Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden News From the Cincinnati Zoo 2010

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New baby African Crested Porcupine at the zoo. Its name is Quilliam and for now it is at the nursery in the Children's Zoo, but it will be trained to become a part of the Cheetah Encounter show :)
 
I heard of some of the speicies being considered for the mixed hoofed stock exhibit on the new Savannah. The giant eland are out, but common eland are still likely. Lesser kudus are also candidates, as well as blesbok. Kori bustards are also a strong possiblity. Chapman's zebra will also likely be brought in, since all the zoo has right now are Grevys, which don't play well with others. I've also heard rumors of a walk-though impala exhibit.
 
Very interesting. Thanks for the information :) Those all would be great additions. Can't wait for the final species list. The zoo used to have Damara Zebras ( Or Burchell's Zebra, since thy are considered the same sub-species now) for a number of years so if they bring a new zebra (sub) species I would suspect it would the Dameras. Walk-through Impala exhibit? That's new. I've not heard the possibility of that,it wasn't on the original plans. If the rumors are true, it will surely be interesting.
 
I saw this on the news last night. I am extremely excited about this exhibit. The special effects sound like they will be wonderul for the visitors and hopefully the exhibits will be just as great for the animals. I wonder what will become of the Nocturnal House? New Reptile House perhaps?
 
Cincinnati Zoo Night Hunters Exhibit - cats and nocturnal animals

Link to more information provided by the zoo's website including a map with information on the species.

Species that will for sure be a part of the exhibit:
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Pallas' Cat
Clouded Leopard
Vampire Bat
Aardvark
Ocelot
Black-footed Cat
Sand Cat
Fishing Cat
Caracal
Fennec Fox
Binturong

Interactive Highlights:
•Crawl-in aardvark den by which kids can get nose to nose with an aardvark through the glass
•Meet a Zookeeper encounters at fishing cat exhibit during which visitors can witness the hunting prowess of these aquatic predators in action
•Saving Species interactive kiosks in the rotunda where visitors create various media (posters, poems, etc.) to express how they feel about cats and other predators and their conservation
 
As a cat fanatic, I am less than thrilled with this development. They are adding non cats and housing only a handful of common small cats that can be seen at dozens of zoos. And with the theme it looks like it might be an entirely nocturnal (darkened) area. If this is true, viewing will be difficult and photography will be next to impossible. Although the small cages in the old cat house certainly needed to be enlarged, I wish they would have stuck with the all cat theme.

I am more intrigued by what will happen with cat canyon. The cat house page that you linked had another live link to the cat canyon, but it would not work. The good news (perhaps the best news) is that they do state on cat house redesign page that snow leopards and pumas will get new homes in cat canyon. Their current indoor cages are disgustingly small.
 
I'm most interested in what the zoo will do with their other small cats, residents of the cat house that weren't cats ( Bat-eared Fox, Meerkat, Fossa, etc), and the rest of the nocturnal house animals (their various Armadillo species, Banded Palm Civets, Small-spotted Genets etc) Surely they have a plan for them as I can't see the zoo doing away with such a wonderful collection.
 
The Night Hunters site plan provided by the zoo, shows more enclosures than animals listed. And it doesnt really appear that the enclosures will be enlarged either.
 
See, that's what I was thinking too. With the enclosure size, well yes, they don't seem larger, but I think they are atleast a little larger than the current exhibits. With the Night House and the Cat House combined, my guesses would be that the previous Night House with become a new reptile house. It would make sense as the Dragons exhibit is in the building directly next to the current night house. It's great that the zoo is making strides in renovating their older, unpleasant exhibits.
 
I'm thought I had heard that bat eared foxes and meerkats may eventually be included in the new African Savannah. It would make a lot of sense.

I really hope that the clouded leopards get a bigger, better enclosure.

It looks like there are some outdoor holdings attached to the Night Hunters building. It would be hard for them not to be imrovements to the current mesh structures by the Cat House.

The unfortunate thing about this change, if there is one, is that this building is just a collection of the common from the two existing buildings. Anyone who has been going to the zoo for the last 20 or so years will look at this and remember when both buildings were brimming with super-rare species. The Nocturnal House hasn't had a lot of those species (tarsiers) for a long time.
 
