Cynogale bennettii's animal wishlist

[Cynogale bennettii II]

I figured that I would make a specific thread for my own personal wishlist. Each species will get its own post, with information about it and the reasons why I have chosen it.

Strap yourselves in folks - some excellent animals incoming.

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Yellow-throated marten
Martes flavigula

Continents: Asia

Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

Biomes: Taiga, Temperate, Tropical

Because it occurs over such a wide area and ranges from sea level to over 4,500m, the yellow-throated marten occupies a broad range of environments. The one thing it requires are trees but it can inhabit any type of forest, including snowy taiga forest in the Russian Far East, temperate woodlands in China, montane forest as high as the treeline in the Himalayas and tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia.

Red List status: Least Concern, although they are declining. The Formosan subspecies is thought to be Endangered, although it has not been assessed.

Captive presence: The yellow-throated marten is fairly common in captivity, with Zootierliste showing 33 zoos keeping the species across Europe (32) and Israel (1). While a single zoo in Canada (Assiniboine Park Zoo) kept the species, it seems they have recently died off. They are also kept in zoos in their native Asian range.

Reasoning: The yellow-throated marten is the biggest of the true martens. The largest males weigh up to 5.7kg, which is close in weight to the red panda (6kg). There is also not much difference in length between them – the yellow-throated marten’s total length (head-body-tail) is 110cm, while the red panda is 126cm.

Unlike most martens, the yellow-throated marten is almost entirely active by day, only coming out at night on a bright full moon. This would lend to their active behaviour in the game and make their activity levels feel realistic.

Another positive that sets the yellow-throated apart from other martens is their sociality. Most martens are solitary and indeed some species (like the European pine marten) have to be kept apart for prolonged periods if they are to successfully breed in captivity. Yellow-throated martens by contrast routinely travel in pairs or trios and have been seen in groups of seven or eight individuals. This allows them to be cooperative hunters that will attack prey no other marten would be able to, including monkeys, deer and small cats.

Because they are large, social and diurnal, yellow-throated martens make good displays, especially when given access to live trees. While they can be kept in mesh cages, the best example of a yellow-throated marten enclosure can be seen at Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. The 720 square metre enclosure allows the animals to climb, swim and explore a large area.

Variations (if any): There are nine subspecies of yellow-throated marten, which all look quite different from one another (one of these, the Javan yellow-throated marten, may be its own distinct species). However, the marten kept in zoos is the Northern or Amur subspecies Martes flavigula borealis. This is also the most vibrantly coloured subspecies, so I would choose to have this as the representative, with maybe two or three minor coat variations that can be seen within this subspecies.

References:
An image of the Nuremberg Zoo marten enclosure:

Yellow-throated marten enclosure - ZooChat

With over 700 meters easily the largest in Europe. It is even much larger than many Jaguar or Leopard enclosures currently built...

www.zoochat.com

More pictures showing the animals, enclosure and surroundings at Nuremberg:

Nuremberg Yellow-throated Marten — wild-design

www.wild-design.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Grey-winged trumpeter
Psophia crepitans

Continents: South America

Countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Biomes: Tropical

This species is a bird of tropical rainforests, with some surveys finding they can tolerate lightly logged forests while others have found to be extremely sensitive to such changes in habitat.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population.

Captive presence: The grey-winged trumpeter is a reasonably common species in zoos, with Zootierliste recording 44 European zoos keeping them – of these, 42 keep non-subspecies birds while the other 2 keep birds of the Eastern subspecies. At least 14 zoos in America also keep them.

Reasoning: While many of the ‘habitat birds’ I and others have recommended are pretty much only kept in aviaries and are considered purely because they fly so rarely (things like spoonbills, ibises, pigeons etc.), the grey-winged trumpeter is one example of a flighted bird that can be kept in open-air enclosures – at Gaiazoo Kerkade in the Netherlands, trumpeters are kept in an outdoor enclosure with golden lion tamarins and white-faced sakis. In the past, Jersey Zoo also had at least one trumpeter that roamed freely through the zoo’s grounds. To this day, trumpeters are often kept in walkthrough exhibits.

As mentioned briefly above, trumpeters can be kept in mixed enclosures – indeed the best practice guidelines recommend it. They are mainly mixed in aviaries with other birds, but do best with smaller birds living in trees as there have been issues with trumpeters bullying other ground birds. They also do well with small monkeys, sloths, tamanduas, tortoises, iguanas and agoutis.

These birds would add a lot to the zoo soundscape – being the closest relatives of the cranes, they often gather in large flocks to court. Their calls range from quite harsh clucks to a deep bubbling call used during courtship displays. These birds naturally spend time in quite sizeable flocks.

Although they are not the prettiest bird in terms of appearance, they have big personalities and would work very well as a habitat species in the game.

Variations (if any): The main body of the trumpeter is fairly uniform between individuals, consisting of a dark body and iridescent blue and green patches on the neck. Where there is more variance is the darkness of the grey colouring on their rumps, which can range from being very pale and fringed with brown feathers to a much darker grey. I would say three different variants of rump colour would be sufficient for this bird.

References:
An image of the outdoor trumpeter/tamarin/saki enclosure at Gaiazoo Kerkade in the Netherlands:

White-faced saki - Golden lion tamarin - Grey-winged trumpeter exhibit (Oct 13th, 2018) - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

An image of grey-winged trumpeters free-roaming inside a tropical house:

Pathway in the tropical house with free-ranging grey-winged trumpeters, 2019-08-04 - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

An old photograph of 'Trumpy' the trumpeter who ranged freely at Jersey Zoo, shown with the zoo's founder Gerald Durrell:

https://mm.aiircdn.com/508/5c99e25447e08.jpg

A collection of grey-winged trumpeter calls and songs can be listed to here:

Grey-winged Trumpeter (Psophia crepitans) :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Mangabeys

Black-crested mangabey Lophocebus aterrimus, red-capped mangabey Cercocebus torquatus, golden-bellied mangabey Cercocebus chrysogaster, white-naped mangabey Cercocebus lunulatus

Continents: Africa

Countries: Democratic Republic of Congo (both black-crested and golden-bellied mangabeys), Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana (white-naped mangabey), Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria (red-capped mangabey)

From left-to-right: Black-crested, red-capped, golden-bellied and white-naped mangabey distributions

Biomes: Tropical

All four mangabey species chosen here occupy tropical rainforests, sometimes venturing into swamp forests and, in the case of the red-capped, mangroves. They can climb to the tops of tall canopy trees but mostly tend to feed on or near the ground.

Red List status: Black-crested mangabey – Vulnerable, with a declining population. Red-capped, golden-bellied and white-naped mangabeys – Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: The black-crested mangabey is the most common species, kept in 21 European and 10 American zoos; the red-capped mangabey is kept in 21 European, 1 Singaporean and 5 American zoos; the white-naped mangabey is kept in 16 European zoos and the golden-bellied mangabey is kept in 12 European and 1 American zoo.

Reasoning: The black-crested mangabey would be chosen for being the most common mangabey species in captivity, but its similar colour scheme to most of the other African primates in-game (solid dark fur, like the gorilla, chimp and bonobo) makes it perhaps the most visually uninteresting choice.

The red-capped mangabey is also commonly-kept and is one of the mangabeys whose population in captivity is growing. However, in terms of colouration they are still quite drab apart from the dark red skullcap of fur on their heads.

The golden-bellied mangabey is the most visually striking of the four, with a rich brown back and bright golden-yellow belly. However, they are the rarest of the four choices in captivity and their numbers will probably continue to fall in the future, as zoos are recommended to focus on other species.

The white-naped mangabey is another species whose captive population is growing. They represent the highly threatened West African rainforest, but their mostly black-and-white colouration would put them in direct visual competition with the colobus monkeys.

As a group, mangabeys are highly social monkeys that would not look out of place spending a lot of time on the ground. A major bonus is that all four species are regularly kept in mixed-species exhibits – all four species have been successfully kept with gorillas, and some species have also been kept with colobus, Diana monkeys, mandrills and pygmy hippopotamus.

If I had the choice, I would probably pick the golden-bellied mangabey as my number one option, followed by the red-capped mangabey.

Variations (if any): The black-crested mangabey has some variation in the colouration of its cheek fur (either grey or black), red-capped mangabeys vary in the darkness of the fur on their backs, golden-bellied mangabeys can either be rich brown or partly grey on their rumps and white-naped mangabeys vary in the darkness of their head hair and pinkness of their faces. For each species, only two variations would suffice.

References:
Pictures of all four mangabey species being kept in mixed enclosures with lowland gorillas:
Black-crested: https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/lowland-gorilla-black-crested-mangabey-exhibit.452011/
Red-capped: https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/gorillas-and-red-capped-mangabeys-september-2018.415147/
Golden-bellied:

https://flic.kr/p/297Czy8

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakok/43394582571/

White-naped: https://www.zoochat.com/community/m...-exhibit-at-bioparc-valencia-28-05-11.149302/

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Giant Asian pond turtle
Heosemys grandis

Continents: Asia
Countries: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Biomes: Aquatic, Tropical

This species is restricted to habitats in or close to water, including slow-flowing rivers, swamps and flooded forests. They only occasionally sun themselves and when out of the water prefer access to dense vegetation, so they could have a higher vegetation coverage than some other habitat reptiles.

Red List status: Critically Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This species has a decent amount of zoo holders, with 24 listed on Zootierliste (22 in Europe and 2 in Singapore). They are also kept in a number of zoos in North America and in some zoos within their native range.

Reasoning: In terms of size, this turtle is plenty big enough to be a habitat species. The shell is about the same length as the total head-tail length of a meerkat – the turtle’s shell is 48cm, not including head, neck or legs, while the meerkat’s total length is 53cm.

These turtles are herbivorous and generally peaceable. This means they could be kept in walkthrough enclosures, live in large groups with others of their kind and they have also been mixed successfully with a variety of other animals. They have been successfully mixed with gharial among in-game species, and also with species like small deer, bar-headed goose and gibbons. Similar turtles have been mixed with small-clawed otters, orangutans and proboscis monkeys.

Giant Asian pond turtles have been kept in many different types of exhibit. While they can be kept in terraria, they seem to thrive in larger enclosures with access to large water bodies. In Europe it is recommended, where possible, to provide them with access to an outdoor enclosure. This is because of their very low temperature requirements. Although they inhabit a tropical region of Southeast Asia, they prefer cooler microclimates and so do best at temperatures as low as 12 degrees Celsius and as high as 24 degrees Celsius. They would actually have the lowest high temperature tolerance of any habitat reptile in the game, making them an ideal inclusion for temperate zoos.

Variations (if any): This species can have a rather broad range of colours, especially on the shell. These can range from grey and brown to greenish, rosetted (black around the edge of the scutes, yellowish-green in the middle) or even striped. I would put 5 or six variations for this species in the game, with grey being the most common form.

References:
Source stating the maximum carapace length:

Giant Leaf Terrapin - Heosemys grandis

Source with temperature information (under the subheading Natural range and habitat):

Heosemys grandis / Chinese woodturtle - Care

Heosemys grandis, (Gray, 1860)The Giant Asian pondturtle lives up to the name. These turtles get big!

www.hetterrarium.com

Picture of an outdoor mixed enclosure with gharial:

Gharial [2017] - ZooChat

Giant Asian pond turtle (Heosemys grandis), gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

www.zoochat.com

Picture of an outdoor walkthrough aviary that features these turtles:

Oct. 2020 - Aviary - First Walk-thru Aviary (15 Species) - ZooChat

Kenyan Crested Guineafowl, Scarlet Ibis, African Openbill Stork, African Spoonbill, Boat-billed Heron, Hammerkop, Demoiselle Crane, Spotted Whistling Duck, Giant Asian Pond Turtle, Sunbittern,...

www.zoochat.com

Picture of an outdoor enclosure, mixed with tufted deer and geese:

Mixed Exhibit at Lowry Park, 13/10/13 - ZooChat

Western Tufted Deer, Bar-headed Goose, Giant Asian Pond Turtle and Indian Spotted Turtle.

www.zoochat.com

Picture of a smaller single-species outdoor enclosure:

Giant Asian Pond Turtle Exhibit at the Turtle Centre, Cuc Phuong, 10/03/12 - ZooChat

An outdoor exhibit for [i]Heosemys grandis[/i].

www.zoochat.com

Picture of an enclosure at Chester Zoo that giant Asian pond turtles shared with Sunda gharial and other turtles:

Tomistoma underwater viewing area - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

An image of a giant Asian pond turtle with a striped shell:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Giant-Asian-Pond-Turtle-Heosemys-grandis-photographed-in-A-Mar-Township-Ayeyarwady_fig6_330168747

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Just sliding in to say that of all the wishlist threads, this is imo by far the coolest.
I love learning about somewhat obscure animals and that these little infoblocks are not just well written and paced, but i also appreciate the sources.
This is just so cool and i hope for sure that you got alot more animals on your wishlist

 

[yoav_r]

Dude this is awesome

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Ocellated turkey
Meleagris ocellata

Continents: North America
Countries: Belize, Guatemala, Mexico

Biomes: Grassland, Tropical

This species mostly inhabits forests, occurring in both moist forests and seasonally dry forests. During the breeding season, they occupy seasonally flooded areas and open grasslands. These birds will also utilise agricultural land.

Red List status: Near Threatened, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This is not an especially abundant species, with Zootierliste showing 16 zoos keeping the species in Europe. A small number of zoos also keep them in the USA (between 3 and 5 zoos), although the AZA want to increase their numbers. They are also kept in a number of zoos in their native range.

Reasoning: Compared to the North American wild turkey, the ocellated turkey is a much more vivid bird with a huge range of colours on their plumage. The toms have a snood (fleshy wattle above the bill) like a wild turkey, but also have a fleshy comb on the top of their heads, covered with orange bobbles.

This is a smaller species than the wild turkey, but falls well within the average weight of the Indian peafowl – the ocellated turkey weighs 3kg (hens) to 5kg (toms), while the peafowl weighs 2-4kg (peahens) to 4-6kg (peacocks). The turkey is around 70-122cm long, comparable to the peahen (95cm long).

They are social birds, occurring in flocks of between 3 individuals (in the breeding season, when males and breeding females are more solitary) to 10 or 11 birds (outside the breeding season). They are also fairly docile, being able to be mixed with tapirs, capybaras and giant anteaters in outdoor paddocks and with agoutis and other birds in aviary-type enclosures. Although I cannot find any images of a walkthrough display for them, I cannot imagine them not being suitable for such a display. They certainly aren’t shy – the birds at the Bronx Zoo bird house choose to sit as close to the visitor walkway as possible. In the wild, they also spend a lot of time at the Mayan temple ruins that are commonly-visited tourist attractions.

While they are often kept in an exhibit like their natural habitat (rainforest houses, or mixed with other rainforest species), I know of at least one instance where one was kept in a poultry coop in a children's zoo, so they could serve as a replacement for domestic turkeys as well.

As well as being extremely colourful, the ocellated turkey is very noisy and would add a lot to the zoo’s soundscape. They produce a short screech, a beep-like clucking sound and their song starts as a deep pulsing beat followed by a short rolling gobble.

Variations (if any): The ocellated turkey has no subspecies and there seems to be little difference in plumage between individuals. Fortunately, they are such an attractive species that I wouldn’t be at all disappointed if they all basically looked the same.

References:
A picture of an outdoor mixed exhibit where turkeys share with tapir, capybara and anteater:

South American paddocks at Zlin, 28/05/10 - ZooChat

The near exhibit is for Brazilian Tapirs, Giant Anteaters, Ocellated Turkeys and Capybara. Beyond the path is the paddock for Alpacas, Maras, Darwin's Rheas, Muscovy Ducks and, unusually,...

www.zoochat.com

A picture of an ocellated turkey coop in a children's zoo:

New England Farmyard- Domestic Poultry Coop #1 - ZooChat

April 14, 2013: This pen curiously holds a female Ocellated Turkey. IMO, she should just be moved to the South American Rainforest, and put a Narragansett Turkey here instead.

www.zoochat.com

This picture shows just how tame the turkeys at the Bronx Zoo are:

3 Species - ZooChat

World of Birds- Andean -of-the-Rock, Malayan Great Argus, and Ocellated Turkey. February 17, 2013.

www.zoochat.com

This link includes a photo of wild ocellated turkeys at Mayan ruins:

Ocellated Turkey – birdfinding.info

This website includes recordings of various ocellated turkey calls:

Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Parma wallaby
Notamacropus parma

Continents: Oceania
Countries: Australia

Biomes: Temperate

This species occurs in wet forests along the southeastern coast of Australia which falls within the scope of temperate rainforest. They like to live near water, often in sedge swamps, and also inhabit forests where there is a high amount of ground cover.

Red List status: Near Threatened, with their population trend unknown.

Captive presence: In Europe, this is the second most commonly-kept macropod behind the red-necked wallaby. Zootierliste lists 100 zoos holding this species, with 98 in Europe, 1 in New Zealand (Wellington) and 1 in the UAE (Dubai). At least 8 zoos in North America keep these wallabies, as do between 10 and 20 zoos in Australia. They are also definitely kept in South Africa.

Reasoning: Although parma wallabies are not the most common wallaby species in captivity, the thing that I think puts them above the red-necked is their small size. They are the smallest of all the macropods, about 1m long (half of that length being the tail) and weighing from 3.2 to 5.8kg. Although small, they are definitely large enough to be workable as habitat animals.

This small size allows the parma wallaby to be kept in ways that larger macropods could not. While they are often kept in large open-topped enclosures and walkthroughs just like larger wallabies and kangaroos, they have also been kept in aviaries, as ground companions to Australian birds, in indoor enclosures in small mammal houses and even in nocturnal houses.

The small size and docility of parma wallabies makes them well-suited to mixed-species enclosures. Among in-game species, they have been mixed with the red kangaroo, koala and Southern cassowary. They have also been mixed with emus, other wallabies, black swans and smaller Australian birds. In terms of mixing species, they are as successful as red-necked wallaby.

They also have an interesting scientific history. It was first discovered in about 1840 but, because of its shyness, it was thought to have become extinct before 1900. In 1965 workers trying to control a plague of wallabies in New Zealand found parma wallabies among their number – they were captured and sent to zoos both in Australia and around the world. Then, in 1967, more live parma wallabies were found to have survived in New South Wales.

Variations (if any): Parma wallabies are sometimes also called white-throated wallabies, but the underside of the animal does vary in both the colour and the scale of the paler patch – it can be pure white to pale grey and range from just covering the neck and chest to covering the entire underside of the body, including the inside of the legs; another thing that varies between individuals is the presence or absence of a white tip to the tail. In theory, I think six variations would suffice – grey-chest, white-chest and white-underside, each with either a white or dark tail tip.

