Fresno Chaffee Zoo Fresno Chaffee Zoo News 2025

FrederickA said:
Well a thing of note regarding the addax is that one of the females arrived pregnant already and gave birth at the zoo a few weeks ago and I was told that the calf would be the only addax baby for now at least and that the wildebeest and sent out to different zoos for breeding in exchange for the addaxes; can't say where they come from though.
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I think the addax came from the Abilene zoo. I looked up the mother's name and got a hit from Abilene. Any idea where the wildebeests have gone or if the zoo will be getting wildebeests again?
 
Visited the zoo again this month. The walk-through aviaries have been re-opened. I noticed there is now signage for Giant Wood Rail, but I wasn't able to find any.

The Crested Screamer has also been moved from the giant tortoise yard into the Rainforest Aviary... Central Coast Zoo (formerly Charles Paddock) made the same move with their screamer recently, so I guess this is a trend now.

Also have still been unsuccessful finding Yellow-headed Geckos in the Reptile House... on the bright side, there have been a couple of new amphibian species added: Vietnamese Mossy Frog and Smooth-sided Toad. No more Tentacled Snake, or Waxy Monkey Frog though :(

The Hooded Pitta, Chestnut-backed Thrush, and never-seen Indochinese Box Turtle in the Songbird Aviary are no longer signed and appear to be gone.

All three enclosures of the Tropical Birdhouse are now home to Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise - presumably as a similar set up to San Diego, with multiple males and a female to facilitate courtship behavior. No Socorro Doves now :(
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I noticed there is now signage for Giant Wood Rail, but I wasn't able to find any.
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That's cool that they may be returning to the species.

Coelacanth18 said:
The Crested Screamer has also been moved from the giant tortoise yard into the Rainforest Aviary... Central Coast Zoo (formerly Charles Paddock) made the same move with their screamer recently, so I guess this is a trend now.
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I wonder if that's an avian flu thing. Could be for breeding too though, I've heard of several zoos loosing Screamer chicks to predators in open exhibits.

Coelacanth18 said:
The Hooded Pitta, Chestnut-backed Thrush, and never-seen Indochinese Box Turtle in the Songbird Aviary are no longer signed and appear to be gone.
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Coelacanth18 said:
No Socorro Doves now :(
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All three of these bird species were down to one individual in December 2024 so not too surprising they're probably gone, though unfortunate.
 
Great Argus said:
I wonder if that's an avian flu thing. Could be for breeding too though, I've heard of several zoos loosing Screamer chicks to predators in open exhibits.
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Avian flu was my initial guess; flight opportunity maybe too? I think both zoos only have one screamer so breeding didn't cross my mind.

Great Argus said:
All three of these bird species were down to one individual in December 2024 so not too surprising they're probably gone, though unfortunate.
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I'm not sure how many they started with, but they were all relatively recent additions though - for instance the thrush and pitta were added to the aviary just last year, along with the Wonga Pigeon.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I think both zoos only have one screamer so breeding didn't cross my mind
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Fresno had a pair with a breeding rec as of a year ago hence my thought process there - something could have of course changed in the meantime.

Coelacanth18 said:
I'm not sure how many they started with, but they were all relatively recent additions though - for instance the thrush and pitta were added to the aviary just last year
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Yeah coming in with Kingdoms of Asia. They only ever had one Pitta I think, aren't many left in the US. The Thrush though I would have thought would stay on given it's still a studbook at least.
 
Does anyone know if the wildebeest will be returning to the zoo or have they been phased out? Also where did the 4 wildebeests go?
 
John Marchwick said:
I went to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo today. Couple things to note

1.) the Zoo now has 2 female Addaxes in their African Adventure exhibit. I was not able to find out what facility they came from, personally I’d never seen them there before and I don’t think this was ever announced either. I’m going back tomorrow so I can hopefully find out more there.

2.) the Malayan Tapirs are only out from 9:00 to 11:00 due to light sensitivity they’re having. The zoo is planning on building a shade structure for them.

3.) the cub space for Malayan Tigers is now complete. The keepers I talked to said breeding will start soon once Dara is cycling.

4.) mabu, the zoos bull elephant was separated again from the females and their calves. And the calves were not that well visible today, and all the elephants went off exhibit very early on today. More times I was out there there were keepers than there were elephants in the exhibit.

5.) the Siamangs, some of the Orangutans, the false gharial, and some of the reptiles in the reptile house were not on exhibit today.
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Do you know where the wildebeests have gone to?
 
Ring-tailed lemurs

Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo recently acquired at least one Ring-tailed Lemur from Fresno. I visited around the same time Palo Alto announced the arrival and the RTLs were signed as being off-display... wondering if that was just a weird timing coincidence or if they were phased out like the anteaters, continuing the process of emptying out that area of the zoo?
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Ring-tailed lemurs

Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo recently acquired at least one Ring-tailed Lemur from Fresno. I visited around the same time Palo Alto announced the arrival and the RTLs were signed as being off-display... wondering if that was just a weird timing coincidence or if they were phased out like the anteaters, continuing the process of emptying out that area of the zoo?
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How many ring tailed lemurs does Fresno Chaffee Zoo have? When I visited in March I could've sworn there was at least 3.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Ring-tailed lemurs

Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo recently acquired at least one Ring-tailed Lemur from Fresno. I visited around the same time Palo Alto announced the arrival and the RTLs were signed as being off-display... wondering if that was just a weird timing coincidence or if they were phased out like the anteaters, continuing the process of emptying out that area of the zoo?
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That whole area of the zoo is currently planned for the new California area so that's probably why their relocating all of those animals in the area
 
BABY BABIRUSA!

According to 2025 September member newsletter email sent out on Sept 5th: "Our female babirusa, Laura-Louise, gave birth to a healthy (and adorable) female piglet recently. She is currently bonding behind-the-scenes with her mom and receiving care and support from our animal care teams to ensure that she and mom will be ready to make their debuts on their habitat for public viewing."

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