Theres one group of animals thats very common in captivity, but sadly only rarly discussed, even though they cross over into the most requested groups of animals they are often overlooked.
If you have read the title of this thread you should know, that im talking about pheasants, a group of large grounddwelling birds, related to chickens and peacocks.
These guys are zoo staples and severly missed, as atleast i am quite used to see them in aviaries or their own "fasanerien", something like a house with multiple aviaries featuring pheasants and other larger ground birds like for example the western capercilla or even the cassowary.
I often fake these in my zoo, most of the time with female peacocks, but it just isnt the same.
While you could argue for pretty much any of these colorful birds, ranging over all of asia and in the case of the common pheasant the entire northern hemisphere, i chose 4, representing a wide range of colors, distribution and overall unique ness in the cast.
First we have the common pheasant, the only pheasant with a sizeable populations in the wild outside of asia. These guys have been introduced by the romans to europe and just spread from there. Their natural range is also quite large, being the fasan thats best adepted to grassy plans, steppes and temperate woodlands, while most of the rest only lives in mountainous forests, some even bound by bamboo. An absolute allstar and a european icon, these guys should not be missed.
Secound, we have the golden pheasant, one of the most common animal in zoos, being held in 536 zoos in the EAZA alone, with many more in the past that gave them away.
Their colors remind of a phoenix, giving them the status of an animal of the wealthy and powerful, hence their wide spread in captivity.
In their home China they were the Symbol of the empress and an overall a symbol of beauty, wealth and luck, making them a must for every chinese themed section in a zoo.
Now we have the tricky choice of the 3. spot. The other 3 were quite clear, but while the himalayan Monal and the lady amhersts pheasant are quite the pretty birds, they cant beat the range and white color of the silver pheasant, being home in most of south east asia. Sadly i cant say much more about them, besides mentioning their large zoo population of 334 heldings in the EAZA, as their wikipedia page is quite short.
Last but not least we have the edwards pheasant, a species from Vietnam with beautifull blue and black feathers. The reason for them making the list is the sad fact, that this species is near extinct in the wild, with only a corpse from 2018 being the only sighting in the last 20 years. They are quite prominent in their breeding programm, with many zoos making an effort the preserve this species and hopefully one day bringing them back to the lush fields of vietnam.
I hoped you liked them, but what do you think? Do you guys want pheaseants in the game? And if yes witch?
If you have read the title of this thread you should know, that im talking about pheasants, a group of large grounddwelling birds, related to chickens and peacocks.
These guys are zoo staples and severly missed, as atleast i am quite used to see them in aviaries or their own "fasanerien", something like a house with multiple aviaries featuring pheasants and other larger ground birds like for example the western capercilla or even the cassowary.
I often fake these in my zoo, most of the time with female peacocks, but it just isnt the same.
While you could argue for pretty much any of these colorful birds, ranging over all of asia and in the case of the common pheasant the entire northern hemisphere, i chose 4, representing a wide range of colors, distribution and overall unique ness in the cast.
First we have the common pheasant, the only pheasant with a sizeable populations in the wild outside of asia. These guys have been introduced by the romans to europe and just spread from there. Their natural range is also quite large, being the fasan thats best adepted to grassy plans, steppes and temperate woodlands, while most of the rest only lives in mountainous forests, some even bound by bamboo. An absolute allstar and a european icon, these guys should not be missed.
Secound, we have the golden pheasant, one of the most common animal in zoos, being held in 536 zoos in the EAZA alone, with many more in the past that gave them away.
Their colors remind of a phoenix, giving them the status of an animal of the wealthy and powerful, hence their wide spread in captivity.
In their home China they were the Symbol of the empress and an overall a symbol of beauty, wealth and luck, making them a must for every chinese themed section in a zoo.
Now we have the tricky choice of the 3. spot. The other 3 were quite clear, but while the himalayan Monal and the lady amhersts pheasant are quite the pretty birds, they cant beat the range and white color of the silver pheasant, being home in most of south east asia. Sadly i cant say much more about them, besides mentioning their large zoo population of 334 heldings in the EAZA, as their wikipedia page is quite short.
Last but not least we have the edwards pheasant, a species from Vietnam with beautifull blue and black feathers. The reason for them making the list is the sad fact, that this species is near extinct in the wild, with only a corpse from 2018 being the only sighting in the last 20 years. They are quite prominent in their breeding programm, with many zoos making an effort the preserve this species and hopefully one day bringing them back to the lush fields of vietnam.
I hoped you liked them, but what do you think? Do you guys want pheaseants in the game? And if yes witch?
