Bronx Zoo Bronx Zoo News 2025

Mary

Mary

Well-Known Member
Hi all! Starting a new thread for this year with an update from December 31 - technically 2024, but we'll just stick it here!

-Red panda fans rejoice! There is a red panda back on habitat in the Himalayan area after a long closure
-A brand new baby silvered leaf langur is now on habitat! I encourage everyone to go check out how these animals behave with an infant, it's very interesting to see how the baby is passed around the family to be taken care of by everyone
-Renovations continue on the lion house, as well as the restoom building in Asia. These restrooms have been closing periodically and with Asia being a trek from the rest of the zoo, plan your day accordingly just in case this building is closed on the day of your visit
-This very well could be a case of me never noticing before, but there is some sort of tortoise and a heat lamp area at the bottom of the gharial "river" in Jungleworld. An interesting and unique place for a tortoise, but don't expect to see much, it's difficult to view that section
-The breeding privacy screens in the Nicobar pigeon habiat in World of Birds have been removed, so this is a good chance to view them and the other species there
-There is a yellow-billed stork in the Jungle habiat of the second floor of World of Birds [first room you walk in to]. It is unsigned and I have not seen this species there before
 
Mary said:
Hi all! Starting a new thread for this year with an update from December 31 - technically 2024, but we'll just stick it here!

-Red panda fans rejoice! There is a red panda back on habitat in the Himalayan area after a long closure
-A brand new baby silvered leaf langur is now on habitat! I encourage everyone to go check out how these animals behave with an infant, it's very interesting to see how the baby is passed around the family to be taken care of by everyone
-Renovations continue on the lion house, as well as the restoom building in Asia. These restrooms have been closing periodically and with Asia being a trek from the rest of the zoo, plan your day accordingly just in case this building is closed on the day of your visit
-This very well could be a case of me never noticing before, but there is some sort of tortoise and a heat lamp area at the bottom of the gharial "river" in Jungleworld. An interesting and unique place for a tortoise, but don't expect to see much, it's difficult to view that section
-The breeding privacy screens in the Nicobar pigeon habiat in World of Birds have been removed, so this is a good chance to view them and the other species there
-There is a yellow-billed stork in the Jungle habiat of the second floor of World of Birds [first room you walk in to]. It is unsigned and I have not seen this species there before
Click to expand...

Was the pouched rat signed during your recent visit?
 
A few updates from my visit today:

- The Sea Bird Aviary had two new unsigned species - a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls and a pair of Rosy-billed Pochards. The flying steamer duck sign had been removed on half of the signs within the aviary.
- There was an unsigned Juvenile Black-backed Night Heron in the Coscoroba Swan exhibit.
-There was an unsigned Painted Stork and Superb Starling in the African Spoonbill exhibit.
-There were two unsigned African Pygmy Geese in the exhibit immediately following the Scarlet Ibis exhibit in the Aquatic Bird House.
- There was an unsigned African Collared Dove and Black-capped Social Weaver in the desert exhibit in the world of birds.
- The Lesser Vasa Parrots are no longer signed for the Spiny Forest exhibit - though still in the exhibit.
Mary said:
I did not venture into the mouse house this visit, but the last time I went [about 2 weeks ago] there still wasn't signage.
Click to expand...
- I don't recall seeing signage from my visit today
Mary said:
-This very well could be a case of me never noticing before, but there is some sort of tortoise and a heat lamp area at the bottom of the gharial "river" in Jungleworld. An interesting and unique place for a tortoise, but don't expect to see much, it's difficult to view that section
Click to expand...
- You weren't joking - it is rather difficult to see the tortoise - here's the best photo I could take, strange place to put a tortoise, I wonder how much of the exhibit it has access to.
Jungleworld - Unsigned tortoise

Jungleworld - Unsigned tortoise

jungleworld-unsigned-tortoise.775074
 
Mary said:
Hi all! Starting a new thread for this year with an update from December 31 - technically 2024, but we'll just stick it here!

-Red panda fans rejoice! There is a red panda back on habitat in the Himalayan area after a long closure
-A brand new baby silvered leaf langur is now on habitat! I encourage everyone to go check out how these animals behave with an infant, it's very interesting to see how the baby is passed around the family to be taken care of by everyone
-Renovations continue on the lion house, as well as the restoom building in Asia. These restrooms have been closing periodically and with Asia being a trek from the rest of the zoo, plan your day accordingly just in case this building is closed on the day of your visit
-This very well could be a case of me never noticing before, but there is some sort of tortoise and a heat lamp area at the bottom of the gharial "river" in Jungleworld. An interesting and unique place for a tortoise, but don't expect to see much, it's difficult to view that section
-The breeding privacy screens in the Nicobar pigeon habiat in World of Birds have been removed, so this is a good chance to view them and the other species there
-There is a yellow-billed stork in the Jungle habiat of the second floor of World of Birds [first room you walk in to]. It is unsigned and I have not seen this species there before
Click to expand...
And let's not forget the Reopening of World of Darkness!
 
