Metro Richmond Zoo Metro Richmond Zoo news

biggest_dreamer said:
There was also an unsigned reddish owl that I'm fairly certain was a Bubo species, but I didn’t take pictures as I had assumed it would be easy enough to look up once I’d left the zoo. Big mistake, because I’m really not sure what it was now, and it seems like another recent acquisition since there’s no documentation anywhere. The only owl here I can find evidence for online is the spectacled owl, which it obviously was not (and I saw elsewhere in the zoo anyway). Looking over pictures of the Bubo species, I’d say the closest looking one is maybe the pharaoh eagle owl? I realize that’s another major rarity within the US so I’m not going to make any positive claims on that one, and I’m not as good with birds as with mammals so maybe it just was a reddish Eurasian eagle owl or something. I’ve messaged the zoo about it though because I’m really curious now, and I’ll provide any updates I hopefully get.
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Are you sure it wasn't an Eastern screech owl, because that is my first thoughts when I hear "reddish owl". They aren't in genus Bubo, however.
 
Neil chace said:
Are you sure it wasn't an Eastern screech owl, because that is my first thoughts when I hear "reddish owl". They aren't in genus Bubo, however.
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No, it was considerably larger than a screech owl. Definitely the size of a horned owl. So I'm just going to write it off as a Eurasian eagle owl until I have reason to do otherwise, I guess.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
Left the zoo a while ago, so I figured I’d answer my own question in case anyone is wandering through wondering something similar in the future. Most of the species I was after were unmissable, or at least their exhibits were. I believe the last markhor probably either passed away or is BTS as of sometime within the last year - I saw where its sign would have been, now stripped bare. Grant's gazelle probably is gone. I think the muntjac is supposed to be visible from the train ride, maybe, but I didn’t ride the train so I can only speculate. White-headed lemur is totally unaccounted for, no idea where it may have been (not with the ring-tailed or either ruffed lemur I saw for sure) if it was even on exhibit or present at all. Klipspringer was a tricky one, I passed by a sign in front of no exhibit, then shortly after that another sign in front of a reasonably appropriate but empty exhibit, and then later briefly caught them sharing a small enclosure with a pair of king vultures of all things. The “urials” were signed as Armenian mouflon, but honestly I couldn’t get a good feel for what they actually were - I’ll upload a picture shortly. But everything else was plainly visible and exactly as advertised.

The biggest surprise was a pair of white-lipped tamarins, a species I can’t find any evidence for being kept elsewhere in the US. I didn’t realize they were such a rarity or else I would’ve tried to get better pictures - I only grabbed some quick ones to ID once I’d left the zoo. They'll also be uploaded momentarily.

There was also an unsigned reddish owl that I'm fairly certain was a Bubo species, but I didn’t take pictures as I had assumed it would be easy enough to look up once I’d left the zoo. Big mistake, because I’m really not sure what it was now, and it seems like another recent acquisition since there’s no documentation anywhere. The only owl here I can find evidence for online is the spectacled owl, which it obviously was not (and I saw elsewhere in the zoo anyway). Looking over pictures of the Bubo species, I’d say the closest looking one is maybe the pharaoh eagle owl? I realize that’s another major rarity within the US so I’m not going to make any positive claims on that one, and I’m not as good with birds as with mammals so maybe it just was a reddish Eurasian eagle owl or something. I’ve messaged the zoo about it though because I’m really curious now, and I’ll provide any updates I hopefully get.
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Will you be doing a species list on the facility or just upload photos on the gallery? I'm personally interested to see what rodents they hold, especially the agouti.
 
Smaggledagle said:
Will you be doing a species list on the facility or just upload photos on the gallery? I'm personally interested to see what rodents they hold, especially the agouti.
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I figured I’d at least write something up but it might be a few days. I didn’t record signed but unseen species and didn’t visit the reptile house or ride the train so it won’t be a complete list, but I'll wind up posting what I’ve got. I can say off hand though that the only rodents they had were a group of black-tailed prairie dogs and a pair of red-rumped agouti.
 
Great Argus said:
They have quite a number of cranes of various species so hard to determine. Either way another fatal avian flu case in a zoo is really bad. I really don't like how many cases there's been in captive birds the past couple months.
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Yes, it sure is painful, and the fact that it is getting more common rapidly, as well starting to infect mammals too (though with a smaller mortality rate) is just even worse. A vaccine or cure of some sort so that all animals that get infected with the virus are treatable and have a lesser chance of death is what we need, which fingers crossed happens soon.
 
Abbyxyz said:
Does anyone know where Petunia is? She had a big social media presence in 2023 and then they picked her name and.... nothing.... I have searched high and low, does anyone know where she was moved to?
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It would probably be helpful if you could indicate what species you’re referring to.
 
I visited the zoo yesterday and have uploaded 4 reptile pictures to the gallery for hopeful identification.

I confirmed with a keeper that markhor are still present at the facility and in an enclosure that is visible from the train, but I was unsuccessful in seeing them myself. However I did notice an unsigned klipspringer in a side enclosure approaching the end of the train ride, and a small herd of dama gazelle off in the distance that would’ve been impossible to make out without binoculars. African clawless otter does indeed seem to be gone.

It does seem that, as I speculated following my initial visit last year, the zoo is making a clear effort to improve their rows of monkey kennels. A few species were already in the “upgraded” exhibits - basically smallish mock rock unmoated grottos, occupying the same area as the kennels but I believe providing a bit more room due to having less empty space between them. Seems like a minor improvement, and probably more targeted at providing the guests with something nicer to look at than it is about giving the animals a better enclosure, but at least it’s something. The construction on the tapir/lemur area is also still underway. Thankfully, while I didn’t see any Baird’s tapir on this visit, their exhibit is much larger than it was last time (albeit probably still way too small).
 
I should have mentioned this in my last post, but it totally slipped my mind and I only remembered because I’m finally getting to go through and sort my species lists from this prior week: the zoo now has at least two pygmy marmosets that weren’t present during my visit last year. Amusingly, these were signed, but the white-lipped tamarins that I saw last year still aren’t.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
I visited the zoo yesterday and have uploaded 4 reptile pictures to the gallery for hopeful identification.

I confirmed with a keeper that markhor are still present at the facility and in an enclosure that is visible from the train, but I was unsuccessful in seeing them myself. However I did notice an unsigned klipspringer in a side enclosure approaching the end of the train ride, and a small herd of dama gazelle off in the distance that would’ve been impossible to make out without binoculars. African clawless otter does indeed seem to be gone.

It does seem that, as I speculated following my initial visit last year, the zoo is making a clear effort to improve their rows of monkey kennels. A few species were already in the “upgraded” exhibits - basically smallish mock rock unmoated grottos, occupying the same area as the kennels but I believe providing a bit more room due to having less empty space between them. Seems like a minor improvement, and probably more targeted at providing the guests with something nicer to look at than it is about giving the animals a better enclosure, but at least it’s something. The construction on the tapir/lemur area is also still underway. Thankfully, while I didn’t see any Baird’s tapir on this visit, their exhibit is much larger than it was last time (albeit probably still way too small).
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Were the red-bellied tamarins still at Metro Richmond in your revisit?
 
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