Commonest Animals in German/European zoos

Commonest Animals in German/European zoos
10-06-2008

I got this list from Zootierliste.de (Thanks Kowari - great site). The commonest animals according to the number of zoos which have them. Most are in Germany but there are plenty of other European zoos being added. Number means the number of institutions which have that species (out of a total of 1239 registered):

1. Europäisches Damwild - Fallow Deer 181
2. Europäischer Uhu - European eagle owl 176
3. Schnee-Eule - Snowy owl 155
4. Bennet-Känguru Bennett's/red-necked wallaby 152
5. Europäischer Weißstorch - White stork 149
6. Blauer Pfau - Common peacock 144
7. Nordamerikanischer Waschbär - raccoon 137
8. Europisches Mufflon- mouflon, Europäisches Wildschwein - wild boar, Gelbrustara - blue/gold macaw 125
9. Afrikansiche Zwergziege - African dwarf goat 120
10. Katta - ringtailed lemur 118


I think mouflon and boar are staples of German Wildparks and not as common in zoos in the UK for example. Meerkats didn't make it into the top ten though...

10-06-2008

Very interesting. Id like for one to be done about UK zoos alone.

10-06-2008

...yet. Makes one wonder that Coatimundi, Raccoon, Greater Flamingo, Black-Tailed Prarie Dogs, Shetland-Pony, budgie, llama/alphaca and especially Guinea Pigs and domestic rabbits (the last two maybe due to splitting them up in different breeds) are not among the very top, as actually every zoo I can think of, including the European wildlife parks, keeps at least a few of those "exotics" and domestics. And You're correct, @Pygathrix: most of the European Wild boars, fallow deer and mouflons mentioned are kept in wildlife parks, not in the major zoos.

11-06-2008

If you just did "proper" zoos and excluded wildlife parks, aquaria etc then I'm sure meerkats would be up there.
Sun - Incidentally raccoons are not very common in British zoos although all the other animals you listed are. Other contenders: donkeys, golden pheasants, red-eared terrapin...

11-06-2008

@pygathrix: thanks for posting such an informative list. I'm amazed that there are wallabies in the #4 position, and even though ring-tailed lemurs are in the top ten I wonder how many times they still get called monkeys by ignorant zoo visitors?

11-06-2008

@Pygathrix: Re: Raccoons-that might be due to (wild) raccoons not having reached Your part of the woods yet-literally. Quite a bunch of the raccoons You can see in European zoos, especially in the wildlife parks, are either former pets/descendents of fur farms or of feral origin (especially when caught as cubs or when a raccoon feels like roaming the city centre by daylight, with the local fire department finally deciding to present it to the local zoo...).
Pheasants, may it be the Golden, Lady Amherst's or Common Pheasant are indeed a rather common group kept in zoos; so are domestic chicken and guineafowl or zebra finches and Chinese Painted Quail. All in all, that list still seems to be kind of incomplete... And those Red-Ear Sliders as well as other as other abandoned Trachemys sp. have become quite a problem...

@snowleopard: Bennett's Wallaby is becoming more and more popular as both a privately owned "pet" and the perfect "zoo kangaroo" niche filler. And yes, "Kattas" are always referred to as "cute monkey-thingies", whose popularity might be also connected to zoos being able to keep them in walk-through exhibits or even free-ranging-which is really popular among most visitors.

11-06-2008

I'm not sure why you are surprised by the Bennett's Wallabies - they are in just about every zoo I've been to. They even lived in the wild in the UK until a few years ago. Regarding lemurs, I think that the general public would not have a problem recognising ringtails as they are so commonly seen at the zoo and also on TV.

11-06-2008

@pygathrix: I've been to a ton of zoos, but only 2 in Europe, and that's why the Bennett's Wallabies shocked me. I guess that those little roos are highly adaptable to the northern climes where they are now so common.