ABQ BioPark Zoo ABQ BioPark Zoo (aka Rio Grande Zoo / Albuquerque Zoo)

On December 31st, the zoo announced they transferred a (0.1) West African slender-snouted crocodile named Adjoa to the San Diego Zoo in California, as well as (1.1) Grand Cayman blue iguanas named Frank and Lola to other unspecified facilities. The zoo also announced that they acquired a (0.1) Grand Cayman blue iguana.

ABQ BioPark 2023 Year in Review — City of Albuquerque
 
Update from my visit on Friday January 26 2024:
The lion exhibit has a big sign talking about the changes coming to the catwalk. It appears to have the access for the polar bear but I did not get to see that fully as keepers were inside the exhibit. The sign on the exhibit talks about the former lions being transferred.

There are still Red kangaroos in the exhibit next to the Jaguar. After seeing the report of the zoo receiving Western Gray Kangaroos, I was curious if they would still house Red as well.

As for the rest of the catwalk area: The Tiger exhibit and one of the smaller ones exhibits in unoccupied. Cats on display include several , 2 bobcat, 2 ocelout, 2 additional snow leopard, and mountain lion.

Though not open to the public the New Lorikeet through aviary has birds in it bracing for its opening now early in 2024. According to a 2022 article the zoo has : red lory, coconut and Swainson’s. On top of the Lorikeets I could see kookaburra and Blue-Faces Honey eaters were also in the exhibit. They was on display in the Africa section when I visited in October, which that exhibit is currently empty.

In the Africa section the chimp exhibit was open, however I only saw one out and about. The capybara exhibit had no signage after the passing of the female. The Emu And Gray Kangaroos are displayed together behind the giraffe enclosure.

on the Pe walk the old Siamang and Orangutan exhibit are empty with them being moved to their new homes.

Last, I can not say enough good things about the New Asia section. With the rotating space expansions I dare say that the Orangutans have 4 to 5 times the space they had before. When I saw it in October it was so busy and I was on a limited schedule but I was one of maybe 10 people in the exhibit when I was there and it gave me a chance to really appreciate it. I honestly can’t believe that it is in Albuquerque. From what I can tell it looks like 4 of the exhibits connect with bridges overhead. There are two larger exhibits that offer more veriticle for the apes then it would for the tiger, however 3 of the 4 have signage for all 3 animals. The siamangs were in the smallest exhibit on both visits, but this exhibit is full of ropes and toys with a close by ropes course for human children. On the first visit the youngest member of the group seemed to be playing with the children on the course. The last exhibit of the connected has a deep pool and seems to be adapted more for the tiger. The new tiger was very vocal on my visit. The snow leopard exhibit appears to be 3 to 4 times the size as the old ones on the catwalk. The animals have a lot of places to hide. The exhibit offers multiple views of the exhibit as well. The final new exhibit is the Stellars sea eagle which I posted pictures in last time. It offers a ton of space for the birds. The pool was on but did not have fish, but I did talk to a keeper about the plans of keeping fish in the pool for the Eagles to hunt as well as their diet.

I will post some more pictures of my visit today. My last little feedback is though there are a number of empty exhibits due to all the change, the change is very welcome and the zoo has taken several steps up in the last 10 years and I cannot wait to see what the zoo will look like in 2-3 years when all these major projects are completed.
 
Thanks @WLV30SAS for all the updates. The zoo's website has always been so poorly designed that quite often it's zoo nerds who have the best information on recent changes at the park. With 1.5 million annual visitors, the zoo, aquarium, bug house and botanical garden are New Mexico's #1 attraction, according to information online. It's a full day out.

It appears that ABQ BioPark Zoo has created a rotational set of exhibits for Asian species in a similar style as to what was built at Point Defiance Zoo and Louisville Zoo, with both those exhibit complexes being close to 20 years of age now. A criticism of those other zoos is that in both cases there would sometimes be Tigers in an enclosure full of hanging ropes and swings that was clearly designed for apes. Even though the exhibits at those two zoos are a bit on the generic, small side, I do personally like the idea of rotating species through various environments. It must be a lot of stimulating enrichment for a carnivore to be placed in an area that potentially held its prey the day before, so it would be fascinating to see how successful the experience is in Albuquerque.
 
SwampDonkey said:
Did you happen to notice if they replaced the glass on the viewing window? It was crazy scratched up when I was there in 2022.
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sadly the glass was not replaced. It has been cleaned but the North side viewing area is still scratched.

As for King Komodo’s update, Otto’s temporary new exhibit is indeed the one that housed the capybara that recently passed. When I attended there was no signs up and the pool was drained.

Lastly, snow leopard, I have yet to see the other rotating exhibits with predator and prey but I do think it is a great idea. The only rotating exhibits I have seen is predator ridge at the Denver Zoo which is one of my favorites for Lions. As for the website, I agree that it is an awful one. It is tied to the city and it gets no real updates. I wish it had a unique website for the Biopark as other zoos have.
 
tigris115 said:
I'm surprised a polar bear can be kept comfortably in this sort of region
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I used to think the same until I lived there for a couple years. It’s technically in the mountains and although its summers can be pretty warm it’s rather dry and at night still gets cold. And the other three seasons aren’t any worse than any other zoo that houses them I’d argue at times it’s cooler than other regions in the Fall and Winter.
 
E Maximus said:
I used to think the same until I lived there for a couple years. It’s technically in the mountains and although its summers can be pretty warm it’s rather dry and at night still gets cold. And the other three seasons aren’t any worse than any other zoo that houses them I’d argue at times it’s cooler than other regions in the Fall and Winter.
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Ok that makes sense. I kinda just assumed that region of the US was usually quite hellish as weather goes
 
tigris115 said:
Ok that makes sense. I kinda just assumed that region of the US was usually quite hellish as weather goes
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Weather in the Southwest varies a lot by elevation. As an example, Tucson is usually slightly cooler than Phoenix despite being further south.
Albuquerque is actually classified as a "cold semi-arid" climate.
 
E Maximus said:
I used to think the same until I lived there for a couple years. It’s technically in the mountains and although its summers can be pretty warm it’s rather dry and at night still gets cold. And the other three seasons aren’t any worse than any other zoo that houses them I’d argue at times it’s cooler than other regions in the Fall and Winter.
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I would still prefer a more temperate clime zoo to invest in polar bears. I think both brown and black bears would be more fitting.
 
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