Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden What's Gnu at the Cincinnati Zoo - 2014

At least one lesser hedgehog tenrec has joined the zoo's education department.
 
There were many, many, changes since my last visit in February:

Reptile House
-The Black Rat Snake was moved to the Rainbow Boa Exhibit - The Rainbow Boa was moved to the California Kingsnake Exhibit - The Kingsnake was moved to the Black Rat Snake Exhibit.
-A Long-tailed Salamander (new species) was added with the Cave Salamander.

Night Hunters
-There is a very large chance that the Bat-eared Foxes Runt and Pumbe, has more babies. The exhibit window is blocked off my construction paper just as the Fennec fox exhibit was when they had pups.

World of the Insect
-The words that were taken off the walls were just painted over and some were replaced with new signs.
-The What Eats Insects section name was changed. I forget what it was but maybe the name will come back to me.
-The Micronesian Kingfisher was put on exhibit - not a fan of the decision though it looks bare and I will miss the Emperor Tamarins.
-The Insects in Motion name was changed to 'Insects in Water'. The tall, vertical tank that contained the walking sticks was replaced with a much smaller tank that is similar to the rest in the section. The other remaining displays were renovated and as of now they don't contain any species (there won't be any new species either).
-The zoo removed all of the butterflies in the Butterfly Aviary because on April 21st the glass panels will be cleaned and or replaced with new ones.

Manatee Springs
-The Alligator is back on display.
-The very small Tropical/Coral tank is once again being renovated.

Lords of the Arctic
-The entire right Polar Bear exhibit was going under renovation. All that I noticed was that the water was drained and the upclose viewing windows may be replaced. Until then, only the left and or original exhibit will be accessible to the bears.

Jungle Trails
-A new Orangutan activity was added. You can see it in the gallery soon.

Children's Zoo
-Padmae, the Aardvark, is back in the nursery.
-The front side of Blakely's Barnyard was completely revamped. The former Cattle and Sheep yards are now the location of the Barnyard show (features miniature pigs, a dog, and more). There, also added, were many rows of log seating.

Africa
-The upclose viewing glass was just recently added to the future wild dog exhibit.
-Another hut/viewing shelter like the one on Giraffe Ridge is currently being built on the left side of the Base Camp Cafe's outside seating area.
 
Was another rhino coming to this zoo to mate with Suci? I am assuming that will be put on hold now. Very sad. I must get to this zoo this year to see the male before it is too late!
 
Well, I believe we can safely say this is the effective end of Sumatran Rhino in non-native collections :(
 
blospz said:
Was another rhino coming to this zoo to mate with Suci? I am assuming that will be put on hold now. Very sad. I must get to this zoo this year to see the male before it is too late!
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A male of the Bornean ssp was supposedly to be sent over to breed with Suci in August.....

If I'm not mistaken, aren't there two other spare females at the breeding center where Andalas was sent to? If so, hopefully one of the females can be sent over here to breed with Harapan. And hopefully the calf is a female because we really need a female! The thing is, though, unless anymore rhinos are brought in from the wild, the entire captive population will be related to Cincy's original breeding pair....

~Thylo:cool:
 
The scenario is far more likely that Harapan will go to Way Kambas than any rhinos coming back to overseas. Aside the path for Sabah has changed significantly with a second female now there. Making the likelihood of another import even slimmer than before.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
If so, hopefully one of the females can be sent over here to breed with Harapan.
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I think it would be far preferable if Harapan could be sent to Sumatra. If both Emi and Suci developed Iron Storage disease, isn't it likely that Harapan might also in time, and that it is something to do with living in a foreign environment? (I believe some birds such as Toucans suffer this in captivity also?)

I think it is too perilous a situation at this stage to even consider them allowing yet another female to leave Sumatra. Cincinnati's expertise might be better now focused all on trying to promote breeding in Way Kambas. I hope they can recover from yet another catastrophe( not too strong a word in this case IMO) for this species.

The rhinos certainly aren't all related to Cincinatti's pair as the females in Way Kambas aren't, though the two males (Harapan and Andalas) are.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Aside the path for Sabah has changed significantly with a second female now there. Making the likelihood of another import even slimmer than before.
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Yes, the recent capture of the female in Sabah would have delayed or possibly precluded the Bornean male Kertam going to the US anyway. Obviously he won't travel at all now.
 
I wasn't aware of a second female being found for the foreign male! Excellent news. Is this female of the Bornean ssp as well?

@Pertinax, I had meant in time they might all be. Though now that there's a new female for the Bornean male from the wild there could well be more diversity now.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I wasn't aware of a second female being found for the foreign male! Excellent news. Is this female of the Bornean ssp as well?
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Yes it is. It was captured just recently in somewhere called the Danum valley and is believed to have been isolated from other Rhinos for some time. There is one possible problem which could hinder successful breeding though- if it is either too old or has lived in isolation so long without breeding that its reproductive potential has been impaired. But they will obviously be testing for all of that.

Suci's tragic death has now precluded any need for them to decide whether to send the Bornean male to Cincinnati anyway.

It leaves Harapan in an isolated position too. Without more females captive in Sumatra there is currently no obvious location for him and they have time to decide what to do with him while he matures fully. But sending him to Sumatra would be my choice- and before he starts exhibiting any weight loss symptoms like Emi or Suci....
 
There are more captive females at the same place Andalas is. Even more reason to send him there!

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
There are more captive females at the same place Andalas is. Even more reason to send him there!

~Thylo:cool:
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Not really. At Way Kambas there are only two females of breeding age, one that has bred(Ratu) and one that hasn't(Rosa). The third female is an elderly non-breeder(Bina). Two females don't really need a second male.

But there is more and more thinking that they will only survive longterm if more are brought into semi captivity as so many of the remaining animals are isolated from each other which prevents natural breeding. If they do start another captive breeding centre somewhere else, then Harapan could play a role there. Though after what happened to Emi and now Suci, I do think I'd prefer to see him moved to Way Kambas anyway, at least in the interim, for his own health and safety.
 
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