Oakland Zoo Oakland zoo news 2020

TheEthiopianWolf03

TheEthiopianWolf03

Well-Known Member
Hi everybody!

This will be the news thread for Oakland zoo pertaining to the year 2020. I managed to squeeze in a visit during my winter break and will upload some of the photos I took later today. There are a few things to note though.

  • The renovations that were done to the old macaw exhibit have finished and are now home to the curassow pair that lived in the rainforest exhibit. I’m assuming the cuckoos will come later in the year. The rainforest aviary is undergoing some renovations also so nothing was really visible although I could hear the macaws.
  • I couldn’t find the coatis in their exhibit nor could I find any signage. Maybe I’m going blind since they are still on the map. The cotton top tamarins were on full view in that exhibit while in the other exhibit that used to house them it seems to have become empty (this is the exhibit that was near the old macaw exhibit). If anyone visits and sees the coatis please get pictures of the signage cause I just couldn’t find them (again I may have just missed them for whatever reason).
  • The zoo has a bunch of new signage for many of the exhibits. They are all very similar to the ones in the Californian trail. Old signage is still visible though.
  • The indoor exhibits (RAD room and bug room) all have TVs now with the RAD room using them as signage. The terrariums now have a clear theme to them (they always had just never explicitly mentioned) with their being a terrarium for the North American desert, Central America, South America, Indonesia, and Madagascar. They are the same exhibits they just have names now.
  • Speaking of the bug room, I’m starting to feel like they are neglecting this part of the zoo. I saw a pretty large spider in the black beauty stick insect enclosure. I’m pretty sure it’s eating the inhabitants. I’ll email them when I can. Black widow exhibit was nowhere to be found. I just generally don’t like this exhibit it just feels outdated or out of place now after seeing it so many times. That’s just me though.
  • Witnessed green anole mating in the RAD room. Baby anoles soon?
  • The male zebras started to fight when I came to their exhibit. It was intense. Thought they were going to kill each other. They might need to be separated for a bit. The kicking and neighing put on quite a display for me and the few people who saw it though. Too bad my phone wasn’t on to record it though...
  • The red tailed hawk that is supposed to be in the condor exhibit was nowhere to be seen nor is there any signage for the bird in the exhibit. Maybe the individual is out of exhibit?
And that’s it! Let’s hope for another great year for the zoo! Maybe even a Master plan!
 
Good thing I’m not going blind. I sent out an email to Oakland zoo and inquired about a handful of topics. The coatis were all old individuals and the last one passed away Fall of 2019. So there are currently no coatis at the zoo. Their exhibit is home to all 4 of the cotton top tamarins (The breeding pair and the mom/daughter pair). The curassow aviary is confirmed to be expecting a pair of Guria cuckoos once the curassows are acclimated. To get the cuckoos acclimated, they will be living in the old cotton top tamarins exhibit next to the new curassow aviary. Once both species are fully used to movement and their environment with other species, they will join the current residents of the rainforest aviary (hence the renovations). Ojai the red tailed hawk is also still in the condor exhibit he just isn’t listed. The best piece of news is that the zoo is on a very early stage on making some master plan. While this might not be big for other people, the fact that they have been on it is music to my ears. Nothing confirmed yet though. If anyone has any questions I can shoot another email later on. Looks like I ended up answering the stuff I said on the previous post!:p


Edit: Forgot to mention that the spider in the stick insect exhibit was a wild one that snuck in. He was moved out once I emailed them.
 
I appreciate everyone keeping up with the zoo while I was on hiatus. Some news...

- Four amazon parrots arrived at the zoo and will be housed where the coatis were. The birds are currently in the vet hospital just to check up on them. I'm not to sure the species but I think they are Red-Crowned but I'm not to sure. I will ask them tomorrow but for know the birds are posted on their instagram story so if any of you can identify them then be my guest.
- The red tailed hawk in the condor aviary has been listed on the site so it is confirmed that it is still there.
- The cuckoos are also at the zoo in their exhibit.
 
Zoofan15 said:
A 21 month old female giraffe has been imported.

Oakland Zoo says hello to a new female giraffe

Kijiji is a female Reticulated giraffe, who was born at Lee Richardson Zoo July 20 2018.

