Bronx Zoo Bronx Zoo News 2019

TZDugong said:
That's disappointing! I saw my first Kea at the Bronx, lovely species.
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I'm very glad I did an unplanned trip to Bronx in March and got to see theirs (I'd never made it over to the building on other visits), because it left soon after. Such a neat species.
 
So how are the dholes doing? I never saw them when I went down so I assume they're still super shy.
 
Has anyo
ThylacineAlive said:
That's not going to happen... As discussed before and later linked to, the zoo's latest announced plan for the building is a Pygmy Hippo and small primates exhibit.

~Thylo
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I've been away for a bit, so this is bit delayed. I may have been the one to report that the Monkey House might be used as an Invertebrates exhibit, because I had heard a keep say this in a visit in September 2018. This was a keeper I met with a friend while strolling near the building, so it's probably unlikely it was a primate keeper. He had a jacket on, so I couldn't see the department name embroidered on the right side of his polo shirt. I remember this so well because my friend had been lamenting the closure of NZP's Invertebrates exhibit, and he was so delighted by this news that he still asks about its progress....

I, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited to hear that this historic building will be used at least in part for its original purpose. I knew of the pygmy hippo possibility, but perhaps should have been a bit more inquisitive when an episode of The Zoo (probably shot at least 18 months ago by now) depicted the basement being used for a quiet slow Loris breeding space. This is a preservationist's dream, seeing now another of the original Heins & LaFarge Astor Court buildings return not only to use, but to species that are actually related and resemble the iconic sculpted friezes of monkey heads. Animals are, of course, what we celebrate here, but this is an equally exciting achievement for architecture and city planning.
 
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ThylacineAlive said:
Decided to pop into the zoo yesterday and unsurprisingly there were no Dholes to be seen, although still plenty of comments about the dead Polar Bear to be heard from random visitors.

In other news:
-The zoo no longer keeps helmeted curassows.
-There was a transport crate in the condor exhibit, not sure if this means the zoo is crate training their bird for departure.
-There's a Rock Hyrax baby on-exhibit.
-I don't think the Rodrigues Flying Foxes are on-exhibit in the tree-kangaroo enclosure anymore
-New hiding logs have been added to the old Mangrove Snake enclosure, though no animals currently inhabit the enclosure.
-All of the lights were on in the Mouse House for some reason, which made for very interesting views of the area and its inhabitants.
-The zoo's monal are now on-exhibit in the old Kea enclosure, which has been upgraded with plants.
-The Sri Lankan Junglefowl now appears to be mixed with the Great Indian Hornbill in World of Birds.
-Standing's Day Gecko is now exhibited with the spider tortoises.
-Four nyala cows were let in with the bull, so we can probably expect up to four calves come next Spring.
-There don't appear to be any Asian Yellow-Spotted Toads on-exhibit anymore, with additional Splendid Toads having taken their place.
-The zoo's Guinea Turacos have moved into the Aquatic Bird House.
-I don't think the zoo is keeping chevrotain in that tiny loris enclosure anymore, and instead is exhibiting multiple animals across several enclosures in World of Birds.
-I think the zoo is finally taking signage updating more seriously. There's still a lot of work to do, especially in JungleWorld, but I noted a lot of new and restored signage across World of Birds, the Aquatic Bird House, and World of Reptiles in particular. While many of the newer signs in the bird houses are those simple, laminated paper printouts they sometimes use, at the very least most species are now accurately signed. The ex-Kea enclosure still needs its signs removed, however, though they were covered over so people wouldn't mistake the pheasant for the parrot. In WoR, the Nile Monitor now has signage, and that entire row of enclosure in the center of the house have had their lights restored so I think the day someone found them out was just a temporary issue (thankfully). Additionally, while those electronic signs outside of JW are (unfortunately) still broken, there are rainforest acre countdowns and Human population counts working in CGF. The Dholes in particular have some great signage, which partially talked about the WCS' work with the species both in the wild and at the zoo with them being one of the few US zoos to keep them. There's also a neat little sign about the different "kinds" of canids, such as foxes, jackals, wolves, etc. There's even a little section about the mystery of the Dingo.

Finally, and I know I may sound a little silly here, but has anyone ever looked at the ceiling in the first indoor section of CGF? There are some absolutely beautiful preserved leaves across the entire room. Maybe I'm just slow on the uptake but I don't think I've ever noticed it before! Never really thought to look up I guess... Fantastic detail.

~Thylo
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So for reasons I ended up visiting the zoo again yesterday, this is by far the shortest period of time I've had between visits but I still have some observations to note:

-I did spot two Rodrigues Flying Foxes, except they were high up past the otter enclosure instead of visible by the tree-kangaroo.
-I spotted two nyala calves which appeared to be very new births. Both were tagged but one still looked to be getting used to its legs.
-A Gaur calf has been born
-I think the zoo might have additional off-show housing for the elephants besides what's direct;y behind the on-show. My friend and I spotted one of the females in a yard that was on the opposite side of the Blackbuck and deer housing/off-show yards from the main elephant complex.
-I counted four Mary River Turtles on-show now between three enclosures: the Giant Snake-Necked Turtle viv, the batagur pool, and the water monitor viv.
-The zoo seems to have Brown Pelicans again, as there was a small group in the pond behind the Children's Zoo.
-It seems there is still one Guinea Turaco in CGF and one in the ABH, I wonder if the pair had a falling out of sorts.
-I asked a keeper and the zoo only has and has only had one female grey parrot.
-I finally spotted the Dholes! There were several keepers at the exhibit and from talking with some of them it does appear as though they are just very shy still and since they have constant access to the yard as well as the indoor dens they usually choose to be inside when people are around. A couple keepers said this was the first time they were even seeing the animals since they arrived. The best times to try and spot them are between 10-12 and 2-3 since that's when the keepers' actively try to coax them outside for a while. Absolutely stunning animals and a great addition to the zoo.

~Thylo
 
A1st said:
Anyone know when season 4 of The Zoo will premiere? Really looking forward to watching again
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I've actually wondering if there will be more seasons. In September 2018, I ran into Curator Kevin Hils who said they were filming season 3, and season 2 and 3 followed very closely upon the heels of the prior seasons. Without any new episodes in so long, I'm wondering if the shows featuring SD and Columbus (and their respective safari parks) and the Georgia Aquarium might have taken The Zoo's place. Columbus has 500 acres and big splashy new exhibits plus The Wilds, and SD has a zoo and even bigger safari park (in terms of animals) than The Wilds. Plus, I can't help but think how much more difficult it must to produce in the Bronx, where finding hotels and parking safe enough to protect loads of equipment probably isn't the easiest. I started seeing the third season episodes 10 months ago, and there was never a gap between seasons remotely this long. I'm not overly optimistic. But heck, I've been waiting that long for the new season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," so what do I know?
 
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