References:
Picture of a fairly standard parma wallaby single-species display, from South Africa:

New Parma Wallaby Enclosure (Macropus parma) - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a walkthrough enclosure for parma and red-necked wallabies:

Wallaby Enclosure at Northumberland Country Zoo (September 2021) - ZooChat

A walkthrough enclosure for Bennett's and parma wallabies at Northumberland Country Zoo.

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a mixed enclosure for parma wallabies and red kangaroos:

Mixed Macropods at Olomouc 30/05/09 - ZooChat

Parma Wallaby and Red Kangaroo

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a mixed enclosure for parma wallabies and koalas:

Koala and wallaby exhibit - Outback [2015] - ZooChat

Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), Parma wallaby (Macropus parma)

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a mixed enclosure for parma wallabies and Southern cassowary:

Parma Wallaby and Cassowary Enclosure - ZooChat

24.04.2021

www.zoochat.com

A picture of an indoor parma wallaby enclosure in a small mammal house:

Lincoln Park Zoo 2003 - Parma Wallaby in the Regenstein Small Mammal House - ZooChat

April 2003 Parma Wallaby in the Regenstein Small Mammal House.

www.zoochat.com

An image of parma wallabies being kept in a nocturnal house:

Kingdoms of the Night-Parma Wallaby - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Malagasy giant rat
Hypogeomys antimena

Continents: Africa
Countries: Madagascar

Biomes: Desert? Grassland? Tropical?

The exact habitat to match this species is a bit unclear with the current biome system. They naturally live in dry, semi-arid deciduous forests in western Madagascar, with sandy soils and baobab trees.

Red List status: Critically Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: While not highly abundant, this species does still have a decent showing in captivity, with Zootierliste listing 14 European zoos that house them. They are also kept in a number of zoos in the USA.

Reasoning: There are several species of giant rat that could work in the game, including the Northern Luzon cloud rat (1.7kg) and the Gambian giant pouched rat (1.4kg). But the Malagasy giant rat (1.2kg), although smaller than these, is still slightly larger than a meerkat and would be able to work as a habitat species.

This is a social species, albeit with groups based around a monogamous breeding pair and their offspring. Being able to keep these animals in a group would make them more visible and interesting to watch in a habitat; they will be able to use the tunnel enrichment item and also the small animal burrow.

Although often kept in nocturnal house enclosures, this species can be kept in diurnal indoor enclosures and is even kept outdoors at Jersey Zoo. They would be the first mostly terrestrial Madagascan species and would add a new element to Malagasy mixed-species enclosures. They have been successfully mixed with black-and-white ruffed lemurs as well as mongoose lemurs, fruit bats, bushbabies, mouse lemurs and particularly aye-ayes. They are also friendly enough to humans to be kept in walkthrough enclosures, as at Amersfoort Zoo in the Netherlands.

I did consider looking at a rabbit species, but this rodent is something I would personally prefer. It does have many rabbit-like features, such as the large ears, but although it is sometimes called the giant jumping rat, it tends to run rather than hop and certainly doesn’t jump like a kangaroo as was once believed. Add that they are extremely threatened, and including them in the game could go some way to increasing public knowledge of their existence, and they would be an ideal inclusion for a large rat species.

Variations (if any): The differences in colouration with this species are often rather subtle, but they do seem to come in slightly different hues including pale grey, brown and slate. Four colour morphs would, I think, be plenty for this species.

References:
A picture of rats being kept in a diurnal indoor enclosure, also showing they can be kept in groups:

Malagasy Giant Jumping Rat Enclosure - ZooChat

Taken 29th October 2015 Four can be seen in this picture In the Madagascar House

www.zoochat.com

A photograph of a rat kept in a walkthrough nocturnal enclosure at Amersfoort Zoo:

Votsotsa or Malagasy giant jumping rat (Hypogeomys antimena) - ZooChat

The votsotsas were supposed to be in a separate exhibit with bushbabies (which I will also show elsewhere in this gallery - and I did see at least one more in there) so not such what's going...

www.zoochat.com

A picture of an outdoor enclosure for Malagasy giant rats and aye-ayes at Jersey Zoo:

Kirindy Forest-Aye Aye and Jumping Rat Enclosure - ZooChat

The Aye Aye/Giant Jumping Rat enclosure in the Kirindy Forest Exhibit.

www.zoochat.com

A photo of a mixed enclosure for Malagasy giant rats and black-and-white ruffed lemurs:

Lemur/Jumping Rat Housing at Duisburg, 17/06/19 - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Victoria crowned pigeon
Goura victoria

Continents: Oceania
Countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

Biomes: Tropical

This bird lives almost entirely in lowland rainforests, sometimes ranging up to an elevation of 600m. They can tolerate different types of forest so long as it is continuous forest, and cannot survive long-term in small forest fragments. As well as lowland rainforest, they can live in swamp forest, sago palm forest and dry forest.

Red List status: Near Threatened, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This bird is fairly common in captivity, with Zootierliste mentioning 90 zoos holding them – of these, 85 are in Europe, 1 in New Caledonia, 2 in Israel, 1 in Singapore and 1 in Taiwan. They are also kept in at least 23 zoos in North America and also in zoos in their native New Guinea.

Reasoning: These are the world’s largest pigeons, and surely one of the most beautiful as well. They can reach 80cm in length and attain a weight of up to 3.5kg. This makes them comparable in size to the peahens in the game.

Because they are commonly-kept and generally rather placid birds, they can be kept in a variety of ways. They often live in aviaries, but still spend most of their time walking around on the ground. They can live in both indoor and outdoor aviaries, in walk-through enclosures and in mixed displays with small birds, chevrotains, squirrels and muntjac deer. One of my favourite exhibits for this species is the Royal Ramble at Jurong Bird Park in Singapore, with three large walkthrough aviaries for each of the three crowned pigeon species.

Although it doesn’t really happen today to the best of my knowledge, in the past these birds were kept not only in the open air but free-roaming – a small park here in the UK (now closed) called Flamingo Gardens used to allow crowned pigeons free access to an area of woodland, in much the same way that peacocks are still commonly kept. This shows that having them as habitat birds would be possible.

As with most birds, these pigeons would add something to the zoo’s soundscape. Rather than cooing, they make a call that sounds like someone blowing over the open top of a glass milk bottle. They also produce a loud booming call when courting.

Variations (if any): From pictures, it seems that the main variation between individuals is in the extent of the maroon breast patch – in some birds it extends up almost to the back of the neck, in others it is a block that doesn’t extend so far up the neck and in others it forms a complete collar. I would say that these three forms would be enough, with the first morph (extending up towards the back of the neck) being the most common.

