In 1879 Pryer was elected a Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society of London: in 1878 he had sent a living "Japanese Wild Dog" to the Zoological Society's menagerie, although a contemporary Zoo catalogue suggests there was a question mark as to how wild it actually was. In 1879, Pryer sent the Society a living male example of the Japanese serow Capricornis crispus, the first time the living species had been seen in the U.K. The serow was described as suffering in confinement on its long voyage to England, losing weight, and being aggressive with a companion animal placed in its enclosure when it first arrived at the zoo, though it improved in health after some time.
