Akron Zoo Akron Zoo News 2012

TigerValley98

TigerValley98

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Erie Zoo welcomes two black bears

By ERICA ERWIN, Erie Times-News

The Erie Zoo has two new residents, at least temporarily: two black bears.

The female bears, originally from an Illinois zoo, are on loan to Erie through the summer while the Akron Zoo in Ohio -- their ultimate destination -- builds a new exhibit, Erie Zoo Chief Executive Scott Mitchell said today.

"They're in hibernation mode, so it's hard to see them," Mitchell said of the bears, who are sisters. "Hopefully, by spring, they'll be up and about.

The bears arrived within the last six weeks and are in what was formerly used as one of the zoo's two polar-bear enclosures, Mitchell said.

The zoo last had bear cubs in 1996 and an adult in the mid-'70s, Mitchell said. He said he expects the bears to be a big draw -- literally. Each weighs a couple of hundred pounds.

"Every kid knows what a bear is. Everybody has a stuffed bear," Mitchell said. "For many kids, it'll be the first chance to see one up close and personal. I think they'll be a pretty big hit."

Earlier this week, the zoo lost one of its most popular attractions -- Kumar, a 20-year-old Amur tiger.

Kumar was euthanized Monday because of age-related illnesses. His death leaves the zoo with two other Amur tigers, a male and female.

Erie Zoo welcomes two black bears | GoErie.com/Erie Times-News
 
Here is some news we gathered from our visit today to the Akron Zoo.

All demo work has been completed however work has currently come to a halt due to the zoo putting the projects construction contract back up for bid.Zoo staff is very confident that work will be back on schedule by springtime.

Akron no longer has thick billed parrots and has replaced them with wild turkeys.

The zoos sloth bear exhibit is currently closed for renovations.

The zoo is now rotating the jaguars and snowleopards.

Team Tapir
 
Here are several other pieces of news I have heard/seen:

The black and white ruffed lemurs are now living with the ring-tailed lemurs. Red ruffed lemurs live in the old black and white ruffed lemur exhibit. The inhabitants of the both exhibits with swap exhibits once and a while for enrichment purposes.

The art for Journey to the Reef has begun. Sea life murals will be include throughout the new exhibit. I would assume that the renovation of the aquatic area is now complete. The colorful logo for the exhibit includes its name and an octopus.

The renovations to the sloth bear exhibit that Team Tapir mentioned is most likely to try to keep Balawat and Keesha from staying so much time inside. If the door is open, they are inside. This is an issue that needs to be solved. They have never really spent time in the small cave in the exhibit where the late Ringo and cancer-survivor Muffin once spent a lot of time. Muffin the Malayan sun bear lives in the Sherman Center for Animal Care ever since Keesha and Balawat arrived because of her health issues. I just hope that they do some renovations down the path at the empty former gibbon exhibit that has been closed for several years.

The snow leopard and jaguar swaps have to deal with Shanti breaking the glass in the snow leopard exhibit in September. They have put a fence up in front of the glass and wood there until they can replace the glass. The snow leopards will be the the jaguar exhibit when they are working on the snow leopard exhibit. Plus, jaguars are not a thrilled with cooler weather.

I also saw on construction plans that were posted when they were asking for quotes for the Grizzly Ridge construction project.

A new aviary will go where coati island was. It will be two-story with a tree house and on-site holding areas for birds. I have not heard fate of the current aviary, but Asian Trail renovations would have to occur to remove it because it provides the back fence of the barking deer exhibit.

There will also be a half-tube window in part of the new otter exhibit.

The back bears (currently in Erie) and the grizzly bears (currently in Cleveland) will rotate between exhibits. They will not have an assigned home. They will frequently swap exhibits.

It also looks like the small mammal exhibit could feature various species and will be more of a presentation area and will have a list of times for animal presentations.
 
The black bears are at the Erie Zoo? I'm trying to think where they would house them. All I can think of is the secondary side exhibit for the polar bears and that's not much space at all!
 
@Blospz The black bears at the Erie Zoo are being exhibited in one of the former polar bear grottos.

@Tigervalley98 We were just talking today about why it has taken so long to develop the former gibbon exhibit and the wooded area which surrounds it.We know that at one point there was a plan for a exhibit called Animals in the Treetops and that has taken a backseat to Grizzly Ridge.Are you aware of any plans for that former gibbon area.In our opinion it would be ideal for a small primate forest similar to one like in Toledo.

