Can anyone confirm whether the Red-Cheeked Gibbons are now located in this exhibit? It is interesting to consider San Diego without Lion-Tailed Macaques as in the early 1980's the Zoological Society had 30 specimens, the largest such grouping of any zoo in the world. Now the zoo likely has zero macaques, and with the phasing out of the species throughout American collections it is reminiscent of an end of an era. Did the macaques struggle to breed in captivity? Why has the species plummeted in terms of being showcased in USA zoos? There has been an increase in Japanese Macaques in collections but the Lion-Tailed Macaques are apparently on the way out the door.
Yes, I can confirm that now the Gibbons inhabit this exhibit as from my personal experience a few weeks ago. But I wonder too where the Lion-Tailed Macaques have been moved and why they will be phased out in US zoos.
The Lion-Tailed Macaques are off exhibit. The head primate keeper told me about a year ago that the gibbons and macaques would be sharing this exhibit but I haven't heard anymore about it.
I think the zoo responded in a email I sent months ago that they said they would mix the exhibit between gibbons and macaques. I emailed them again recently to see if anything has changed.
I talked to a keeper today that said none of the keepers ever thought this would be a good idea and doesn't think it will ever happen. The lion-tailed macaques are still off exhibit.
From what I've seen, there's been some uncertainty over whether lion-tails are being phased out or not. I was told by a British ZooChatter named Al that the lion-tailed macaque EEP in Europe were preparing to send some monkeys to the US to bolster our breeding population, which would imply that they are trying to salvage the population rather than phase them out. They did not list their source but said that it was reputable. The link to that convo, which was part of a thread I posted regarding the phasing-out of macaques in zoos, is linked here:
