4 total, Hudson & Charlotte (adults), then Willow (their calf) and now Pretzel.
Yuna gave birth to a calf on Sunday night, the second Malayan tapir calf born in the zoo's history.
The zoo announced on social media that the calf is a girl! She has been named "Ume".
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Wow, this is a BIG change. I am certainly alright with them as a stand-in for G. unami - even Gran Acuario Mazatlán itself actually has a mix of both species despite its Baja location, as some were presumably wild caught locally while others were imported. I’d love to see them signed as such, that would be really nice (and I’m hoping Mazatlán will do the same, after their education staff and I confirmed the species IDs there). And I’d love to get a better look at that whipray and at the wobbegong, so that’s a win as well. Very interested to see what other new sharks might appear across both aquariums too! Thanks for the heads up NWFK.Nurse Sharks moving Aquariums, now in 'Baja Bay' exhibit
The Zoo announced that they're in the process of moving their 4 Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) from the 'Outer Reef' exhibit in the Tropical Reef Aquarium, to the 'Baja Bay' exhibit in the Pacific Seas Aquariums. Their reasons are that some of the new species added to the 'Outer Reef' were having a hard time going through their routines with the Nurse Sharks in the tank. Plus the Baja Bay tank is larger in size so it gives them more room, especially since they'll be the only benthic species in there. Two of them have already moved, with the other two moving soon.
My two cents: I'm a little sad for nostalgic reasons to see them move since they were such an iconic and long standing species of the 'Outer Reef' (especially since they're the original 4 who've been at the Zoo since the 70's), but this is an all around great move for both exhibits. While nothing will ever top the Scalloped Hammerheads, there weren't many species options that could've fit thematically for the tank so this was a good move. Pacific Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma unami) are found off the coast of Baja and Mexico, the Zoo's are the Atlantic species so they're acting as a stand-in which is understandable (which they do mention in the article) since i believe "Gran Acuario Mazatlán" in Mexico is the only Aquarium to exhibit the Pacific species.
Since they're the only benthic species, they won't be competing with anyone else for space on the floor. They were by far the largest species in the "Outer Reef" and took up a lot of floor space from other partially benthic species. A few species who I know who have been off exhibit for a while because they couldn't handle the disruption from the Nurse Sharks are the Napolean Wrasse and Black Blotch Ray (via someone i know who is an aquarist at the Zoo). Possibly the Wobbegong too and the Whipray (who hasn't been on exhibit once since opening). Hopefully we'll see these species move back in soon since I'd really like to get a glimpse of the Wobbegong.
(@Local_Shark we might finally see the adult Whipray they say is "H. australis" and get a proper ID
It could also possibly mean they're making room for a few more Sharks the Zoo has talked about bringing in (no species have been mentioned, just that they are planning on bringing in more sharks). I'm very excited by this, the Aquarium's needed a shake up and this is certainly a big one
I can't even think of what they could bring in species wise. For the 'Outer Reef' the new list should look like:
Yeah that’s arguably too many sharks already for that size of a tank. You did mention in another thread (I think) that they may be sending/considering sending some of those to Seattle Aquarium, which, if they did, that would maybe open things up. But realistically, those are the only tropical Pacific species that would make a whole ton of sense for a tank that size. It’s too small for silvertips and those are pretty tricky to acquire, same goes for most other larger species. I’m certainly fascinated to see where it might go as well.
Yeah that's been my theory / hope lol, specifically some of their Black-tips and maybe Grey Reefs. Also my cope since the original plan at Seattle was 26 or 27 individual elasmobranchs, and so far we only 8 (I don't even know about the Black-tip situation anymore so I won't count them) (also the Javanese Cownose Rays but I'm not sure on how many are being imported)
I think it could certainly be some combination of both for the Ocean Pavilion sharks haha. And yeah, that is a little funny, but I suspect it'll change once things have kind of settled out with the new exhibit. It takes a little time usually for compatibility and sourcing to get figured out, and there was some pressure to get your guys' exhibit open after how long it had been in development. Georgia's Sharks: Predators of the Deep is kind of an exception to that rule, but that was an elasmo focused exhibit and even then, it took a while for them to get the mix of sharks exactly right (initially, they had three tiger sharks rather than one, for example).
That’s really really sad to hear. I trust that an injury was indeed the reason because AZA certified facilities don’t just euthanize if there’s no other option. Tragic nonetheless.
Yeah between this and the Hammerhead deaths being so close to each other, it doesn't make for a good image to the general public but things happen. As far as I can remember, I don't think they've ever housed Rays in this tank until the renovation. The old iteration was just sharks, so they might be going through a learning curve with the Rays, just unfortunate it ended with the passing of the Blotch Ray. If it wasn't adjusting well, I'm not sure why she couldn't have been moved to Seattle, so it had to have been a pretty severe injury (hopefully)
In that particular case there wasn’t any other facility that could take them, either. In this case there are multiple facilities within not even 100 miles that could take this particular species…it would be a true shame if it was done without all options exhausted but yeah, it’s not impossible that what you mention is what happened.
