Detroit Zoo Detroit Zoo News 2024

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AlmightyKingPrawn

AlmightyKingPrawn

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Rip Ollie the sea otter... Detroit Zoo on Instagram: "It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Ollie, a beloved sea otter. Rescued along the California coast at just 2 weeks old, Ollie came to live at the Detroit Zoo in 2021. She was truly a special otter who captured the hearts of staff and guests alike. Described as “perfect in every way” by her caretakers, she was extremely smart, loved snacking on soft-shelled crabs and enjoyed keeping her fur coat extra fluffy through daily grooming. Ollie, who was 13 years old, passed away on the evening of Dec. 30 following a brief and sudden illness. Throughout her illness, our veterinary and animal care teams worked diligently to keep Ollie comfortable, provided intensive care and observation, and consulted with experts who specialize in the medical care of sea otters. Unfortunately, Ollie’s condition deteriorated quickly, and our team made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her. A full necropsy was performed, but the cause of death was not immediately apparent. Additional tests are pending that we hope will help us understand how this may have happened. During her time at the Zoo, she always took great care of fellow sea otters Monte and Finn. We continue to monitor them and provide them with the highest level of care. We are heartbroken by this loss, and we kindly ask that you keep our staff in your thoughts during this difficult time. Ollie will be missed by all who knew her."
 
Visited recently, the cassowary will have its own area in part of the Australian area. The pelicans will have a new habitat inside the aardvark but on the way to the outback. Asked a worker about tree kangaroo and animals in the kid zone and she said there will be llamas and stingrays. She said tree roo is old and will stay in its habitat.


Edit: Anything known for after kid zone? I heard something about expanding Asia.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Visited recently, the cassowary will have its own area in part of the Australian area. The pelicans will have a new habitat inside the aardvark but on the way to the outback. Asked a worker about tree kangaroo and animals in the kid zone and she said there will be llamas and stingrays. She said tree roo is old and will stay in its habitat.


Edit: Anything known for after kid zone? I heard something about expanding Asia.
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Forget to mention the rheas and other birds and farm animals were saw behind flamingos and camels. There was also new holding areas in the watering hole.
 
Is there any up-to-date rundown of the KidZone plans even? There's some stuff I heard a few years back I'd like to verify.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
There are a few things like bush dogs, prairie dogs, and giant anteaters are confirmed. Also a renovation to the barn will goats.
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Thank you. Bush Dogs are one of the main ones I meant to ask about, since their situation in the US is so fragile and complicated.
 
Suka has started exiting her den again and therefore probably doesn't have cubs. Detroit Zoo on Instagram: "Suka emerged from her den just in time to enjoy some snow! In October 2023, this female polar bear began her denning process. During this time, she rested and slept in a cozy and quiet space behind the scenes while being monitored 24/7 by animal care staff through special cameras. We were all hopeful for cubs in 2024, but this does not seem to be the case. Not all female polar bears who enter a denning period will have cubs, and there is no way to confirm a polar bear pregnancy as a test does not exist. Suka is now acclimating to life outside the den and will not always be in sight. The team will monitor her closely to determine when she is ready to be reintroduced to our male, Nuka. We look forward to a winter full of polar bear fun with Suka and Nuka! #DetroitZoo #PolarBear #Denning Patti Truesdell."
 
I was at the Detroit Zoo today. Nothing new just yet, but there will be some cool things to see this summer.

1. I was talking to a volunteer and the cassowary exhibit will open this summer. It will be where the emus used to be but much larger. Half of the walkabout is closed because of the construction, so guests can only enter and exit through one of the vestibules.
2. Along with the cassowaries, a new chimpanzee climbing structure will also open this summer. They are also adding more glass windows around the outdoor exhibits instead of a thick layer of bushes between the guests and the exhibit. Another volunteer told me the contractor told him it would open by Memorial Day, but he also said he doesn't trust contractors.
3. A large stable/shade structure is being built in the middle of the eland and ostrich exhibit.
4. The restaurant across from the warthogs is being renovated and will open this spring, and it will be called "Graze & Gather."
5. Not sure if this has been said in the past, but the red-ruffed lemurs and ring-tailed lemurs are now mixed.
6. The speckled mousebird exhibit in "The Hideaway" looks permanent. I was surprised to hear this species was located here considering there's still a lot in the aviary. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the zoo thought there were too many living there.
7. The tree kangaroo exhibit has been torn down, so I think it's safe to assume it passed away.
8. The giant South American river turtles have been moved from the dwarf caimans to the Chinese alligators.
9. A handful of exhibits in both the NACC and reptile house are covered up. Animal signage is still up for most of them, so they are probably just re-decorating them.
 
