Crazy to think the current Binturong habitat once housed a pair of Jaguars.
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden Riverbanks Zoo News
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
Its so weird the conservation outpost is there since the days of Vietnam wow. Like you think an exhibit that old would be torn down by now? What's even in it? Like one habitat literally held a chinchilla? Its sad really to think it's just stuck there like is there a point anymore? All the crazy weird wonderful animals leopards hyenas pumas you k lw the stuff we saw in the old movies and the disney true life charlie the lonesome cougar are gone. It's just like s a small pet store now far cry from the wonderful riverbanks zoo of the q970s you wonderful.beautiful place, first time with my now wife there!
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Off the top of my head, it currently has red ruffed lemur, ring tailed lemur, common squirrel monkey, white-faced saki, golden lion tamarin, two-toed sloth, prehensile-tailed porcupine, black-footed cat, and fishing cat. Until sometime within the past few months, there was also a binturong that I never once fully saw in perhaps a dozen visits. The exhibits are all incredibly dated and lacking in space, but focusing on smaller species is obviously the right direction to have taken the area if destroying it and replacing it with something newer isn’t an option for whatever reason. There really aren’t many small mammals elsewhere in the zoo, so I think it serves a really important purpose. I just really, really hope they can find the time and budget to replace it with a new small mammal indoor/outdoor section, even if such taxonomic sections aren’t really in style at the moment. I feel like they need it more than the Komodo dragons do.
Hard to believe it held pumas and jaguars plus even a Bengal tiger once.
A 200 page document from the year 1973 has come into my possession, it list a detailed master plan of the zoo from 1973 and had plans til the year 1990. The zoo we got is very different from the original zoo that was planned. However opening day of the zoo did provide only but a slight taste of the grand zoo that had been planned to be completed in 1990.
The aim on scientific education is higher than just being a place of novelty for kids which is what it seems to be. Environmental focus and awareness was huge and also the bird house was intended to be the centerpiece of the zoo and its icon which it was for many years.
That list is correct, I posted a species list of Riverbanks shortly after my visit which you can view here -> https://www.zoochat.com/community/t...rden-species-list-and-review-may-2023.487677/.
I contend that the Conservation Outpost is the absolute worst part of the zoo and really needs a bulldozer as no amount of makeovers can make it look good. The idea that it once held large carnivorans like Hyenas and Cougars were kept in there is hard to swallow. Riverbanks is planning on expanding the zoo across the river to where the gardens are (but not replacing them), so I hope they can move the outpost residents into more modern enclosures and do something about the outpost. Even if the animals there are small species, the exhibits still feel way too small and cramped. It honestly feels like it's much older than it actually is.
It was built at the last minute in 1974 to hold miscellaneous animals that didn't have a home there. It didn't officially open til 1975 and was not designed by the European zoo firm that designed the rest of the zoo but the director himself who never designed a zoo before in his life. Animals there originally were, Jaguar, Binturong, White Faced Saki, Hoffmann Sloth, North African Porcupine, White nosed Coati, Puma, Bengal Tiger, Black Howler. It was called Small Mamml North
Other 2023 News:
On March 24th, the zoo announced the meerkat's gender (0.1) and name, Poppy. The zoo also announced that (0.0.2) more slender-tailed meerkats were born.
Spring has arrived, and you... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On May 25th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) slender-tailed meerkat named Poppy passed away due to a kidney injury.
Being a part of the animal... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On July 1st, it was announced that the zoo transferred a (1.0) binturong named Paco to the Colombus Zoo & Aquarium in Ohio.
It's Paco the binturong!... - Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
On July 4th, the zoo announced that (0.0.4) southern rockhopper penguins hatched and will be on exhibit in mid-August.
Riverbanks is proud to... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On July 14th, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) American flamingo hatched on July 12th and is now on exhibit.
New chicks on the block! Our first flamingo chick of 2023 hatched just two days ago and is now out on habitat with its parents! Look closely and you you... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook
On August 3rd, the zoo announced its name, Piper.
Piper | Meet Piper! Thank you to all who cast the nearly 9,000 votes to help name Riley's pup. Piper received the most votes with over 3,800 votes! Keepers... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook
On June 22nd, the zoo announced that it, alongside the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, partnered to release (0.0.89) gopher toads into the wild.
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden and... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Conservation Partnership Gives Head Start to Endangered Gopher Frogs :: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
On July 28th, the zoo announced they partnered with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Savanna River Ecology Laboratory to release (0.0.200+) eastern box turtles back into the wild.
In June, Riverbanks Zoo and... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden and... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Conservation Partnership Gives Head Start to Endangered Gopher Frogs :: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
On July 28th, the zoo announced they partnered with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Savanna River Ecology Laboratory to release (0.0.200+) eastern box turtles back into the wild.
In June, Riverbanks Zoo and... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On March 24th, the zoo announced the meerkat's gender (0.1) and name, Poppy. The zoo also announced that (0.0.2) more slender-tailed meerkats were born.
Spring has arrived, and you... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On May 25th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) slender-tailed meerkat named Poppy passed away due to a kidney injury.
Being a part of the animal... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On July 1st, it was announced that the zoo transferred a (1.0) binturong named Paco to the Colombus Zoo & Aquarium in Ohio.
It's Paco the binturong!... - Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
On July 4th, the zoo announced that (0.0.4) southern rockhopper penguins hatched and will be on exhibit in mid-August.
Riverbanks is proud to... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
On July 14th, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) American flamingo hatched on July 12th and is now on exhibit.
