That would be impossible. It has to be a banded penguin or little blues, which I would doubt.
North Carolina Zoo North Carolina Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter Milwaukee Man
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USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
Is rockhopper a possibility?
Outside in a NC summer, absolutely not
@USZOOfan42 As someone who regularly visits the NC Zoo (it's my home zoo, after all), you are really not doing yourself any favors by only allocating 1.5-2.5 hours. The zoo recommends 2-3 hours per region (4-6 hours total). I would allocate a full day for the zoo if your itinerary allows it. I usually spend 2 full days, rope drop to close, at the zoo during my visits (although I am far from normal in that case, I recently spend 12 straight hours in the National Aquarium).
It's the biggest purely-walkthrough zoo in the nation; anything bigger is a safari park.
Also, I would recommend visiting on any day Thurs-Sun so you could check out the Zoofari tour; it's a great way to see the antelope and rhinos on the Watani Grasslands exhibit.
To add to this; the zoo also runs a shuttle bus service that runs between the two parking lots. If you do stay until close, find yourself on the other side of the zoo from where you started, and cannot catch a tram, you can exit through whatever gate you are at and catch a shuttle bus back to the parking lot where you parked.
Glad to see Ostriches returning again after a lengthy absence, even if it's only one for now. As for the Gibbons, was it mentioned what species they are?
The Penguin news is definitely a surprise. I was kind of hoping they would stick with pinnepeds, but then again, they have been down to just their lone Harbor Seal, Ronan, for a while. On the other hand, this would give NC a decent seabird collection and would provide a nice complement and contrast to their existing Alaskan Seabird exhibit.
Since the habitat is outdoors and this is North Carolina, that narrows down the list of potential candidates. It's most likely going to be African Penguins, which I've seen housed outdoors down in Tampa (although Humboldt or Magellanic penguins can't be ruled out either; Jacksonville used to house the latter).
I sincerely hope it's NOT African Penguins since they are already exhibited just 45 minutes away at the Greensboro Science Center (granted, the exhibit isn't good).
It's the biggest purely-walkthrough zoo in the nation; anything bigger is a safari park.
Also, I would recommend visiting on any day Thurs-Sun so you could check out the Zoofari tour; it's a great way to see the antelope and rhinos on the Watani Grasslands exhibit.
To add to this; the zoo also runs a shuttle bus service that runs between the two parking lots. If you do stay until close, find yourself on the other side of the zoo from where you started, and cannot catch a tram, you can exit through whatever gate you are at and catch a shuttle bus back to the parking lot where you parked.
Glad to see Ostriches returning again after a lengthy absence, even if it's only one for now. As for the Gibbons, was it mentioned what species they are?
The Penguin news is definitely a surprise. I was kind of hoping they would stick with pinnepeds, but then again, they have been down to just their lone Harbor Seal, Ronan, for a while. On the other hand, this would give NC a decent seabird collection and would provide a nice complement and contrast to their existing Alaskan Seabird exhibit.
Since the habitat is outdoors and this is North Carolina, that narrows down the list of potential candidates. It's most likely going to be African Penguins, which I've seen housed outdoors down in Tampa (although Humboldt or Magellanic penguins can't be ruled out either; Jacksonville used to house the latter).
I sincerely hope it's NOT African Penguins since they are already exhibited just 45 minutes away at the Greensboro Science Center (granted, the exhibit isn't good).
OkapiFan
Well-Known Member
The article doesn't mention it, but the zoos website says it's gonna be White-cheeked Gibbons
I'm hoping for one of these two, it's something different than the Science Center, and is at least somewhat close to North America
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
Jacksonville Zoo still does have Magellanic Penguins(at least as of April this year), they are in the children's zoo area.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Do they not anymore? They were there when I visited last September.
@biggest_dreamer they still do, as @King of Komodo Dragons just mentioned; the Magellanic Penguins aren’t going anywhere at Jacksonville for the time being.
Grrr, I don't like this at all. NCZ is so strong in their geographic theming, this is a disappointment.
At least if they wanted penguins they could have put them in Africa.
A new penguin exhibit on the Africa side would require millions of dollars to build, meanwhile there is a perfectly fine aquatic habitat on the North America side with nothing but a lone seal
All in all this seems like a pretty good plan to me - bringing a tried-and-true crowd pleaser into an underutilized habitat that only requires renovation. On the downside, now the entire state will have no pinnipeds I believe... but since there is no reason given why new seals or sea lions aren't coming instead, hard to say whether that was inevitable or not.