I'm going tomorrow (today? It's midnight). The website's American Grasslands section, while out of date, only has two farm animals still listed, the donkeys and the pigs. Furthermore, Oliver the pot bellied pig is now the only pig mentioned. The 29 year old donkey Knick-Knack is still listed alongside Rain and Pearl. Both pages dodge saying other specific farm animal names (while still implying more species): the pig lives in the Barnyard with the donkeys, and the donkeys live in the Barnyard with the pig.
 
Alright, some things Bisonblake didn't mention:
* The Shackleton ship projection in the penguin exhibit is broken :( just a blank wall walking down. Not even the mister is working. A volunteer said that it's the building's latest debacle. It will never end.
* A fully-feathered-except-the-crest rockhopper chick named Opal is zipping through the water. I'm told she's one of 5 current youngsters - there are two more rockhoppers, a macaroni, and a king.
* Idk if it's been reported, but there are now very not-shy blue crowned laughingthrushes all over the aviary now.
* As I've reported before, Max the green winged macaw is a very friendly and personable bird. Because of this, there is now a massive IFAW/AZA #NotAPet sign near her. I have... incredibly mixed feelings on that campaign, and outright hate for the attempted NFT part of it that fortunately didn't get much further than showing us the planned ugly bored sloths, but that's besides the point on reporting this news.
* The wetland tank in Amphibiville has been split: 3/4s belong to pumpkinseed sunfish while 1/4 belongs to an African clawed frog.
* An exhibit is getting built on the island on the wetland boardwalk (the one with the goose statue). It is fenced out from the land and into the water. The rest of the pond is now home to my prime suspects for moving into this exhibit: a pair of trumpeter swans.
* As Blake said, giant South American river turtles now live with the Chinese alligators. I was able to get a reason for this: both the turtles and the caimens are growing too big to share that relatively small space together.
* Sheltopusik has moved exhibits to somewhere closer to the entrance.
* Did they have a rhinoceros viper before? The black tree monitor also doesn't ring any bells.
* The outdoor bird exhibit built near the camels has signage for sandhill cranes, white storks, and cinereous vultures - no signs of the rhea.
* You could see the donkeys behind the camels in a fully visible holding area. It was very surreal.
* Most construction progress so far seems to just be digging pathways through the former pampas.
* There is a complete exhibit, in full view, within the construction, with a sign pointing out that it is currently unoccupied. I don't know if it was there before or is a new construction, but it's there in the middle of it all regardless. It's about the size I could see an anteater exhibit being.
* All fences around the Barnyard are now straight up gone.
* Because we apparently needed even more of them, a picnic site within the construction is maybe the one thing that is clearly finished.
* In addition to the lemur and mousebird exhibits, The Hideaway also has a really good macaque viewing window.
 
Thanks for mentioning the swan exhibit, I completely forgot about that when I posted my updates. I do have a couple things to note about what you saw.

AlmightyKingPrawn said:
There is a complete exhibit, in full view, within the construction, with a sign pointing out that it is currently unoccupied. I don't know if it was there before or is a new construction, but it's there in the middle of it all regardless. It's about the size I could see an anteater exhibit being.
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If this exhibit was across from Table 28, those are the anteater and future/past bush dog exhibits that have been there for years. The anteaters off-exhibit for both exhibit expansion and the surrounding construction. I'd be surprised if they started and finished an exhibit in that week-span between our visits.

AlmightyKingPrawn said:
* Because we apparently needed even more of them, a picnic site within the construction is maybe the one thing that is clearly finished.
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If this picnic site is near the anteaters, wolverines, and the small Arctic gift shop, that's not a new picnic site. It's just been wrapped around the construction fencing. There have always been picnic tables in that area.

AlmightyKingPrawn said:
Idk if it's been reported, but there are now very not-shy blue crowned laughingthrushes all over the aviary now.
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AlmightyKingPrawn said:
Did they have a rhinoceros viper before? The black tree monitor also doesn't ring any bells.
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These three species have been at the zoo for some time, and I've reported them in previous threads (At least I believe so). I remember seeing the rhinoceros viper and black tree monitor during the summer of '22. The laughing thrushes have been there since at least August of last year. However, they weren't listed on the signage at that time. I followed them around when I was there recently, and I think there are only two.

AlmightyKingPrawn said:
* The outdoor bird exhibit built near the camels has signage for sandhill cranes, white storks, and cinereous vultures - no signs of the rhea.
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When I was there a couple weeks ago the rheas were in a fenced-off portion of the flamingo exhibit. There were also two other sandhill cranes back there
 
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