References:
A picture of the Royal Ramble walkthrough at Jurong, with Victoria and a couple of Scheepmaker’s (the ones without the lacy white on their crests) crowned pigeons:

File:Crowned Pigeons, Jurong BirdPark.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Crowned pigeons with visitors at Royal Ramble:

Royal Ramble, Jurong BirdPark - ZooChat

The walk-thru Crowned Pigeon aviary. It houses all three species. A couple of the birds were hand-raised and so somewhat imprinted on humans, following visitors around.

www.zoochat.com

An outdoor walkthrough aviary that includes Victoria crowned pigeons:

Zoo de la Flèche - Walkthrough asian aviary - ZooChat

Home to rainbow lorikeets, Victoria crowned pigeons, hymalayan monal and Nicobar pigeons. Photo taken 2020-09-02

www.zoochat.com

An indoor tropical house with Victoria crowned pigeons:

Tropical Hall at the RSCC, 31/07/10 - ZooChat

With free-flying Victoria Crowned Pigeons and Bali Starlings.

www.zoochat.com

A large outdoor enclosure for Victoria crowned pigeons:

Jun. 2014 - Jungle Trails - Temporary Victoria Crowned Pigeon + White-naped - ZooChat

June 21, 2014 - The upcoming species is currently being held in the Gorilla World house (not accessible)

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Owston’s civet
Chrotogale owstoni

Continents: Asia
Countries: Laos, Vietnam; possibly extinct in China

Biomes: Tropical

This small carnivore is restricted to evergreen forests, at elevations from 100 to 2,600m; the main limiting factor is that they cannot cope with a harsh dry season as they feed almost entirely on earthworms and so need regular year-round rainfall.

Red List status: Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This is by no means a common species in captivity. In 2019, there were only 18 individuals – 11 males and 7 females – kept in captivity. They were in one zoo and a breeding centre in their native Vietnam, four zoos in the UK and one zoo in France. Since then, it seems the French zoo has moved their animals on and the captive population has grown, with at least one successful birth since 2019. However, there are plans to expand the breeding programme and I have heard that zoos in America and Singapore planned to join the global programme.

Reasoning: For starters, this is a very attractive small carnivore whose appearance in the game would help raise awareness of this highly endangered species. The kittens are especially cute.

In 2020, a scientific paper was published that found that the Owston’s civet probably needs breeding in captivity for its survival. Part of the reason they are so rare is that zoos originally favoured against keeping them in nocturnal houses, which meant they were kept in outdoor enclosures not suited for viewing a nocturnal species. This advice has now changed and Owston’s civets are now being kept in nocturnal houses, although with feeding conditioning and clever nestbox designs they can still be viewed in outdoor enclosures. The outdoor enclosures are typically netted over, but because they are not especially keen climbers, I think they would be suitable as a standard habitat species.

Although they are classified as Carnivora, these civets feed predominantly on earthworms and make up the rest of their diet with fruit, other invertebrates and tiny vertebrates such as tadpoles and geckos. Their teeth are very delicate, to the point where they can break them if fed meat on the bone. All this means that the Owston’s civet has proved very amenable to being mixed with other small animals that are not safe with other small carnivores – they have been successfully mixed with treeshrews, Prevost’s squirrels, pheasants and tortoises.

Variations (if any): This species comes with a subtle variation of colours but is primarily a pale grey with strong black bands across its back, black spots and stripes on the limbs and neck and the lower half of the tail is solid black. Sometimes, the yellowish belly fur that is standard can extend up the sides or even to the back. There would probably be two or three coat variations in-game.

References:
A link to the 2020 scientific paper that found a captive-breeding programme was necessary to the Owston's civet's survival:

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/izy.12271

A photograph of an outdoor Owston’s civet enclosure:

Owstons banded palm civet (exhibit) : Thrigby Hall : 25 Mar 2016 - ZooChat

Outdoor section of exhibit.

www.zoochat.com

Another photo of an outdoor Owston’s civet enclosure:

Owston's palm civet enclosures - ZooChat

Not surprisingly , not seen . A number of connected enclosures . Not certain if they now have more than one .

www.zoochat.com

A photo of an outdoor enclosure for mixed Owston’s civets and Prevost’s squirrels:

Prevost squirrel and Owston's civet enclosure 111221 - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

A photo of active civets in a nocturnal house:

Owston's palm civet - ZooChat

Tropical House, Newquay, 13th January 2018.

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Bar-headed goose
Anser indicus

Continents: Asia
Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; introduced to Western Europe

Darker patches are breeding range, paler areas are wintering range

Biomes: Aquatic, Grassland, Taiga, Temperate; possibly Tundra

In the breeding range, this species breeds on open grasslands close to large bodies of standing water. During migration they travel over the Himalayas, and an increasing number of birds are now wintering on the cold Tibetan Plateau. In their wintering range in southern Asia, they favour wetlands and tropical grasslands.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This is probably the most common goose species in zoos. On Zootierliste, there are 149 zoos listed as holding them – 146 in Europe, 2 in Israel and 1 in Singapore. At least 14 zoos in North America also keep them. While this doesn’t sound like much it actually makes them the most commonly-held of all goose species in American zoos, even more than native geese like Canada, Hawaiian and snow geese.

Reasoning: A major reason for choosing the bar-headed over any other goose species is simply because of its prevalence in captivity. They are also one of the more visually appealing species, with their patterned plumage and mix of colours.

Because of their ubiquity in zoos, these geese can be kept in many different ways. They can be kept on simple waterfowl ponds or lakes, on ornamental lily ponds, in open paddocks, in aviaries, in the moats of primate islands and in walkthrough enclosures – they seem to be friendlier than some of the other goose species and so would suit the walkthrough feature. They have even been used in free-flight bird displays, although I’m unsure if any habitat bird would ever get such a feature.

These birds are routinely kept in mixed-species enclosures and would add a lot to all sorts of Asian mixed exhibits. They have been kept in real zoos with Indian rhinoceros, Malayan tapir, greater flamingo and Bactrian camel and I imagine they could also mix with Przewalski’s horse, water buffalo, red-crowned crane and red panda. Apart from these, they have also been mixed with various deer and antelopes, pelicans and freshwater turtles.

The bar-headed goose would add both movement and noise to zoos – they naturally live in large flocks so could be kept in considerable groups in the game and, unlike many geese, their honks are generally softer and more musical than harsh-sounding.

