Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter red river hog
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Well, neither opossums nor rats live very long, so they most likely died. No clue on the hogs.
Polar bear fan
Well-Known Member
At least one of the sisters died, so it’s possible that the species is no longer present at the zoo.
There were two sisters, Savannah and Carolina. Which one died and when? And is the other still alive?
Polar bear fan
Well-Known Member
It was reported earlier in the thread, but I will DM the zoo just to make sure.
Visited the zoo this morning and have one update: A female ostrich has taken up residency in the former Maned wolf exhibit in the Cheetah Conservation Center. The exhibit's caves have been removed, brush cleared, and new exhibit signs added. Currently, the ostrich is behind the scenes (with public viewing) but should be on exhibit soon according to the Zoo's sign.
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Polar bear fan
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According to the zoo’s website they are down to one female Red River hog.
Does anyone know anything about this mass exodus of animals form the section lately? No more oryx or dama gazelles, and the maned wolves were moved out. No announcement about the suspected new female cheetah or ostrich, down to one zebra, one red River hog, and one sitatunga. The two kudu who took up residence in the old oryx and gazelle yard are no longer marked on the website. Plus one ostrich hardly seems like enough for the space left empty. Is she going to be joined by another animal soon, or at least mixed with Moyo the zebra?
Does anyone know anything about this mass exodus of animals form the section lately? No more oryx or dama gazelles, and the maned wolves were moved out. No announcement about the suspected new female cheetah or ostrich, down to one zebra, one red River hog, and one sitatunga. The two kudu who took up residence in the old oryx and gazelle yard are no longer marked on the website. Plus one ostrich hardly seems like enough for the space left empty. Is she going to be joined by another animal soon, or at least mixed with Moyo the zebra?
The current kudu exhibit held 1.3 Lesser kudu and 1.1 Northern ground hornbill when I was there on Saturday.
They've been down to one zebra for quite some time. I remember around 2010-2011 when I visited and I saw two zebras fighting, but that was about it. IIRC, National's always been a bachelor facility for zebras.
Polar bear fan
Well-Known Member
Yes, they have, it’s just odd to me that everything is dwindling so much: one zebra, one sitatunga, one hog, one ostrich and now one maned wolf that left the area.
Do you know where the new female came from and what happened to the second male kudu? Last I saw there was 2.2 in with 1.1 hornbill, but that was a while ago.
Do you know where the new female came from and what happened to the second male kudu? Last I saw there was 2.2 in with 1.1 hornbill said:
No idea, I was just relaying what I observed. They might just be off exhibit or rotate which is usually the case
Polar bear fan
Well-Known Member
Ok, thank you, that’s an interesting idea. I’m interested to hear some updates on the area soon.
Once the new bird house opens, that section would be the ideal choice for the next new project. This is purely speculation, but that area had always been rather simple compared to the rest of the zoo, and if the zoo wanted to bring back some of the megafauna it lost for Elephant Trails, that'd be the place to put it. So if the zoo wanted to look into getting giraffes, rhinos, or anything else for that matter, the cheetah area would be the ideal spot. Just combine some of the existing Habitats, build some new holdings, and either Rhinos or giraffes could be mixed with other ungulates, etc.
That is the general idea as a part of the Zoo's master plan. An African Savannah type exhibit with giraffe would absorb the current Parking Lot A at the north end of the zoo and incorporate the current cheetah exhibit. No idea on timing, but it's been on the Zoo's wishlist ever since giraffe left almost 20 years ago.
Steven Monfort brought up in an interview a while ago that he wanted to bring giraffes back to the zoo based on an interesting conservation story regarding collaring them in the wild. (He also said that redoing the African area was on the docket for the Master Plan but it was quite a ways down, his words, not mine.
)https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...50431a-85a0-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html
At least according to the website, the zoo has one adult male, two adult females, and one 8 month old male.
I haven't been in a while and the website isn't always accurate, so it's possible they have a new female.
Polar bear fan
Well-Known Member
I know they got a new female from St. Louis after the older breeding female died, so I have a feeling they haven’t introduced Garret to a third mate at one time. He already has 3 sons, and probably a few more calves with Rogue to come, then who knows how many with this new female who arrived in the spring.
I doubt Garrett will have much more, he is very old at 11 years old. He should be best paired with Gal who is a valuable and younger breeding female. Rogue is about 7 which is on the slight older end but if she’s lucky may have 1 or 2 more good years of breeding. I would think Kushukuru and Toba were sent away, this is a normal stage in a kudu’s life. As they matured they moved into the vulture yard as a bachelor herd, but after the bachelor herd is the stage when the two males separate and breed.
What happened to the other two red river hogs? I hope this wasn’t like the red river hogs at the Philadelphia Zoo where two of them died within a short span… all the red river hogs at National Zoo are like 13-15 which is pretty old.
There has only been one sitatunga and zebra for quite some time. Two juvenile male sitatunga arrived in 2016. Just like kudu, at that time both males were a bachelor herd. The other male, Marley, stayed at the zoo for quite a short time since they matured. I am not sure what happened to the zebras but the Grevy’s is a solitary species. Moyo lived with another male and then there was Moyo and Gumu who rotated on exhibit. I am not sure what happened to the other two.