Bearizona Wildlife Park Bearizona News

Kifaru Bwana said:
The pronghorn were local from Arizona so is that the Sonoran subspecies both belong to?

It still surprises me how little people know about the great outdoors and wildlands and that you are never supposed to pick up calves lying low and waiting for their mothers to return and nurse them.
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Actually it is the nominate race, American pronghorn (A.a. americana). Arizona is home to three of the five subspecies. Northern Arizona, where these two rescues are from, has this type. Southeast Arizona has Chihuahuan pronghorn (A.a. mexicana). These are the ones closest to where I live and are very easy to see on the highway in Sonoita (less than an hour from Tucson). Southwest Arizona has the endangered Sonoran pronghorn (A.a. sonoriensis). These are a small population, most of them in Mexico, and very difficult to see. Some are supposedly on the US side in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument but I did my first trip there a couple months ago at sunset and did not see any (or any other wildlife for that matter). Someone here on ZooChat posted that the Chihuahuan and Sonoran subspecies have been combined, but I have not seen the reports confirming this myself.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Actually it is the nominate race, American pronghorn (A.a. americana). Arizona is home to three of the five subspecies. Northern Arizona, where these two rescues are from, has this type. Southeast Arizona has Chihuahuan pronghorn (A.a. mexicana). These are the ones closest to where I live and are very easy to see on the highway in Sonoita (less than an hour from Tucson). Southwest Arizona has the endangered Sonoran pronghorn (A.a. sonoriensis). These are a small population, most of them in Mexico, and very difficult to see. Some are supposedly on the US side in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument but I did my first trip there a couple months ago at sunset and did not see any (or any other wildlife for that matter). Someone here on ZooChat posted that the Chihuahuan and Sonoran subspecies have been combined, but I have not seen the reports confirming this myself.
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Thanks for your - as always - pleasantly informed reply. I was actually unaware that Arizona had the 3 subspecies in the state of AZ - well admittedly a big federal state -. I wrongly had assumed that Arizona only held 2 subspecies, Chihuahuan and Sonoran with respective cross border alignment with Mexican populations of each subspecies.

Relating to the recent recombination of Chihuahuan and Sonoran pronghorn into one subspecies, I have not heard that either. I checked the sites of Arizona FWS and Defenders for Wildlife and the Sonoran recovery website and neither of these made any mention of this. I would remain on the reserved side of things when re-arranging subspecies for which morphological and taxonomic differences do exist when simply looking at DNA. The defining characteristic in genes is probably looking at haplotypes and then set up evolutionary trees and clades with evolutionary timelines.
 
Bearizona has officially opened 'Kinder Cubs', a new Grizzly Bear exhibit for the trio of young cubs at the zoo, and there is even an upcoming documentary about the bears called 'A Journey to a New Home'. Also, opening in 2022, 'Grizzly Encounter' will be an even larger bear exhibit and the article below states that it will be "one of the largest and most impressive grizzly bear habitats in the United States".

Bearizona announces new grizzly bear habitat and documentary | AZ Big Media
 
snowleopard said:
Bearizona has officially opened 'Kinder Cubs', a new Grizzly Bear exhibit for the trio of young cubs at the zoo, and there is even an upcoming documentary about the bears called 'A Journey to a New Home'. Also, opening in 2022, 'Grizzly Encounter' will be an even larger bear exhibit and the article below states that it will be "one of the largest and most impressive grizzly bear habitats in the United States".

Bearizona announces new grizzly bear habitat and documentary | AZ Big Media
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So the entire article is all about the grizzly bears, but the photo they use is a black bear? :eek: (By "they" I mean the media company, not Bearizona, since presumably the park itself knows the difference). A decade ago or so there were no grizzly bears in Arizona, and now three zoos have them: Out Of Africa was the first, then Reid Park Zoo, and finally Bearizona.
 
So I went to Bearizona today and saw some new developments
1. There is now a Rocky Mountain Elk exhibit just down the path from the Jaguar exhibit. The exhibit has 1.3 Elk. Compared to the rest of the exhibits in the park this was undersized.
2. The red fox exhibit next to the Badgers is being redone
3. And next to that exhibit they are building a large frog exhibit.
4. The Dall sheep are gone from the first drive through exhibit
5. The deer exhibit now holds Coues Deer along with Mule Deer and Pronghorn
6. There are three new White Bison calves and a Reindeer calf across from the Grizzly Bears.
7. There is some sort of new exhibit being built at the arch that leads into the park. It appears to have one of the largest cliff walls in the entire park. The back of the exhibit looks at the arch.
8. The Mine shaft now has black tailed prairie dogs
9. The petting zoo is closed indefinitely.
 
Westcoastperson said:
...There is some sort of new exhibit being built at the arch that leads into the park. It appears to have one of the largest cliff walls in the entire park. The back of the exhibit looks at the arch...
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What could this be? You mention Dall's sheep are gone, so maybe a bigger exhibit for them? Or perhaps a new species like mountain lion?
 
It could be but this would most likely be part of the walking area as that is the way the exhibit faces. Mountain Lions are a good guess because Bearizona has been trying to get them for a while. Dalls sheep or bighorn sheep would make sense because both could use larger climbing sections but I would assume their section would be in a drive through area and this was not a drive through.
 
Westcoastperson said:
It could be but this would most likely be part of the walking area as that is the way the exhibit faces. Mountain Lions are a good guess because Bearizona has been trying to get them for a while. Dalls sheep or bighorn sheep would make sense because both could use larger climbing sections but I would assume their section would be in a drive through area and this was not a drive through.
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Mountain lion would be a welcome addition to a cat lover like myself. :) (However, considering the woeful lack of vegetation in their jaguar exhibit, I am afraid to see how this might turn out).
 