Variations (if any): Bar-headed geese can show some subtle variations in plumage. While the head, neck and wings generally remain the same colour, with differences often due to environmental factors (like staining of the head when feeding), the flanks can vary from pale grey to a dark brown. These two variants would probably be sufficient, with grey the more dominant colour.

References:
A picture of bar-headed geese free-roaming within the grounds of a zoo:

Freeroaming Bar headed Geese - ZooChat

Karlsruhe Zoo visited on 10.09.2022

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a single-species enclosure for bar-headed geese:

Bar-headed Goose Enclosure at Disney's Animal Kingdom (2014) - ZooChat

The enclosure for bar-headed goose, part of the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

www.zoochat.com

Another picture showing part of a bar-headed goose single-species enclosure, with the type of barrier required:

Bird Gardens - Bar-headed Goose Exhibit - ZooChat

For details, see my review http://www.zoochat.com/22/review-busch-gardens-tampa-253464/

www.zoochat.com

A photograph of a bar-headed goose on an ornamental lily pond:

Bar-headed goose - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

Another type of bar-headed goose enclosure; being kept in the moats of primate islands:

Capybara - Bar-headed goose moat in between the primate islands - ZooChat

The moat and the surrounding little land parts are home to capybara (not seen during my visit) and bar-headed geese. / See my review here:...

www.zoochat.com

A picture showing bar-headed geese mixed with dromedaries (the dromedaries replaced earlier-held Bactrian camels):

Wilderness Trek View - ZooChat

June 5th 2016 View across the dromedary camel and bar-headed goose yard to the entrance of Tiger Passage and one of the bear grottos.

www.zoochat.com

A mixed enclosure for Indian rhino, blackbuck, sarus crane and bar-headed goose (visible behind the lake):

Asian plains enclosure - ZooChat

Indian rhino, blackbuck, sarus crane, bar-headed goose

www.zoochat.com

Bar-headed goose in a mixed enclosure with banteng, white-naped crane, blackbuck and (unpictured) Eld’s deer and ruddy shelduck:

Asian paddock at Zurich 31/08/09 - ZooChat

Mixed exhibit with Banteng, Blackbuck, Burmese Brow-antlered Deer, White-naped Crane, Bar-headed Goose and Ruddy Shelduck.

www.zoochat.com

Photograph showing bar-headed geese (at the bottom of the picture) in a free-flight bird display at ZooParc de Beauval, France:

White Storks and Bar-headed Geese - Les Maîtres des Airs at Beauval, 12/06/18 - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

This link has many calls of the bar-headed goose, including its honks, duet calls and hisses:

Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

 

[sympatrick]

Loving the choices! I hope the game adds more such unique animals. Looking forward to future posts!

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Because South America is so lacking in habitat species compared to the other continents, I have decided that my next 8-or-so posts will purely be about South American species I would love to see.

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Six-banded armadillo
Euphractus sexcinctus

Continents: South America
Countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay

Biomes: Grassland, Tropical

Is mainly found on open grasslands in the cerrado region, but also lives in dry deciduous forests and secondary rainforests. It may also exist in primary Amazonian rainforest, but this remains unconfirmed. It ranges from sea level to 1,600m elevation.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a stable population.

Captive presence: Is a pretty common species in captivity with Zootierliste recording 72 zoos, all in Europe, holding them. They are also found in a number of American zoos and are also kept in South Africa and China.

Reasoning: At 74cm long from head-to-tail and weighing up to 6.5kg, this is the third largest species of armadillo behind the giant and greater long-nosed. Unlike the two larger species however, this is an armadillo that can be kept and routinely bred in captivity. This may stem from their diet – unlike the giant and greater long-nosed armadillos, which mainly eat ants and termites, the six-banded is an opportunistic omnivore that can eat anything from fruit and insects to newborn calves.

In zoos, six-banded armadillos can be kept in various ways. They can live in both nocturnal and diurnal indoor enclosures and also in outdoor enclosures – this species is surprisingly hardy and can be outdoors and active in February here in the UK. They are commonly kept in mixed enclosures with all kinds of other animals, including monkeys of varying sizes, sloths, kinkajous, tree porcupines, free-flying birds, tamanduas and agoutis.

Although they can be nocturnal, this species of armadillo can be very active diurnally and so would feel accurate walking around during the daytime in-game. I would have this species use the tunnel enrichment item and the small animal burrow and would also let them dig their own burrows like the meerkat and prairie dog – one thing that almost all armadillo enclosures have in common are lots of holes that the animal has dug for itself.

Variations (if any): There seem to be very little natural variations in this species, but I would probably have one or two variants where the overall colouration differs slightly – one with slightly darker scutes, one with pinkish scutes and one with yellowish scutes (another name for the six-banded armadillo is the yellow armadillo).

References:
Indoor single-species enclosure for armadillos (I think the perspective makes it look smaller than it really is):

South America -Six-banded Armadillo Exhibit - ZooChat

August 6, 2022

www.zoochat.com

Indoor mixed-species nocturnal enclosure featuring armadillos, sloths, agoutis and kinkajous:

Animals of the Night - Golden Rumped Agouti, Kinkajou, Six-banded Armadillo, and Two-toed Sloth Exhibit - ZooChat

Taken 9/26/18. The zoo's extensive nocturnal house has 24 exhibits.

www.zoochat.com

Indoor mixed enclosure for armadillos and bearded saki monkeys:

Guiana bearded saki and Six-banded armadillo exhibit -Parc Zoologique de Paris (2022) - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

Large outdoor enclosure for armadillos within a South American aviary:

Six-banded Armadillo enclosure in S-American aviary - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

An outdoor mixed enclosure for six-banded armadillos and cottontop tamarins:

Cotton Top Tamarin/Six banded armadillo Enclosure - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Kinkajou
Potos flavus

Continents: North America, South America
Countries: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Biomes: Tropical

Kinkajous need intact tropical forest, which could be rainforest, evergreen forest, dry forest and cloud forest up to 2,700m in elevation. While they do live in savannah regions, it is only within areas with large areas of connected trees.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This is a fairly common species in zoos, with Zootierliste recording 70 holders, with 66 zoos in Europe, 2 in the French overseas territories of Martinique and French Guiana, 1 in Singapore and 1 in Taiwan. Of these 67 zoos keep non-subspecies animals and 3 keep Guyanan kinkajou. They appear to be fairly common in American zoos and are also kept in China, South Korea, Japan and zoos within their native range.