Team Tapir
 
The young black bear sisters are going to live in one of the spare polar bear exhibits. Since they only have one polar bear now, they had room to keep them. It will give Erie a species they do not have, even if it is just for this year. They were unable to stay where they where they were. Erie is excited about having them and the future Akron residents are close enough in case anyone wanting to take a trip up to see them. The two zoo still have free reciprocity between them, unlike other zoos in the area.
 
I have asked multiple times about that section of Tiger Valley. It got put on the back-burner for a while with Farmland, Journey to the Reef, and Grizzly Ridge. I would not be surprised if something goes there sooner rather than later because I would think they would want to get it ready for the increased attendance Grizzly Ridge, and also possibly Journey to the Reef, will bring. They took down the former exhibit because it needed to be replaced. If they are working on the sloth bear exhibit, maybe they will then move down to path and work there. Currently the zoo only has five primate species on exhibit: red ruffed lemur, black and white ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur, pygmy slow loris, and golden lion tamarin. If I hear anything, I will post it here.
 
I have news why Keesha and Balawat are off exhibit. Balawat had an enrichment item that struck the glass and caused it to crack. The sloth bears were quickly moved inside and no one was injured. The sloth bears will remain off-exhibit until the glass is repaired.

Expect to hear more on Journey to the Reef soon. More exhibit tanks are being added and the current touch tank will remain and hold several stingrays. I will post it when it is officially announced.

The gibbon exhibit will likely be replaced/renovated after Grizzly Ridge because there has been no news yet on any plans for the area.
 
Below is from the official Akron Zoo Construction Updates page:

Thursday, February 23, 2012:

Work continues on the new exhibit, Journey to the Reef, which will open May 26, 2012. We have added several more aquariums and new painting, carpeting and lighting will all be added soon. Animals will be arriving and place in the space soon. We are keeping two species of jellyfish and animals that live on or near the reef will join them.

Most of the construction on the Mary and Mike Stark Grizzly Ridge will resume this spring or summer when the weather breaks. This area will open in 2013.

Construction updates
 
The Akron Zoo has placed an updated map on their website. It includes Journey to the Reef and the Grizzly Ridge construction zone. The interactive map also includes some of the zoo's species of animals, but not all. This is likely the map that will be used this summer, expect there will be text labels for most exhibits on the actual paper maps. The interactive map can be reached by clicking the brown bar on the right-hand side.

http://www.akronzoo.org
 
Zoo Map Updated

The Akron Zoo has placed an updated map on their website. It includes Journey to the Reef and the Grizzly Ridge construction zone. The interactive map also includes some of the zoo's species of animals, but not all. This is likely the map that will be used this summer, expect there will be text labels for most exhibits on the actual paper maps. The interactive map can be reached by clicking the brown bar on the right-hand side.

Akron Zoo
 
TigerValley98 said:
The Akron Zoo has placed an updated map on their website. It includes Journey to the Reef and the Grizzly Ridge construction zone. The interactive map also includes some of the zoo's species of animals, but not all. This is likely the map that will be used this summer, expect there will be text labels for most exhibits on the actual paper maps. The interactive map can be reached by clicking the brown bar on the right-hand side.

Akron Zoo
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the new map, and getting rid of the Wild Prairie zone in favour of Grizzly Ridge is a smart move. The waterfowl ponds and spur-thighed tortoise, bald eagle, coati and river otter exhibits were part of that area and that section of the zoo was due for an overhaul.
 
Akron's Laurel and Libby Make Public Debut at Erie

The Akron Zoo's black bears, Laurel and Libby, made their public debut today at the Erie Zoo where they are living temporarily. I have went ahead and posted the entire Keeper's Corner for Spring 2012 from the Erie Zoo and I have marked the text the Akron related news.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Erie Zoo's Keeper’s Corner - Spring 2012

There will be some new faces at the zoo when it re-opens this year. Libby and Laurel will greet visitors – if they are awake that is! We are holding two female black bears for the Akron Zoo this year while they construct a new exhibit. The bears arrived in early December, and have been spending most of their time in hibernation. Food and water has been provided to them on a daily basis, but they only wake up to eat and drink small amounts every few days. They were born at the Niabi Zoo in Illinois two years ago. You can tell them apart by looking for the white markings that Laurel has on her neck. Compared to polar bears, these two are quite small – weighing in at 230 and 270 pounds. They will remain at the zoo until late fall.