It’s hoped she’ll breed with one of their males, Mabusu, when she’s mature.
Click to expand...

Well this is a surprise. I was under the impression that Mabusu was too old or that he was unable to breed. I am also surprised that animal transfers are still going on between zoos. Looks like the Californian Trail did change the mentality of the zoo.
 
The 24 year old female plains zebra, Jumoke has passed away mid April due to an apparent oral/nasal fistula. This leaves the zoo with one female and the two males from Safari West. Sad times for the zoo.

Oakland Zoo
 
The wreathed hornbill female has layed two eggs together. Unsure if these eggs are fertile or not but since they have layed fertile eggs before I am going to assume that they are.
 
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
I appreciate everyone keeping up with the zoo while I was on hiatus. Some news...

- Four amazon parrots arrived at the zoo and will be housed where the coatis were. The birds are currently in the vet hospital just to check up on them. I'm not to sure the species but I think they are Red-Crowned but I'm not to sure. I will ask them tomorrow but for know the birds are posted on their instagram story so if any of you can identify them then be my guest.
- The red tailed hawk in the condor aviary has been listed on the site so it is confirmed that it is still there.
- The cuckoos are also at the zoo in their exhibit.
Click to expand...

The amazon parrot species is Amazona finschi.
 
The one year old female wreathed hornbill that was born last year (Maina) was moved to Rotterdam zoo to help with the genetic diversity of the species in Europe. Props to Oakland for getting more involved with breeding programs.

For anyone who is interested, the behind the scenes videos are now free on the site. I’ll be going through all of them to see if there is any interesting information.
 
Some takeaways from the behind the scenes videos:

  • The zoo has Japanese cave geckos (Goniurosaurus orientalis) and Frog eyed geckos (Teratoscincus scincus) that aren't on exhibit. They were taken from the pet trade and while they wish they could exhibit them there isn't any space for them in the RAD room. There is also a species of frog described as a "Foam nesting frog" that was a stowaway from Vietnam but I don't know the species for certain. Looks like their could be other species behind the scenes as well.
  • There is another female Red tailed hawk named Scout that lives in a group of behind the scenes exhibits between the hyena and baboon exhibit. A weird place to place them but it is what it is. There are other behind the scenes exhibits but I am unsure what is housed in them.
  • The zoo has a total of 5 Macaws, 4 Blue and Gold Macaws and a Military Macaw from LA zoo. They are still looking to get more macaws for the aviary (Dunno why though since interspecies breeding could occur). The agoutis are still around also.
  • I was mistaken a bit. There are two species of amazon that the zoo brought in. From what I can tell from the video it looks like either 2 of each species or 1 White fronted amazon and 3 Lilac-crowned amazons
 
Two of the older giraffes (Mosi and Twiga) were euthanized due to issues that came with old age. Really sad especially because the newest giraffe was warming up to them. I don’t remember how many giraffes currently live at the zoo other than Mabusu and Kijiji but I think the number is now 3. Really sad nonetheless.
 
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
Two of the older giraffes (Mosi and Twiga) were euthanized due to issues that came with old age. Really sad especially because the newest giraffe was warming up to them. I don’t remember how many giraffes currently live at the zoo other than Mabusu and Kijiji but I think the number is now 3. Really sad nonetheless.
Click to expand...

My first thought: Well, that's one way to save money.

I know. It's terrible. But if it's only the three giraffes the yard then it won't feel as crowded.
 
Sorry for the lack of updates. Some new developments:

  • Ash the American Alligator turned 40.
  • The zoo confirmed another Wreathed Hornbill hatched and is currently 2 months old. The gender is unknown last I checked but its name is Jaidee
  • Eddie the Chimpanzee turned 30.
  • The zoo helped care for and release two Californian Condors that suffered from lead poisoning.
  • A baboon was born 3 months ago. She is a female named Aluna,
  • Oakland zoo has joined a new conservation program which focuses on saving the Riparian Brush Rabbit from extinction as a result of a virus that has come from European rabbits. 20 of these rabbits are being cared for in the vet hospital to help administer vaccines.
 
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