Reasoning: Although kinkajous are carnivores, they are one of the most unusual members of the family. They are one of only two carnivores with a prehensile tail (the other being the binturong) and are also among the least carnivorous of all carnivores, feeding almost entirely on fruit with the remainder made up of leaves and flowers – in fact, they are more frugivorous than most primates.

Although they mainly feed alone, kinkajous are social animals that live in groups based around a single female and multiple males and young. Extended family groups can also be kept together in captivity.

In zoos, kinkajous are often kept within nocturnal houses but that is by no means necessary. Many are also kept in netted outdoor enclosures and one zoo is planning to allow their kinkajous access to a large tree in an outdoor enclosure, so I would be comfortable including them as habitat animals. Although they are mostly nocturnal, they can be active during the day in captivity and sometimes will emerge during the day in the wild as well.

They may be able to be kept in walkthrough enclosures (I cannot be certain though) and are definitely kept in mixed enclosures with other mostly nocturnal species including tamandua, armadillos, sloths, owl monkeys, prehensile-tailed porcupines, agoutis and fruit bats.

Variations (if any): I have seen pictures of at least three colour variations for this species – the most common is a yellowish-colour, followed by a more brown-coloured animal. Rarest is a very pale blonde animal. I think those three variants would be sufficient in the game.

References:
A tropical outdoor enclosure for kinkajou in a Costa Rican zoo:

Kinkajou enclosure - ZooChat

One of the best enclosures of the zoo. The inhabitants were the only no-shows though.

www.zoochat.com

An outdoor mesh-roofed enclosure for kinkajou and agouti:

Kinkajou and Azara's agouti enclosure - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

Partial view of an outdoor kinkajou cage, with the tree they are planned to be allowed access to:

Part of Kinkajou enclosure 03/01/22 - ZooChat

Currently they only have access to the small cage on the right, but in the near future they plan to extend this to include the large tree to the right and the surrounding perimeter.

www.zoochat.com

Nocturnal indoor enclosure mixing kinkajous with sloths, tree porcupines, owl monkeys, agoutis and armadillos:

Henry Doorly Zoo 2010 - Different mixed exhibit for small mammals in Kingdo - ZooChat

September 2010 This exhibit is labelled for these species: Kinkajou, St Vincent Aguti, Two-toed Sloth, Owl Monkey, Prehensile-tailed Porcupine, Three-banded Armadillo, Screaming Hairy Armadillo...

www.zoochat.com

A nocturnal kinkajou enclosure, open-topped within a nocturnal dome, which free-flying bats can access:

Papiliorama - Nocturama (Kinkajou exhibit) - ZooChat

The open exhibit for kinkajous (Potus flavus) inside the Nocturama hall in the Papiliorama. The Nocturama is a quite unique nocturnal house consisting of a glass dome almost 40 meters in diameter...

www.zoochat.com

Photograph of a wild kinkajou active during the day:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou#/media/File:potos_flavus_(8973438561).jpg

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Northern helmeted curassow
Pauxi pauxi

Continents: South America
Countries: Colombia, Venezuela

Yellow represents the areas it is known to occur, purple are places it may occur but is unconfirmed

Biomes: Temperate, Tropical (?)

This species is restricted to subtropical montane forests growing between 500-2,200m elevation, where they favour humid gorges with dense undergrowth.

Red List status: Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: This is the most common species of curassow in captivity. On Zootierliste, a total of 53 zoos are recorded keeping them, with 50 in Europe, 1 in Israel and 2 in Singapore. They are also kept in 21 zoos in North America, making them the most common curassow species there as well.

Reasoning: These are large birds, able to grow up to a metre in length and weighing up to 3.5kg, slightly longer and heavier than the in-game peahen. This species, in terms of behaviour, is mostly quite similar to the peafowl – the only behaviour that would need removing is the male’s courtship display. These birds would add a large South American ground bird that is rather versatile.

These birds can be kept in various ways – because they live in quite cool environments, they can tolerate fairly low temperatures and so live in outdoor aviaries in zoos around the world. They also live in indoor enclosures, either in smaller aviaries within these areas or free-roaming in a tropical house.

They are a sociable species that can be kept in small groups in captivity and are also quite docile towards other animals, so they can be kept in mixed exhibits. They have been successfully kept with giant anteaters, tamanduas, sloths, armadillos, small monkeys, bats, tortoises and other birds. Helmeted curassows are also sufficiently calm to be kept in walkthrough enclosures.

As with many birds, the addition of new sounds is a good reason for including them. In this species, the courtship song is a deep booming noise but they also make a loud repeated clucking sound.

Variations (if any): There appears to be some variation in the size of the head casque, although I cannot find if that is linked to whether the bird is male or female. Some have a very small casque that is little more than a stump while others have a large bulbous one. A more obvious difference is that while all male and most female birds have the standard black plumage, some females have what is called the rufous morph – being mostly reddish-brown in colour.

References:
A picture of a walkthrough enclosure housing helmeted curassow:

Northern helmeted curassow -TerraNatura Benidorm (2021) - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

A photograph of an indoor mixed enclosure for curassows, shared with tamandua, sloths and small monkeys:

Clore Rainforest Lookout - ZooChat

View from the nocturnal house, with one of the Helmeted Curassows 17 November 2018

www.zoochat.com

A photograph of an indoor mixed enclosure for curassows, giant anteaters and other birds:

Orinoco Rainforest - Jungle Junction Exhibit - ZooChat

Home to Giant Anteater, Montezuma Oropendola, Yellow-Rumped Cacique, Toco Toucan, Black-Necked, Pale-Mandibled Aracari, Guianan Aracari, Boat-Billed Heron, and Helmeted Curassow. Taken 10/19/22

www.zoochat.com

A photo of a pair of curassows, showing their standard black and more unusual brown plumage:

Squirrel Monkey Forest - Helmeted Curassows - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

This link includes recordings of the Northern helmeted curassow’s calls:

Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi) :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Venezuelan red howler monkey
Alouatta seniculus

Continents: South America
Countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Biomes: Tropical, Temperate (?), Grassland (?)

This species has a very broad habitat base, although they live only in forests. The IUCN records them as living in lowland tropical rainforest, mangrove and seasonally-flooded forests, tropical dry forest and also high-altitude cloud forest in the Andes, including oak forests – this latter habitat may warrant the Temperate tag.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population.

