Fanaloka the First

If you get a bunch of zoo aficionados together, it doesn't take too long for them to start grumbling about the good old days.  Sure, a lot of things were not so good in those days.  Enclosures weren't as great, nutritional and veterinary knowledge wasn't as advanced, there wasn't as much of an emphasis on animal welfare... but the animals!  You saw such a greater diversity and number of species, so many more than you see today.

Today, we continue to see some species winking out, as the last remaining individuals of uncommonly-kept species pass away.  I spend what little time and money I have for travel these days trying to see them before they go.  Sometimes I wind up with incredible memories of animals that I very well will likely never see again.  Sometimes, I just miss them.

On the other side of the coin, there are some species which were much, much less common in zoos when I was younger than they are now.  These are animals that we've gradually cracked the husbandry challenges for, gotten them breeding reliably, and now there numbers are on the rise.  Giant otters were once an incredible rarity in zoos.  Now, I've seen them in a half-dozen institutions, with more facilities building exhibits for them as we speak.

And then, every once in a while, something like this happens.  A very rare, poorly known, little seen creature is imported... and then it breeds.  For the first time ever, a baby fanaloka, a Malagasy carnivore related to the fossa (another species that was once very rare in zoos and is now becoming more common) has been born in the United States.  I'm not saying that these guys are about to become common, but it is a major event, one which I was delighted to read about.  I hope to see the animals in person when I get the chance. 

Congratulations to the Nashville Zoo!