.

It might have been derived from a Philly zoo source like a history news post, old zoo yearbook or pamphlet, etc, but it would be nice to have that cited. I don't doubt the possibility much personally though; Bronx and Smithsonian both held Hammerheads back in the 80's and Philly together with those two has frequently formed something of a well-established zoological trio that trade unusual species between each other. As for the Bulldogs, both Omaha and Memphis have had them for several years and if any zoo would have held them in the past, Philly with its large nocturnal wing would have been a good bet.