mandrill exhibit (for now)

@UngulateNerd92 I have no idea where the old serval cage was. Ashwin did not directly influence their decision, however I wrote a letter to senior staff urging them to get fishing cats as part of Asia and mentioned the connection (that the founder of Fishing Cat Conservancy lives in Tucson). Not that I have any influence on their decisions but I figured it was worth a shot. BTW I believe Ashwin is relocating to California. Anyway when the zoo unveiled the Asia expansion plans they originally announced sand cats instead of fishing cats. After further investigation the zoo staff (based solely on their own considerations) decided to go with fishing cats, partly because there are more in the AZA and a lot of the sand cat population is apparently in non-AZA hands.

@Arizona Docent ah ok very interesting. I think Fishing cats would be much more appropriate for the area considering the rest of the species lineup (ie Komodo dragons and Asian small clawed otters).

@Arizona Docent pardon my digression, but remind me, what other species do you remember for the Asia expansion besides Komodo dragons, Fishing cats, and Asian small clawed otters?

Asia will include a pheasant aviary with as-yet unannounced species. There will also be a reptile building connected to the (presumably outdoor/indoor) Komodo dragon exhibit. There will be a siamang exhibit I believe. And for me the second best announcement after the fishing cats is a largely expanded tiger exhibit (two adjacent exhibits, one possibly with underwater viewing). Oh yes and I think there will be fruit bats.

@Arizona Docent ah thank you so much.

Since we are discussing the exhibit in this photo I will mention that for a while (maybe two years?) it held a pair of African crested porcupines along with the mandrills. However visitors rarely saw them because the male promptly dug a burrow and never came out and the female stayed in the night house most of the time.

@Arizona Docent Is this still the plan for Asia?

@Arizona Docent very interesting... Are you aware of any other African crested porcupine and Mandrill mixed exhibits?

@UngulateNerd92 No that is the only time I have seen mandrills and porcupines mixed (an interesting mix, though probably geographically inaccurate because I believe mandrills are rain forest species and African porcupines are savanna species).

@nczoofan Yes you found the Asia plans. The overlay is on land that is currently part of the surrounding park. The current zoo is the part on the right side of the overlay. The dark brown road between them is currently a public road through the park, but I think once the zoo expansion begins it will be closed to vehicles and become an access road for zoo staff.

@nczoofan I should also add the small portion of the overlay on the bottom right (the part to the right of the brown road) is not part of Asia but will be a new children's play area.