Fresno Chaffee Zoo Fresno Chaffee Zoo News 2019

ChaffeeZooFan

ChaffeeZooFan

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I do have some news to post, but I figured I would do a short overview of the zoo before I get into it.

The Fresno Chaffee Zoo receives much of its extra funding from Measure Z, a tenth of a percent % of all sales tax in Fresno County. In the past decade, it has used this funding renovate and upgrade the zoo building stingray bay, upgrades/expansions of the reptile house and two stunning new major exhibits: Sea Lion Cove and African Adventure. These exhibits have transformed the zoo from a struggling mediocre establishment and put it on the map.

The zoo plans to eventually renovate the entire park, with construction for Kingdoms of Asia beginning early 2019. This will bring bigger better exhibits to the Malayan Tigers, Sloth Bears, Komodo Dragons, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Sumatran Orangutans, as well as a few new species to the zoo. Later plans include Phase II of African Adventure: The African River, Phase III of African Adventure: The African Forest, a South American section, and a new entrance.

The Warthogs will be moving into their newly constructed exhibit within African adventure within the next few months and will be sharing their exhibit with two African Spur Thighed Tortoise.
 
The news I have is that a second addax calf was born. During birth, a c-section had to be performed and while both mom and the baby are well, the baby never learned to nurse and will only drink from a bottle so it will not be allowed to on exhibit for a while for fear they will have difficulty getting it to return for feeding.

The other addax calf, however, will be on exhibit very soon.
 
John Marchwick said:
@ChaffeeZooFan They already have started construction work on Kingdoms of Asia.
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I am fairly sure that the construction of Kingdoms of Asia has not technically started yet. I believe what you are referring to is what the zoo calls the south corridor project. It is a renovation of the walkway starting at the flamingo exhibit extending past stingray bay, kangaroo walkabout, and the large bird aviary. The purpose of this project is to re-landscape and to set in utilities for future projects namely Kingdoms of Asia and the eventual South American Section. If it is renovated now, then once Kingdoms of Asia is complete that entire section of the zoo will be "new" and they won't have to come back to it. On my last visit to the zoo, they had huge trenches dug in which they were running water, sewage and electrical so it will be easy to tie into once they begin construction on the main exhibit. The actual Kingdoms of Asia exhibit, however, has not quite begun and all the exhibits that are located in the footprint of what will be part of the new exhibit still housed the animals and were open for viewing.

Here is a link to the minutes from the zoo authority meeting for September in which the timeline for Kingdoms of Asia is described. Scroll down to item number 7.
http://www.zooauthority.org/docs/Minutes/ZooAuthoritySept26,2018Minutes.pdf

John Marchwick said:
@ChaffeeZooFan Also when did u hear about the second Addax calf being born?
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I got the information from an ungulate keeper on Sunday the 30th of December. Also, he said that Kayla the white rhino is likely to give birth sometime sooner rather than later (likely in January) based on recent body changes. So keep your ear open for that!
 
@ChaffeeZooFan oh that’s what the construction is about. Yes I did mean that walkway project. And did both the Addax mom and calf survive the C section as I don’t want it to be like what happened in Columbus with their giraffes. Also I’m glad that Kayla is about to drop her baby. I miss rudo
 
@John Marchwick From what the keeper said, both the mother and the calf were doing well. I'm sure they are still carefully monitoring the mother just to make sure.

Spring 2019 will be a great time to visit the FCZ. By then the warthogs will have moved to African Adventure, there will be a nice little herd of 5 addax on the savanna, and there will hopefully be a baby rhino out on exhibit. Not to mention the baby orangutan and the baby kudu (which the keeper confirmed is close to 4 months old).
 
John Marchwick said:
Also has anyone’s heard about the warthog exhibit in African Adventure?
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On my last visit, which was on the 26th of January, multiple keepers said the exhibit should be opening to the public mid-February, but that the official date would be announced as it got closer. As of yet, nothing has been posted on any official site or social media pages. The winter 2019 Zoo News should be coming in the mail any day now which may provide more information. From what I saw the exhibit itself looked complete and ready for inhabitants.
 
LesulaMonkey said:
What kind of animals will be in Kingdoms of Asia?
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Kingdoms of Asia will have brand new exhibits for Komodo Dragons, Malayan Tigers, Sloth Bears, Rhinoceros Hornbills, Asian Song Birds, and False Gharials (Tomistoma). The Sumatran orangutan exhibit will get a renovation, but will not technically be a new exhibit, and the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros will be a part of Kingdoms of Asia, but their enclosure will remain the same.
While unlikely, there is a chance that some of these species such as the False Gharials or the Asian Song Birds will be replaced with other species. Some of the earlier design concepts that I have seen included Muntjac and Flying Foxes; however, I have reason to believe that the above list is most likely to be the final species list.
 
Ugh, this makes me so sad. I was there today and was wondering why she wasn't on exhibit but none of the keepers were on the trail for me to ask. After the girls from Dallas came she was a bit shy but after that, you could tell she enjoyed the extra company. I witnessed her trumpeting and actively playing with them on two different occasions which I had never seen before they came.

Not to mention that her genes were particularly valuable because Amy came from Africa. Now Amy's genetics are unrepresented in the North American elephant population
 
ChaffeeZooFan said:
Ugh, this makes me so sad. I was there today and was wondering why she wasn't on exhibit but none of the keepers were on the trail for me to ask. After the girls from Dallas came she was a bit shy but after that, you could tell she enjoyed the extra company. I witnessed her trumpeting and actively playing with them on two different occasions which I had never seen before they came.

Not to mention that her genes were particularly valuable because Amy came from Africa. Now Amy's genetics are unrepresented in the North American elephant population
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That’s actually not entirely true. Miss Betts actually has a half sister at the North Carolina Zoo
 
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