Bronx Zoo Gorilla Question

tigertiger

tigertiger

Well-Known Member
I was looking through old photos today and remember that Congo wasn't always where the gorillas lived at the Bronx Zoo. I know they used to live somewhere near the zoo center (or relative to that part of the zoo) but cannot for my life recall where they used to be.

Can anyone else provide some details on this? Thanks!
 
They lived in the Great Ape House, directly across from the Reptile House (where the current Butterfly Garden is located). It was built circa 1950, with small outdoor moated areas, where infamously a gorilla drowned, after which the moats were drained....
 
What happened to that building? In my head, I'm thinking this would have been where the butterfly garden is now?
 
tigertiger said:
I was looking through old photos today and remember that Congo wasn't always where the gorillas lived at the Bronx Zoo. I know they used to live somewhere near the zoo center (or relative to that part of the zoo) but cannot for my life recall where they used to be.

Can anyone else provide some details on this? Thanks!
Click to expand...

And where Congo is today, there was "South America." (Camelids, etc.) Not the zoo's proudest moment.
 
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Thanks! I was looking through the online chapter of New York City Zoos and Aquarium
By Joan Scheier and found another question: when did Bronx stop exhibiting classical zoo animals: orang's & hippo's? I can't even imagine where they'd have the space for a hippo and I'm assuming orang' were in the Ape House.
 
Nile Hippos were kept in the old Elephant House for many years--I don't know when they went away, but it was probably in the 1970s.

Pygmy hippos were kept in one of the "South America" exhibits where Congo now sits, together with other species like babirusa and Malayan tapirs (yes, that made no sense). "South America" was built in the early 70s surrounding the old Small Deer House, one of the zoo's original buildings, that was demolished to make way for Congo.

Orangs lived in the Great Ape House until the early 1980s, when the whole building was devoted to gorillas (except for one indoor gibbon area). The original plans for JungleWorld included a wing for orangs that was never built.
 
Interesting. I always find it amazing that for such a phenomenal zoo--there are so many basic creatures that Bronx doesn't have. I had to go to Cincinnati to see my first Orang' and I've still never seen a hippo. Never seen much rhino diversity or most penguins either. Quite strange.
 
It was a quite intentional and commendable decision to focus on quality not quantity. It is still one of the most diverse collections on earth, but also has significant breeding populations of important species in great exhibits, rather than trying to cram in everything under the sun (like Omaha or San Diego).
 
I agree, quality especially is better than quantity when it comes to zoos. It is sometimes a shame though--especially in the case of Bronx when the 'basic' zoo animals the zoo have the worst exhibits at the zoo. The big bear grottos need to be torn down, plain and simple. The elephants kept at the zoo center in summer can't possibly be happy in the relatively small area up there (though the area they have in Asia is rather good for them). The rhinos in Asia are terrible for the zoogoer (and most of them are not on display often).

I personally think the next 'hit' exhibit for Bronx should be doing something with those god awful bear hells. They're terrible for the bears, there's nothing of interest for the zoogoer, and are just plain unattractive. Building an arctic world filled with a real penguin display and happy polar bear world would be a GREAT move for the Bronx and they surely have the space to do it.
 
I agree 100% on the bears. I don't believe elephants are exhibited in the old elephant house any longer (the last time I visited there were camels in that yard). The Central Park Zoo penguin exhibit is pretty good, and may be the reason the Bronx doesn't do much in the penguin area. And yes, seeing the rhinos for 30 seconds on the monorail is not very satisfying. Given the economic situation in New York, it may be long while until the Bronx can mount another "blockbuster" exhibit, unfortunately.
 
The elephants are still on display there as of this past summer, at least. There's also still signage up, leading me to believe they may be there again this year. The Bronx Zoo does have the Sea Bird Aviary with the Magellanic Penguins and it is easily the best bird exhibit at Bronx (which has a bird problem of it's own right) but as far as variety....it's quite dismal.

I do think you're right--it will probably be a good 15 years or so before there's much more than plans for something new but I do hope when that day comes...the zoo works on it's poor exhibits (Aquatic Bird, Asia, and the bears being the 3 disasters in my mind) rather than building (or rebuilding) anything completely fresh.
 
tigertiger said:
The elephants are still on display there as of this past summer, at least. There's also still signage up, leading me to believe they may be there again this year. The Bronx Zoo does have the Sea Bird Aviary with the Magellanic Penguins and it is easily the best bird exhibit at Bronx (which has a bird problem of it's own right) but as far as variety....it's quite dismal.

