Sacramento Zoo Sacramento Zoo News

Elena said:
Very sad news today. Kamau the African lion had to be euthanized.

SacramentoZoo on Instagram: "The Sacramento Zoo is mourning the loss of one of our most charismatic and iconic animals, an African lion named Kamau. At nearly 17-years-old, Kamau was considered elderly. His longevity here at the Zoo is a testament to the care he received from his dedicated animal care professionals and veterinary team including specialists from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Our staff did everything possible to make Kamau comfortable and gave him the best quality of life in his golden years. Over the last few weeks, Kamau had developed worsening gastrointestinal problems with decreased interest in food, and the difficult decision to proceed with humane euthanasia was made when medical treatment options failed to provide sufficient relief from his condition. Kamau came to Sacramento Zoo from the San Diego Zoo in 2008. For the 14 years that he called the Sac Zoo home, visitors (and many Land Park neighbors) enjoyed his impressive roar. He would draw crowds from every corner of the Zoo. In 2014, Kamau sired a litter of cubs and in 2019, his habitat doubled in size and a glass viewing wall allowed our guests to get “nose-to-nose” with both Kamau and his mate, Cleo. Cleo, our nearly 18-year-old lioness is doing well. Our carnivore care team will be monitoring Cleo closely to ensure her wellbeing. She enjoys her regular training sessions and one-on-one time with her care team. Kamau was adored by many over the years, and we appreciate the love and support of our Zoo family."
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Sad news indeed. I wonder what the plan is going forwards - chances are high Cleo will pass well before the new zoo is built, and the Lion pair has been one of the zoo's biggest draws for some time. We shall see I suppose.
 
Great Argus said:
Sad news indeed. I wonder what the plan is going forwards - chances are high Cleo will pass well before the new zoo is built, and the Lion pair has been one of the zoo's biggest draws for some time. We shall see I suppose.
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Are lions in the plan for the new zoo?
 
An update has been provided on the Orangutan infant: he is doing very well and still being cared for by staff. They are working hard with mother Indah to reinforce maternal behaviors and hope to be able to reintroduce them successfully when the time is right.
 
Mentioned in the Altanta thread but relevant here as well: Orangutan infant Nangka has transferred to Zoo Atlanta to be raised by proven foster orang Mabu. Efforts to reintroduce him to mother Indah were unsuccessful, with her continuing to treat him as a playmate rather than an infant.
 
Sacramento have phased out chimpanzees:

Males, Pablo (1990) and Dougie (2001), were transferred to Kansas City Zoo. Mother and daughter, Amelia (1991) and Maria (2000), were transferred to an undisclosed accredited zoo.

Sacramento Zoo relocates its chimpanzees | abc10.com

The four have moved to two new homes said to offer more socialization opportunities and be much larger than the Sacramento Zoo. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) current standards recommend a minimum of eight chimpanzees to a troop.
 
Due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the Sacramento Zoo's American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) have been behind-the-scenes for some time now. However, today, the zoo announced that the flock has been temporarily transferred to the former chimp exhibit, which will allow for the birds to be on exhibit but also safe from the disease.

SacramentoZoo on Instagram
 
Hipporex said:
Due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the Sacramento Zoo's American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) have been behind-the-scenes for some time now. However, today, the zoo announced that the flock has been temporarily transferred to the former chimp exhibit, which will allow for the birds to be on exhibit but also safe from the disease.

SacramentoZoo on Instagram
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Not what I was expecting them to potentially do with the exhibit, but good to see the flamingos finally back out.
 
Great Argus said:
At an open house community meeting on Nov 4th, a new, more refined map of the new zoo plan was released. Looking really nice!

View attachment 667687

Image in better quality here: New Zoo | Sacramento Zoo
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I compared the conceptual map from last year with this new refined one, noted several differences:
  • Biggest key difference is that African apes are included in the new map after being absent initially. This space was gained by moving the okapi/colobus along with the gelada to the initial Australian zone, and combining the Australian species into the Asian zone with a transition based around the Wallace Line.
  • Speaking of okapi/colobus, it looks like that might be netted over as an aviary? The original plan did say "Okapi/Bird" so perhaps that was always the plan, but this map seems to imply it more clearly with dashed lines crossing over it like with the flamingo aviary.
  • Rather than "Rhino" and "Zebra/Ostrich", the east side of the African zone now says "Rhino" and "Savanna North" with new boundaries; not sure what change this represents, if any.
  • Malayan Tapir is absent from this plan.
  • Lots of small species aren't listed on this new map either - titi, hornbills, klipspringer and hyrax, rock python, Small-clawed Otter, etc - but they're all small and some were mixed with species still on there, so I'm not sure if this was a deliberate paring down or if they just left out some minor details.
  • North America zone is basically unchanged from the initial concept, and the two planned buildings are now confirmed to be California Deserts and California Fresh Waters.
  • There were some other changes to the shapes, sizes, and number of exhibits for individual species (more space for Cheetahs, double exhibits for Clouded Leopards, etc) but a lot of that could just be fleshing out details rather than tangible changes to the plan.
All in all I still think this looks like the rendering for a fantastic new zoo!
 
There is a trove of interesting documents from the recent zoo workshop including an outline of the phases that the new zoo will be built in and some exhibit concept plans. The tortoise exhibit is projected to be a major immersive exhibit like the Galapagos tortoise exhibit at Houston Zoo (which was designed by the same firm as the new Sacramento plan is).

The documents are on the zoo website:

New Zoo | Sacramento Zoo
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Lots of small species aren't listed on this new map either - titi, hornbills, klipspringer and hyrax, rock python, Small-clawed Otter, etc - but they're all small and some were mixed with species still on there, so I'm not sure if this was a deliberate paring down or if they just left out some minor details.
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I noticed this as well. As there's various small exhibits scattered around it is hopefully just that they did not make it in this version for some of them. A few other small species were added though - such as Blood Python, and notably Little Blue Penguin!
 
DavidBrown said:
The documents are on the zoo website:

New Zoo | Sacramento Zoo
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Great Argus said:
As there's various small exhibits scattered around it is hopefully just that they did not make it in this version for some of them.
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Thanks for adding that in @DavidBrown. I looked at the phase planning document and saw holding for klipspringer and hyrax over by the geladas, so it does look like the Site Plan Buildout map leaves out some details/labels.

I also forgot to ask in my earlier post; does anyone know what "Creep" is, over by Savanna East? It looks like an exhibit area that may be separated from the mixed-species savanna, but I cannot figure out what that word is supposed to mean.
 
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