Is there an animal that can't live in a zoo?

Question

That is, for whatever reason, they just can't handle "zoo life"?

Answer 1

If marine animals are included: Orcas and other cetaceans handle captivity quite poorly, especially orcas though, with wild females living an average of abut 40-50 years upto a maximum of 80-90 years whereas all orcas that have died at SeaWorld in the last 15 years were under 25 years (both wild caught and born in captivity)- not that that stops Seaworld from claiming they are doing them a favour and contributing to their conservation....

In general predators, especially wide ranging predators do poorly in captivity because of lack of stimulation, big cats although commonly kept can become lethargic and stereotypic if no appropriate environmental enrichment is in place.

Some sharks do very poorly in captivity, apart from Monterey Bay Aquarium, no one has managed to keep a Great White in captivity for very long and although they lead the way in keeping Great Whites (record of 198 days in captivity for their first white), they still release theirs back into the wild before they become to big or as soon as they encounter problems.
Tiger sharks don't usually do very well either and often die soon after being caught.
Both tigers and whites often refuse food and the last white shark held by Monterey started swimming into the glass.

Komodo dragons can and are kept in captivity quite successfully however.

Answer 2

I know this isn't an answer to your question, I haven't looked it up yet, but I just wanted to tell risa131313 that my zoo has a Komodo Dragon. And I'm sure that if the zoo in Wichita, KS has one, certainly others do as well. I'll post a link to my zoo's website (specifically to the part where it lists that it has one at the zoo).

Answer 3

Any large whale like a sperm whale or bigger would need a huge amount of space and because to my knowledge there isn't a zoo in which a full grown blue whale or sperm whale is held. if in fact a zoo did get a calf of a large whale the calf would most likely die because it would be deprived of it's mother's milk. Even if the zoo did feed it chances are that to calf would still starve because calfs have a tendency to accept feeding from mothers only. I

Answer 4

Komodo Dragon

Answer 5

Any migratory aquatic animal would do poorly, but wild salmon would die in captivity unless released to their capture point to resume their spawning run. The solution that aquariums use to keep salmon is to hatch the fry in captivity.

Answer 6

I've never seen a Blue Whale in captivity before.

Answer 7

Aquatic animals, besides small fish and semi aquatic animals such as the crocodile.

Answer 8

Great blue whale