A three and a half acre hippo exhibit would be awesome! Dallas is already IMO the best zoo in the southwest and this will be perhaps the best hippo exhibit in the nation (assuming they have substantial land for grazing).
Dallas Zoo Dallas Zoo News 2016
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I totally agree with this (not sure about beat in southwest, haven't yet been to them all). I assume that there will be grazing space for the hippos. The water area will be 120,000 gallons, which doesn't cover that much surface area (unless it's really shallow). I will be moving from the area before this opens, sadly, but hopefully I'll be back to visit soon after it debuts.
Elephant news!:
Zoo's Facebook.
wensleydale
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I'm so glad the Elephants are putting on weight. For the past month I have been imagining them eating like Cookie Monster, they must appreciate the extra nutrition very much. I'm glad they took a mother daughter pair as well, in some places they would just want the juveniles. And I sincerely hope that the Bull makes the makes things happen, that's what he was brought in for after all.
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That's more than most zoos give to elephants!
While the size will be wonderful for the hippos, my concerns with this are:
1. Will the hippos still be close and easily visible to the public?
2. Assuming they want to keep more than just a couple of hippos (which I assume is the case), where are they going to get all of them from?
The exhibit that the Hippos use will not be 3.5 acres. That figure includes the exhibit, holding building, yards, visitor space and amenities. Think about it logically. Will the Zoo give an exhibit the size of GOTS just for Hippos? No. If it was so large, why would they skimp on pool size and offer the pair or trio just 120,000 gallons in their water area? They tout the underwater viewing panel as 24'x8'. If an exhibit was as massive as Jayjds says, that small of a pool and underwater viewing area seems like a waste. While the Zoo is open, do you expect Hippos to be on land and grazing? Wishful thinking.
1. Yes. There will be underwater viewing and the monorail will go over a portion of the habitat, providing fairly good views for visitors. I feel that the okapi, stork, and red river hog habitat will have poorer viewing as it is on an "upper level" which I assume means that okapi and friends could look down on the hippos if they wanted to. I don't know how close the visitor viewing will be for them on foot, but the monorail should still provide a decent view. I wish the zoo would put out a "blueprint" of the layout.
2. All I know is the exhibit will start with 1.2 hippos. When I know where they are coming from, I'll update the thread. I expect we won't know for a bit.
Also, I haven't a clue what happened to the pair of yellow-backed duiker that lived with okapi in the old habitat. I know they were sick and off exhibit, and I don't know the outcome of that. Regardless, their (and the okapi's) old habitat has been obliterated. They could easily be thrown in an exhibit on the monorail.
As it stands now, the saddlebill stork - Egyptian vulture - white backed vulture aviary is still standing. It seems that the zoo is keeping it- it is, after all, the first exhibit that hatched saddlebill storks.
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I'll quote this directly from the magazine:
And
It sounds like the exhibit space will be 3.5 acres to me. They certainly have that much land cleared out (I have construction pics, will post soon).
As for what you've said, I've seen multiple hippos exhibiting grazing behavior on multiple occasions, at the Saint Louis Zoo and the Kansas City Zoo. They occurred at all times of day, so I presume the same may take place here.
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I fear that the bull at 2600 pounds is too immature to do anything with the full grown cows for some years yet unfortunately.
That is Omaha's bull that is 2600 pounds. Dallas has not released a weight on their male AFAIK, and Dallas has already stated their male is between 10 and 15 years old.
Sorry, slight misjudgement on my part. Even so, 10 - 15 years is in elephant bull speak a pubescent male. Only at 22-25 years of age can we consider elephants bulls sexually mature and able to stand their ground over adult cows .... (BTW: which the latter would not have it any other way). Not saying, there are no exceptions ... just that the likelihood of earlier breedings is a chance and not a certainty at Dallas too.
Any chances they will breed and the group might be a little more robust?
I doubt it. The entire captive population of spectacled langurs is related, last I checked. There's only about 70 captive worldwide, with less than 20 in the USA.
are you meaning "the entire captive population in the USA", or the world, because if you mean the latter that is simply not true.
The USA. However, I was under the impression that lots of the captive population was related, but if that isn't true, then that's good.
Sent a note to the zoo for confirmation. They said that there is none planned at the moment, but don't rule it out for the future.
The new elephants can now potentially be seen in parts of GotS as they are being introduced to the Golden Girls. Official announcement, as well as a photo where you can see Jenny, Gypsy, and Tendaji (the bull): https://www.facebook.com/DallasZoo/posts/10153631598331819:0
wensleydale
Well-Known Member
How long has it been since the Golden Girls saw a Bull last? This must be a novel experience for them.