I had heard that about the foxes and meerkats as well. Yes, the outdoor areas do look much nicer than the ones currently used, atleast they look larger. On the zoo map the outdoor cages just look like a row of hedges around the building but these look a good bit larger. Yes. I have to agree. Many of the rare species from both of the buildings have been disappearing at an unsettling rate, but the collection is still quite large even though we have lost so many of our rare species. Speaking of, does anyone know what exhibit they have put the Banded Palm Civets in?

Also, I have another question. Does anyone that has been to the zoo within few months or so know how many Przewalski's Horses they had? When I went back in the spring and winter they had two or three, but ISIS lists them as only have one female left, but I've not heard anything of what happened to the others.
 
I'd look in Jungle Trails for any Nocturnal House defectors not seen in Night Hunters. They have several holdings for nocturnal animals there.

I wonder about the possibility of converting the Noctunal House area into a full-on reptile complex. Would they add another crocodilian exhibit in the complex, or would they call it a day with the two in Manatee Springs? I hope not. It would be my dream to see a large crocodile species such as salties, niles or gharials in the new complex if that indeed is what it will become.
 
Yes some of the nocturnal species would fit in there well like the genets, civets, and pottos, but I would hate to have to lose some the rare animals that are found in the nocturnal area of Jungle Trails. As well, a lot of the species won't fit in with the Jungle Trails theme like the three armadillo species, the douroucoulis, the sloths, blind cave fish, and feather-tailed gliders. Hopefully they wil get the exhibits that are not labeled on the Night Hunters map.

Well, I imagine that they would create a new Chinese Alligator so there would be at least one crocodilian exhibit. Though I too would love to see another crocodilian exhibit, especially a Gharial exhibit.
 
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There was supposed to be a gharial exhibit in Manatee Springs before it was decided that the building would be used for manatees. It was to be a Rivers of the World themed exhibit until it caught fire during construction. Plans were revised and now we have the current exhibit.

As for NH, I almost hope that those unlabeled exhibits aren't filled with new species, but used for expanded exhibits for existing ones. Those enclosures are still pretty small even for small cats. Unless they build more new cages along the wall slated for vampire bats, I'm not sure there will be many more species than the ones listed right now.
 
Interesting fact about Manatee Springs. I had not heard that.

Oh no, I agree with you. Many of the exhibits still appear quite small, especially the Caracal exhibit. I just meant that I would like a couple of them are filled with some of the old nocturnal house residents. Maybe one or two of the smaller ones. Not all of them, because I agree with you that many of the exhibits are still small for their proposed inhabitants. If not, that's fine. The cats are in more of a need for larger spaces anyways.

I doubt there will any exhibits besides the ones shown. Since it has been revealed on their website and since it is opening in May, this is probablly the final plan.

With construction of Night Hunters begining in November, do you think another phase of the African Savannah will open in 2011 or no? I hope so, but I'm just happy that the Cat House is finally being worked on.
 
Man, I'd hate to guess on the hoofed stock exhibit. It's obviously all about funds. That said, I wonder how much re-imagining will really go into NH. It really doesn't look like that much of a rearrangement of the current setup. I'd be a bit disappointed if they just left the Cat House pretty much the same and just turned off the lights. I don't know if they'll add cave style rockwork like they had in the Nocturnal House or what. Neither potential new exhibit seems like a mega budget undertaking when compared to what some other zoos do these days.

I remember I was kind of let down by the Dragons exhibit this year. The building is the same minus the ramps and the Garuda statue. The Komodo holding is exactly as it was before. The ackie cage was actually kind of pathetic IMO. The cage I keep my own ackie in is bigger and more imaginative. I suppose that zoos don't really have an interest in providing appropriate numbers of hides when the whole point is to let the public view the animals. The attendant there told me that they'd built a new outdoor yard for the Komodos. I just nodded and smiled. It's the exact same yard that's been there for almost 20 years. I will say that I really liked the croc monitor enclosure, though.
 
Yes, that's why the African Savannah is opening in phases. The zoo didn't have enough funding to open it all at once. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I would hope that changes have been made,but it's too soon to tell from just the map and no concept images or photos. It would be rather disappointing if they didn't at least "try" to theme it a little.

See I have yet to see the Dragons exhibit, and I have not seen any pictures of the exhibits yet, so I can't yet speak about them. Interesting that you say that. I really wasn't expecting anything really "New" besides the animals. It's nice to hear that about the Crocodile Monitor exhibit though.
 
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