Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium My Pittsburgh Zoo Review

*The elephant exhibit is decent, but it wouldn't compare well to new ones being built today. They have a nice long pool to swim in and a few vantage points for visitors to view them. It's a bit deceiving as the giraffes are right behind them (hidden moat in between) and the other part of the savanna is right next door. So it looks like it could all be connected, but you have to look carefully to see where it's blocked off. The barn is pretty long and I believe it's decent in size to house all the elephants. There a few stalls and a big area where three to four elephants could roam around freely. It looks a little outdated though with an old paint job on the walls. But the area also has some nice graphics and signage.

*The giraffe exhibit is decent as well. Once again it's a deceiving exhibit about how far back it actually goes. But there are in a grassy exhibit with a couple of trees, and a big pond in the front. I forgot to take a picture of their sign for you, but then I didn't remember if you were only interested in signs for reticulated giraffes (Pittsburgh has Maasai).

*The aquarium still does have the leafy sea dragons. I have never seen another exhibit featuring these animals so I have nothing to compare it to. But I think it is pretty nice. They also have some leafy sea dragon finger puppets in the gift shop.

*Sharks are still there and I'm guessing they aren't bringing walruses to the zoo. I don't know for sure, but I assume it's something that fell through and they're content with the sharks. Pier Town has some mock newspapers though and it feartures walruses. I'm guessing they made up the newspapers when the exhibit first opened and they hoped to acquire them.
 
Something I thought was interesting about their elephant program:
with the International conservation center, they now have a lot of flexibility with how they handle their elephants. In an interview the elephant manager said that herds from the center and zoo could be switched (say the current herd, switched out with the three imported from Botswana at the ICC). Since they have 2.11 elephants in total (1.6 at the zoo 1.5 at the ICC), they have a lot of mixing n' matching. He also said that in the winter (once the new one acre cow barn is completed next year) the zoo herd may be moved to the center for more space in the colder months, which I thought was a wonderful idea!

Just thought I would share :).
Take care, GG
 
Did you see any signs of construction behind the Tropical Forest and Bear exhibits for the "Top of the World" Exhibit? I haven't heard any information regarding the exhibit since they made an announcement about a year ago.
 
@ NAIB Volunteer, I didn't see any signs. I saw the normal sign that says, "Zoo staff only beyond this point." It did look like construction was going on back there, but I couldn't see anything they were working on.

@ gorgeousingray, do you know if one of the female elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo is pregnant? One of them has a lower stomach than the others. I know elephants usually don't show much, but I was curious.
 
blospz said:
*The giraffe exhibit is decent as well. Once again it's a deceiving exhibit about how far back it actually goes. But there are in a grassy exhibit with a couple of trees, and a big pond in the front. I forgot to take a picture of their sign for you, but then I didn't remember if you were only interested in signs for reticulated giraffes (Pittsburgh has Maasai).
Click to expand...

Hi blospz, thanks for answering my questions. I am interested in ALL giraffe signs, so whenever you happen to see one and get a photo I would love to see it.

I love the idea of sea dragon finger puppets.
 
I know that Victoria, Moja (Victoria's mother) and Savannah are all breeders, so I have been speculating for a while as to when the next pregnancy is coming. Did you get a picture of the "low hanging" elephant? I could I.D. her!

Gerenuk do you know which one?
 
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I think it's Moja... But this photo is from March, so she may be rotund. Although, I haven't seen any RECENT pictures of her. So she may be in the late stages?
 
Sorry for the numerous replies :D
this pregnancy news got me excited. I just now put two and two together. Moja not being regularly photographed=being monitored in barn for stages of pregnancy.
It makes sense, that they are breeding/have bred her, because she is the only descendant of "Chico."
As Moja has been inside it seems Victoria has taken charge of watching Zuri, which is very good practice for her since she recently reached breeding age (I suspect she will be AI'd with the wild bull semen coming to the U.S soon)

Moja August 24:
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Now I'm kicking myself for not getting a good photo of the adult female elephant in question. It was hard to tell with my photos, but the other one was had very tall legs, so I'm pretty sure this is the one I thought was pregnant:

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As you can see, she was outside on the day I saw her.
 
Oh yes, Moja seems to be the one. If she is showing, she must be pretty far along... Only time will tell!

May I use your picture from Flickr of her on my elephant blog?
 
Of course you can.

I forgot to mention my partner asked me, "Do you think the animals know they are in captivity?" I said I wasn't sure, especially ones who were born in zoos and didn't know any better. A visitor near by piped in, "They know they have a better home in zoos!" Although zoos provide homes for many animals who are losing their natural habitats and some zoos have amazing exhibits, I couldn't agree with this statement for all zoos. It depends on the zoo's exhibit design, plenty enrichment, and excellent care by zookeepers and vets.
 
Pittsburgh's elephant exhibit certainly is not up to par with today's standard of being at least three acres... But that being said, they do have a brilliant breeding program and initiative for African elephants. And the 724 acre elephant center that this herd could be sent to certainly is pleasant.
I believe the current yard is just about one acre.
 
What did you think of the Muntjac exhibit?

By the way, the other tigers are usually cooling off in the shade of the the moat.

I agree that the Snow Leopard exhibit is odd, and small. They're moving the leopard to a new and larger enclosure at the Top of the World exhibit, though. So that's good.
 
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