She - Esperanza Mel - was actually born in September 2019 to a dam that originated from the large animal import from Namibia whereas the male was captive-born at ZN in Cuba. Statistics from the Namibia export are interesting also: 144 animals of 22 species imported and 65% of these have reproduced at ZN de Cuba, a.o. hyaena, saddle-back jackal, leopard, ostrich and a good number of antelope species. Additional source: Nace un rinoceronte blanco en Zoológico Nacional de Cuba | OnCubaNews
Would be good to see a zoo in Cuba at some future point that would purely focus on native / endemic species instead of holding and exhibiting all of these African, Asian and continental Latin American animals (to what end and to what use? ). Maybe some of that nationalism and pride in the island and its uniqueness could be useful for generating interesting in Cuban endemic species as the island is such a hotspot for endemism and there are just so many species that require decent ex-situ programes like these : Cuban solenodon, Cabrera's hutia, eared hutia, Gundlach's hutia, black tailed hutia, Southern hutia, prehensile tailed hutia, Cuban parakeet, Cuban amazon parrot, blue headed quail dove, grey fronted quail dove, Zapata rail, Cuban solitaire, Zapata sparrow, Zapata wren, Fernandina's flicker, Cuban black hawk , Gundlach's hawk, giant kingbird, Cuban kite, Cuban crocodile, American crocodile, Cuban boa, Cuban rock iguana, Juventud least gecko, Barton's robber frog, tetajulia frog, Cabo cruz frog, Cuban high crested toad, Cuban small eared toad, Cuban long nosed toad, Cuban pine toad, Cuban spotted toad.
@OC, where I do agree this would be a good thing, at present I do not have much to go on in terms of exact animal collections in Cuba. I would assume some of the species like psittacines and crocodiles may well be. I think the national zoo did exhibit Cuban solenodon in the past, but probably not now. On the admittedly considerable range of hutias, I am afraid I am a lame duck as well. Perhaps @carlos55 might be able to offer more definite information on other birds, reptiles and amphibians
I read an articule in Cubazoo on Cuban animales in the Island zoos and i will post here if i find it again. Many are kept off exhibit.
No, unfortunately neither do I. Actually, the closest I can think of to a native species collection on the island would be the crocodile farms which breed both the native American and Cuban crocodiles. I would be really curious to find out if the Cuban solenodon was ever held recently within a zoo in the country. I would tend towards thinking that this had occurred in Havana zoo probably in the early 20th century (when those pictures of the species in a New York zoo were taken so probably around the 1920's).
Hi carlos55, so the hippos and elephant live together with the abovementioned species in a mixed exhibit?
From pictures I've seen online ALL the ungulates are mixed together (elephant, hippo,rhino, cape buffalo, giraffe, zebra etc.). I plan on making a trip next year to visit and see this incredible mix
Yes, from the bus ride it seems that all the animals in the african plains are together, except for the lions.There maybe some hidden barriers however. Zoológico Nacional is currently closed except for the central walking area,by the way.
