Bronx Zoo Bronx Zoo News 2022

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Hi Bronx Zoo fans! I was wondering if anybody had heard what the construction next to the Mouse House is going to be. My kids and I go to the zoo a couple of times a month and we're all curious about it!
 
On September 19th, the zoo announced that (0.0.2) cotton teals hatched which are now on exhibit at the World of Birds building.*

*I'm not sure if the zoo had cotton teals beforehand, so the waterfowl could have been acquired from another facility.
 
On September 19th, the zoo announced that (0.0.2) cotton teals hatched which are now on exhibit at the World of Birds building.*

*I'm not sure if the zoo had cotton teals beforehand, so the waterfowl could have been acquired from another facility.

If by cotton teal you mean the 2 male Cotton Pygmy Geese (Nettapus coromandelianus), they came from Buttonwood Park Zoo.
 
Cotton teal is a synonym for Cotton (or Indian) pygmy goose - perhaps a more accurate one, in some ways, since they are ducks and not geese
 
woah I just noticed I never linked the post where I got the information, whoops.

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On September 19th, the zoo announced that (0.0.2) cotton teals hatched which are now on exhibit at the World of Birds building.*

*I'm not sure if the zoo had cotton teals beforehand, so the waterfowl could have been acquired from another facility.
When reporting news, please use the language used by the zoo to describe a new addition. When a post uses a term like "hatched" or "born" when that term is not used in the zoo's post, it can be both confusing and misleading to readers, when the individuals may not have been born at the zoo, such as this instance where two young cotton teals just arrived at the zoo. I've noticed this in a few other cases as well where you post an article saying that a zoo has two new baby goats for instance, where you say two Goats were born, when nothing in the post indicates they were born at the zoo- for all you know they could've been born at another facility and transferred to the zoo. In conclusion, please do not put words into a zoo's mouth in your posts and instead just use the language a zoo chose to use.
 
On September 19th, the zoo announced that (0.0.2) cotton teals hatched which are now on exhibit at the World of Birds building.*

*I'm not sure if the zoo had cotton teals beforehand, so the waterfowl could have been acquired from another facility.
If by cotton teal you mean the 2 male Cotton Pygmy Geese (Nettapus coromandelianus), they came from Buttonwood Park Zoo.

The zoo has Indian Pygmy-Geese from both Buttonwood and Disney I believe.

~Thylo
 
I visited the zoo for the first time in 3 months this week. I didn’t have the opportunity to see some exhibits, but here are some notes on what I saw and noticed. The zoo was the emptiest I had ever seen it outside of winter. I imagine the start of school and it being a Monday we’re contributing factors though.
  • Construction is ongoing just South of the Mouse House. Its a fairly large site, with excavation happening to a depth of several feet from what I could see.
  • I saw a pair of asian-small clawed otter in the javan langur exhibit (in addition to a different pair in the original exhibit). The signage for the langur is still up, so maybe they just have declining mobility and have less access to the exhibit. But given how they looked last time I visited this may be the end of the species here.
  • The cloud rat enclosure in Jungleworld was closed. I did see the species in the other exhibit in the Mouse House though.
  • The former guira cuckoo/tinamou exhibit in World of Birds now is home to sun conure and grey winged trumpeter. The trumpeter exhibit next door was empty and was being renovated.
  • A white-throated bee eater chick is on exhibit. It has yet to leave the nest. The zoo also currently has 7 adults of each species. I highly recommend attending the bee eater buffet at 3pm if you have not. Very educational and great for slow motion photography.
  • I did see a junglefowl in with the hornbills in World of Birds. I know their had been some discussion about the red junglefowl label, but I was unsure of what species the male bird actually is.
  • In the Children’s Zoo an escaped domestic budgerigar (probably a local pet) seems to have taken up residence above the monk parakeets. I hope the zoo is able to catch this bird before winter though so it can survive.
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  • Lastly I found an interesting species hiding in the entrance to Jungleworld, a Pantropical huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria). It was sitting right there on the concrete and I got to see it hunt a small insect. It was confirmed on iNaturalist as that species and I imagine it was carried in on tropical plant shipments.
large.jpeg
 
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I visited the zoo for the first time in 3 months this week. I didn’t have the opportunity to see some exhibits, but here are some notes on what I saw and noticed. The zoo was the emptiest I had ever seen it outside of winter. I imagine the start of school and it being a Monday we’re contributing factors though.
  • Construction is ongoing just South of the Mouse House. Its a fairly large site, with excavation happening to a depth of several feet from what I could see.
  • I saw a pair of asian-small clawed otter in the javan langur exhibit (in addition to a different pair in the original exhibit). The signage for the langur is still up, so maybe they just have declining mobility and have less access to the exhibit. But given how they looked last time I visited this may be the end of the species here.
  • The cloud rat enclosure in Jungleworld was closed. I did see the species in the other exhibit in the Mouse House though.
  • The former guira cuckoo/tinamou exhibit in World of Birds now is home to sun conure and grey winged trumpeter. The trumpeter exhibit next door was empty and was being renovated.
  • A white-throated bee eater chick is on exhibit. It has yet to leave the nest. The zoo also currently has 7 adults of each species. I highly recommend attending the bee eater buffet at 3pm if you have not. Very educational and great for slow motion photography.
  • I did see a junglefowl in with the hornbills in World of Birds. I know their had been some discussion about the red junglefowl label, but I was unsure of what species the male bird actually is.
  • In the Children’s Zoo an escaped domestic budgerigar (probably a local pet) seems to have taken up residence above the monk parakeets. I hope the zoo is able to catch this bird before winter though so it can survive.
large.jpeg

  • Lastly I found an interesting species hiding in the entrance to Jungleworld, a Pantropical huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria). It was sitting right there on the concrete and I got to see it hunt a small insect. It was confirmed on iNaturalist as that species and I imagine it was carried in on tropical plant shipments.
large.jpeg
Wow! Is Direction aware of the animal? Will they capture it to confine it somewhere or is it not a risk for any of the animals inside the building nor a threat if it escapes into the wild?
 
