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animalman0341 said:
I am happy to confirm through an email from the zoo that the next big development will be an African rainforest!! The first phase will be a leopard forest exhibit, featuring leopards, two species of monkeys and a small antelope. This is scheduled to open in Spring of 2023. I’m hoping to make my debut Nashville visit at that time!
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Yayyyyyyy! Sounds amazing! I’m assuming part two will be a gorilla habitat? Their website says that they have big plans for a future gorilla area.

Also, I feel pretty confident that the “small antelope” will be a Yellow-Backed Duiker! They were just recently replaced by Babirusa in the Bamboo Forest area of the zoo. Considering the timing that this happened, it seems pretty likely that they will be moved to this African Forest as a permanent home.
 
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I think the Gorillas would be next, but like most zoos, COVID had an impact on the timeline.

I think you’re right @BrettTheAardvark there are only so many small antelope that would fit the bill. Does anyone know if the Yellow Backs are still at the zoo? I’m also curious as to what leopard they’ll choose to showcase. Will they be of the African variety? Or the rarer (not in captivity) Amurs?
 
animalman0341 said:
Will they be of the African variety? Or the rarer (not in captivity) Amurs?
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I don't think there are any pure Africans left in the US, I believe Columbus claims to have some but I don't think they are purebred. Amurs are actually quite common in the US and are the only widespread leopard subspecies in US zoos, so it's likely that they will aquire this subspecies.
 
To be honest, I’m happy with whatever Leopard they choose to exhibit. Amur is the more likely of the two candidates and to be honest, although it goes against the theme of the area, I’d rather see the Amur, as they’re in need of help far worse than the African Leopard conservation-wise.

Also, does anyone have any predictions for what primates will be exhibited here? I’m hoping for Black and White Colobus and/or De Brazza’s Monkey! I think that Bush Babies or other prosimians would be cool choices too but the chances of that are slim to be honest, especially since the email said two species of monkey, which prosimians are not. Either way, super excited for this new area!
 
Animals R AMAZING! said:
I don't think there are any pure Africans left in the US, I believe Columbus claims to have some but I don't think they are purebred. Amurs are actually quite common in the US and are the only widespread leopard subspecies in US zoos, so it's likely that they will aquire this subspecies.
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I believe Maryland Zoo had one of the last pure bred African leopards. Hobbs past away in 2016 and he and a female, Amari, were imported from South Africa in 1995.
 
animalman0341 said:
@Animals R AMAZING! @BrettTheAardvark @NAIB Volunteer Fort Worth has plans for African Leopard in their new predators section, so the possibility exists we’ll be seeing them at Nashville. Does anyone know if the US is set to receive new African Leopard bloodlines?
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That would be great if Fort Worth, Nashville, and a couple other zoos import a couple Africans and start a breeding program. Currently, Amurs are the only leopard subspecies with a SSP breeding program and it would be nice to have another. However, it would be better if another more endangered leopard subspecies (such as the Indochinese, Persian, or Sri Lankan) was chosen instead.

Anyways, although importing some African leopards is a possibility I wouldn’t be surprised if Fort Worth and Nashville just acquire Amur leopards and put them in their African exhibits like SDZ. Or they may acquire generic leopards from the private trade and call them African leopards like Columbus.
 
animalman0341 said:
@Animals R AMAZING! @BrettTheAardvark @NAIB Volunteer Fort Worth has plans for African Leopard in their new predators section, so the possibility exists we’ll be seeing them at Nashville. Does anyone know if the US is set to receive new African Leopard bloodlines?
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Are you sure they're African leopards? AZA only supports the Amur leopard SSP and is clearly focused on that subspecies. Additionally, importing any pure Africans from Africa (or any zoo outside of the US) itself is costly and is not guaranteed to get the proper permitting through the Fish & Wildlife Service. Current political climate would also deem such an import unwise. I would presume any advertisement for "Africans" are infact either Amur or some other hybrid species.
 
First look and more details on the new African expansion adding 40 acres to the park across five phases of construction. Species included in this development would highlight some of the key species like vultures, cranes (plans show Blue Cranes), flamingos, hippo, hyenas, cheetah, giraffe, mandrills and lions among many others.

A 12-minute boat ride, walking path, restaurant and lodge will also be included in the development. It will approximately take 5-10 years to fully complete. Phase one will start later this year and will be open around spring 2023. This first phase will see exhibits for DeBrazza's Monkeys, Black-and-white Colobus, leopards (photo in news report shows a cheetah though), Rock Hyraxes and Klipspringers.

Full article and news report that shows some of the designs: Nashville Zoo's Africa Safari: First look at new expansion
 
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It looks really neat! None of it looks truly unique, but it'll still be fantastic.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
First look and more details on the new African expansion adding 40 acres to the park across five phases of construction. Species included in this development would highlight some of the key species like vultures, cranes (plans show Blue Cranes), flamingos, vultures, hippo, hyenas, cheetah, giraffe, mandrills and lions among many others.

A 12-minute boat ride, walking path, restaurant and lodge will also be included in the development. It will approximately take 5-10 years to fully complete. Phase one will start later this year and will be open around spring 2023. This first phase will see exhibits for DeBrazza's Monkeys, Black-and-white Colobus, leopards (photo in news report shows a cheetah though), Rock Hyraxes and Klipspringers.

