The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore Maryland Zoo News 2021

Aardwolf said:
Yes, Baltimore actually used to have the biggest collection of pygmy hippos in the states, breeding lots of them. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the zoo launched several expeditions to Liberia, not only bringing back pygmy hippos, but golden cats, Picathartes, slender-snout crocs, and a lot of other species.

Easiest way to tell if you were thinking of Baltimore or National - could you actually see anything? National's Elephant House was/is pretty light and airy, with the pygmy hippos pretty much on ground level. Baltimore's Hippo House was very dark. All of the exhibits were on one side of the building (straight ahead when you walked in), seen from an overlook. I think I only ever got a single photo of a pygmy hippo in that building that was worth keeping.
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Do you have any photos of the interior? I remember it being pretty dark but I don’t remember being on an overlook.
 
Aardwolf said:
Yes, Baltimore actually used to have the biggest collection of pygmy hippos in the states, breeding lots of them. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the zoo launched several expeditions to Liberia, not only bringing back pygmy hippos, but golden cats, Picathartes, slender-snout crocs, and a lot of other species.

Easiest way to tell if you were thinking of Baltimore or National - could you actually see anything? National's Elephant House was/is pretty light and airy, with the pygmy hippos pretty much on ground level. Baltimore's Hippo House was very dark. All of the exhibits were on one side of the building (straight ahead when you walked in), seen from an overlook. I think I only ever got a single photo of a pygmy hippo in that building that was worth keeping.
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Golden cats?!?!
 
TinoPup said:
A few updates. I'll have photos for a few of these up in a bit.

Maryland Wilderness:
-As @SaritaWolf said, the otters opened back up on friday. Right now they'll mostly be out in the morning as they get adjusted back to the exhibit.
-The double arched viewing for the otters is gone :( Now it's one pane with an open top.
-The hellbender exhibit is almost open. You can see it from the tunnel, just not walk up to it.
-The cave is still closed, and will be for a while as they attempt to fix some of the exhibits in there. It's much too complicated to update the whole place.
-Exhibits in the tree and meadow have been updated. The keeper areas were expanded, outer exhibits in the tree were made smaller and more size-appropriate, lights and some signage were updated. The tree had the roof fixed and was repainted, making it look even more realistic. I meant to go back and get photos and forgot.
-Most of those exhibits can now be accessed from the front, instead of the rear.
-There's now string lights through the wooded areas. Not sure if it'll be left up permanently or not, it's from an event.

Africa:
-The rhinos are coming along great! They are super easy to tell apart - JP has very hairy ears, a tail tuft, and a different hump from Jelani. Their left ear notches are also different. Intros with the zebras have gone well, and they just started introing the ostrich girls to them.
-Only one of the zebras is a grant's, the other two are generic.
-Duiker intro has gone well :) The pair are in the duiker exhibit next to the warthog (with the crowned cranes), LJ will be hanging out in the african aviary.
-They're now at 98 penguins, plus 10 in the Embassy.
-There's usually 7 sitatunga out in the yard. If you look around, you can spot the bright orange ear tufts as they curl up in the long grass.
-A European white stork is in the male kudu exhibit.
-Hamerkop and VdD hornbill are nesting in the aviary.

Other stuff:
-There's tons of wild whitetail everywhere. The train frequently has to stop running because of fawns on the tracks.
-The old education building is now the "Naturalist Lodge" and is coming along nicely.
-It's going to be a while before the tram is up and going again. They are trying to convert to an eco-friendly one, from the diesel they've been using. You can currently request a mobility cart to take you to and from the main part of the zoo, based in front of the naturalist lodge.
-The old hoofstock exhibits along buffalo yard road are never going to be converted back to regular exhibits. It would cost millions just to get water, sewer, etc. in the area. They are currently home to the bee hive, a sustainability garden, a small education building, and a few other things. They're planning on adding signage, especially for the garden.
-Main Valley IS going to be open again!! That survey I mentioned a page or two ago showed a lot of people want to explore the area. The road was paved last week. The roof to the elephant house was recently redone, and they've been restoring other bits and cleaning up the area a bit. They're working on adding signage, safety barriers, and other things like that. It will be historical, with no animals. You can currently get a glimpse at the area if you take the mobility cart.
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-All 7 sitatungas are girls, and they are in the large grassy exhibit with Northern ground hornbill as soon as you walk in African Journey. Yes, they can be hard to spot.
-The white stork is in the old male sitatunga exhibit, not the kudu. The kudu are all housed together. The male sitatunga Hurley passed away last fall at age 13.
- LJ the duiker lives separately is because he reached maturity and no longer needs his parents. His parents, Lucky and Flower, are in the exhibit with crowned crane. It’s possible LJ may be moving to a different zoo soon to breed, like a lot of animals that are captive born.
-Why are 10 penguins separated from the 98 in the main exhibit? That makes 108
 
