Assiniboine Park Zoo Assiniboine Park and Zoo news 2008-2013

kiang

kiang

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Saw an article today telling of 16 Turkmenian markhor born at the zoo, bringing the herd up to 26 animals!
The zoo specialises in northern animals especially North American species.

Can anyone give us some more info on this zoo?
 
Zoological Society of Manitoba,

A small zoo that sees a lot of snow in the wintertime, so thankfully they specialize in northern species. However, they do have a tiny tropical house with a handful of animals. They have been trying to raise money for at least a year and a half for an exhibit for their pair of steller's sea eagles, and so that gives you an idea of how small the place actually is. They made headlines around Canada a year or so ago because of an albio bison calf, which I must admit would be a cool animal to see.

Here is a map of the zoo:

http://www.zoosociety.com/Files/ParkZooSide.pdf
 
the zoo also has a female polar bear named Debbie who turned 40 in December 2007 making her apparently the oldest living polar bear on record.Now she just has to live to be 42 and then she'll bypass the record for the oldest polar bear on record that isn't still alive.He was 41 at Stanley Park Zoo.You'd think the rec0ord would be held at a zoo that spoils there polar bears but no,she lives at a zoo that takes good care of her but shes not spoiled.
 
I saw the world's oldest captive polar bear many times in Vancouver, and he was a very yellow-looking bear who lived in one of the all-time worst bear pits. The pitifully tiny pool was full of leaves, and the bear barely moved due to poor joints and old age.
 
These bald eagles seem also to likely have the longevity record for eldest breeding pair of bald eagles in AZA/US-Canadian zoos! ;)
 
kiang said:
Saw an article today telling of 16 Turkmenian markhor born at the zoo, bringing the herd up to 26 animals!
The zoo specialises in northern animals especially North American species.

Can anyone give us some more info on this zoo?
Click to expand...

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is ~90 acres with 1/3 of the space being completely undeveloped. It is open 365 days a year, run by the City of Winnipeg and has one of the cheapest (if not THE cheapest) admission fees in Canada with Adults paying the most at $4.25.

According to this book from 2002 that I'm getting this info from there were over 1500 animals representing 320 species, it has grown since then with the addition of some larger animals like Takins, Stellar Sea Eagles, and also lots of birds and reptiles that needed homes after the Quebec Zoo closed doors.

The biggest issue for the Zoo is funding, as it is run by the City the gate proceeds go back to the City, there is no chance of sponsorship, and donations must be done through a separate organization called the Zoological Society of Manitoba. They use the donations to do things like buy exhibit new signs, assist with the enrichment program, bring in educators for the staff and many other helpful things.

I hope this was helpful!
 
Seems a bit of a silly species (Asian Lions) to bring back if the zoo's a northern animal/cold climate specialist. Then again, they survive pretty well here in the UK (though we don't get snow that much or heavily).
 
Jacobea said:
Seems a bit of a silly species (Asian Lions) to bring back if the zoo's a northern animal/cold climate specialist. Then again, they survive pretty well here in the UK (though we don't get snow that much or heavily).
Click to expand...

The plan for the new layout of the Zoo has a nice little Asian section where the Lions will fit in. A lot of planning has is going into this project, the architect even came to our Shape of Enrichment seminar so he could incorporate things into the overall design.

In other news, Blizzard the white bison mentioned further to the top, is now a daddy x 2 :)
 
I have no idea sorry :/ When they first started the planning the word was that they had a pair lined up. Now I'm getting the impression that they are no longer available, maybe they went some where else because the exhibit wasn't ready? I'm just guessing on that though.
 
Thanks for posting the link, but where is the zoo going to come up with $180 million over the next decade? The Assiniboine Park Zoo is located in an area of Canada that has practically Arctic-like conditions for a few months every winter, and so it is obviously the perfect location for a state-of-the-art polar bear complex. I wish this zoo luck.
 
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