Smithsonian National Zoo New Sea Lion/Seal exhibit

@ uszoo: I feel the yard closest to the barn is being divided in half. I recently saw work on the other half when I went this week. And I know there's another yard beyond that point that can't be viewed by the public.
 
Grey wolf exhibit is the same as the Mexican wolf exhibit, there have been some modifications as you can now see more of the exhibit space, albeit through fencing.

I believe a lot of the funds dedicated to this project were for upgrading infrastructure, so probably some changes behind the scenes that werent evident. the exterior exhibits for beavers, otters, bald eagles, look about the same but with better landscaping and accessible trails.

I too wish the seal pool was made bigger, oddly enough though it looks more natural it actually seems smaller. Sea Lion exhibit is a definite upgrade, no waves when I went either though.

Zoogoer2000: the old bobcat exhibit is housing the ravens. No sign of any other new exhibits for cat exhibits at this point.

We heard from a volunteer that the old bear grottoes above the American trail may soon house the takin and ”one other species”. Surprised me, but perhaps they'll be housed there temporarily until more exhibit space along Asia trail can be added.
 
First - my bad here, I missed the second page before I responded.... obviously, you'd answered a number of these questions. Sorry!

We didn't see the Andean bear when we were there last weekend, but I don't know that it's gone - we were looking for it in the exhibit just past the sea lion exhibit as you move down the hill to the Amazonia exhibit.

We'd asked about the old bear grottoes for the Sloth and Kodiak bears higher up on the trail, since we chose not to walk down the hill. If you went that way and saw Andean bears, I'll assume the volunteer was mistaken! As I wrote, it seemed odd to me. Will certainly walk up there next time.
 
Terp924 said:
We heard from a volunteer that the old bear grottoes above the American trail may soon house the takin and ”one other species”. Surprised me, but perhaps they'll be housed there temporarily until more exhibit space along Asia trail can be added.
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Any clue on what this species will be?
 
I didn't see the Andean bear so that's why I was wondering. Did they send off the cubs already?
 
Their breeding male recently passed away, and the male cub was sent out about a year ago. Last I'd heard, the mother and female cub were the only two remaining.
 
when i was there last saturday for the opening of american trails. i saw one andean bear in the bigger exhibit sitting on the edge of the exhibit. it was funny :)
 
Well, that clears that up....cool photo.
Will have to wait and see with the old sloth bear space.

No clue on the other possible new species unfortunately, couldn't get a hint.

Best part of all this is that you can finally walk the zoo again without having to backtrack so much!
 
When you say old sloth space space, do you mean one of the exhibits in Asian Trails or is there another location it's at in the zoo?
 
There is a path that runs a half-circle down behind the anteater exhibit, which links up to the stairs in between the anteaters and gibbons and ends up near the sea lions. It has been closed for some time now, but it used to be divided into three bear exhibits, for sloth, brown (Kodiak, at one point), and black. You could look down to the Andean bear exhibit from a distance. Smokey the Bear resided in one of these, before my time though.

Back when zoos still grouped animals by type as opposed to region .... the Polar bears were where Amazonia is now.
 
Oh I went on that path. Are the grottoes blocked off so you can't see them or was I just not paying enough attention? I mentioned this, but I really think that path should lead up to the gibbons. For guests in American Trails to see them up the hill and try to get to them, it's misleading to end up near the Giant Anteaters and back track to the gibbons.
 
Terp924 said:
There is a path that runs a half-circle down behind the anteater exhibit, which links up to the stairs in between the anteaters and gibbons and ends up near the sea lions. It has been closed for some time now, but it used to be divided into three bear exhibits, for sloth, brown (Kodiak, at one point), and black. You could look down to the Andean bear exhibit from a distance. Smokey the Bear resided in one of these, before my time though.

Back when zoos still grouped animals by type as opposed to region .... the Polar bears were where Amazonia is now.
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Hi Terp924: do you remember when the last time the National Zoo had polar bears was? I am reading a 1979 book about the National Zoo called "A Zoo For All Seasons" and polar bears are prominently featured. There are also pictures of the elephant house back when they had giraffes, Nile hippos, black rhinos, Indian rhinos, African elephants, and pygmy hippos in the same exhibit complex as the Asian elephants, now the sole occupants of the space.
 
blospz: The old bear grottoes aren't really noticeable as bear grottoes any more I guess, since it's been some years and they flattened out and covered with simple grass. If you are heading up the stairs to which you are referring, you have a choice of going straight up past the gibbons to the side of the anteater exhibit (agree it's annoying to have to walk all the way around to get to them), or in the past you could split off to the right to go around the three bear exhibits and come out on the opposite side of the anteater exhibit, across from Monkey/Lemur Island.