Another new animal to be exhibited this year will be prehensile-tailed porcupines. They were received from the Miami Zoo last fall, and will be on exhibit in the former Pallas cat exhibit once the weather warms up. The Pallas cat will be moving to the former red-ruffed lemur exhibit on the north side of the main zoo building. Prehensile-tailed porcupines are native to South America, and are very interesting animals with their unique tail. This pair produced one offspring last year who will be moving to another zoo this spring, and the pair is recommended to breed again this year.

The group of Geoffrey tamarins grew by one animal last fall with the addition of a female from the Cleveland Zoo. She was integrated into the group of 3 males without a problem, and we are hoping she will breed this year.

There is some sad news to report concerning our red pandas. In November, the male “Samuel” passed away from a perforated intestine. The necropsy did not reveal the cause of the perforation. The SSP attempted to find another male to pair with the female “Syringa” before the breeding season started in January, but there were none available. We requested to keep the cub “Scarlett” until fall instead of moving her to another zoo this spring so that Syringa would not be alone. This recommendation was approved.

The otter family has returned to its original number again, with the last cub being sent to the Henson Robison Zoo in Illinois in November. We also saw the return of “Birdie”, the female that had been sent to the Akron Zoo temporarily when the otter exhibit was overflowing with 7 otters! Birdie moved right back in and is doing well. We hope that our pair “Mimi” and “Scooter“ will breed and produce pups again this year.

An Erie Zoo icon has passed away. Kumar, the white Bengal tiger, was euthanized in January after battling medical problems related to his old age. At 20 ½ years old, Kumar was one of the oldest tigers in the U.S. He came to Erie in 1994 from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and was a favorite of keepers and visitors alike. Kumar will be greatly missed.

There has been at least one confirmed sighting of a wallaby joey in the pouch so far this year. Of the three joeys produced last year, two moved to the Cleveland Zoo, and one remained here in the group. We expect at least one more joey from the group, but it is still early in the season. Right now, all we can see is movement in the pouch. With no hair, the joeys won’t be peeking out of the pouch until the weather warms up!

There are new additions to the rock hyrax family! Three babies were born on January 14 and are already bouncing around on the large rocks in their exhibit. Baby hyrax are very well developed when they are born and start eating solid food when they are just a few days old.

Erie Zoo Keeper's Corner - Spring 2012
 
The Akron Zoo has said on Facebook that Keesha and Balawat, the zoo's diva sloth bears, will be back on exhibit in early April. They exhibit glass should be fixed by then. This has given them some time in case the zoo wanted to make any changes to their exhibit since they will be the old bears next year. Laurel and Libby, along with two of the four grizzlies at Cleveland, will be moving into Grizzly Ridge.

When I was at Akron on Sunday I also noticed several other minor things. They are putting up netting on the exhibit next to the chickens. No one lived here last year, so either the chickens will also live there or they are getting something new. The current aviary, which was not open next year and currently is not open, has some residents. Several of the wild turkeys are living there with some of the already acquired birds for the new aviary. Grackles and a green heron are living in there. There might be more, but that is all I could see.
 
Journey to the Reef logo

Here is the logo for Journey to the Reef that opens on May 26th.

ReefOpening.jpeg
 
The glass in the zoo's sloth bear exhibit is being replaced today. Keesha and Balawat should be back out on exhibit any day now.
 
Keesha and Balawat are now back on exhibit. Their glass is fixed and they have more logs to play with in the exhibit. Everything else is the same. Keesha is still annoyed by Balawat, so nothing else has changed.

More of the painting is complete for Journey to the Reef. One of the doors was opened and I noticed that it will be a brightly-painted exhibit unlike Jellies.
 
Roscoe and Shanti are on exhibit. They still have the cracked glass boarded up and have fencing in from of the glass to prevent them from touching the glass right now. They mentioned on Facebook recently that it will be fixed in the next couple weeks. The sloth bears were the priority right now because they could not be out, but the snow leopards can be. I expect it to be done sometime before the summer season begins in May.
 
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