Buffalo Zoo Buffalo Zoo 2011

No. There is absolutely no excuse for cruelty.

Here is the response from the zoo. I don't agree with their reasons for using chains.

"That is some misinformation. The elephants are not chained. Each has two
stalls to call their own in the evening and it has been like that for almost
three years now.

Prior to our renovations, one chain was put on, not to restrict movement but
to restrict how far they could stray at night. That way the keepers could
monitor who is eating what in terms of intake and diets, but they were never
restrained at night from moving, just limited in where they could go. That
in our eyes was a pretty significant difference from the way it was publicly
portrayed.

Thanks for your inquiry. If I can be of further service, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Michael Powers
Marketing Manager
The Buffalo Zoo"
 
Not quite sure what to make of this.Is any one aware of this method being used by other zoos.The more thought given to it we are not crazy about it.

Team Tapir
 
Well, that's vague to me. I know they used to do the method that Mr. Powers described above and I didn't think they did it anymore. But I what I want to know is why there were anklets on two feet of each elephant? Perhaps they had still restrain movement again? I'll check when I go this week. I'm sure I'll never know the reasoning behind it, I just didn't like seeing it in the first place.
 
I'm happy to report when I saw the elephants today, they no longer had their anklets on.

I was also thrilled to see Diana, the third oldest Andean Bear in US zoos, in a new home! For those familiar with the zoo, there are two locations for the Andean Bears. One is the bear grottoes and the other is in Vanishing Animals. Diana has been living in the concrete grotto, but is now in the more naturalistic Vanishing Animals paddock. This area has soft soil and grass under her old feet and new smells for her to sniff. She seemed to be adjusting well and I thought it was a nice place for her to retire. The poor bear has been showing her age with stiff walking, body parts sagging, and hair loss due to the chemo I believe she's receiving. I'm unsure what happened to Bernard, the male Andean Bear who used to be in this area. She came out of the door he usually comes out of so I'm not sure if he moved somewhere else or maybe he passed away. I might check ISIS, though it may not be up to date. The docents haven't realized the zoo switched bears. Two referred to her as "he" and one even knew about Diana and made a comment how she looks worst than the bear they were looking at. Another docent was listing off an old fact, "And he's 700 pounds..." Bernard may be, but definitely not Diana. And a visitor even doubted her, "700 pounds?!"

One more visit to this zoo before I move. It will be sad to leave a place I've visited weekly for almost a year and a half.
 
@blopsz, before you move could you find out whether something is afoot with the indian rhinos (transfer, new pregnancy)? :confused:
 
I have a feeling Clover, the three year old baby, will eventually be moved when she gets a SSP recommendation. However as of now, she is still at the zoo. Yesterday she was separated from her mother, but they have done this a few times for the past year. I have not seen the adults Tashi and Henry in the same yard, so unless they mated in their barn during the winter, I don't think there's another pregnancy. I actually haven't even seen Henry yet this year. I always found it odd because the two females come out in spring, but he doesn't come out until it's hotter in the summer and he has his pool to soak in.

As for other pregnancy, I have a feeling a few of the birds are laying on eggs. The Cinereous Vulture, Black-necked Swan, and the Sunbittern. In the Rainforest I've seen the Boat Billed Herons laying on eggs in the past, but I've never seen the babies so I almost think they replaced the real eggs with fake ones. But the Sunbittern has her nest so high, I think it's impossible for them to take the eggs.
 
Went to the zoo this past Friday. The elephants were outside and I didn't notice any bracelets on them. Was kind of disappointed with the bears. In all of the bear grottos(5,I think) only saw two polar bears. I liked how some animals share exhibit areas. In the Mandrill/Serval exhibit the Mandrill was out. In the Spectacled Bear/Maned Wolf the wolf was out. One rhino in with the Axis deer and one in the area closest to the Giraffes. The giraffe building was closed to the public. I liked how the moat between the Hyena and Roan Antelope/Addax isn't really noticable from some angles so it looks like they are together. This may sound silly too, but I'm pretty sure this was the first Mule I have ever seen.
 