I do think you're right--it will probably be a good 15 years or so before there's much more than plans for something new but I do hope when that day comes...the zoo works on it's poor exhibits (Aquatic Bird, Asia, and the bears being the 3 disasters in my mind) rather than building (or rebuilding) anything completely fresh.
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I am a member of the WCS and go several times a year to the Bronx. No elephants have been exhibited in the central elephant house for at least two years. Since the announcement that the Bronx zoo would no longer exhibit Elephants once the current animals were deceased, the elephants have only been exhibited at wild asia. There was signage up at the house saying they would NOT exhibit elephants there again. I believe Elephants were only exhibited there in the winter before this as in the summer they could be viewed from the wild Asia monorail. Bactrian Camels are exhibited where the elephants were and babarusa are where the sumatran/hairy rhino rapunzel was exhibited (the first sumatran I'd ever seen!).
 
zebedee101 said:
I am a member of the WCS and go several times a year to the Bronx. No elephants have been exhibited in the central elephant house for at least two years, since the announcement that the Bronx zoo would no longer exhibit Elephants once the current animals were deceased. There was signage up at the house saying they would not exhibit elephants there again. I believe Elephants were only exhibited there in the winter before this as in the summer they could be viewed from the wild Asia monorail. Bactrian Camels are exhibited where the elephants were and babarusa are where the sumatran/hairy rhino rapunzel was exhibited (the first sumatran I'd ever seen!).
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I really could have sworn seeing them there last summer. They were exhibited there during the summer too, however. I can recall several times on the monorail hearing this and also seeing them there in the middle of a summer day. Signage at the Bronx Zoo does mean very little though--there are still signs telling one where to find the cheetahs and signs on the Mouse House promoting the Monorail as the place to see tigers.

This surely sounds silly but how many places do camels need to be? The camels are right by the Asia entrance near the place they do camel rides, in the Zoo Center itself and apparently also outside the zoo center. I wasn't aware there was such an appeal for the animal!
 
Are there no longer tigers in Wild Asia...I thought there were Indo-Chinese/Malayan Tigers there now.
 
okapikpr said:
Are there no longer tigers in Wild Asia...I thought there were Indo-Chinese/Malayan Tigers there now.
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I think they're still there--I haven't been on the monorail since August and as it's only a May to early-October exhibit I'll have to wait a few more months to verify that completely. But...you know, more recently there's somewhere year round that one could see tiger's that the signage neglects. I was referring mainly to that--seeing a sign in February for the Wild Asia Monorail tigers isn't really accurate when there's Tiger Mountain year round.
 
I would think that it would be rather difficult to go around a very large zoo and change all the signage on a seasonal basis.
 
tigertiger said:
I really could have sworn seeing them there last summer. They were exhibited there during the summer too, however. I can recall several times on the monorail hearing this and also seeing them there in the middle of a summer day. Signage at the Bronx Zoo does mean very little though--there are still signs telling one where to find the cheetahs and signs on the Mouse House promoting the Monorail as the place to see tigers.

This surely sounds silly but how many places do camels need to be? The camels are right by the Asia entrance near the place they do camel rides, in the Zoo Center itself and apparently also outside the zoo center. I wasn't aware there was such an appeal for the animal!
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, I meant that Elephants were no longer exhibited in zoo centre (the old elephant house) but are still in the paddock that can be viewed from the monorail. The camels are on year round display in centre zoo but camel rides are only offered at the asia entrance in the summer. I dont think they are ehibited elsewhere in the park but the riding camels can be seen stabled or exercising just behind where the rides take place.

It was a real shame to see the loss of cheetahs from the bronx, especially as their replacement with Ostrich without any modifications to the exhibit is just inadequate. I agree that the bear exhibit for both the polar and brown bear needs new construction. Are there any plans for this? I would also love to know the history of the polar bears at the bronx/central park.
 
okapikpr said:
I would think that it would be rather difficult to go around a very large zoo and change all the signage on a seasonal basis.
Click to expand...

I'm not suggesting this. I may be using my words wrong again. I'm thinking of one particular sign that one sees when leaving the mouse house that goes something along the lines of "If you want to see....go here". Congo isn't listed at all on there and the line for tigers mentions only the monorail. It seems silly to me to mention neither. In my mind, this isn't intentional on the zoos part but rather just something that has yet to be updated.
 
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