Animallover360
Well-Known Member
I’ve seen bongos with them. I know that one of the Disneys Animal Kingdom hotels has/ or had (not sure the status right now) the rrh with many other species including okapi, nyala, sitatunga, etc.
Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter Kevin2342
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Disney's Animal Kingdom has mixed them with vultures and cranes
Animallover360
Well-Known Member
That place has so many acres of land!
I agree. Exhibit size is probably a factor in why it works. In a smaller exhibit like Philadelphia, it's surprising conflict doesn't arise.
Animallover360
Well-Known Member
Philly is only 42 acres and is in the middle of urban Philadelphia
I'm not talking about the zoo, I'm referring to the actual exhibit for the storks/RRH
Animallover360
Well-Known Member
I mean, I haven’t been to the zoo in years and when I went, the rrh were over where Outback Outpost is. I remember when that exhibit had the gazelles and addaxes. The zoo has really change in the past years and I honestly miss how it used to beI'm not talking about the zoo, I'm referring to the actual exhibit for the storks/RRH
There are some institutions still breeding but not many and that doesn't mean animals are available. There are about 24 animals left to the population and only 5 breeding institutions. Iirc the TAG has decided to phase them out in favor of other small antelope like Blue Duiker which is doing significantly better. While two dozen individuals isn't too little to keep the species going, the population seems to be on a decline and sadly I'm not confident on its chances long-term unless some dedicated parties import fresh blood from the highly successful European population.
~Thylo
I think that would mean death for the duikers or dik-diks probably
I'm not sure how well a duiker (depending on species) and especially a dik-dik could fair up against an angry hog. Not to mention the lack of availability of dik-diks in zoos over here.
~Thylo
@RatioTile, @ThylacineAlive is correct on both accounts. I would never trust red river hogs with species as small, delicate, and fractious as duikers (especially the smaller species -- with yellow-backeds it could go either way -- you'd either have dead duikers or skewered pigs) or dik-dik, and as Thylo said, there just aren't many dik-dik left to go around.
Mixes with red river hogs are almost always with larger species in larger spaces -- mixes with such species as bat-eared foxes have been okay until they weren't, and honestly, the same could be said for mixes with larger species. Red river hogs are quite boisterous and destructive and will eat anything they can get their mouths around. My guess is that Philadelphia has just gotten lucky with the right combination of individual animals thus far. With the gazelle's age and having been mixed with many animals over the years, she is probably just calm enough of an animal to not be riled up by the hogs/they've gotten really lucky with some even-keeled hogs. Storks are also just generally aggressive birds that are able to hold their own.
In all seriousness though, it makes me sad to see just how much Philadelphia has downgraded in favor for more "safe" animals and exhibits. It is very heartbreaking to see a zoo that had bearded pigs, red shanked doucs, African striped weasels and white bellied spider monkeys all in the past decade or so, add red kangaroos, emus, golden pheasants, domestic animals, and now watusi as their "star" new animals. I understand that many of the phased out animals aren't available anymore, but I just found it disheartening to see the zoo obtain and advertise animals that can be legally bought as pets in many states.
The watusi are easy to rehome and replace, at least. Hopefully it's just a temporary measure until they are able to make the habitat better suited for other species.
Animallover360
Well-Known Member
Oh they’re there to stay I bet. Knowing that zoo, they’d get rid of gorillas for some species of mice lmao
The lone male addax moved to another zoo many years ago. I am not sure if he is still alive, if so, he would be very old, 15 years old.
I didn’t see the king cobra on todays visit, and I heard about the king cobra today from a veternarian and some of this is an overview what he said.
This morning around 10 a.m., zoo veterinarians and staff did a full wellness check on the zoo’s elderly female king cobra. As mentioned before about her cloudy eye, during todays exam they actually did confirm that she has old age cataracts. This snake just completed her shed a few days ago, but the eye was still cloudy. Moving forward, keepers will put special scents in her food so the snake will have an easier time finding it, since she only has one eye of good vision. Except the cataracts, nothing else obvious was found and the snake is in excellent health for her age. She came from Indonesia in 2003, but we are estimating she is in her late 20s. This means she could be the oldest in history, since the record was one of Philly Zoo’s former king cobras named Starfire, who held the record at that time at 26 years old.The veternarian expected the cobra to be back this afternoon, but I did not see her when I went back around 3:30 so she may still be recovering. This morning, the Reptile House was closed for safety before the exam to safely capture the cobra for the exam. Anesthetic procedures are very risky for especially older animals so they did the procedure when the snake was awake, they just put a tube through the snakes face to prevent biting.
This morning around 10 a.m., zoo veterinarians and staff did a full wellness check on the zoo’s elderly female king cobra. As mentioned before about her cloudy eye, during todays exam they actually did confirm that she has old age cataracts. This snake just completed her shed a few days ago, but the eye was still cloudy. Moving forward, keepers will put special scents in her food so the snake will have an easier time finding it, since she only has one eye of good vision. Except the cataracts, nothing else obvious was found and the snake is in excellent health for her age. She came from Indonesia in 2003, but we are estimating she is in her late 20s. This means she could be the oldest in history, since the record was one of Philly Zoo’s former king cobras named Starfire, who held the record at that time at 26 years old.The veternarian expected the cobra to be back this afternoon, but I did not see her when I went back around 3:30 so she may still be recovering. This morning, the Reptile House was closed for safety before the exam to safely capture the cobra for the exam. Anesthetic procedures are very risky for especially older animals so they did the procedure when the snake was awake, they just put a tube through the snakes face to prevent biting.
