Wow! Interesting pictures! I can't recall the Philly Zoo had Aye-Aye's… Are they new arrivals at the zoo? Where are they housed? I was there in 2007 (the new McNeil Aviary, I believe this is the name, wasn't built yet).
The pair Tolkien and Medusa arrived in summer 2009 and are housed in the PECO Primate Reserve. A baby male Smeagol was born in summer 2010. They have their own dark (very dark!) room with two adjoining exhibits and they share their exhibits with Malagasy jumping rats. Unfortunately the room is so dark that the only way to see the aye-ayes is with a flashlight...
How interesting! You know, I've been on a 'nature' vacation to Madagascar, especially to see these animals in their natural habitat, but unfortunately we weren't able to find them (at Nosy-Bay) or to see them at the Antananarivo zoo… Well, I saw them eventually at the Tokyo zoo, and if I'm not mistaken I saw their empty (but labeled) enclosure at the Edinburg zoo as well. I guess they're very shy, and indeed need a very dark enclosure. The Malagasy Jumping Rat you mentioned is also one of the Malagasy species I find most intriguing. When I visited Kirindy forest in western Madagascar, in order to spot them, it turned out to be the 'wrong' season, and so we were yet again disappointed (though we did see the Fossa and many other lemur species and birds). These amazing animals are also at the Amersfoort zoo, right here in the Netherlands, though they don't make a very good exhibit. I wonder if it's different at the Philly zoo. It would be great if you'd be able to post some pictures of them as well as their enclosure!
Malagasy jumping rats are not a very good exhibit at Philadelphia either, I am afraid. A few live with the aye-ayes in the Primate House and a few live in the small mammal house. In the small mammal house they were hidden every time I came to their enclosure, and in the aye-aye exhibit it was too dark to see anything and I did not want to use flash too much. I have couple not-too-good photos of this species that I took last year in New York (they live in Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn), I'll try to post them here.