Short-Giraffe said:
A few updates from my visit today:

- The Sea Bird Aviary had two new unsigned species - a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls and a pair of Rosy-billed Pochards. The flying steamer duck sign had been removed on half of the signs within the aviary.
- There was an unsigned Juvenile Black-backed Night Heron in the Coscoroba Swan exhibit.
-There was an unsigned Painted Stork and Superb Starling in the African Spoonbill exhibit.
-There were two unsigned African Pygmy Geese in the exhibit immediately following the Scarlet Ibis exhibit in the Aquatic Bird House.
- There was an unsigned African Collared Dove and Black-capped Social Weaver in the desert exhibit in the world of birds.
- The Lesser Vasa Parrots are no longer signed for the Spiny Forest exhibit - though still in the exhibit.
Click to expand...

Are you positive they are Great Black-backed Gulls? Not saying you are wrong but just curious how you identified them, while Great Black-backs would be more easily available Kelp Gulls are very similar and would fit better with the theme of the Seabird Aviary.
 
Birdlover said:
Are you positive they are Great Black-backed Gulls? Not saying you are wrong but just curious how you identified them, while Great Black-backs would be more easily available Kelp Gulls are very similar and would fit better with the theme of the Seabird Aviary.
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It's entirely possibly that I made an incorrect ID - definitely not an expert. My understanding was that Kelp Gulls have yellow legs, while Great Black-backs have pink legs. The gulls in the aviary were also quite large though that's certainly not conclusive. Here's a photo if anyone can better identify the gull.
IMG_0314.JPG
The Kelp Gull would be a better fit for the aviary - though at least the theming doesn't heavily focus on South America.
 

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Short-Giraffe said:
- You weren't joking - it is rather difficult to see the tortoise - here's the best photo I could take, strange place to put a tortoise, I wonder how much of the exhibit it has access to.
Jungleworld - Unsigned tortoise

Jungleworld - Unsigned tortoise

jungleworld-unsigned-tortoise.775074
Click to expand...
Kifaru Bwana said:
Burmese mountain tortoise Manouria emys.
Click to expand...


This isn't a tortoise, it's one of the zoo's Yellow-Headed Temple Turtles basking. The zoo has had Asian Brown Tortoise (M. e. emys) in JW before, though.

MikeG said:
They're definitely Great Black-backed Gulls, and came from Toledo Zoo.
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As @MikeG said, these are Greater Black-Backed Gulls. A little surprising, as that is a fairly aggressive species and may cause the more fragile inhabitants of the aviary (I'm thinking the Grey Gulls, Inca Terns, and any penguin chicks) a great deal of trouble.

Short-Giraffe said:
The flying steamer duck sign had been removed on half of the signs within the aviary.
jungleworld-unsigned-tortoise.775074
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be the first time the zoo has tried and failed to integrate steamer ducks into this aviary. Steamers can be quite aggressive, especially towards other waterfowl. My last visit in 2024, the zoo had Coscoroba Swans and Lesser Scaup in here as well.

~Thylo
 
Visited the zoo for my first 2025 visit of the year yesterday. In addition to the changes noted already:

-The Coscoroba Swans have moved to the adjutant stork aviary next-door.
-The malkoha has moved to the old Kea enclosure on the 2nd floor of WoB.
-There are two tinamou chicks in the WoB nursery.
-The Pere David's Deer yard has been divided in two with a very makeshift fence. I'm not sure what the intended purpose of this divide is, but it may be to allow the vegetation to grow in on the blocked off side. It certainly looked a lot more lush without the deer over there.
-In JW, they've replaced the Jungle Carpet Python with a Centralian (Bredl's) Python. A nice species but very out of place addition imo, given those live in about as opposite of a jungle biome as you can get!
-Additional Blue-Headed Wood-Doves have joined the African forest aviary in WoB along with the aforementioned Painted Stork.
-The nursery in WoR nursery has had a little bit of a make-over. They've removed the large plastic tubs at the back room and replaced them with more glass tanks. The table that was on the left wall is now also removed and they either added an additional incubation unit or slide them all closer to the viewing window to close the gap. The current inhabitants are: West African Mud Turtle, Radiated Tortoise, Baja California Rock Lizard, Sulawesi Forest Turtle (at least four tanks were signed with them!), Reticulated Python, William's Dwarf Gecko, Madagascar Ground Boa, Yellow-Headed Box Turtle, McCord's Box Turtle, Bog Turtle, Mangshan Pitviper, and Brongersma's Pitviper.
-I believe this was mentioned in the past, but the zoo's Painted River Terrapins and Bornean River Turtle are either gone or off-show, so it's just the Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle signed in with the young Sunda Gharial. There were two other large turtles in the enclosure yesterday, which I believe are Vietnamese Pond Turtles.
-The pouched rat is still unsigned and I did not see the animal.

