Greenville Zoo Greenville Zoo News

I got confirmation from the zoo that their giant anteater has been moved to a different AZA facility for breeding. The zoo does not currently have any plans to obtain another anteater, and will reevaluate in the future whether they should bring in another anteater or incorporate a different species into that habitat.

This feels like a major loss, imo. He was one of my favorite animals here. It feels like this zoo has done nothing but lose appealing species (outside of Ektopia, which does stay perpetually stocked) over the past decade - elephants, Prevost's squirrel, coati, black swan, alligator snapping turtle, and now the anteater brought in to replace the elephants. The porcupine and farm expansion can't come quickly enough.

On that note, does anyone know off hand what bird species it was that shared its enclosure with the squirrel? I believe it was some kind of pheasant?
 
Really sad news, but I knew it was coming the moment his brother passed.

I suppose this leaves Greenville at a junction regarding what to do with their habitat that was already actively under expansion. The obvious answer is just get more lions, but I’d be so much happier if they used that space for, say, a really good serval or caracal enclosure rather than what will ultimately probably still be a subpar lion habitat… but I know lions sell, of course, and are undoubtedly one of the zoo’s biggest draws.
 
I am an avid watcher of Autumn and Miles, the giraffes, and have been tracking the cycling and mating behaviors. I last saw Autumn and Miles have a mating connection on March 13, 2024. Since then she has not appeared to cycle and Miles has not attempted to mate with her. Miles is an absolute predictor of cycles by his behaviors. He still checks urine when she will let him but he is disappointed every time. her cycles were every 2 weeks without fail until after the March 13 date. I do believe the AZA had recommended further breeding and that perhaps she could be pregnant. All speculation through daily observation the Zoo has not said anything about this and as per their pattern would not until she is almost due. So just some observations thrown out for now.
 
I just left the zoo a bit ago and noticed that the siamangs were off exhibit and had their sign removed. Anyone know what that’s about?

The zoo did have new signage elsewhere, notably with the orangutans actually showing the correct species exhibited as well as being updated to say there are three species now instead of two, so I guess it’s not impossible they’re just in the middle of replacing that sign too. Either way I hope the siamangs aren’t gone, the zoo has already lost way too many species lately.

The lion exhibit was completely boarded up in front and barricaded off. I will reiterate that I’d love for them to use this space to make a strong serval or caracal exhibit rather than what will probably still be a mediocre lion exhibit even post-expansion. Adding tigers elsewhere will help make up for the loss in star power. At least, I’m reading that article as implying there will be a new tiger exhibit and they aren’t just considering throwing them into the middle of Africa where the lions were.
 
Just started poking through USDA reports and saw that as suspected the siamangs and chickens were both no longer listed in the July report (and perhaps sooner), and that the baby red pandas have presumably been silently shipped off as I’d feared. And while it feels a bit silly to split hairs over whether or not a zoo still has chickens, Greenville is at the point where every single animal holds undue weight simply because of how much they’ve lost super recently. In just over a year, they’ve gone out of lions, siamangs, giant anteater, black swan, and chickens and by my count the only new species added in that timeframe was knight anoles. I hesitate to even count the porcupines that are currently BTS because I don’t think I can trust this zoo’s track record to actually bring them to exhibit. I’d love for the tiger thing to pan out (I mean, sort of, I’d love almost anything more than a species you can see not too far away at Riverbanks, and Atlanta, and NC, and who knows how many roadsides in between), but I just don’t have much faith at this point. I really hope I can be proven wrong.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
A new female animal of an undisclosed species has arrived, according to this article. My guess is a skunk based on the information given in the video (such as the size of the second crate it was coming in).
Greenville Zoo releases cryptic video of ‘secret’ new resident
Click to expand...
It is a Carnivora...species by the looks of the tail only visible. Plus the crate is way too big for a skunk. So, You might have to refocus on a different species.

POST SCRIPTUM: I am not going to reveal ..., but a hint should be that the species is already present at the zoo.
 
Milwaukee Man said:
Quite a shift in Amur leopards is/will be taking place. A female named Irina has arrived (the main focus of this article), a male will be coming from Colorado (Cheyenne Mountain?) soon to breed with her, and the resident older female Jade will be moving to North Dakota soon (Roosevelt Park?).

Meet Irina, the Greenville Zoo’s new Amur leopard
Click to expand...
I can confirm that the location to which the old breeding female will travel to as Roosevelt Park.
 
Wonder if the renovated lion exhibit would be suitable for, say, wild dogs or hyenas. I’d be happy with a serval or caracal, but those seem like easy answers and lack the oomph. Off the wall one in a million hope: African civet. I guess it could also be a species not from Africa but that seems absurdly counterintuitive given how hard they’re pushing the new “African plaza” thing. Might try to make it up to the zoo tomorrow to check it out.

