Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Golden monkeys

Hi,

I'd like to support Patrick's opinion about Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys and Snub-nosed Monkeys in general. I've observed both Golden and Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkeys in a few Chinese zoos, and was instantly smitten by their appearance, their interesting behaviour, their sounds...all in all highly interesting & enjoyable creatures! I showed & sent photos of these fellows to family, friends, colleagues and other zoo fans all over the world-and if they were not delighted, then at least they were somehow impressed by the unfamiliar, well, "grotesqueness" of their appearance. One of my photos of the Yunnan male is now available at Your gallery, too.
Judging from these reactions, I'm pretty sure the Golden Snub-nosed monkeys could be crowd pleasures in a modern zoo (see also Zoorasia)-and would do quite well in zoos in temperate areas. However, I also share some of patrick's a. o.'s doubts:

1. I do not think that LA is the best place for this species when it comes to the climate-though I have seen (judging from the outer appearance) healthy specimens in f.e. Beijing or Chengdu where overall climate conditions (and air pollution) are equally not optimal. Nevertheless, in my opinion a more Northern (or Western) American zoo would have been the better choice. There have been Golden monkeys both in zoos of the USA and CDN in the 1980s, but unfortunately could not establish themselves. So let's see if LA's money spent on feng-shui will do the trick...
2. The Chinese authorities and certain financial aspects will be a big obstacle on the way to establish an international ex-situ zoo population of Snub-nosed monkeys; this will require some time and quite an amount of "sweat" due to having to do fencing with both Chinese authorities and Western bureacracy at the same time. And don't forget animal rights activists-see Rotterdam's problem with the Gorilla transfer to Shanghai. However, judging from personal experiences: reconsidering some of the husbandry conditions of Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys in Chinese zoos, a modern zoo exhibit would surely be an improvement for these monkeys.
When keeping Snub-nosed, zoos might also face similar difficulties as in the case of most of the leaf-eating lemurs when it comes to providing the appropriate diet for the species kept(especially in the case of the lichen eating Yunnan species!), but these Chinese "Michael Jackson"-faces appear to be less picky about their food than f.e. the Doucs.
BTW: about the Doucs in Cologne Zoo: I don't know if this information has made its way to the international zoo fan audience so far, but this June (2007) a Douc langur was born in Cologne Zoo. Maybe letting the European zoo population of this species die out will now take just a little longer...
 
Sun Wukong said:
I'm pretty sure the Golden Snub-nosed monkeys could be crowd pleasures in a modern zooand would do quite well in zoos in temperate areas.
I do not think that LA is the best place for this species when it comes to the climate a more Northern (or Western) American zoo would have been the better choice.
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Don't the Snub-nosed Monkeys live essentially in temperate or cold mountain Pine forested regions of China? They have long thick coats indicating adaptation to very cold conditions. I would agree a more Northern zoo e.g. Seattle would be climatically more suitable than warm L.A.

I believe Dublin Zoo in Ireland had some on loan from China some years ago, but I don't know if they were popular or not.
 
Yes, they live in different mountainous areas in China where the winters are usually cold and rich with snow.

I can't say much about the popularity of the ones kept in f.e. San Diego or Toronto; but I'm pretty sure that proper merchandising and their alien appearance would make them quite popular in Western zoos. And I'm pretty sure LA is thinking the same...;)
 
Golden Monkeys will be extremely popular at the L.A. Zoo, and the new gorilla enclosure has already boosted attendance. I've never been to that establishment, but lately they have been opening a new exhibit every year in a massive expansion. The upcoming 2009elephant enclosure will easily cost over $40 million.
 
Well, someone is pretty optimistic here...I'm actually not a fan of these super-expensive zoo mega-buildings; in my opinion, they are quite often a waste of money, more based on the visitors' or architects' than on the demands of the animals or the zoo staff and will cost the zoo not just a lot of money to build, but also to maintain and in the end (in about 5-15 years) to destroy and replace. And did I mention that they are usually not that eco-friendly and waste a lot of energy and ressources? But well, if the paying public really needs to have this kind of attraction...but then they should not complain about rising prices for zoo tickets!
Anyway, @snowleopard: I remember that old zoo in Vancouver that was closed in 1995 I think. What has been done with the area? Has it been replanted and integrated into Stanley Park's scenery? Actually a pity that it was closed without at least attempting to improve it. My suggestion would have been to rebuild it; two ideas:
1) Divide it into two zoogeographic themes: The North-Western Pacific Coast Ecosystem with a few typical animals to give locals and tourists a generall overview of what to expect and look after when going hiking, canoeing etc. (maybe even a small colony of Vancouver Island marmots and a Kermode Bear) and, having the population of Vancouver in mind, "Wild Asia", with Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese animals and plants in an Asian style garden setting (Snow Leopards, Golden Pheasants, Snow Monkeys...;).
2) Make a "Night safari"-style zoo out of it, but with an indoor rainforest (think of Chester's Flying Fox exhibit) and animals from colder climates (like Amur tigers, dhole etc.) in the outdoor exhibits. I have been around zoos at night several times-it's always a great experience.

