Reid Park Zoo Reid Park Zoo News 2013

Arizona Docent said:
After a nationwide search and on-site interviews with five finalists, we have chosen a new leader. Jason Jacobs has accepted the position. He comes to us from the Los Angeles Zoo, where he was marketing director (I think). I have briefly (very briefly) met him on the grounds of L.A. Zoo on two different occasions. He is young (from my perspective) and is from a much larger institution, so I think he will bring some exciting changes to the zoo. According to the zoo's Facebook page, he starts in mid August.
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AZ Docent, you are correct, Jason was the excellent Marketing Director at the LA Zoo. He did a great job there, guiding the big city zoo through the turbulent times when the animal rights wackos (aided by Hollywood stars) were suing the Zoo, trying to stop its construction of its exciting new elephant exhibit. Thankfully, Jason and the LA Zoo won and the wackos lost. Jason can also be seen guiding Jack Hanna and his wife through the Zoo in Hanna's TV show, "Into the Wild".

I know Jason personally and he's terrific! Your zoo will greatly benefit from his passion and expertise.
 
The Grizzlies were named Finley and Ronan.
On August 5th, construction began on a giraffe barn update that will allow the giraffes to be safely and comfortably contained during medical procedures. The giraffes will be on exhibit as normal, but walkways to the barn might be closed for short periods.
 
I wish I could be there for their first day out, but I'm waiting until Finley and Ronan are out too since it's not very easy for me to get down there.
 
azcheetah2 said:
I wish I could be there for their first day out, but I'm waiting until Finley and Ronan are out too since it's not very easy for me to get down there.
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No definite dates on that, but I would give it a couple more weeks. (Maybe - and this is just a guess - could be out for Labor Day if you have that holiday off work and want to come down). You will need to follow the zoo website and/or facebook to confirm it.
 
Got my first look at lemurs today, but they mostly stayed in the cave in back, presumably to stay cool.

Grizzly bears moved from quarantine area to the night house of their new exhibit a week ago (maybe more, I lose track). Starting yesterday, they are allowed access to the pool side of the exhibit briefly in the morning to get them used to it (path is closed to the public during this time). Starting today, some docents are being taken over to start getting them used to people. Today (Tuesday) is my day at the zoo, so I was happily surprised to get to see them (it was all very last minute, so a surprise to all of us).

However, their public debut is still likely about three weeks out for a variety of reasons. Until they are on display to the public, I am unable to post any photos in the gallery. But if some of you have a connection to the zoo and cannot wait to see them, you can send me a PM with your personal email address and I will send a couple photos if you can promise you will not post them on any public forums (Facebook, Zoochat, etc).
 
I'm waiting to come down when the bears are out. Kill two birds with one stone. I'm excited to see them.
 
Arizona Docent said:
I am pretty sure that if you kill two of the birds, the staff will ask you to leave the zoo. :p
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Oh darn! Well, I guess I'll have to think of something else. Hmmm. How about if I start chunking rocks at...hmmm....I'll think of something. It's been so long since I've thrown a good rock. Oh, but if I throw any rocks at all they may still ask me to leave, right? Can't have that. If I get asked to leave a zoo it'll be for something like touching a purring cheetah standing two feet away from me (not that I'd do that but boy was it tempting) and not throw rocks :D
 
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Arizona Docent and Azcheetah2 you are both hilarious. Thanks for the good laugh.
 
Public debut of the grizzly bears will be Saturday, September 21, 2013.

If you cannot wait that long, you can pay extra to be part of a select group to enjoy a private preview breakfast at the exhibit on Thursday, September 19.
https://reidparkzoo.org/events/public/breakfast-bears/

The above link includes a small photo of the two bears that I took during one of our docent previews.
 
Man, I wish I could attend the grizzly breakfast! I'll have to see if I can make it for the public debut next week...
 
azcheetah2 said:
Man, I wish I could attend the grizzly breakfast! I'll have to see if I can make it for the public debut next week...
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I imagine the Saturday debut (and Sunday) will be quite busy, although if you were in the gate first thing at 9am you may have a few minutes of peace before the crowds rush in. If you can manage to come down on a weekday, your experience would be infinitely more enjoyable.
 
According to the website, the exhibit is being called Grizzly Crossing, which is news to me.
Grizzly Bear Exhibit Opens this Week! - Reid Park Zoo
Greet the Grizzlies! - Reid Park Zoo
(The second link is the one with the exhibit name).
As I previously mentioned, there is an extra fee preview breakfast on Thursday and a public opening Saturday. I was at the zoo today and asked at the docent meeting if the public could see the bears Friday in a soft opening and was told no. But according to these releases, the public can see them both Thursday and Friday. A classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. :rolleyes:
 
Arizona Docent said:
Public debut of the grizzly bears will be Saturday, September 21, 2013.

If you cannot wait that long, you can pay extra to be part of a select group to enjoy a private preview breakfast at the exhibit on Thursday, September 19.
https://reidparkzoo.org/events/public/breakfast-bears/

The above link includes a small photo of the two bears that I took during one of our docent previews.
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Ah Breakfast, I wonder if Walt Jr. will be there?
 
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