Fort Worth Zoo Fort Worth Zoo News

Wyman said:
Please let there be moats, please let there be moats, please let there be moats...
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It does in fact go on to say, specifically for the lion habitat, that it will be greatly expanded, and you'll be separated by only a water moat or a pane of glass. It also mentions the return of the cheetahs and African wild dogs. Plus the additions of a clouded leopard and an African leopard.
 
Hyak_II said:
Hm, very interesting news. They're most likely looking to send out Emily and her daughter Gigi, since Emily is a half sister to their current breeding bull, Johnson, and one of Fort Worths bulls, Colonel, is a half brother to Natasha at ALS (Natasha has four female calves and two grandcalves all living with her at ALS).

Overall, I support the move, for ALS, Emily and Gigi are the most sensible two to move since it's a clean split, no breaking matrilines, it still leaves ALS with two distinct family clans (Lily line and Natasha line), and ALS has 16 animals right now, 11 of which are breeding or potential breeding cows, so it's no real loss for them in terms of breeding numbers. For Ft Worth, they currently have two fairly valuable bulls, a new, fairly large exhibit complex, and only one matriline composed of four animals (Mom Rasha, her daughters Bluebonnet and Bluebelle, and Bluebonnets son Bowie, who is now separated from the family group). It would give Ft. Worth one hell of a potential breeding herd, and also allow them to breed within their own group without needing to transfer in or out any new breeding bulls for the next 20+ years. They most likely would transfer out one of their current cows, Angel, as she is not related to the Rasha clan, is a non breeder, and does not get along with Rasha terribly well, so her and Rasha are kept separated, but I suppose she could potentially be integrated with the ALS girls too. Who knows on that one. Personally I would just send her out, but that's just me.

The only tiny concern I have in the back of my head, is Ft Worth suddenly having 5 (though realistically 4 since Rasha is pretty old) potential breeding cows, and squandering the potential of the group by taking a classic US approach of only having calves every 6-10 years per cow. Assuming they keep things proper and actually breed their animals regularly though, I support the move fully!
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I also very much support this step. It could not reproduce in ALS anyway. So maybe finally the American zoos are trying to be more interested in breeding.
 
Ggrarl said:
I recently received their newsletter, and it talks about phase three, that is their next big exhibit: Hunters of Africa & Asian Predators. Much like what happened with the Indian rhinos, before they break ground on construction, they're sending away some of the current residents: the tigers, the lions, the hyenas, and the zebras.
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Wait, the zebras are not in the current savannah exhibit? Is the plan to phase the species out of the zoo? Bongos make sense to become part of the Forests and Jungles phase 4, but zebras ...

Also is there a timeline for Elephant Springs to open now and for ground to break for the predators?
 
Trowaman said:
Wait, the zebras are not in the current savannah exhibit? Is the plan to phase the species out of the zoo? Bongos make sense to become part of the Forests and Jungles phase 4, but zebras ...

Also is there a timeline for Elephant Springs to open now and for ground to break for the predators?
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IIRC this is a separate group of zebras, some were moved to the new savannah. As for Elephant Springs' opening, Spring 2021 was the announced date last I checked.
 
All it says here is: before they debut Elephant Springs, they're going to break ground on phase three. So I guess that also means Spring 2021. When the new African Savanna first opened, the zebras were in the big exhibit, but they moved them to that paddock across from the lions. I think it was because of the zebras temperament.
 
SharkFinatic said:
PAWS has spoken out against the zoo's plan to buy a pair of elephants from African Lion Safari.

Animal welfare group calls Fort Worth Zoo 'obscene' for buying 2 elephants for $2 million
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I'm happy that the article didn't bash Fort Worth Zoo. Fort Worth mentioned that they didn't use the public's ticket funds to purchase the elephants, but they have a setaside fundraising campaign to pay for the elephants. They also mentioned in the article that Fort Worth plans on making a larger elephant enclosure.

PAWS will most likely ignore all these facts. Even worse, people will believe them because they're a "sanctuary."
 
