kermodei
Well-Known Member
As a belated birthday treat, I visited the zoo yesterday (January 20th) for a few hours and so have a few things to report. To keep things as clean and concise as I can, I'll be using point form and going chronologically by exhibit (as best as I can). If anyone has any questions, let me know!
Renovations:
No-shows:
Theo (Southern white rhinoceros), along with all four red river hogs.
Boris and Optimus (African spurred tortoises).
Portly and Daisy (Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, who's enclosure featured faded graffiti).
Haben and Hazina (Hippopotamus).
Shadow (Grizzly bear).
Sandy (American badger, who is also no longer listed on the zoo's website...).
And all of the zoo's birds continue to be off display, due to both the weather and on-going risk of avian influenza. Though the flamingo flock were partly viewable inside their indoor enclosure.
This visit definitely left me with mixed feelings and several questions for zoo management, including on how which renovation projects are prioritized.
- All the felines were out and about today. It was really nice to see how well the snow leopards have settled in to their new home, they're lucky in getting the old baboon(?) enclosure as it had to be totally redesigned especially for them. (By the way, do we know what's become of Czara, the Eurasian lynx?)
- I caught a glimpse of the new wood bison, Francis, alongside his ladies. They remain in the large enclosure in the very back of the zoo, alongside three American elk. The fourth elk, bull Manoah, remains in the original elk pen, alongside a single caribou. The rest of the caribou herd now reside in what was previously the moose pen.
- There are several sheets of black cloth up between the grizzly bear trio and the American black bear trio's respective enclosures, exactly why was not disclosed.
- Despite what the zoo's website says, I found the two male Addax housed in what the map says should be the zebu pen, while the females were in the onager pen. The zoo's single Nilgai, Nancy, is currently in with the Scimitar-horned oryx herd.
- A few black sheets were also placed between the cheetah and bighorn sheep enclosures, though Ziya was undeterred and spent the entire time I watched her pacing back and forth, trying to catch a glimpse of her ungulate neighbors.
Renovations:
- Work continues around the giraffe enclosure, along with on the train tracks adjacent to the wolf enclosure.
- Also of note, a large tree has naturally come down near the cheetah exhibit
No-shows:
Theo (Southern white rhinoceros), along with all four red river hogs.
Boris and Optimus (African spurred tortoises).
Portly and Daisy (Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, who's enclosure featured faded graffiti).
Shadow (Grizzly bear).
Sandy (American badger, who is also no longer listed on the zoo's website...).
And all of the zoo's birds continue to be off display, due to both the weather and on-going risk of avian influenza. Though the flamingo flock were partly viewable inside their indoor enclosure.
This visit definitely left me with mixed feelings and several questions for zoo management, including on how which renovation projects are prioritized.
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