Kevin2342 said:
-All 7 sitatungas are girls, and they are in the large grassy exhibit with Northern ground hornbill as soon as you walk in African Journey. Yes, they can be hard to spot.
-The white stork is in the old male sitatunga exhibit, not the kudu. The kudu are all housed together. The male sitatunga Hurley passed away last fall at age 13.
- LJ the duiker lives separately is because he reached maturity and no longer needs his parents. His parents, Lucky and Flower, are in the exhibit with crowned crane. It’s possible LJ may be moving to a different zoo soon to breed, like a lot of animals that are captive born.
-Why are 10 penguins separated from the 98 in the main exhibit? That makes 108
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The other 10 birds are an education/interaction colony for penguin encounters
 
Kevin2342 said:
-All 7 sitatungas are girls, and they are in the large grassy exhibit with Northern ground hornbill as soon as you walk in African Journey. Yes, they can be hard to spot.
-The white stork is in the old male sitatunga exhibit, not the kudu. The kudu are all housed together. The male sitatunga Hurley passed away last fall at age 13.
- LJ the duiker lives separately is because he reached maturity and no longer needs his parents. His parents, Lucky and Flower, are in the exhibit with crowned crane. It’s possible LJ may be moving to a different zoo soon to breed, like a lot of animals that are captive born.
-Why are 10 penguins separated from the 98 in the main exhibit? That makes 108
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.... I know. Kudu was an unfortunate typo that I didn't catch. The rest are details that weren't relevant to my post. The sitatunga girls aren't always all out together. It's Kuruka with Flower, not Lucky.

As Aardwolf said, the 10 are ambassador animals. They are raised and live separately in a back exhibit. 10 is the max they keep. They are mostly penguins that behavior-wise are unusual, so they wouldn't really fit in with the large group anyway, and it would be difficult to locate them among the ~100 others any time they were to be used for something.
 
Aardwolf said:
Yes, Baltimore actually used to have the biggest collection of pygmy hippos in the states, breeding lots of them. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the zoo launched several expeditions to Liberia, not only bringing back pygmy hippos, but golden cats, Picathartes, slender-snout crocs, and a lot of other species.

Easiest way to tell if you were thinking of Baltimore or National - could you actually see anything? National's Elephant House was/is pretty light and airy, with the pygmy hippos pretty much on ground level. Baltimore's Hippo House was very dark. All of the exhibits were on one side of the building (straight ahead when you walked in), seen from an overlook. I think I only ever got a single photo of a pygmy hippo in that building that was worth keeping.
Click to expand...
How many of been born there
 
TinoPup said:
.... I know. Kudu was an unfortunate typo that I didn't catch. The rest are details that weren't relevant to my post. The sitatunga girls aren't always all out together. It's Kuruka with Flower, not Lucky.

As Aardwolf said, the 10 are ambassador animals. They are raised and live separately in a back exhibit. 10 is the max they keep. They are mostly penguins that behavior-wise are unusual, so they wouldn't really fit in with the large group anyway, and it would be difficult to locate them among the ~100 others any time they were to be used for something.
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Also, they keep them separate for quarantine purposes since they're considered Embassy animals and can go off grounds.
 
Mr.Ivory said:
How many of been born there
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Over 1,000 chicks have hatched since the colony started in 1967 and the Maryland Zoo maintains the largest and most successful breeding colony in North America. 9/10 blood lines of captive Africans in NA can be traced back to Baltimore.
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
Over 1,000 chicks have hatched since the colony started in 1967 and the Maryland Zoo maintains the largest and most successful breeding colony in North America. 9/10 blood lines of captive Africans in NA can be traced back to Baltimore.
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I think they were asking about the pygmy hippos
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
Over 1,000 chicks have hatched since the colony started in 1967 and the Maryland Zoo maintains the largest and most successful breeding colony in North America. 9/10 blood lines of captive Africans in NA can be traced back to Baltimore.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I was asking about the Pygmy hippo but thanks for the info
 
TinoPup said:
.... I know. Kudu was an unfortunate typo that I didn't catch. The rest are details that weren't relevant to my post. The sitatunga girls aren't always all out together. It's Kuruka with Flower, not Lucky.

As Aardwolf said, the 10 are ambassador animals. They are raised and live separately in a back exhibit. 10 is the max they keep. They are mostly penguins that behavior-wise are unusual, so they wouldn't really fit in with the large group anyway, and it would be difficult to locate them among the ~100 others any time they were to be used for something.
Click to expand...
What happened to lucky? Did he pass away or move to another zoo? The zoo now replaced Kuruka with Lucky if he’s no longer there.
 
That article still dosen’t say what exactly happened to lucky, does anyone on here know?
 
Aardwolf said:
Maryland Zoo's polar bears will be leaving - no plans to replace the species in the near future.
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This would mark the end of a very long era of housing polar bears. Not sure there's been a unbroken period of time that the zoo hasn't had polar bears since the 1940s, is that correct? While MD left the door open for polar bears to return in the future, we all know the dire situation the captive population is in.
 
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