Detroit Zoo Detroit Zoo News 2025

AlmightyKingPrawn said:
Rip AJ, who was the oldest living tree kangaroo when he passed.
Detroit Zoo on Instagram: "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of A.J., a beloved Matschie’s tree-kangaroo, who was compassionately euthanized earlier this month. A.J. was a cherished member of the Detroit Zoo family for more than 17 years, and at the time of his passing, he was 23 years old -making him the oldest known living Matschie’s tree kangaroo in the world. Born in January 2002, A.J. touched the hearts of many caregivers and volunteers who had the privilege of working with him. Known for his curious and sassy personality, A.J. loved to munch on flowers, enjoy snacks and play with his favorite enrichment items. His caretakers fondly recall making birthday cakes from his favorite foods, and how he loved watching the world go by from his high perch in the trees. In recent years, A.J. spent much of his time behind the scenes, providing him with a calm and quiet environment, to best support his needs. Throughout his life, our team worked tirelessly to ensure A.J. received the best care, adjusting his environment and diet to keep him comfortable in his later years. Please keep the staff who cared for A.J. in your thoughts as we celebrate his long and meaningful life."
Click to expand...
This hurt to see. May he rest in peace. He was such an interactive individual to meet and was somewhat playful. I am thankful I was able to see him one last time in June of 2024. Will miss that guy, even the volunteers love him.
 
One of the zoo’s Bactrian Camels, Rusty was euthanized last week. He has been at the zoo for 16 years, arriving in 2009. Detroit Zoo on Instagram: "With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Rusty, the beloved male Bactrian camel, who was compassionately euthanized last week. Rusty had been a cherished member of the Detroit Zoo family for 16 years, arriving in 2009 from Brookfield Zoo. Rusty formed a deep bond with his mate, Suren, and together they raised four offspring. Though he was a bit shorter in stature than most camels, his thick, dark coat and strong, stocky build made him an unforgettable presence. His full winter coat was truly a sight to behold! We are deeply grateful to our dedicated veterinary and animal care teams who supported Rusty through his later years. Rusty will be missed by all of us at the Detroit Zoo."

I think the zoo now has 3 camels and a white lipped deer in their enclosure now.
 
Made a visit to the zoo today, here are some notes:
•At least 6 penguins were on eggs, including 3 gentoo pairs, 1 king pair, 1 chinstrap pair and 1 rockhopper pair.
• There is only 3 camels now
• The arrau turtles are off habitat
• Lappet Faced Vultures are behind the scenes
• Patti one of the red panda twins had to get her tail amputated due to an infection from an injury
• The new ape climbing structures are open, the looks phenomenal
• There’s now a “third habitat splitting the flamingo habitat into two, turkey vultures were signed but I assume it will be for rheas and sandhill cranes.
• All birds but the aviary, penguins, cinereous vultures, and ostrich are off habitat for bird flu
• there is some construction behind the cassowary habitat currently
• The bison, eagles and wolverines are all off exhibit due to construction
• The stingray building has finally started construction, looks pretty big
• The Japanese salamander tank is yet again under construction for some changes
• There is a new aviary list, I haven’t checked what’s on it fully, but there seems to be some losses.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Made a visit to the zoo today, here are some notes:
•At least 6 penguins were on eggs, including 3 gentoo pairs, 1 king pair, 1 chinstrap pair and 1 rockhopper pair.
• There is only 3 camels now
• The arrau turtles are off habitat
• Lappet Faced Vultures are behind the scenes
• Patti one of the red panda twins had to get her tail amputated due to an infection from an injury
• The new ape climbing structures are open, the looks phenomenal
• There’s now a “third habitat splitting the flamingo habitat into two, turkey vultures were signed but I assume it will be for rheas and sandhill cranes.
• All birds but the aviary, penguins, cinereous vultures, and ostrich are off habitat for bird flu
• there is some construction behind the cassowary habitat currently
• The bison, eagles and wolverines are all off exhibit due to construction
• The stingray building has finally started construction, looks pretty big
• The Japanese salamander tank is yet again under construction for some changes
• There is a new aviary list, I haven’t checked what’s on it fully, but there seems to be some losses.
Click to expand...
Fingers crossed for the penguins and potential hatching events in all 4 species ....! Interested what reason the lappet-faced vultures are off-exhibit and looking forward to the new Detroit North American area ... development (bison, bald eagle, wolverine...)!
 
USZOOfan42 said:
• There is a new aviary list, I haven’t checked what’s on it fully, but there seems to be some losses.
Click to expand...

Actually comparing your list in the gallery to my picture from last visit, only two species have been lost: Max the macaw passed away and we also lost crested wood partridges. Which stinks because I really like that species, but I've also never seen one in this aviary once so they probably hid all day. All other birds are the same.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Made a visit to the zoo today, here are some notes:
•At least 6 penguins were on eggs, including 3 gentoo pairs, 1 king pair, 1 chinstrap pair and 1 rockhopper pair.
• There is only 3 camels now
• The arrau turtles are off habitat
• Lappet Faced Vultures are behind the scenes
• Patti one of the red panda twins had to get her tail amputated due to an infection from an injury
• The new ape climbing structures are open, the looks phenomenal
• There’s now a “third habitat splitting the flamingo habitat into two, turkey vultures were signed but I assume it will be for rheas and sandhill cranes.
• All birds but the aviary, penguins, cinereous vultures, and ostrich are off habitat for bird flu
• there is some construction behind the cassowary habitat currently
• The bison, eagles and wolverines are all off exhibit due to construction
• The stingray building has finally started construction, looks pretty big
• The Japanese salamander tank is yet again under construction for some changes
• There is a new aviary list, I haven’t checked what’s on it fully, but there seems to be some losses.
Click to expand...
I wonder what the construction behind the cassowaries is for?
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Fingers crossed for the penguins and potential hatching events in all 4 species ....! Interested what reason the lappet-faced vultures are off-exhibit and looking forward to the new Detroit North American area ... development (bison, bald eagle, wolverine...)!
Click to expand...
Are they renovating the North American area, or are they off exhibit due to stress from the construction of the children's area? I hope the bird flu and construction don't give them a bad season, but I'm sure they'll recover next year when everything is done.
 
AlmightyKingPrawn said:
Actually comparing your list in the gallery to my picture from last visit, only two species have been lost: Max the macaw passed away and we also lost crested wood partridges. Which stinks because I really like that species, but I've also never seen one in this aviary once so they probably hid all day. All other birds are the same.
Click to expand...
Thanks for checking, I think the zoo is in the process of getting more species currently from my glimpse of the behind-the-scenes area. The new macaw is usually off exhibit but if you’re lucky it will be in Max’s former enclosure.
MIZOOenthusiast070128 said:
I wonder what the construction behind the cassowaries is for?
Click to expand...
I didn’t get a straight answer from a few volunteers, they just said “Something exciting”
MIZOOenthusiast070128 said:
Are they renovating the North American area, or are they off exhibit due to stress from the construction of the children's area? I hope the bird flu and construction don't give them a bad season, but I'm sure they'll recover next year when everything is done.
Click to expand...
The north america section is closed off for construction of something at the picnic site and pond in that area. I don’t think it’s related to Discovery Trails and should be open soon. They seem to be almost complete and now they are working on the other side of the pond near the grizzlies.
 
Really intrigued by what all this might be! I'll keep an eye out for further construction if I come back in the coming months (this week is filled up by me trying out for my possible first job-like volunteer thing as I've never worked before - a local nature center where I'll give a very short species list - and then for the weekend I'll actually be able to enter a new facility - well, new-old facility, moved and expanded - early and will have probably my most major species list undertaking ever with it as the first person to document all the animals in there before the public can see it - my typical spring Detroit visit will have to wait).
 
Visited yesterday, here are some updates:
  • There was a barrier blocking the guest view of the wolverine habitat, I wonder whether it’s just a temporary thing or if they plan on doing construction of some kind there?
  • One of the new buildings for Adventure Trails is under construction near the bison
  • If no one has mentioned this yet, the dwarf caiman has moved into the former Asian water monitor habitat, giving it a lot more land space than it would normally have
  • Did see the sloth bear but he was curled up sleeping in the corner, so from my perspective it was basically just an ambiguous pile of black fluff
  • Saw the baby gorilla for the first time
  • Don’t see the warthogs on every visit but yesterday I saw a trio and they were pretty active
  • Saw the grizzly bears for the first time, for some reason, two years
 
evilmonkey239 said:
There was a barrier blocking the guest view of the wolverine habitat, I wonder whether it’s just a temporary thing or if they plan on doing construction of some kind there?
Click to expand...
It’s not for discovery trails, it’s been there since March 1st, some sort of construction at the American picnic site.
evilmonkey239 said:
One of the new buildings for Adventure Trails is under construction near the bison
Click to expand...
should be the stingray building.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
It’s not for discovery trails, it’s been there since March 1st, some sort of construction at the American picnic site.

should be the stingray building.
Click to expand...
I saw the building today, I think it's for domestic animals. It's small and wooden.

I didn't see the bats. They're still signed, but I've never visited the Hangout and not see the bats up front. I hope there still there.

I did see the baby macaque, it was mobile and very visible.

I also didn't see the construction behind the kangaroo. I looked at a glance due to being there for a charity walk, so I had to rush towards the end. Is it directly behind the kangaroos?
 
MIZOOenthusiast070128 said:
I saw the building today, I think it's for domestic animals. It's small and wooden.

I didn't see the bats. They're still signed, but I've never visited the Hangout and not see the bats up front. I hope there still there.

I did see the baby macaque, it was mobile and very visible.

I also didn't see the construction behind the kangaroo. I looked at a glance due to being there for a charity walk, so I had to rush towards the end. Is it directly behind the kangaroos?
Click to expand...
I haven’t seen the bats in a while nor the bat, seems there may be some construction soon. I thought the domestics were still using the barn. The construction goes for a while, I think from cassowary to sloth Bear. I plan to visit soon at get more details.
 
AlmightyKingPrawn said:
So I believe I found out why the mousebird enclosure in The Hideaway was emptied and hasn't had residents since: the zoo was rapped a few months ago by the USDA for a raccoon breaking in and killing 5 of them.
https://aphis.file.force.com/sfc/dist/version/download/?oid=00Dt0000000GyZH&ids=068SJ000002beQX&d=/a/SJ0000007G01/UMdursnRLLcE9nVErrjnyuXfv4mq0YzYP8JSnj3rl_o&asPdf=false
Click to expand...
Definitely interesting. Hopefully this doesn’t make the zoo leave it as an empty habitat.
 
AlmightyKingPrawn said:
So I believe I found out why the mousebird enclosure in The Hideaway was emptied and hasn't had residents since: the zoo was rapped a few months ago by the USDA for a raccoon breaking in and killing 5 of them.
https://aphis.file.force.com/sfc/dist/version/download/?oid=00Dt0000000GyZH&ids=068SJ000002beQX&d=/a/SJ0000007G01/UMdursnRLLcE9nVErrjnyuXfv4mq0YzYP8JSnj3rl_o&asPdf=false
Click to expand...

That is one very determined raccoon... Reminds me of the infamous incident in which mountain lion P-22 killed a koala at the Los Angeles Zoo. Horrible incident but hopefully Detroit can shore up the Hideaway and prevent more unwanted guests.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top