New Bronx Zoo Blog

Ohiozoos said:
Excellent blog posts. I do have one comment though. On the Columbus zoo post you mention that the barn is only 22,000 sq ft where according to the zoo it is actually 41,000 sq ft (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium). Are you saying that the barn space for the elephants only totals 22,000 or was that supposed to be the total area of the barn?
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- The barn in total is 41,000 square feet but the elephant indoor area was estimated to be 22,000. Regarding elephant barns I try to measure the elephant area but do not take these stats as an exact fact. I am much more accurate on the outdoor area than the barn area as much of the area is inacessable to the animals in a barn.
 
So the top five Elephant exhibits in size are

Disney AK - 6.3 acres - 4 bulls 8 cows
San Diego WAP - 5.35 acres - 7 bulls 6 cows
NC Zoo - 4.9 acres - 2 bulls 5 cows
Dallas - 4.2 acres - 5 cows
Birmingham - 4 acres - 4 bulls

And Birmingham is the only exhibit in the nation that has 1 acre per animal as well.
 
tschandler71 said:
So the top five Elephant exhibits in size are

Disney AK - 6.3 acres - 4 bulls 8 cows
San Diego WAP - 5.35 acres - 7 bulls 6 cows
NC Zoo - 4.9 acres - 2 bulls 5 cows
Dallas - 4.2 acres - 5 cows
Birmingham - 4 acres - 4 bulls

And Birmingham is the only exhibit in the nation that has 1 acre per animal as well.
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- Yes i believe so and they are all for African elephants. Next week I will have a full list by size in general and a full list by size for each species.
 
What about the famous"World of Darkness"? Are there still animals in it ? And are there any plans to reopen the house someday or to build a new Nocturnalhouse at the Zoo ?
 
Bib Fortuna said:
What about the famous"World of Darkness"? Are there still animals in it ? And are there any plans to reopen the house someday or to build a new Nocturnalhouse at the Zoo ?
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- World of darkness has been closed for several years now. I believe all of the animals have been shipped out as it is used for halloween activities. The zoo has no plans to reopen the exhibit that i know of. The zoos aim is now to spread out nocturnal animals to other exhibits. There are nocturnal sections in jungleworld, Mouse House, Madagascar, and in the Giraffe House. The zoo will most likely continue to follow this approach. I am currently working on articles about bronx zoo history that will focus on each exhibit in the zoo, but they will not be out until late this year as they take lots of research of books and news archives.
 
uszoo said:
I am currently working on articles about bronx zoo history that will focus on each exhibit in the zoo, but they will not be out until late this year as they take lots of research of books and news archives.
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The best source is the zoo's own archives. The former librarian was very helpful, don't know who is there now.
 
Zooplantman said:
The best source is the zoo's own archives. The former librarian was very helpful, don't know who is there now.
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- Thank You. Right now i am using online archives for the WCS. They have old maps and photos of the zoo. I also use simple things such as a google image search and the helpful thing is using a google news archive search. I put in dates and comb through articles. I am hopeing to have at least 2 months of material.
 
uszoo said:
- Thank You. Right now i am using online archives for the WCS. They have old maps and photos of the zoo. I also use simple things such as a google image search and the helpful thing is using a google news archive search. I put in dates and comb through articles. I am hopeing to have at least 2 months of material.
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Should be interesting. There are other unlikely sources, for example:
PopSci Archive Viewer | Popular Science
And the zoo's/WCS' assorted books over the years and the annual reports have a huge amount of info
Annual report - New York Zoological Society
Details - Annual report of the New York Zoological Society. - Biodiversity Heritage Library
 
Part 7 comments
-Kedar, the eight year old male at the Indianapolis zoo is a potential breeding candidate for both Zahara and Nyah- however the fact that they grew up with in the same herd may make natural breeding unlikely... The Indianapolis zoo prides itself on being a leader in successful AI in elephants-and I think we can expect at least one more calf from Kubwa and at least two more from Ivory... Kedar will most probably be sent away in the coming years as the breeding program expands.

-Hank, the bull at the Columbus zoo- has been approved to breed with both Connie and Phoebe... The prior seems rather unlikely but she has bred before and so the possibility still exists.

-As for the Pittsburgh space issue- it would be grossly irresponsible to split mothers and their daughters considering the social requirements of elephants. It has been discussed that upon completion of the cow barn at the off-site breeding center; Tasha, Savannah, and Angelina would be sent to the center while Moja, Victoria, Zuri, and Thabo Umsai remained at the zoo.

Comments on part 8

-Neither of the North Carolina males have been successful in naturally breeding. I know the zoo has been consulting the Leibniz institute on AI with four of the females since at least 2010... We may see results fairly soon.

- (Syracuse) From what I have heard Targa and Romani had both bred with Indy prior to his transfer to Dickerson Park. While Karina and Mali are slated to breed with the new male, Doc.
 
I would appreciate this whole elephant thing to go into the threads that already exist for SSP Elephants and listings and news items. ;)
 
That was a very interesting read. I was always under the impression the Buffalo Zoo had one of the smallest elephant exhibits. Looks like there's quite a few more that are smaller! It's a little sad to see so many zoos with less than an acre for their elephants.
 
I am pleased to announce that I am currently working on a part 2 of my elephant exhibit series. We will have much more infromation, many more photos and a review of each exhibit. But I cannot review each exhibit without your help. Below is a survey that will take 5 minutes. It asks simple questions about an elephant exhijit you have visited. You can fill it out for as many zoos as you want.
Aza Elephant Exhibits
 
Love the polar bear series so far! When doing the East Coast, let me know if you need any photos from the Seneca Park Zoo.
 
blospz said:
Love the polar bear series so far! When doing the East Coast, let me know if you need any photos from the Seneca Park Zoo.
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-Ok Thanks, I am going to be sending out private messages to a few people to ask about using there photos on my blog.
 
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