One correction, Kip is a Northern White-Cheeked Gibbon. He was born at Dallas Zoo and after being unable to reintroduce him to his parents was sent to Cincinnati in hopes their pair of Buff-Cheeked Gibbons would adopt him.
Where in Jungle Trails is it located?
Back in May, Mshindi, Bandia, and Tulivu moved to the Detroit Zoo, which actually makes this a gorilla swap instead of an arrival.
To my understanding, they want to make that a new giraffe area. As to what'll go into Giraffe Ridge, I think that's undetermined at this time. (Personally, I think they should expand the lion habitat and build a new space for the painted dogs, and expand the hippo space into the current painted dog space.)
Giraffe Ridge opened in 2008, and ended up having quite a few problems as far as the size of the holding area and the difficulties keepers had with animal husbandry. The yard itself (to my knowledge) is fine, the main issue is the barn, which has little room to expand. And so, Elephant Reserve'll become the new giraffe space. Which it actually did have giraffes back when Elephant Reserve was Vanishing Giants, and much longer before then when it was the Herbivora Building.
What do you think should replace the Giraffe Ridge once the giraffes move to their new home?
There are so many iterations of their master plan floating around that I can't track any full version of one down (except the original original plans where Elephant Trek would've been an expansion of their current habitat), but I believe they intend to also expand the exhibit outwards towards the entrance plaza so they are the first thing people see when they enter the zoo.
So far baby and Mom seem to be doing well. They will remain behind the scenes to... | By Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden | Facebook