New chicks on the block! Our first flamingo chick of 2023 hatched just two days ago and is now out on habitat with its parents! Look closely and you you... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook
On August 3rd, the zoo announced its name, Piper.
Piper | Meet Piper! Thank you to all who cast the nearly 9,000 votes to help name Riley's pup. Piper received the most votes with over 3,800 votes! Keepers... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Very happy to see Paco in what looks like a much more suitable environment. I’m not sure what it was about it but he clearly was not a fan of his exhibit at Riverbanks. I know binturongs are a reclusive species, but he took things far above and beyond the norm.
Hot on the heels of the $10 million renovation of the Aquarium & Reptile Center, Riverbanks Zoo has an ambitious new project, called Bridge to the Wild which has been in the works since 2019. There will be a Primate Forest, offering views of orangutans and other primates, a South Carolina Nature Preserve with Black Bears, Red Wolves and Bald Eagles, "enhanced" Lion and Tiger exhibits, and an expansion of a visitor plaza:
Bridge to the Wild :: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
The zoo is pushing to get an $80 million bond proposal passed to help pay for all the future additions/improvements. The bond, which would have raised property taxes in the surrounding neighbourhoods, was defeated in 2022 but the zoo is trying again! Riverbanks Zoo is an enormously popular attraction and 500 jobs will be created if the bond is approved later this year.
Bridge to the Wild :: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
The zoo is pushing to get an $80 million bond proposal passed to help pay for all the future additions/improvements. The bond, which would have raised property taxes in the surrounding neighbourhoods, was defeated in 2022 but the zoo is trying again! Riverbanks Zoo is an enormously popular attraction and 500 jobs will be created if the bond is approved later this year.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
A few items of note following today’s visit, my first in ~2.5 months:
- A pair of white-eared titis were in the Conservation Outpost. I assume they’re very new since they were unsigned and had a notice saying that they were still getting acclimated to their enclosure.
- Toco toucans were back in the free-standing aviary behind the birdhouse after what feels like a lengthy absence.
- The geckos were finally sighed inside the ARC, and if I had to guess there may be some new species here as well, or at least some I’ve yet to see. I noted: Uroplatus henkeli, Uroplatus fimbratus, Uroplatus alluaudi, Uroplatus giganteus, and Phelsuma grandis. I think there may have been a few others, but unfortunately this area was particularly crowded and we only had a short amount of time for the zoo today.
- Still no sign of the octopus, cuttlefish, wolf eels, anemones, etc. that I was under the impression were supposed to coincide with the ARC’s reopening.
I've been uploading more pictures of the zoo I grew up around so give a glimpse into the past of the wonderful zoo Columbia had and while still wonderful. The collection of Mammals and Birds had dropped drastically as well as the old Oriental aesthetician which made the zoo very unique in my eyes.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Always a pleasure seeing these. Are you taking these particular pictures from a printed source, or are the photos themselves watermarked? I'm dying to see more, either way, particularly anything from the small mammal caves.
Into okay them from a friend's old album various relatives and old acquaintances I knew growing up in SC. I managed to assemble a fairly large gallery of photos some were lost unfortunately of the bird house. But I've made a good list of every animals that was in the small mammal caves opening day.
If I could redo the caves here's how I'd arrange it. Would this be a good collection for a small mammal exhibit?
SMN-
2 Binturong
2 Brown lemur
2 Hoffman Sloth
2 Saki Monkey
4 Ring Tailed Lemur
3 North African Crested Porcupines
2 Clouded Leopard
3 Black Howler Monkeys
10 Squirrel Monkeys
4 Coatimundi
Reinstated SmS
4 Lion Tailed Macaque
2 Matschies Tree Kangaroo
4 Bat Eared fox
2 Pallas Cat
6 Sugar Glider
4 Asian Small Clawed Otter
2 Black Backed Jackal
2 Debrazza Monkey
3 Colobus Monkey
SMN-
2 Binturong
2 Brown lemur
2 Hoffman Sloth
2 Saki Monkey
4 Ring Tailed Lemur
3 North African Crested Porcupines
2 Clouded Leopard
3 Black Howler Monkeys
10 Squirrel Monkeys
4 Coatimundi
Reinstated SmS
4 Lion Tailed Macaque
2 Matschies Tree Kangaroo
4 Bat Eared fox
2 Pallas Cat
6 Sugar Glider
4 Asian Small Clawed Otter
2 Black Backed Jackal
2 Debrazza Monkey
3 Colobus Monkey
Not much attention is given to the incredible story of the founding of Riverbanks zoo which is actually quite fascinating. You can read about it here https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/scoralhistory/palmer-satch-krantz-second-interview/.
Thanks for sharing this! I read both transcripts. It's amazing that the zoo survived.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Two new King Penguins called "Fozzy" and "King 6" have arrived at the zoo's Penguin Coast exhibit. Have you had a chance to meet... - Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Also, a female giant Pacific octopus "Susan" has arrived at the zoo's aquarium exhibit.
SHE’S HERE! After much anticipation, our giant Pacific octopus has finally arrived. Named in honor of Susan Boyd, Susan the octopus was introduced to... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook
Also, a female giant Pacific octopus "Susan" has arrived at the zoo's aquarium exhibit.
SHE’S HERE! After much anticipation, our giant Pacific octopus has finally arrived. Named in honor of Susan Boyd, Susan the octopus was introduced to... | By Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | Facebook