Full article and news report that shows some of the designs: Nashville Zoo's Africa Safari: First look at new expansion
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With this massive expansion to the zoo could it be out of the question for the zoo to welcome back elephants as stated in this 2015 blog post which claims that they want to have a larger herd of of elephants that could include bulls, (Note that the plan was to have all four females return but the only remaining female of the Nashville's herd is Sukari) Elephant Herd Updates
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
First look and more details on the new African expansion adding 40 acres to the park across five phases of construction. Species included in this development would highlight some of the key species like vultures, cranes (plans show Blue Cranes), flamingos, hippo, hyenas, cheetah, giraffe, mandrills and lions among many others.

A 12-minute boat ride, walking path, restaurant and lodge will also be included in the development. It will approximately take 5-10 years to fully complete. Phase one will start later this year and will be open around spring 2023. This first phase will see exhibits for DeBrazza's Monkeys, Black-and-white Colobus, leopards (photo in news report shows a cheetah though), Rock Hyraxes and Klipspringers.

Full article and news report that shows some of the designs: Nashville Zoo's Africa Safari: First look at new expansion
Click to expand...
This all looks really impressive. The most consistent critique I see against Nashville is its small size, and this would be the ultimate solution that issue. With lions, hippos, cheetahs, hyenas and many other species all being added, the zoos collection continues to grow stronger. I also am a big fan of seeing more boat rides in zoos - as long as there aren't any animals that are viewed exclusively on the ride - and I think this is a great addition that will help provide something more unique compared to other African exhibits. As this exhibit complex develops, I can totally see Nashville becoming one of the rising stars in the zoo world, considering how strong the rest of the zoo already is.

I am quite frankly a bit shocked to see no mention of elephants on these plans and I can't help but be a little disappointed in that regard. For the longest time the zoo has said they intend on bringing elephants back so to see them absent is rather confusing. It could have been a budget issue, but considering the zoo plans on spending over 200 million on this entire endeavor I somehow doubt that. With the amount of ambition that is going into this complex it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to not add elephants to really tie everything together. The one other thing that is really bugging me is the hippo exhibit. From the project plan, it looks just like every other too small riverbank style hippo exhibit that has been done at Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Dallas, Fort Worth Etc. I can only hope that this design changes and we get something more akin to what Cheyenne Mountain has done, or even Memphis.
 
pachyderm pro said:
This all looks really impressive. The most consistent critique I see against Nashville is its small size, and this would be the ultimate solution that issue. With lions, hippos, cheetahs, hyenas and many other species all being added, the zoos collection continues to grow stronger. I also am a big fan of seeing more boat rides in zoos - as long as there aren't any animals that are viewed exclusively on the ride - and I think this is a great addition that will help provide something more unique compared to other African exhibits. As this exhibit complex develops, I can totally see Nashville becoming one of the rising stars in the zoo world, considering how strong the rest of the zoo already is.

I am quite frankly a bit shocked to see no mention of elephants on these plans and I can't help but be a little disappointed in that regard. For the longest time the zoo has said they intend on bringing elephants back so to see them absent is rather confusing. It could have been a budget issue, but considering the zoo plans on spending over 200 million on this entire endeavor I somehow doubt that. With the amount of ambition that is going into this complex it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to not add elephants to really tie everything together. The one other thing that is really bugging me is the hippo exhibit. From the project plan, it looks just like every other too small riverbank style hippo exhibit that has been done at Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Dallas, Fort Worth Etc. I can only hope that this design changes and we get something more akin to what Cheyenne Mountain has done, or even Memphis.
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It would make sense if they took the existing savanna that was utilized for elephants and expanded into the giraffe habitat, along with drastically enlarging the barn to hold one of three options - a large, multigenerational herd (the ideal situation for many), a bachelor group, or a geriatric herd. Unless a zoo elsewhere in the United States suddenly decides to give up elephants, or Swaziland encounters yet another crisis, I'm not sure where they could source elephants from.
 
StoppableSan said:
It would make sense if they took the existing savanna that was utilized for elephants and expanded into the giraffe habitat, along with drastically enlarging the barn to hold one of three options - a large, multigenerational herd (the ideal situation for many), a bachelor group, or a geriatric herd. Unless a zoo elsewhere in the United States suddenly decides to give up elephants, or Swaziland encounters yet another crisis, I'm not sure where they could source elephants from.
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And I very much doubt Europe would what to give any of their breeding females and bulls to a continent that is the failing the reproductive potential of African elephants
 
I imagine the issue of sourcing elephants and the big unknowns with funding and their potential future in American zoos is why Nashville has yet to announce plans for elephants as part of this project. It's per conjecture on my part but I find it hard to believe they aren't planning for them behind the scenes. If it all goes well they'll announce them closer in time. If not, then it's easy to pretend they were never intended. Of course, the zoo could have also changed their direction and chosen to move away from elephants but time shall time I suppose.

As for the hippos, the sketch shown looks basic but it is just a sketch and I do like the inclusion of real grass on the bank.

Here's hoping Nashville becomes another much-needed hub for African hoofstock programs.

~Thylo
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
First look and more details on the new African expansion adding 40 acres to the park across five phases of construction. Species included in this development would highlight some of the key species like vultures, cranes (plans show Blue Cranes), flamingos, hippo, hyenas, cheetah, giraffe, mandrills and lions among many others.

A 12-minute boat ride, walking path, restaurant and lodge will also be included in the development. It will approximately take 5-10 years to fully complete. Phase one will start later this year and will be open around spring 2023. This first phase will see exhibits for DeBrazza's Monkeys, Black-and-white Colobus, leopards (photo in news report shows a cheetah though), Rock Hyraxes and Klipspringers.

Full article and news report that shows some of the designs: Nashville Zoo's Africa Safari: First look at new expansion
Click to expand...
Where does the Zoo plan to get the funding for all of this from?
 
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