Visited the zoo today, McNeil and the former pachyderm house (KidsZooU) are closed to protect the birds inside from the avian flu. Small mammal house was still also closed unfortunately, I haven't been inside since before COVID. Pictures of the Phase construction are below, as well as Giant Otters with access to the former Fossa exhibit.
Attachments
How did you get access to talk to the vet?
I saw an employee by the Reptile House, I didn’t know his job but he told me he was a vet and part of the team working on the wellness exam.
As mentioned before about the cloudy eye thing(they thought it was a shed, but when the cobra completed her shed a few days ago, the eye cap remained so it left people wondering whether it was an incomplete shed or cataracts, and today it was confirmed to be cataracts. I don’t find it a surprise. She has lived to a remarkable age already and no other health issues. So doing pretty darn good for her age. She’s not in pain or anything.
The zoo's new map shows the new Ankole-Watusis and a new exhibit called Habitat Hollow.
Animallover360
Well-Known Member
What’s Habitat hollowThe zoo's new map shows the new Ankole-Watusis and a new exhibit called Habitat Hollow.
Additionally to the king cobra, I have a few other news updates from my visit today.
-There are plans to build a new giraffe feeding deck by the giraffe exhibit so visitors can hand-feed giraffes in the near future. During the time the deck is being built the giraffes will be off exhibit.
-Bea, the youngest giraffe was eating some plants on the side of her exhibit. The giraffes were moved off-exhibit around 3 p.m. and did not return for remainder of the day as they had to do an exhibit check whether the plants were poisonous or not.
-The mhorr gazelle and red river hogs were back on exhibit, however I only saw two out of the three hogs. The grass is gradually growing back. The cattle are expected to arrive in May, and there will be three of them.
-More sad news from KidZooU. Breezy the Saanen goat was euthanized April 14. He just eclipsed his 10th birthday in March. Breezy’s health has been declining over the past few years. He first developed arthritis when he was seven, and it has progressed significantly as he aged. Recently he was at a level of pain that was unmanageable, his appetite also declined significantly. Veterinarians and keepers felt pain medication was not helping and decided to euthanize him Thursday, April 14. Breezy was the zoo’s most popular and smartest goat. He knew how to paint and solve math problems, and answer questions using goat language. One of his keepers actually took a few days off after he died since she felt so upset about his passing. I just saw Breezy on Sunday, April 10. Little did I know that would be the last time I see him, he looked fine but an educator told me today he was actually uncomfortable even though he looked okay. At 10 years old, Breezy was geriatric as Saanen goats generally live about 10 years old. A shame. 3 goats so far lost in 2022.
-I found out a follow up on Milan the Angora goat’s passing earlier this year. She died in February, so when I saw her on February 18, it was at the very end. One day she couldn’t get up at all, she was okay the day before, so it was a sudden thing. The vets euthanized her since she was very uncomfortable and couldn’t get up to walk.
-Grogu the baby sloth is in the Rare Animal Conservation Center with the titi monkeys and giant elephant shrew. I didn’t see him but he likes to hide in the bowl covered with moss. Today an educator informed me of his presence. Last time however I saw him at the front right corner on a branch.
-About the zoo animal database, I did actually confirm that Argyle the sloth is the oldest in the history of the database, and at more than 50 years old he is the oldest sloth in the US, and could be the oldest in the world since we don’t know his age.
-There are plans to build a new giraffe feeding deck by the giraffe exhibit so visitors can hand-feed giraffes in the near future. During the time the deck is being built the giraffes will be off exhibit.
-Bea, the youngest giraffe was eating some plants on the side of her exhibit. The giraffes were moved off-exhibit around 3 p.m. and did not return for remainder of the day as they had to do an exhibit check whether the plants were poisonous or not.
-The mhorr gazelle and red river hogs were back on exhibit, however I only saw two out of the three hogs. The grass is gradually growing back. The cattle are expected to arrive in May, and there will be three of them.
-More sad news from KidZooU. Breezy the Saanen goat was euthanized April 14. He just eclipsed his 10th birthday in March. Breezy’s health has been declining over the past few years. He first developed arthritis when he was seven, and it has progressed significantly as he aged. Recently he was at a level of pain that was unmanageable, his appetite also declined significantly. Veterinarians and keepers felt pain medication was not helping and decided to euthanize him Thursday, April 14. Breezy was the zoo’s most popular and smartest goat. He knew how to paint and solve math problems, and answer questions using goat language. One of his keepers actually took a few days off after he died since she felt so upset about his passing. I just saw Breezy on Sunday, April 10. Little did I know that would be the last time I see him, he looked fine but an educator told me today he was actually uncomfortable even though he looked okay. At 10 years old, Breezy was geriatric as Saanen goats generally live about 10 years old. A shame. 3 goats so far lost in 2022.
-I found out a follow up on Milan the Angora goat’s passing earlier this year. She died in February, so when I saw her on February 18, it was at the very end. One day she couldn’t get up at all, she was okay the day before, so it was a sudden thing. The vets euthanized her since she was very uncomfortable and couldn’t get up to walk.
-Grogu the baby sloth is in the Rare Animal Conservation Center with the titi monkeys and giant elephant shrew. I didn’t see him but he likes to hide in the bowl covered with moss. Today an educator informed me of his presence. Last time however I saw him at the front right corner on a branch.
-About the zoo animal database, I did actually confirm that Argyle the sloth is the oldest in the history of the database, and at more than 50 years old he is the oldest sloth in the US, and could be the oldest in the world since we don’t know his age.