~Thylo
 
I went to the zoo today.
Flying steamer duck is temporarily off exhibit due to the new species in the Seabird aviary.
All of the outdoor monkey exhibits outside the mouse house are empty and all the signage has been removed. I’d assume it’s just for the winter season.
The big Nile crocodiles in Madagascar have been replaced by three juveniles. What happened to the big ones?
Madagascar crested ibis is gone and sign has been removed. What happened to it? It was around quite a while so I’m not surprised if it passed.
In the first exhibit in world of birds, Guam rail is on exhibit with boat-billed heron. Snowy egret and anhinga are no longer there and signs have been removed.
In world of reptiles, the Komodo dragon was taken off exhibit as it got too large and is planned to leave for another zoo soon. A false water cobra is now in its exhibit.
In mouse house, the pouch rat is in the old greater bushbaby/ Malagasy giant rat exhibit. The signs for the bushbaby has been covered up too. What happened to the bushbabies and the rat? I’m not surprised if the rat passed away, it was around a long time and rats don’t live long
 
Kevin2342 said:
In world of reptiles, the Komodo dragon was taken off exhibit as it got too large and is planned to leave for another zoo soon. A false water cobra is now in its exhibit.
In mouse house, the pouch rat is in the old greater bushbaby/ Malagasy giant rat exhibit. The signs for the bushbaby has been covered up too. What happened to the bushbabies and the rat? I’m not surprised if the rat passed away, it was around a long time and rats don’t live long
Click to expand...

The young Komodo was still in WoR when I visited on Saturday so that's a very recent change! I was wondering when it was going to be swapped out.

The bushbabies were Mohol (one of the lesser bushbaby species), not a greater galago. They're just off-exhibit afaik, I wouldn't be surprised if they're being moved to the new World of Darkness. Personally I think it would be cooler if they eventually replaced the white-faced owls in the Aardvark enclosure. Malagasy Giant Rats actually live pretty long for a rodent. It died in 2023 having been at the zoo since around 2009.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
The young Komodo was still in WoR when I visited on Saturday so that's a very recent change! I was wondering when it was going to be swapped out.

The bushbabies were Mohol (one of the lesser bushbaby species), not a greater galago. They're just off-exhibit afaik, I wouldn't be surprised if they're being moved to the new World of Darkness. Personally I think it would be cooler if they eventually replaced the white-faced owls in the Aardvark enclosure. Malagasy Giant Rats actually live pretty long for a rodent. It died in 2023 having been at the zoo since around 2009.

~Thylo
Click to expand...
Oh wow 14 years for a rat! Damn that one lived a long life. At the Philly zoo they had another Malagasy giant rat who lived to be 14 and was the oldest in the world at the time of his death in 2023. I bet this one was the second oldest or close to.

Yesterday was the first day the Komodo dragon was taken off and the false water cobra went on exhibit. The sign still says Komodo dragon and has yet to be changed.
 
Kevin2342 said:
Oh wow 14 years for a rat! Damn that one lived a long life. At the Philly zoo they had another Malagasy giant rat who lived to be 14 and was the oldest in the world at the time of his death in 2023. I bet this one was the second oldest or close to.

Yesterday was the first day the Komodo dragon was taken off and the false water cobra went on exhibit. The sign still says Komodo dragon and has yet to be changed.
Click to expand...

I believe all three of the last jumping rats in America (one held at Bronx, Philly, and Omaha each) died in 2023 :(

~Thylo
 
Does the zoo still keep the following species
Gray mouse lemur
Four-lined girdled lizard
Amur leopard
Central American bushmaster
Madagascar crested ibis
Guanay cormorant(I thought they had the last one in the US, but haven’t been seen in years)
Snowy egret
Anhinga
Cinerous vulture

The hallway past the crocodiles in Madagascar! does appear quite dismal, the only species on display are Madagascar ground boa, Madagascar tree boa, Madagascar hissing cockroach, and some kind of unsigned fish(idk what species.) The tomato frog is now in World of Reptiles, the four-lined girdled lizard and gray mouse lemur were nowhere to be found.

Snowy egret and anhinga in Aquatic bird house were nowhere to be found and signs were removed. They used to be in the very first exhibit with Guam rail and boat-billed heron.
 
Kevin2342 said:
Does the zoo still keep the following species
Gray mouse lemur
Four-lined girdled lizard
Amur leopard
Central American bushmaster
Madagascar crested ibis
Guanay cormorant(I thought they had the last one in the US, but haven’t been seen in years)
Snowy egret
Anhinga
Cinerous vulture

The hallway past the crocodiles in Madagascar! does appear quite dismal, the only species on display are Madagascar ground boa, Madagascar tree boa, Madagascar hissing cockroach, and some kind of unsigned fish(idk what species.) The tomato frog is now in World of Reptiles, the four-lined girdled lizard and gray mouse lemur were nowhere to be found.

Snowy egret and anhinga in Aquatic bird house were nowhere to be found and signs were removed. They used to be in the very first exhibit with Guam rail and boat-billed heron.
Click to expand...
The gray mouse lemur was taken off exhibit as was the Amur leopard, the guanay cormorant passed on a few years ago and I believe the anhinga may have passed. Unsure about the rest.
 
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