Arizona Docent said:
Mountain lion would be a welcome addition to a cat lover like myself. :) (However, considering the woeful lack of vegetation in their jaguar exhibit, I am afraid to see how this might turn out).
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It would be a great to have mountain lions but it didn’t look like there were any trees in the exhibit. I originally mistook it for some sort of building because of how high it was and the lack of trees behind it. Interestingly they used shipping containers as the base and corrugated metal to build the wall which was very interesting. Actually many of the exhibits were made corrugated metal including the new bear exhibit and the fox exhibit.
 
Westcoastperson said:
7. There is some sort of new exhibit being built at the arch that leads into the park. It appears to have one of the largest cliff walls in the entire park. The back of the exhibit looks at the arch.
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Well just found an answer to this @Arizona Docent. The new exhibit will be an updated exhibit for their three grizzly brothers. This is a little strange considering their current bear exhibit is nice and fairly new but they could want to put black bears there.
 
Other 2021 News:

On March 13th, the park announced that they have acquired (2.2) Rocky Mountain goats named Tom (Brady), Wayne (Gretzky), Serena (Williams), and Simone (Biles).

Bearizona

On April 20th, the park announced that they have acquired (3.0) mule deer named Joe, Schmo, and Noah.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=271964881245233

On April 24th, the park announced they have acquired (0.0.2) grey crowned cranes named Hops and Barley, and will be ambassador animals for the facility.

Bearizona

On May 25th, the park announced the reindeer that was born's gender (0.1) and name, Cider.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=903652497163642

On June 26th, the park announced that they have acquired a (1.0) American black bear named Roscoe from AZ Game & Fish.

Bearizona

On November 4th, the park announced they have acquired a (1.0) mule deer named Deer Lee which is on exhibit in the drive-through area of the park.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1036913527103602

On December 2nd, the park announced they have renovated their red fox exhibit.

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2022 News:

On April 12th, the park announced that a (1.0) American black bear named Roscoe has been moved to the Jr. Bear exhibit in the drive-through portion.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=668470290886254

On May 11th, the park announced that a (0.1) reindeer was born on April 29th. On June 15th, the park announced its name, Brandy.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1155563291911126
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=558449939142114

On June 15th, the park announced that a (1.0) Rocky mountain goat was born and is the first of its kind to be successfully bred at the facility. On June 24th, he was named MJ.

Bearizona
Bearizona

On June 28th, the park announced they have acquired (3.0) Arctic wolves, as well as a (1.0) Alaskan tundra wolf.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=580566166743401

On June 30th, the park announced they have acquired (3.0) American black bears.

Bearizona - We have a BIG surprise in store for our... | By Bearizona | We have a BIG surprise in store for our visitors this holiday weekend! These three wild black bear cubs were recently in need of a home because of some...

On July 6th, the park announced they have acquired (0.0.2) bobcats.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1463568520760798

On July 11th, it was reported that the park, in partnership with Arizona Game & Fish Department as well as the US Fish & Wildlife Service will be making a new walk-through exhibit containing a self-sustaining population of northern leopard frogs.

Northern Leopard Frogs Find Refuge at Bearizona Wildlife Park
 
On June 20th, the zoo announced that (1.1) domestic goats (breed not specified) were born and are now on exhibit.

Good afternoon BZ family! We have some brand new members to the BZ crew, come say hi to our BABY GOATS! | By Bearizona | Facebook

On July 24th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) domestic reindeer named Moonshine was born.

Good afternoon Bearizona family! We have four very new, very young residents in our rescue exhibit in the walkthrough! Let’s meet them! ❤️ | By Bearizona | Facebook

On July 24th, the zoo announced that (1.1) pronghorns named Finley and Sabrina were born. The zoo also announced that they acquired a (1.0) pronghorn named Wiley after it survived a coyote attack.

Good afternoon Bearizona family! We have four very new, very young residents in our rescue exhibit in the walkthrough! Let’s meet them! ❤️ | By Bearizona | Facebook
 
 
Smaggledagle said:
On September 8th, the zoo announced that they acquired (2.0) Arctic foxes which are now on exhibit.

Bearizona - Arctic Fox Naming Contest! We are excited to...
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On September 19th, the zoo announced that they actually acquired (3.0) Arctic foxes and were named Alaska, Iceland/Ice, and Yukon.

Bearizona - Thank you for everyone that participated in...

On December 19th, the zoo announced they acquired a (1.0) American black bear named Buddy the week prior after it was found wandering a neighborhood in Tuscon, Arizona.

Bearizona - Christmas Miracle or Tiny Tim? A bear cub...
 
On March 4th, 2024, the zoo announced they acquired a (0.1) common raccoon named Mrs. Lloyd which is on exhibit.

Good afternoon Bearizona family! This afternoon, we are hanging out with one of our newer residents, Mrs. Lloyd the raccoon! We get our raccoons from... | By BearizonaFacebook

On March 11th, the zoo announced they acquired a (1.0) Linne's two-toed sloth named Forrest from an unspecified rescue facility in Delaware a few months prior which is now behind-the-scenes and can only be seen during their "VIP tour".

Bearizona
Good Afternoon Everyone! Today, we’re hanging out with Forrest the sloth and Keeper Lisa! You can only meet Forrest on our VIP tours, and Keeper Lisa... | By BearizonaFacebook
 
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