EsserWarrior said:
I'm happy that the article didn't bash Fort Worth Zoo. Fort Worth mentioned that they didn't use the public's ticket funds to purchase the elephants, but they have a setaside fundraising campaign to pay for the elephants. They also mentioned in the article that Fort Worth plans on making a larger elephant enclosure.

PAWS will most likely ignore all these facts. Even worse, people will believe them because they're a "sanctuary."
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The larger elephant enclosure is the one they are already working on, that is unless they plan to virtually constantly expand their exhibit like Oklahoma City.
 
I mean to be fair, at 4.5 acres, it will give Ft Worth one of the largest Asian Elephant exhibits in the country. While I'm not a big fan of the multi yard approach (there's 7 outdoor yards in total), assuming they end up with two cow groups, and start to socially integrate the bulls more, that will allow a reasonable amount of space for the elephants.

I doubt they'll expand it any more, as they've used up virtually all expendable space around the exhibit now.
 
Just want to point out the outdoor exhibits for elephants will be closer to 2 acres, 4.5 acres includes all the guest areas and indian rhino complex. Hence why dividing up the space as much as they plan is something I have been critical of.
 
nczoofan said:
Just want to point out the outdoor exhibits for elephants will be closer to 2 acres, 4.5 acres includes all the guest areas and indian rhino complex. Hence why dividing up the space as much as they plan is something I have been critical of.
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Just wanted to add that division of the space is a potentially a good thing. This gives them the opportunity to enrich the lives of their elephants even more than they could with just one or two larger yards. With multiple yard spaces they can rotate the animals through out and allow them to spend time in a different part of the exhibit either throughout the day or over multiple days. It also gives them the ability to let the elephants be elephants. If they integrate the entire group together successfully and are able to give the cows access to multiple yard over night then the multiple yards helps set up "personal space" if they decide they don't want to be next to each other over night. It allows a visual barrier to be between individuals who've just had a scuffle and need to not see one another for a little bit.

Its also beneficial from a management point of view as well. As stated before the barriers will allow the keepers anchor points for potential enrichment(hay barrels, scratching posts, etc). Then theres the more integral part, herd management. Lets say their current group dynamics don't mesh well, the multiple yards allow them to shift them better. The multiple off exhibit yards would allow them to hold and station animals while they move others around. It can also allow them to potentially exhibit two different family groups, while allowing the males access to the outdoors.
 
@NOVAElephantEnthusiast

I understand what you are saying yet having the largest single space in a new complex for breeding elephants be about half an acre is not great (1/3 of that being pool). There is a big difference between dividing 7 exhibits by 4.5 acres, and 7 by 2 as is the case here. None of this is to say the new exhibit won't have good enrichment, I watched a FB live stream that showed off some of the off-display yards and the enrichment looks nice. I also like how these yards also have pools.

I am all for allowing the herd to be divided and rotated, but they seem to be planning on starting with 9 elephants already. With a relatively average-sized barn I doubt the capacity would be much higher than 9/10, which is why its strange given the zoo's commitment to the breeding, they are starting with a new facility fairly close to maximum capacity. As stated earlier with the largest single space being a half-acre in size, it is not exactly a big yard for trying to combine all the females and calves.
 
nczoofan said:
@NOVAElephantEnthusiast

I understand what you are saying yet having the largest single space in a new complex for breeding elephants be about half an acre is not great (1/3 of that being pool). There is a big difference between dividing 7 exhibits by 4.5 acres, and 7 by 2 as is the case here. None of this is to say the new exhibit won't have good enrichment, I watched a FB live stream that showed off some of the off-display yards and the enrichment looks nice. I also like how these yards also have pools.

I am all for allowing the herd to be divided and rotated, but they seem to be planning on starting with 9 elephants already. With a relatively average-sized barn I doubt the capacity would be much higher than 9/10, which is why its strange given the zoo's commitment to the breeding, they are starting with a new facility fairly close to maximum capacity. As stated earlier with the largest single space being a half-acre in size, it is not exactly a big yard for trying to combine all the females and calves.
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I get what your saying, however the keepers who were a part of the design process know their elephants better than any of us and yes a yard larger than 1/2 acres would be ideal you have to think would the animals utilize all that space or would it just kind of be a waste. For example, when you look at the original site plan for the Smithsonian, yard two and three were originally supposed to be one large yard, however in the end they ended up splitting it making it two smaller yards. From watching their elephants you'll see that they tend to utilize the same space regardless, often spending time at the cables instead of utilizing the exhibit as a whole. So its better or the animals well being to have more than less.

