Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Los Angeles Zoo News 2024

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Some really great news today:

The Los Angeles Zoo welcomes its first FIVE California condor chicks of the 2024 breeding season. The first egg was laid at the Zoo at the beginning of January, marking an early start to the season. Since then, more have been laid for a total of 16 eggs so far this year. The first hatchling arrived March 1 and four more have already hatched in the past two weeks.
 
Piece of January 2024 News Not Mentioned:

On January 31st, it was reported that the zoo transferred a (1.0) Von der Decken's hornbill named Jake to the North Carolina Zoo in North Carolina.

NC Zoo | Desert Dome Welcomes Pair of Rare African Birds

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Also on April 11th, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) spotted thick-knee hatched which is now on exhibit adjacent to the zebras.

Fluffy Adorable Chick | Chick Alert! An adorable, spotted thick-knee chick recently hatched at the Zoo. Guests can spot the fuzzball with its parents across from the zebras.... | By Los Angeles ZooFacebook
 
Cat-Man said:
Good news regarding the vultures. Was this culture aviary part of the master plan?
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The new Cape vulture aviary is not part of the master plan as far as I know. According to the September 2023 newsletter by GLAZA (Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association), the exhibit was funded through a private foundation and a state grant: Zoo Update from GLAZA President Tom Jacobson - September 2023 - Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
The new aviary is a refurbishment of one of the zoo's long-vacant exhibits. In my opinion, this kind of project is exactly what the zoo should be doing instead of going forward with the master plan. The zoo has many empty exhibits throughout the grounds and the cost to redesign and fill these would be much less than the types of projects proposed in the master plan. They could also be completed much faster with a more immediate benefit to zoo visitors.
 
From my Volunteer Visit, during Party for the Planet

Shade Structures have been added and completed in the Cambodia Yard in Elephants of Asia and in the First of the Three Yards for the Indian Rhinoceros.

The Kids Korner Building in the Children's Zoo is now Project Pollinator HQ.
 
Here are some noteworthy items from my visits to the zoo this month:

Children's Zoo Cave
  • Instead of bat sounds being played over the speakers, there is now more soothing New Age meditation-style music.
  • One of the larger empty exhibits now has an LED screen with images of nocturnal animals.
  • There is no longer green lighting over the cave formations.
These changes have made going into the caves less "creepy" and more relaxing.

Children's Zoo
  • Muriel's Ranch is no longer a petting zoo, but animals are on view until 2:30 PM.
  • The yard next to the nursery exhibits the male gerenuk in the morning and the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig in the afternoon.
  • The African pygmy falcons have been off-exhibit since at least January and were not back yet as of April 10. It was 84 degrees the day I visited, but the sign said they wouldn't be back until spring due to the cold weather -- very strange! I don't know if they have returned since I was there two weeks ago.
Rainforest of the Americas
  • A school of striped leporinus fish has been added to the aquarium. This was announced in the zoo's April newsletter, but there was no signage at the exhibit.
  • A male white-faced saki is visible in the enclosure up the hill behind the black howler monkeys. There is no signage for this exhibit.
  • The fringed leaf frog terrarium is still "temporarily closed," but I haven't seen the frog for two years!
South America
  • The ocelot kitten is now almost as big as its mother and they are hard to tell apart!
  • The female blue-billed curassow is by herself now as the male passed away last fall.
  • The squirrel monkey exhibit is still marked "temporarily closed" although it's been like that for a very long time and the monkey has been removed from the zoo's website animal list.
Other
  • The flamingo signage has never been put back since changes were made to the fencing -- there is now an extra barrier so the birds can't get right up to the fence.
 
Samueltiger said:
Any news on when the Cape Vulture exhibit is going to open?
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When I visited the zoo last week, I asked about the Cape Vulture aviary at the membership entrance and was told the exhibit was "almost done" and will open soon. However, I was told something similar over a month ago and it still hasn't opened. I did walk over to the exhibit site, but couldn't really see anything through the green screen. In other news, the new Pink's Hot Dogs doesn't look anywhere close to opening as there were construction vehicles and unfinished lumber frames in that area.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
The city of Los Angeles has approved an order for a study into the death of two Asian elephants at the zoo, including a possible update to standards of care for the remaining elephants at the facility.
LA City Council OKs Study Into Deaths of Zoo Elephants - MyNewsLA.com
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tigris115 said:
>Ok the study into the death of the two elephants
>Only real reason was that they had to be put down due to age
>Nothing of value gained

This is genuinely pathetic
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Seeing as necropsies are an AZA requirement anyways, this "study" is a nothingburger. All the zoo has to do is report to the council with the results of the necropsy they already would've done anyways.
 
Hopefully they can try and get some positive press out of this, however the fact it’s in the news in the first place is, sadly, a major concern from a PR perspective.
 
Neil chace said:
Seeing as necropsies are an AZA requirement anyways, this "study" is a nothingburger. All the zoo has to do is report to the council with the results of the necropsy they already would've done anyways.
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I forgot that word but yeah it's that word.
 
Samueltiger said:
Also when is the cape vulture exhibit is going to be open
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Samueltiger said:
Any news of when the Cape Vulture exhibit Opening?:)
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Samueltiger said:
Any news on when the Cape Vulture exhibit is going to open?
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I don't think asking the same question over and over again here will do much if not anything. The reason that nobody is answering your question which you have already asked twice is probably because we just don't know when it will open. I suggest you contact the zoo if you are desperate for an answer.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
I don't think asking the same question over and over again here will do much if not anything. The reason that nobody is answering your question which you have already asked twice is probably because we just don't know when it will open. I suggest you contact the zoo if you are desperate for an answer.
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Okay thanks and sorry
 
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