Calgary Zoo Calgary Zoo News 2018

When did she have the other stillborn? I know about the one during her transfer from San Diego, was the other before or after that?
 
The other stillbirth was indeed before she left San Diego. I believe that one was an accidental pregnancy not a planned one... along with the stillborn calf delivered during her transport to Calgary.
 
I'm eager to see what they've done to the former Elephant Crossing exhibit to transform it into a home for giant pandas. It is encouraging to hear Colleen Baird (Calgary Zoo animal curator) say that the indoor exhibit is lush, especially compared to how it looked when it housed rhinos or elephants Panda Passage at the Calgary Zoo to open May 7. They had a large budget reportedly over $14M Canadian, so I hope that they were able to create an amazing exhibit. That's a huge investment for animals that will only be staying for five years.

The 2013 Master Plan envisioned transforming the panda exhibit into an exhibit for orangutans. I understand why they would consider adding orangutans to the collection. Both species of orangutans are critically endangered and great ambassador animals for discussing palm oil and deforestation. Orangutans are very charismatic and part of an important SSP program too. Orangutans have significantly different exhibit needs than giant pandas though and it would cost a lot of money to have to significantly transform the space again.

I hope that they deviate from the Master Plan and create a red panda mixed species exhibit at Panda Passage after the giant pandas leave. This would be a far easier transition and allow them to reuse the space with minimal modifications (depending on the giant panda barrier designs). Red pandas are not as charismatic as pandas, but they are still good draws and are now more endangered than giant pandas! The red pandas could be displayed with Chinese gorals or Sichuan takins and tufted deer. There is already a good red panda exhibit at the Calgary Zoo, but that space could be converted for another species. Alternatively, they could replace the giant pandas with sloth bears. Either of these options would be a much better re-use of space than transforming it for orangutans.
 
Sloth bears are very unlikely. The population is very small and not growing. They often cannot replace a years deaths with new births.

Orangutans are a better option from a logistics perspective. Toronto has its group with a young male who could easily be moving in breeding form 5 years from now. Male Sumatrans are harder to get so they could easily begin a breeding collection.Toronto also has the males half sister who could be the breeding female... though I think it's more likely Toronto will be willing to give up one of their young males than a young female. Even if they don't take a relatively easy to acquire animal from Toronto, a breeding group of unrelated orangs would be good for exchanges of animals between the two zoos for years to come. Right now Toronto has to send all its offspring south and bring up new breeding stock from the US. Primates are a trickier group to get across the border so I can see why the AZA would like Calgary to open up more orang spaces in Canada. Plus for the zoo changing from pandas to orangs would cause another large spike in attendance. Much more so than Toronto will get from going from pandas to Amur tigers.
 
I think that orangutans would be a good candidate species to return to the Calgary Zoo, but Panda Passage would not be the most appropriate space for a future exhibit. The Calgary Zoo has made significant investments on the indoor and outdoor exhibit spaces for the visiting giant pandas. Orangutans have significantly different exhibit needs than giant pandas, so the giant panda exhibit spaces would need significant changes to make them appropriate for orangutans. The building that houses the indoor exhibits is not well designed for orangutans either. It was originally designed for elephants. it is not tall enough to house a complex, vertically orientated orangutan exhibit. A new exhibit building on a different site could be tailored for orangutans. This would allow the giant panda exhibit to be transitioned to other species that can make better use of the space.

The Tropical House envisioned as part of the 2013 Master Plan would be a much more appropriate space for an orangutan exhibit. At 65,000 square feet, the Tropical House would be a major investment for the Calgary Zoo that could really use a charismatic headliner species like orangutans. The tall green-house like structure with tree-top viewing areas would be a perfect fit with orangutans!

Replacing giant pandas with a red panda mixed species exhibit and designing the Tropical House to exhibit orangutans instead of replacing the giant pandas with orangutans would save the Calgary Zoo millions of dollars of renovations to Panda Passage. The smaller scale of renovations after the giant pandas depart would shorten construction closures that would negatively impact guest experiences. The Tropical House would also gain a charismatic star species that can be used to help raise funds for the ambitious building. The savings the Calgary Zoo would make because of these small changes in development could be used to help realize other parts of their Master Plan.
 
My alternative proposal with sloth bears replacing the giant pandas could also work out well even if sloth bears are hard to obtain. The Calgary Zoo actually held sloth bears less than a decade ago before they were relocated to other accredited facilities. They were housed in the exhibit that formerly housed giant pandas during their short stay at the Calgary Zoo in 1988. The knowledge and experience the Calgary Zoo will acquire with giant pandas over the next five years could be put to practice again after the panda departure with sloth bears. It might be really beneficial to the captive sloth bear population to have a new facility designed for bear reproduction. Most of the giant panda exhibit could be re-used, although the Chinese cultural themes would probably change. The Calgary Zoo has over five years to plan for giant panda replacements, so that would give them lots of time to acquire sloth bears.
 
Think a Chinese feel / style animal exhibit: what would fit in (without having to drop the whole area down and rebuild from scratch)?!
 
Some animal happenings over the the past few months...

Amur tiger, Baikal, was put down Feb 23 due to age related health issues. They have frozen his genetic material and will attempt AI with their new female.

Gray wolf, Kali, was put down Feb 9 again due to age.

Hartmann’s zebra colt, Khomas, was born Dec 14.
 
I like how its lushly planted indoors. Certainly a step up from Toronto's.

Speaking of bears, I have a few ideas for when the pandas leave (where are they going after that, anyway?):
1. Modify the exhibit for sun bears, or sloth bears as mentioned above.
2. Turn the entirety of the building into an aviary for various asian birds.
 
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