I was at the zoo this past Friday as well! I too didn't see the elephant braclets, thankfully. Hopefully they won't do it again and/or it was a temporary thing. The bear grottoes can be tricky to spot the bears. Toby, the Kodiak Bear, usually doesn't come out anymore unless it's around feeding time. If you're facing the grottoes, the two on the farthest right are usually used for the Spectacled Bears. Fernando is usually out, but you have to look in the pit because he likes to hide down there. I didn't see Diana in the grottoes all winter, but I discovered on Friday they moved her to the shared exhibit with the Manned Wolves. It's too bad you didn't see her there as I think it's a nicer home for her, but it's always a treat to see the Manned Wolves since they like to hide in their indoor bedroom. They usually have the two rhinos you saw in an enclosure together, but sometimes they separate them. I still have yet to see the adult male rhino out this year. I'm glad you got to see your first mule. Candy Ann is definitely a character and I know she keeps her keepers on their toes!
 
I went to the Buffalo Zoo today for my last visit in a very long time to come. Unfortunately, I did see the bracelets back on the elephants feet. I was actually wearing a I Love Elephants: Buffalo Zoo t-shirt and one of the elephant keepers complimented it. My partner was with me today and he asked what I've been wanting to ask, "Why do the elephants have chains on their feet?" They said the bracelets are there when they need to do medical procedures and need to restrain the elephants. And the elephants don't seem to mind them, just an accessory. I would like to be optimistic and think they are only restraining them for these procedures and not on a regular basis. I know the zoo uses free contact so they do need to protect themselves and perhaps the elephants have been a bit defiant lately. But part of me wonders, with their training with the elephants, wouldn't the elephants be comfortable by now to allow their keepers to touch them when they need to for check ups? But it's just something I'll never know; I don't know what happens behind close doors and the relationships the elephants have with their keepers.

The show of the day was the Polar Bears. The honeymoon season is over and the bears are testing each other. A bucket full of treats with holes on the side were left for the pair. The big male, Nanuq got a hold of it and wouldn't let little Anana touch it. I heard growling from a distance, but it was more Anana wanting to get at the food than it was Nanuq crying out, defending it. It was actually really intriguing because you saw natural fighting behaviors. You almost cringed when big Nanuq went after Anana, but I knew she was going to win this battle. He may be bigger, but he's older and slower. So it got to a point where he chased her to the other end of the exhibit. But for a free split second she ran around the pool and retrieved the bucket in her mouth. Then she ran back inside to go to the exhibit next door. Nanuq just stood there stunned and eventually one of his keepers threw him a treat so he still had something. Anana did her typical behavior of bouncing her paws on the lid of the container, but ten seconds later she bit off the top and figured out how to get to all the food. Such an intelligent animal. Oh, and a side story I'd like to share involves these polar bears. I made my two year old niece a zoo book with pictures I talked and captions like, "We're walking and talking. What do we see? A polar bear. *sniff* She smells something yummy!" Since she's been learning how to talk we do the typical questions, "What sound does this animal make?" When asked, "What sound a polar bear makes?" She will tilt her head upwards and make a loud sniffing sound. It's priceless.

Unfortunately I have never seen one of the rhino keepers so I was unable to ask if Clover had a SSP recommendation to another zoo yet. But as of today, she's still at the zoo with her mom.

One last update, it is indeed true that Diana, the old Spectacled Bear has taken the place of Bernard in the Vanishing Animals paddock. I saw Bernard in the bear pits today. It's almost like an upgrade for Diana, but a downgrade for Bernard. He came back to our zoo because he was showing horrible signs of stress when transferred and they thought it best he return home. But he did show those signs a lot when he returned, pacing in an area of his exhibit that was near the food preparation kitchen. The past few months, from what I've seen, the signs slowly went away and he looked more comfortable. But maybe this new environment will stimulate his senses. Hopefully they will give him some toys and such to keep him enriched.
 