Captive presence: They are not the most common howler monkey species in captivity, but per Zootierliste they are kept in 11 zoos, of which 9 are in Europe and 2 in the French overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe. One zoo, the Dallas World Aquarium, keeps this species in the USA. They are kept in a number of zoos within their native range. There is still some debate over whether the red howlers at Singapore’s River Safari are this species or the related Guianan red howler.

Reasoning: Some might wonder why I have chosen the much rarer howler species for my wishlist, rather than the much more commonly-kept black howler. For me personally, it is about having as wide a range of colours among the South American primates. My three choices would be the Venezuelan red howler (deep red), Colombian black spider monkey (all black) and black-capped squirrel monkey (a mix of yellow, olive and black) together with the white-faced capuchin (black-and-white), which would make for four easily-distinguishable species.

As well as colouration, the red howler has other things going for it – they are a fairly docile species compared to spider and capuchin monkeys and can be mixed with all kinds of other species, including capuchin, saki and squirrel monkeys, marmosets and tamarins, agoutis, paca, Southern pudu and a variety of birds such as screamers and seriemas. They are also sufficiently docile that 2 of the 9 European zoos with the species keep them in walkthrough enclosures.

The other main thing to consider about red howler monkeys is, of course, their sounds. They are the loudest of all land mammals and can produce a call that can be heard over a mile away. They perform their calls in groups, so would provide a use for the new chorus behaviour.

Variations (if any): Mostly, red howler monkeys look quite similar to one another, but there are some subtle differences in fur colouration, with some having darker heads and legs while others have paler fur on their backs. I think about five variations of this would be sufficient, the most common variant being one that is basically deep red all over.

References:
Example of an indoor enclosure within a tropical house for red howler monkeys:

Red Howler Monkey Exhibit - ZooChat

Orinoco. Alouatta seniculus. Oct 2019

www.zoochat.com

An indoor mixed-species enclosure for red howlers, saki monkeys, agouti and paca:

Red Howler Monkey, White-faced Saki, Azara Aguti, Lowland Paca exhibit - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

The outdoor enclosure for the above indoor space, mixing red howlers, capuchins and saki monkeys:

Monkey House - Red Howler/Capuchin/Saki Exhibit - ZooChat

August 9th, 2019

www.zoochat.com

An outdoor enclosure with a typical climbing frame, mixed with pudu and Southern screamer:

Venezuelan Red Howler, Sloth, Screamer and Pudu exhibit - ZooChat

The former Francòis Languar exhibit now houses Venezuelan Red howler monkeys, southern screamers and southern pudu. The indoor exhibit also forms the winter habitat for the Lynnes Two-Toed Sloth....

www.zoochat.com

An outdoor red howler monkey island, viewed from a boat ride:

Amazon River Quest - Red Howler Monkey exhibit - ZooChat

*Animals not visible in picture

www.zoochat.com

A walkthrough enclosure viewed from the ground, mixed with squirrel monkeys:

View in the Bolivian squirrel monkey forest (Oct 13th, 2018) - ZooChat

Also houses a pair of Venezuelan red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus seniculus).

www.zoochat.com

A walkthrough enclosure viewed from a treetop elevated path, mixed with saki monkeys and tamarins:

Red howler monkeys - ZooChat

All three red howler monkeys above the visitor path of the elevated 'Monkey tree path'. Also home to a pair of white-faced sakis, two goeldi's monkeys and two crested seriemas....

www.zoochat.com

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Chacoan peccary
Catagonus wagneri

Continents: South America
Countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay

Biomes: Grassland

This species lives in seasonally arid landscapes – their main habitat is dry thorn forest full of cacti, that make up most of their diet. Because this habitat, the Gran Chaco, is seasonally wet enough to allow trees and plants to form forests, I have included it within the grassland biome rather than desert.

Red List status: Endangered, with a declining population.

Captive presence: They are becoming increasingly common in captivity. Zootierliste records that since the first Chacoan peccaries arrived in Europe in 2012, they have spread to 10 European zoos. They are more common in America, with at least 90 individuals spread across 19 zoos in 2019. The AZA is also recommending that zoos replace their collared peccaries with the more endangered Chacoan species. They are also kept in Mexico.

Reasoning: The Chacoan is the largest of the three generally accepted peccary species, growing to over a metre long and weighing up to 40kg, twice the weight of the collared peccary. Despite their size, they are considered a more tractable species than the smaller peccaries. In real zoos keepers can work in the enclosures with the animals unlike the more aggressive collared peccary.

Because these peccaries are non-aggressive, they have been mixed successfully with a variety of mostly smaller species. In Europe, they have been mixed with both ring-tailed and white-nosed coatis and with capuchin monkeys while in America they have been mixed with rheas. Another zoo may be planning on mixing their peccaries with guanacos.

As they are a species from extremely arid environments, the Chacoan peccary is able to tolerate high temperatures although they do need a wallow to cool off – I would give them the mud bath enrichment item. They need supplementary heating below 4 degrees Celsius, but that is the same lower temperature requirement as the collared peccary.

The Chacoan peccary also has quite an interesting history, being first described from Pleistocene-era fossils discovered in 1930 before they were found to still be alive in 1974. They are also very distinct on the evolutionary tree, having evolved in isolation for the past 8 million years.

Variations (if any): While they mostly look quite similar to one another, Chacoan peccaries do seem to vary in the amount of dark fur on their backs, which can make them appear either blackish or a light brown colour - I think just the two morphs would be sufficient for this species.

References:
The AZA factsheet for this species:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5302324de4b07a6f6407cbb5/t/5ce6b8cdec212d0e82bf1b54/1558624554394/Chacoan+peccary.pdf

A photograph of a grassy paddock for Chacoan peccaries:

chacoan peccaries africam safari - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

A picture of a white-nosed coati and a group of Chacoan peccaries in a mixed enclosure:

White-nosed coati (Nasua narica) and Chacoan peccaries (Catagonus wagneri), 2020-09-16 - ZooChat

www.zoochat.com

A photograph of the enclosure for Chacoan peccaries in the Berlin Tierpark:

Chacoan Peccary Exhibit - ZooChat

August 9th, 2019

www.zoochat.com

Chacoan peccary enclosure with viewing area:

Pampas Plains- Chacoan Peccary Exhibit Viewing - ZooChat

September 13th, 2015

www.zoochat.com