I don't know much about Fort Worth's capacity for elephants, however considering they currently have 7 with the barn that they have I would be willing to bet that they could house a herd of at least 12-15 including calves. They already house 3 adult males and 1 adolescent with their current setup and correct me if I'm wrong, but their current renovation calls for a small barn upgrade so that combined with their current herd arrangements could allow for quite a large capacity.
 
We will have to see it turn out. I hope the keepers did have input in the design process, although we have definitely seen cases of exhibits that ignore keeper input in recent years. It'll probably be an ok exhibit, don't see it being more than that. It'll definitely be better than what they had previously though, with some of the worst bull yards in American zoos. I think the core issue was when the zoo got 5 acres to expand, they decided to house giraffe, large breeding herd of elephants, 4 black rhino yards, hippos, 2 Indian rhino yards, among a bunch of other species on 10 acres.

Well, the zoos pre-existing barn was like 4500 sq feet, so I don't think really anybody on this site would have argued that was sufficient for there existing herd. Renovations brought its size up to just short of 13,000 ft. It is a nice size barn, but in layout its, a series of stalls and lacks the large community room of other barns. That's probably because of the climate, which in this case is fine. Still, I just don't think this exhibit will be capable of 15 elephants, which on 2 acres would be some of the smallest acreage per elephant of any AZA zoo, especially for a new complex. Maybe they could get each breeding female to have a calf, but then whats the plan. The zoos not paying for these 2 female elephants just to have to ship some off in a few years. Hence why this move took me and others by surprise. Again only time will tell.
 
nczoofan said:
The zoos not paying for these 2 female elephants just to have to ship some off in a few years. Hence why this move took me and others by surprise. Again only time will tell.
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This is why I feel there must be something going on behind the scenes involving some opportunity to expand. Two million per elephant and two hundred thousand for every calf born is quite a lot of money to spend if you're going to cap out after every females' had at least one calf. I know they're essentially "landlocked" in due to surrounding exhibits but maybe they plan on phasing out a species nearby.
 
I have two questions:
1. When will Emily and Gigi arrive at the Ft Worth Zoo?
2. When they arrive, how many elephants will be at the Ft Worth Zoo and what are their names?
 
NOVAElephantEnthusiast said:
This is why I feel there must be something going on behind the scenes involving some opportunity to expand. Two million per elephant and two hundred thousand for every calf born is quite a lot of money to spend if you're going to cap out after every females' had at least one calf. I know they're essentially "landlocked" in due to surrounding exhibits but maybe they plan on phasing out a species nearby.
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I thought it was only 200 grand for the first calf? Could be for all, not sure of the details. Also its 2 million for both, not 2 million apiece.

The elephant exhibit will be fully landlocked by the new African expansion and upcoming predators exhibit. 0 chance at ever-expanding it unless they destroy brand new exhibits. We don't know all the details of the zoos agreement though. The zoo could very well be collaborating with other institutions in the U.S. to manage their herd.

To be completely honest an off-site elephant center would work really well in Texas, given the climate (Maybe that's a long-term plan).
 
It's not uncommon for a facility to take advantage of securing a animal they want despite not necessarily having the space for them. I've seen it at a couple facilities. Regarding ft worth, it wouldn't be a surprise to see one of the males and Angel possibly be moved out.
 
Ft worth also has a great working relationship with OKC, Houston and Tulsa, the latter building a massive exhibit in the near future
 
PSO said:
Ft worth also has a great working relationship with OKC, Houston and Tulsa, the latter building a massive exhibit in the near future
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It's great that they are all "relatively" close as well. Kind of like how the population of Masai Giraffes in California and Arizona was managed at first. I don't imagine Houston has too much space now, but Tulsa's fully funded there exhibit so that'll have a lot of space when complete.
 
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