From July 1st to August 26th, the zoo will be hosting Ferocious Fridays every Friday night. During those days, the zoo will be open until 8:30 PM, with activities for families. I wish I was still living in Buffalo as I would have loved to gone to a couple of them!
 
Sad to hear it may take a year before it happens because the Arctic exhibit isn't going to take off until this project is done. I'm also curious where they will move the lorikeets that live in that barn when it's not the summer and they're not in their outdoor aviary.
 
Grizzly cubs leave ZooMontana for temporary home

Zoo temporarily housing Zoo Montana rescued bears until the Utah Zoo opens up its bear exhibit. Someone posted on their facebook page how they wanted these bear at the Buffalo Zoo. I told them I couldn't speak for the zoo, but knowing that the zoo was going to phase out Brown Bears when they construct the new Polar Bear exhibit, I said I doubted they would temporarily house these bears. Well, I didn't see the link attached to the post and assumed wrong. I think I've learned I can't assume anything about this zoo. I don't know if it's the best zoo to house bears with the grottoes, but I guess it will do for a few months.
 
According to Donna Fernandes (Zoo President) in the latest zoo newsletter, the AZA did their accreditation inspection this summer and were throughly impressed with the progress the zoo has done in the last five years. The only exhibit that was below their standards was the bear grottoes. While this is no surprise to anyone, I'm really shocked the elephant exhibit was not relooked at again. And when is the rule of three elephants per zoo going into effect? I hate to think they'd just get another elephant again without expanding their living area.
 
@blospz: the 3 female elephant rule is a recommendation from AZA, but I have heard from 3 different sources (including a Reid Park Zoo keeper - the other two will remain anonymous) that the recommendation will become a requirement at some point in the next couple of years. Gone are the days when zoos could have one or even two elephants at a time, and many of those zoos have already phased out their elephants.

This AZA document has lots of information on elephants between pages 28-37.

http://www.aza.org/uploadedFiles/Accreditation/Accreditation Standards.pdf

An excerpt (which illustrates that 2 females and 1 male is not even good enough):

"Zoos should make every effort to maintain elephants in social groupings. It is inappropriate to keep highly social female elephants singly (see Sukumar 1992, Taylor and Poole 1998, EMA 1999). Institutions should strive to hold no less than three female elephants wherever possible. All new exhibits and major renovations must have the capacity to hold three or more female elephants."
 
I have returned from my visit from the Buffalo Zoo. Unfortunately some of the newer animals they have gotten in the past couple of months ended up being off exhibit. In particular the Grizzly Bear cubs, although they did have a sign stating so at the entrance. Their exhibit is pretty much the same besides adding some more tree stumps and toys for enrichment. All the bears had access to their inside dens that day and most chose to stay there instead. I was walking past the grottoes and was not only thinking about how much it will cost for a new exhibit, but how much it will cost to bulldozer the old one. They'd be getting rid of a lot of cement!

I saw minor adjustments to exhibits, such as lighting in some of the Ecostation indoor exhibits. I had a feeling the latest AZA inspection recommended the changes. They had some bizarre art pieces in the Reptile House. Maybe to spruce up the area with a few of the terrariums off display. Luckily they have better coverage for those one then a flimsy sheet of paper they used to have. The highlight of the day for me was seeing the adult snow leopards interacting with each other. They were separated still after the cubs left because they didn't want the two to breed during their mating season. However, maybe SSP is allowing the two to be put together again to see what could happen. But I must say, that love is no longer in the air! I felt I read somewhere the two adults loved their companionship with each other. Honestly a couple winters ago before the cubs, I never really saw them interact. But now, the female despises the male. She was constantly hissing at him and watching his every move. But he wasn't intimidated and was quite indifferent to her noises. I'll have to post some photos of their interaction.

I also went to the zoo's animal art auction. They did it at a brewery, which I feel is a smart idea because if you get people intoxicated, they may start to become more generous with their money. I bought a sloth painting (nose print, foot pad print, and claw marks). I even saw Jarrod Miller at the event! They had some real interesting pieces. I particularly liked the one involving the porcupine quills and a chewed up lion toy made into a lamp shade.
 
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