Any word on the feeding deck? Sure would be odd to have the plaza “open” without it, given that it was supposed to be done a year and a half ago.
 
I visited the zoo today to check out the newly opened cape porcupine exhibit. I thought the new exhibit was good, spacious enough for the animals, and good viewing opportunities for the guests. The exhibit also includes indoor viewing for both the cape porcupine and aldabra tortoise which I wasn't excepting.

Other visit notes:
  • There's now a eastern ratsnake in Ektopia. It shares an exhibit with a timber rattlesnake.
  • The Venezuelan troupial is no longer signed in the South American aviary.
  • The chicken exhibit is empty with a sign saying it was emptied for future renovations.
  • The Eurasian eagle owl is now in the former siamang exhibit.
  • The red panda is now signed in the indoor amur leopard exhibit.
  • The Eurasian eagle owl exhibit and red panda exhibit are both closed for renovations.
  • The harris hawk and ocelot exhibit are also closed for renovations, neither animal was on display.
biggest_dreamer said:
Any word on the feeding deck? Sure would be odd to have the plaza “open” without it, given that it was supposed to be done a year and a half ago.
Click to expand...

The feeding deck has been open for some time now, I saw it open back in April, although it is currently closed for the season.
 
Short-Giraffe said:
I visited the zoo today to check out the newly opened cape porcupine exhibit. I thought the new exhibit was good, spacious enough for the animals, and good viewing opportunities for the guests. The exhibit also includes indoor viewing for both the cape porcupine and aldabra tortoise which I wasn't excepting.

Other visit notes:
  • There's now a eastern ratsnake in Ektopia. It shares an exhibit with a timber rattlesnake.
  • The Venezuelan troupial is no longer signed in the South American aviary.
  • The chicken exhibit is empty with a sign saying it was emptied for future renovations.
  • The Eurasian eagle owl is now in the former siamang exhibit.
  • The red panda is now signed in the indoor amur leopard exhibit.
  • The Eurasian eagle owl exhibit and red panda exhibit are both closed for renovations.
  • The harris hawk and ocelot exhibit are also closed for renovations, neither animal was on display.


The feeding deck has been open for some time now, I saw it open back in April, although it is currently closed for the season.
Click to expand...
Oof, that’s rough. Sounds like there’s next to nothing actually on display right now. The troupial itself isn’t the biggest loss, but on top of everything else they’ve lost within the past year and a half or so (which, to recap, includes lions, siamangs, giant anteater, black swan, and chickens) it’s just. Jeez, how much more can they possibly churn through? I feel like at this point they need to focus on repopulating empty exhibits before setting their sights on any more lofty renovations or expansions. Hopefully whatever they’re planning for the lion exhibit is a home run (still hoping for painted dogs, somehow).

That’s surprising to hear about the feeding deck, as I’ve been twice since April and both times it was closed off so I just assumed it had never opened. That’s good news, at least.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
Oof, that’s rough. Sounds like there’s next to nothing actually on display right now. The troupial itself isn’t the biggest loss, but on top of everything else they’ve lost within the past year and a half or so (which, to recap, includes lions, siamangs, giant anteater, black swan, and chickens) it’s just. Jeez, how much more can they possibly churn through? I feel like at this point they need to focus on repopulating empty exhibits before setting their sights on any more lofty renovations or expansions. Hopefully whatever they’re planning for the lion exhibit is a home run (still hoping for painted dogs, somehow).
Click to expand...
I found the visiting experience to have improved compared to my visits from years past. The addition of the southern screamers to the pampas exhibit made the exhibit more engaging following the transfer of the giant anteater, which rarely left the far upper corner on the exhibit. Likewise, the lagoon with a flock of twenty Chilean flamingos is more appealing than the lagoon with five flamingos and a black swan from a few years ago. The siamang exhibit was by far the worst exhibit at the zoo, the Eurasian eagle owl fits the exhibit better.

The new/upcoming projects look promising. The cape porcupine/ aldabra tortoise exhibit is an interesting combination, and the addition of indoor viewing make winter visits more appetizing (also somewhat recently added was the indoor viewing for three of the four species on primate row). Ektopia continues to make small improvements. Based on the construction happening in the South America/Asia areas, it looked like they were adding more substantial indoor holding areas, I'm hopeful for added indoor viewing for the ocelots and red pandas, which again would improve winter/summer visits respectively. The new Africa plaza added extended viewing alongside the former lion habitat, which will improve the viewing experience of whatever species is added there. There wasn't much work being done there, so I'm hoping for a new species being added sooner in 2025 than later.
 
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