That spider is a need find!

I wonder when the Francois' Langurs from LA will be arriving to replace the Javan Langurs...

I would guess the junglefowl is probably the Sri Lankan.

~Thylo

To be honest it was great to see otters in the exhibit. It's so much better than their current exhibit and reminds me of what used to be in that exhibit. I hope when the langurs move in, the otters get occasional time in this yard to exercise more (not mixed obviously).
 
Wow! Is Direction aware of the animal? Will they capture it to confine it somewhere or is it not a risk for any of the animals inside the building nor a threat if it escapes into the wild?

I don't know to be honest. It is publicly available through iNaturalist though, which is what I generally do with non-native or invasive species. I even specified where in the building exactly I saw it. The species is known for occasionally hiding in plant shipments, but this was the first posted sighting in NY state. It definitely cannot survive the NY winter so it's a low-risk of being invasive here.
 
I don't know to be honest. It is publicly available through iNaturalist though, which is what I generally do with non-native or invasive species. I even specified where in the building exactly I saw it. The species is known for occasionally hiding in plant shipments, but this was the first posted sighting in NY state. It definitely cannot survive the NY winter so it's a low-risk of being invasive here.

The huntsman spiders are free-roaming and meant to be in JungleWorld. Decades ago, they were intentionally put in there for pest control. Although I'm not sure if the one on display is the same species.
 
The huntsman spiders are free-roaming and meant to be in JungleWorld. Decades ago, they were intentionally put in there for pest control. Although I'm not sure if the one on display is the same species.
This blog (from a former keeper) says they arrived accidentally amongst plants: Hunting the Huntsman - Keeping the Giant Crab, or Huntsman Spider - Part 1

I can't find any other articles which mention origins though, so who knows.

[Edit: I just realised that blog was written by Frank Indiviglio, and he should know what he's talking about]
 
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Went to the Bronx Zoo today and had a few observations:

1) I guess there are some renewed bird flu fears. Most birds were off exhibit including the flamingos, cranes, pelicans, swans, ostrich and most birds in JungleWorld. In addition the 2nd floor of WOB and the Aquatic Bird House/Seabird Colony were closed. However; all birds in Birds of Prey and the Pheasant Aviaries were on exhibit. I even saw the Australian Magpies in the last aviary.

2) In Jungle World the last two Ebony langurs were on exhibit and the area is looking very empty. In Wild Asia it was nice to see how much the Bactrian deer have grown (they have a larger herd too now). We also saw about 6-7 chital too. There were 2 Mongolian wild horse foals and we saw the herd of hog deer. No sika deer or Indian muntjac, but I was able to find the last 3 tahr too.

3) Construction by the Mouse House unfortunately does not seem to be anything major. Looking through the fence they have a small cement block foundation and a wood fence that looks to create a queue. It is probably going to be a cafe.

4) Since I had my little nephew with me, we did walk through the Dinosaur Safari. I have to say it was not that well done. I think the dinos being out in the elements for a few months made some look worn out. But ultimately it is such a waste of space- I do hope this area does eventually get developed.

5) Nothing new to report from Madagascar, Mouse House or the Reptile House. I was surprised by how few lemurs were on exhibit (2 red ruffed lemurs, 1 collared lemur, 2 ringtails) and the Mouse House has really started to double and triple up exhibits with the same species (it was great seeing so many feathertail gliders though). False water cobras were off exhibit already, but Hog Island Boas, a copperhead and a horned rattlesnake were new for me (or at least haven been on exhibit in a few years).

6) World of Birds- there seemed to be a lot of movement. Sad to not see the maleo on exhibit (could have moved somewhere else in the building) as argus pheasant, bali mynah and some other SE Asian birds have moved there. In the curassow/quetzal exhibit I saw a flock of what looked like oropendola or a jay species with yellow on the wings, but it was unlabeled. All open air exhibits had very heavy netting covering the exhibits making it difficult to see what was inside.

Overall a little disappointed to miss so many of the bird exhibits but will have to go back in a few months again and see if anything new has joined the collection.
 
6) World of Birds- there seemed to be a lot of movement. Sad to not see the maleo on exhibit (could have moved somewhere else in the building) as argus pheasant, bali mynah and some other SE Asian birds have moved there. In the curassow/quetzal exhibit I saw a flock of what looked like oropendola or a jay species with yellow on the wings, but it was unlabeled. All open air exhibits had very heavy netting covering the exhibits making it difficult to see what was inside.

Overall a little disappointed to miss so many of the bird exhibits but will have to go back in a few months again and see if anything new has joined the collection.

Maleo share the exhibit with those species. Was the signage for them removed?
 
Maleo share the exhibit with those species. Was the signage for them removed?
I did not see any signage- even the special "As seen on The Zoo" signage was removed. They had a smaller cage in the exhibit so it looks like the introduced some new birds in and I also saw the pied hornbills in that exhibit. I could have missed something, but I specifically looked for them when I noticed their sign was taken down.
 
The Maleo don't have a regular sign like the rest of the birds in that habitat, but rather that big plaque talking about the species and the zoo's work with them is the sign.

The oropendola-like birds you saw are the Yellow-Rumped Caciques reported a few months back.

What do you mean by "horned rattlesnake"? The boa and Copperhead have been on-exhibit for years if I'm not mistaken.

~Thylo
 
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