There were bears here into the mid '00s, with the Kodiak there until 2002 or 2003. Here are some photos I found on Flickr that should help:
[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/203289956/"]Kiskas exhibit 9-2-97 | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]

Not sure it's okay to post to a random Flickr page, if I'm wrong I'll ask a Moderator to pull down.

David - Polar bears where there until the mid to late 80's. I was a kid when they left, I remember them well but can't find any photos - I recall it looking similar to the other bear exhibits, but it did have an underwater viewing tunnel where the bears often pressed their paws up against the glass. Amazonia opened in '92 - but it took forever to build it. To make way for Amazonia the zoo also removed an earlier American trail section which had bobcat, jaguar, porcupine, etc.

The elephant house had all of the animals you mention up until much more recently - I'd guess late 90's/early 00's. Rhinos went first, and well before the other species. Last Nile hippo left a couple years ago. A few photos on the Flickr site above of the hippos/giraffes.
 
Since you have great knowledge of this zoo, could you answer the following for me?

Where did the camels, lion-tailed macaques, servals, bongo and tapir used to reside? I remember many of these species being there in the early 2000's.

What ever happened to that white tiger, "Taj"? I've read about him before, but often wonder what ever became of him.

As for the Kodiak bear, I recall her being named "Kiska"
 
Zoogoer2000 said:
Where did the camels, lion-tailed macaques, servals, bongo and tapir used to reside? I remember many of these species being there in the early 2000's.
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I wouldn't say I have great knowledge of the zoo - just grew up in the area so I've been many, many, times.

I really don't know what happened to the white tiger, but I can answer the others.

If you use this current map as a reference:
National Zoo Map - National Zoo| FONZ

Bactrian camels in recent years have been kept in the area currently housing Przewalski's horse, and prior to that in the area near the pandas "Zoo in Your BackYard".

Lion Tailed Macaques haven't been on display for awhile, they used to be kept in the Monkey House (gutted and turned into ThinkTank), and in adjacent outdoor, large round cages which no longer exist.

Servals were kept in the small exhibit on a trail offshoot of lion/tiger hill, across from the current currently caracal exhibit (formerly held leopard).

Bongo were in a very large paddock in between Asia Trail and the Bird House.

Malayan tapir were last kept where the current sloth bear exhibit is, and prior to that in an exhibit to the east of the Great Flight Exhibit (that space has been unused for quite some time)
 
I also have great knowledge of this zoo, having been attending it for almost 20 years and having been involved with it on several levels. I was a FONZ member for a long time as well, though I dropped it when I grew upset at the direction the zoo has been heading. Terp924 has correct information about the locations of the previous animals, and after the cages beside the Think Tank were closed the macaques were relocated to an off display building below the Think Tank. They could be seen in small outdoor cages from the top of the hill by the servals, though I haven't seen them now for a few years. I have a special connection to Taj the white tiger however and felt I should chime in. He was my favorite animal at the zoo, and I even personally befriended his keeper. Taj died in October 2002 at age 18. The zoo didn't replace him (to my great utter disappointment). I was young at the time and was so upset after he died that his keeper gave me a professional photograph of him, along with one of his whiskers, which I have long kept framed. My username is in fact reference to him actually, lol.
 
I just visited the zoo for the first time since America Trail opened and I'll give my impressions:

It is great to have the zoo properly connected by paths now!

The sea lion exhibit is very nice. The underwater section is the highlight of it and it's very strong as the window is quite large width and height wise. The seating is also nice for the daily demonstrations they do. It would be nice if they had a male, though.

The grey seal exhibit is just decent. Do they just have one seal?

The eagle exhibit is also nothing special, but I like how it's a backdrop to the seal exhibit.

The wolf exhibit is actually quite nice as it is spacious, has varied terain and is well developed foliage wise (as expected since they're using the old exhibit), and I love how they have mesh, glass, and open viewing, which is an important thing to me.

The beaver exhibit is pretty large and is solid.

The otter exhibit is very large and looks to be very nice for its inhabitats. The glass viewing is solid and there are multiple good viewing spots. There are obvious cross views of people, which I know some people don't care for.

Overall, I think this is a very nice section of the zoo and it met my expectations since much of it wasn't expected to be improved much. I do wish they would add some exhibits, though. Some combination of black or brown bear, mountain lion, bobcat, moose, elk, and bison would be great. I know they don't have the room for all of those, but one of the bear species, one of the cat species, and possibly a hoofstock exhibit would be great.
 
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