I understand the reasoning and how it is FAR cheaper, but it is just strange. Sealions and seals should be pretty easy to acquire, it is not like there is any shortage of rescues needing a new home.A new penguin exhibit on the Africa side would require millions of dollars to build, meanwhile there is a perfectly fine aquatic habitat on the North America side with nothing but a lone seal
All in all this seems like a pretty good plan to me - bringing a tried-and-true crowd pleaser into an underutilized habitat that only requires renovation. On the downside, now the entire state will have no pinnipeds I believe... but since there is no reason given why new seals or sea lions aren't coming instead, hard to say whether that was inevitable or not.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
It does mess with the zoogeographic theming, something they have done a very good job of maintaining outside of the neutral zone in the center for deserts, butterflies, and (formerly) birds. If they really wanted penguins I would think they could go in a wing of a new aviary, or outside of it in the flamingo enclosure. I wouldn’t even be opposed to netting over the seal exhibit and letting the puffins outside in the winter, with or without the pinnipeds. Alternatively, cold weather penguins would fit in a new building near the desert complex. Antarctica is a desert after all. This is the cheapest place to put it but also a baffling one for consistency. Why even bother adding sections themed to Asia and South America if they could just put those species in the other sections?
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I wonder (and this is purely speculation) if the AZA is pressuring zoos to get penguins out from BTS and on display in better habitats? Both Seaworld SD and FL recently took penguins that were only BTS and moved them out on display (in incorrect zoogeographic areas). Fl Aquarium built that crummy temp habitat to do the same (although they are BtS again while they build a new much nicer outdoor habitat).
There are a lot of African and magellanic penguins around the AZA, and more BTS it seems. They have to go somewhere....
There are a lot of African and magellanic penguins around the AZA, and more BTS it seems. They have to go somewhere....
OkapiFan
Well-Known Member
Not a bad guess, but I don't think NC had any penguins BTS. Unless they're getting some from a zoo that can't properly exhibit them.
Exactly, that would be my assumption. The truth is that pretty much everywhere that has penguins is breeding them, the chicks have to go somewhere eventually.
On the subject of geographic theming; the NC Zoo appears to have been slowly and quietly moving away from the strict North America/Africa divide that they have maintained for quite a while now; it's definitely less congruent than it was 18 years ago when I started visiting this facility. The Desert went from a pure NA collection to now also having a mix of African and Australian species. Asia (and the planned Australia exhibit, IF it happens) is being/will be built fully withing the NA region, and the planned Amazon exhibit (if it too happens at all) will go in the Africa region (according in a previous master plan document).
The potential inclusion of penguins directly in a complex specifically themed to North American coasts will probably be more disruptive to the theming than most. This is another big reason why I hope they go for Magellanic or Humboldts; this way, they can at least retheme it to the "Pacific Coasts of the Americas", which shouldn't require more than a few signage updates.
African penguins would completely disrupt the theming, not to mention that it would create overlap with the nearby Greensboro Science Center (something I also hope they avoid with the new Asia complex).
They did have Magellanic Penguins when I visited Jacksonville back in 2022, but I remember reading somewhere that they were being phased out and replaced with Africans? Maybe I either read something wrong or my memory has failed me.
The potential inclusion of penguins directly in a complex specifically themed to North American coasts will probably be more disruptive to the theming than most. This is another big reason why I hope they go for Magellanic or Humboldts; this way, they can at least retheme it to the "Pacific Coasts of the Americas", which shouldn't require more than a few signage updates.
African penguins would completely disrupt the theming, not to mention that it would create overlap with the nearby Greensboro Science Center (something I also hope they avoid with the new Asia complex).
They did have Magellanic Penguins when I visited Jacksonville back in 2022, but I remember reading somewhere that they were being phased out and replaced with Africans? Maybe I either read something wrong or my memory has failed me.
I mean, I get what you are saying, and the Desert example is entirely correct, it was just NA (primarily Sonoran) until they started going more generic desert. However, while Asia may be technically "in" the North American realm, it is an entire offshoot and should not be considered part of the NA area at all. If it were not an offshoot, such as if the exhibits were along the main path then I would agree, but since that is not the case it really should be viewed as its own area. Australia is solidly in between the red wolves and desert dome, so I would not view that as part of NA at all. Amazon is planned south of Junction Springs, so solidly outside of either NA or Africa.
IMO these three new areas are pretty much in the middle and not really part of either NA or Africa as they currently are.
If any birders are going to the zoo anytime soon, there have been a pair of ravens hanging around Watani Grasslands and the Elephant Habitats the past few months. I finally saw one of them today after I had only heard them.