Went to the Bronx Zoo today and had a few observations:
1) I guess there are some renewed bird flu fears. Most birds were off exhibit including the flamingos, cranes, pelicans, swans, ostrich and most birds in JungleWorld. In addition the 2nd floor of WOB and the Aquatic Bird House/Seabird Colony were closed. However; all birds in Birds of Prey and the Pheasant Aviaries were on exhibit. I even saw the Australian Magpies in the last aviary.
2) In Jungle World the last two Ebony langurs were on exhibit and the area is looking very empty. In Wild Asia it was nice to see how much the Bactrian deer have grown (they have a larger herd too now). We also saw about 6-7 chital too. There were 2 Mongolian wild horse foals and we saw the herd of hog deer. No sika deer or Indian muntjac, but I was able to find the last 3 tahr too.
3) Construction by the Mouse House unfortunately does not seem to be anything major. Looking through the fence they have a small cement block foundation and a wood fence that looks to create a queue. It is probably going to be a cafe.
4) Since I had my little nephew with me, we did walk through the Dinosaur Safari. I have to say it was not that well done. I think the dinos being out in the elements for a few months made some look worn out. But ultimately it is such a waste of space- I do hope this area does eventually get developed.
5) Nothing new to report from Madagascar, Mouse House or the Reptile House. I was surprised by how few lemurs were on exhibit (2 red ruffed lemurs, 1 collared lemur, 2 ringtails) and the Mouse House has really started to double and triple up exhibits with the same species (it was great seeing so many feathertail gliders though). False water cobras were off exhibit already, but Hog Island Boas, a copperhead and a horned rattlesnake were new for me (or at least haven been on exhibit in a few years).
6) World of Birds- there seemed to be a lot of movement. Sad to not see the maleo on exhibit (could have moved somewhere else in the building) as argus pheasant, bali mynah and some other SE Asian birds have moved there. In the curassow/quetzal exhibit I saw a flock of what looked like oropendola or a jay species with yellow on the wings, but it was unlabeled. All open air exhibits had very heavy netting covering the exhibits making it difficult to see what was inside.
Overall a little disappointed to miss so many of the bird exhibits but will have to go back in a few months again and see if anything new has joined the collection.
The Mouse House construction is for a Budgerigar Aviary due to open next year, hopefully when avian influenza winds down again.
The Maleo are usually in there but there’s plenty of hiding spots in the back (it slopes downwards), which is where the Forsten’s Tortoise and Sulawesi Forest Turtle usually hide until feeding time.
They downsized the number of lemurs in the collection to avoid breeding too many.
