Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Columbus Zoo and Aquarium News 2025

Is the Malayan Chevrotain still on exhibit? It appears that the species has been removed from the website and the zoo may no longer be holding the species.
 
EagleScout610 said:
The last one passed away in June.
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How unfortunate I went earlier this year for the first time in years and it was one of the species on my bucket list to see but had no luck in getting a sighting. I think it was around May. Do you know if there are any plans to get more individuals of this species at the zoo or if they are done exhibiting?
 
Made the trip up 71 from Cincy for my first visit to the zoo since 2023! A rather chilly day, but made the most of the daylight before the zoo lights crowds came in. Surprised how much has changed since my last visit, including a lot of new additions!

First up were the elephant calves. We last saw Frankie when he was two, so considered me shocked seeing the size of two smaller Asian elephants in Rita-Jean and (hopefully) Ozzy! We popped by two times. They were up to baby elephant shenanigans each time, providing a good laugh to the small crowd.

Just a week after seeing the new bear exhibit at Cincinnati, it was great to compare to the North America revamp at Columbus. Even in the winter, the aviary was rather nice. Surprised to see all that space dedicated to swans, but it was charming nonetheless. While the otter exhibit is going under some quick renovations (apparently they tore out all of the caulking), it may be one of the best otter exhibits I've ever seen. The Mexican wolf exhibit looms large – very very large. It's quite impressive for a wolf exhibit, and a real treat to be able to be that close to them trotting around the fence line. It's definitely the highlight of the area, at least this time of year. I was a bit underwhelmed by the black bear exhibit, mainly because it looked more like a yard at a rescue facility. I think the entire area, but the bears especially, will benefit from everything growing in come spring.

A welcome result of the revamp and our timing was the chance to see the new pair of wolverines! Very active and absolutely loving their new space. They were running, climbing, digging, and even chasing each other for a fresh rabbit carcass. The river otters were taunting them through the fence in their old habitat. We were watching them for close to half an hour, and they were still going when we left. At the wolverine exhibit, a volunteer told us that sea otters were initially in the plans for North America Trek's second phase, but budget ran over for phase one.

Just an unrelated note as we moved on through, I'm always in awe of the polar and brown bear exhibits, and think about how we probably won't see anything like those again for a long time. As if the underwater viewing for the polar bears isn't impressive enough, just going around the corner and seeing the brown bear habitat seemingly go on forever is just mesmerizing. Louisville's comes close, and I'm sure there are much more impressive things I haven't seen yet, but something about these just can't be replicated.

After seeing my favorite Spheniscus and the reptile house that is always so much larger than I expect, we came around to the Island's and the nocturnal house. Now here's the thing, I don't remember the nocturnal house before. I'm actually pretty sure I've missed it every single visit just because of sheer ignorance making our way to the koalas. So consider this my first time in the building and wow. For a ZooChat sicko, big fan of Night Hunters at Cincy, and someone who remembers the Small Mammal House at Brookfield Zoo, this was incredible. I'm sad we didn't get an actual look at kiwi or wombat, but holy smokes did the rest of the building impress, especially the feathertail gliders. If they could put a webcam on them, I'd watch for hours. After a sleeping koala, one of the Tasmanian devils were outside which is always a treat.

We wrapped up the day with the youngest orangutan, Clementine, the youngest gorilla, Mara and the youngest bonobo, Winstel. Young apes are some of the most fun to watch. Clementine was swinging all around, investigating every possible hiding spot for treats. Mara was battling a piece of paper and Winstel was curled up in his mother's arms. I'm always so impressed with Congo Forest. In part just because of the sheer size of the indoor holding and what little peeks you can see into additional holding, but also how well acclimated these different troops are. Every time I visit this zoo, all of these troops are interacting and very entertaining not just for a ZooChatter like myself but for all patrons. Not something I can say every time I see the same animals at other zoos.

One final note, all of the volunteers at Columbus are awesome. Very well educated and excited to be there sharing good information. They aren't just regurgitating animal facts. They know the individuals, their tendencies and can point them out with ease. You can tell they really love being around and sharing information with patrons.

For someone that often thinks how good we have it in Cincinnati and thinks of Columbus being not so much better, I'm always left wishing I lived just a little bit closer.

I didn't mean for this to go so long, but what a day! We accomplished all of that and some less exciting stuff I didn't mention before 5pm and headed off to the Penguins/Blue Jackets game. My feet hurt.
 
Joseph G said:
At the wolverine exhibit, a volunteer told us that sea otters were initially in the plans for North America Trek's second phase, but budget ran over for phase one.
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That's unfortunate! Not just because of my own preferences, but also because Alaska SeaLife Center currently has four rescued pups in need of a home and many of the current facilities are at or near capacity. It could get very tight next year, assuming there are more rescues from Alaska, Vancouver, and California, which seems likely. I hope none of the pups get euthanized because there's nowhere to send them.

Omaha Zoo had planned a sea otter exhibit, but that also seems to have been postponed indefinitely, if not cancelled. If zoos with the resources of Omaha and Columbus have to forego them for now due to budget constraints, that makes me concerned about the financial situation at other zoos, although I am well aware how much a sea otter's diet can cost.

In any case, it's cool to hear about the wolverines, which are not nearly as common at zoos as they could be!
 
SeaOtterHQ said:
That's unfortunate! Not just because of my own preferences, but also because Alaska SeaLife Center currently has four rescued pups in need of a home and many of the current facilities are at or near capacity. It could get very tight next year, assuming there are more rescues from Alaska, Vancouver, and California, which seems likely. I hope none of the pups get euthanized because there's nowhere to send them.
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Sorry if I am kinda derailing this thread. Aquarium du Quebec is going to open a sea otter exhibit next summer and will be able to house 6-8 otters. This would help free up the space for a bit of time.
I hope there will be more holders who will invest to keep them.
 
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