I visited on the 7th, and I was definitely happy with what a saw. All of the babies were out, including the gorillas - both of them, the collared lemur twins, the giraffe calf, the lion cubs, the sea lions, as well as the chicks of at least two pheasant species - Swinhoe's and Cabot's. I don't think I've ever seen so many babies on a single visit!
I saw the Zoo Center's new monitor and tortoise exhibits, both of which I thought were very nice, although I was only able to see one of the Komodo dragons (and only for a few seconds) and the lights weren't even on in the blue-spotted tree monitor exhibit. (Any idea what could have been going on there?) The tortoise exhibit is pretty. It is very long and lushly planted, and has a soft pathway made up of what I thought was the material used on playgrounds (the name escapes me - help me out

). The Komodo dragons' outdoor exhibit (the former tapir exhibit) seemed a bit small. It was basically an island with a water-less moat around it, I'm not sure if the moat is accessible to the dragons. Have they started using the outdoor yard yet? They were only on exhibit indoors on the day of my visit.
I also got a glimpse of the Aquatic Bird House's kiwi, so that is the first kiwi I have ever seen in my lifetime! Although it was just preening itself nestled in a corner with its back turned and would only occasionally show its face, it was definitely special. I have to say, I was really taken off guard by how big kiwis actually are!

And for the first time, I saw the mandrills at the Congo Gorilla Forest! I was always so disappointed when I would see so many pictures/videos of them on the Internet, but every time I would stop by their exhibit they were nowhere to be found. Many times the exhibit was completely empty - no red river hogs or De Brazza's monkeys either! But, yes, I saw two of them, and was excited to capture some close-up video of the male's face.
I saw the "new" crowned lemurs in the sifaka exhibit. They were very active and fun to watch. I asked an employee how many there were, as there were two on exhibit at the moment, but she was unsure since the individuals inside the exhibit are constantly being rotated. I do believe she said there were four Coquerel's sifakas total though, if anyone was curious. She also said that in the four months they've been together, the crowned lemurs and sifakas have gotten along very well.
And yes, to reiterate, there is a marabou stork on display on the African Plains. This individual was missing its right wing. If anyone remembers, was this the same one that was on exhibit in the years before the storks suddenly "disappeared?" Also, the crowned-cranes were in the n'yala exhibit along with the stork - I think there were four of them - although their signage was still up at the gazelle exhibit. And the two kudus were on exhibit as well.