Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo Palo Alto Zoo news

Here is my review of Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo from my Snowleopard's 2017 Road Trip thread:

This California facility has been around since 1941 and was packed on the day of my visit. There is a large room with all sorts of interactive elements for young kids, plus a handful of terrariums with mainly invertebrates on display. Outside is the zoo part of the establishment, with a fairly short loop and not a great deal of animals but in truth the exhibits are well designed and of a high quality. The signs and names on the exhibits are eye-catching: Weaver House, Raccoon Creek, African Bat Cave and Bobcat Ridge. The Bobcat enclosure is the most famous attraction, but the excellent Bat Cave (Straw-Coloured Fruit Bat and Egyptian Fruit Bat) wouldn’t look out of place at a major zoo and the Taveta Golden Weaver aviary is a delight. The big news is that the facility has been fundraising for years and has actually reached its goal of $25 million in order to construct a brand-new building and to also reconfigure the zoo. The current structure is almost 9,000 sq. ft. and the new museum will be 14,500 sq. ft. and open in 2020. End of review

Update:

Due to Covid, the new museum/zoo is now due to open in spring 2021.

This link, from August 31, 2017, has 56 pages of detailed plans:

http://cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/62348

This link has a user-friendly list of plans:

City of Palo Alto, CA - Building
 
2021 News:

On April 27th, the museum announced that they have acquired (0.0.2+?) African spoonbills.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=490721595704406

On October 20th, the museum announced that the facility will be reopened to the public on November 12th, with a limited schedule.

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On November 11th, an article came out listing some of the new features of the museum and zoo, including an upgrade of space (19,000 to 34,000 square feet), larger classrooms, a two-story treehouse (which is wheelchair-accessible) in the zoo area, and new exhibits in the zoo. The whole museum is focused on it being disability accessible, with a large 3D map of the museum and zoo, labels in braille and QR codes with audio in both English and Spanish, and a large print guide (also comes in braille). The article also stated that the zoo portion has acquired American flamingos, scarlet ibises, hammerkop, and Von der Deken's hornbills, as well as ring-tailed lemurs (which have not arrived at the facility yet due to COVID restrictions).

It's back! Expanded Junior Museum and Zoo to reopen on Nov. 12
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On February 5th, 2022, the museum announced that it had acquired a (1.0) northern raccoon named Morty, who was acquired from a family who kept him as an illegal pet.

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Introducing Morty the Raccoon!

On February 10th, the museum announced it is holding a naming contest for the zoo's flamingo flock, as visitors have a chance of naming one of their flamingos. The contest ran until March 31st, with the winning name selected on April 26th.

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'Flamingo Naming Contest' At Palo Alto Zoo Lets Public Name Bird
 
On the USDA inspection reports from the early 2010s, hazel dormice are listed. What species were they likely referring to?
 
On February 19th, 2025, the zoo announced their female (0.1) Linne's two-toed sloth named Luna passed away in late January. The zoo also announced they would acquire another sloth in the future.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

On March 5th, the zoo announced they acquired a female (0.1) African pygmy hedgehog named Sonica, which is on exhibit.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

On April 28th, the zoo announced they installed a new bronze flamingo sculpture.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

On May 13th, the zoo announced they acquired a female (0.1) meerkat (later named Kala) from El Paso Zoo in Texas, which is on exhibit. On June 18th, the zoo announced they renamed their (2.0) meerkats from Florian and Paul to Scout and Dash respectively.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

On June 30th, the zoo announced that an American flamingo hatched the week prior which is on exhibit. The zoo also announced that another flamingo was beginning to hatch, then got stepped on by another flamingo and passed. This is the first time in Palo Alto's history in successfully breeding the species.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

On July 30th, the zoo announced they acquired (1.1) ring-tailed lemurs named Valgius/Val and Meshuginah/Shug, which are now on exhibit. Shug was acquired from Fresno Chaffee Zoo in California.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
 
Smaggledagle said:
On July 30th, the zoo announced they acquired (1.1) ring-tailed lemurs named Valgius/Val and Meshuginah/Shug, which are now on exhibit. Shug was acquired from Fresno Chaffee Zoo in California.

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
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Interesting... I visited 3 days before that announcement and while they were not on exhibit or signed yet, the Red-tailed Hawk exhibit (which is the former lemur exhibit, and looks like it may be where they are again now) was being worked on with no hawk present.

Also interestingly, not long after that I visited Fresno again and the Ring-tailed Lemur exhibit had a sign saying they were off-display.
 
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