All in all, that might have "prevented" You from having to drive to Seattle too often...;)
 
There is the Greater Vancouver Zoo that has about 700 animals, but the place is a perfect example of what NOT to look for in a zoological setting. The enclosures aren't very pleasing to the eye, the animals are sometimes in poor condition, and they have had several hippo deaths since it opened in 1970.

The Stanley Park Zoo was indeed closed in the mid-nineties, and they were moderately famous for having the oldest polar bear in captivity. The tiny zoo was equally famous for having one of the most shocking polar bear enclosures in the world, as it was a concrete pit with a miniscule pool for the pair of veteran bears. As soon as both bears died then the rest of the zoo was dismantled and turned back into parkland. Nowadays there is still the remnants of the terrible polar bear exhibit, but the rest of the zoo land appears to never have existed. It is all trees and grassy parkland.

However, in Stanley Park (which is 1,000 acres in size) the Vancouver Aquarium is the 5th largest of North America's 50 aquariums, and is undergoing an $80 million expansion that will almost cause it to double in size by 2009. The Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver in February 2010, and so the region has been having a lot of money poured into museums, roads, and other structures.
 
Believe it or not: I know about the former Stanley Park Zoo and the Greater Vancouver Zoo; have been to both of them and to the Aquarium. So said Aquarium is going to use the space, OK; but $ 80 million (CDN or US)? Well, that's a lot of money; see my opinion about that above...
 
Has anyone heard for certain where LA is getting the Golden monkeys? I've heard rumors of Shanghai, but wondered if there was any fact to that? About 2 months ago I heard that Zoorasia in Yokohama had to return their Golden monkeys to China, which if confimed would be disappointing, since I know they were thriving there. I'm curious if those might be the same animals LA is going to "rent".
 
First of all, I do think that the LA zoo can take care of the Golden Monkeys because the zoo has experience taking care of them. They had a pair in the 80's but only on a two year loan. The zoo also has had great success with animals that live in the cold weather like Snow Leopards (the female might be pregnant), Markhor (three babies were born this past couple of months), Sichuan Takin, Tufted Deer, Japanese Serow, and the zoo used to have Red Pandas and Giant Pandas (also in the 80's for the Olympics). The zoo has also some of the most rare species like Red Uakari, Mountain Tapirs, Peninsular Pronghorn, and ofcourse Sumatran Rhino. The experience with rare species could help the zoo a lot.

Secondly, the exhibit is done and it is amazing! It is full of climbing structures, some shade from trees and if they would like to escape from the guest they could just go down because there is only second level viewing. The night quarters is state of the art and the whole exhibit could easily house at most 6 monkeys. I will be taking pictures next week to post them in the gallery.

I was talking to some people in the Research department at the LA zoo and they said that the zoo will be getting only two monkeys (1.1) for right now, but that there is plans to get another female in the future, which was the original plan (to get 1.2).
 
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I remember when Cincinnati had them on temporary display with a giant panda back in the 80's. I'd already seen pandas at the National Zoo at that point, so I was much more impressed with the golden monkeys. I still have a framed poster of them at my parent's house somewhere. I'm a bit biased, bit I'd like to see Cincy get them again. We're in an area that gets some pretty cold weather in the winter (but real hot in summer, unfortunatley). We also have a pretty good record of breeding rare species (see Sumatran rhino). I hope it goes well in LA. Most of my favorite monkey species have been phased out in the US. No more Doucs or proboscis monkeys to see, so maybe these guys can get something started.
 
Sun Wukong said:
@groundskeeper24: Out of mere curiosity: how does the poster look like?
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It's a small one, longer than it is tall. I'll have to dig it up to be exact, but it's about 2 feet long and less than a foot tall. It has a watercolor type illustration, not a photo of the two monkeys together. You see them mainly from the shoulder up. It also has a caption at the bottom that reads "Golden Monkeys From China at the Cincinnati Zoo". I'd thought we'd lost it ages ago then was pleasantly surprised to find it when I was going through my childhood belongings at my parent's house. I'll surely get it on my next visit there.
 
Sun Wukong said:
@groundskeeper24: Would love to take a look at it. Can You make a photo of it? Thanks in advance.
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Will do, but it'll be a while. I called my mom last night after talking about it and she's got it for me. I plan on visiting her in a couple of weeks. I've got a concert in Chicago and a wedding in New York over the next two weeks, so that's the earliest I'll get to Cincy. I'm confident you'll like it, though.
 
Looking forward to see it-especially to see whether it can measure up to the San Diego Poster I already have...;)
 
Sorry if this has already been covered. But when are the monkeys expected to arrive?
 
The only thing I know is that the monkeys are expected to arrive sometime this year. They were supposed to come last December so they could be ready for the opening in February, but it never happened due to government complications or something like that.
 
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