Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium News 2025

Here are a few updates from my visit yesterday (August 20, 2025).

Kingdoms of the Night
  • Both potto are still present.
  • Giant leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus giganteus) have replaced the lined leaf-tailed geckos.
  • Both of the African exhibits containing brush-tailed porcupine, springhare, sloth, and aardvark had tarps blocking the viewing.
  • The tank that held hellbender recently is currently empty.
Scott Aquarium
  • Lions mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) have replaced the purple-striped sea nettles.
  • New species are now signed for the coral tank that has been under construction for a while. The new species include : squarespot anthias, lyretail hogfish, lawnmower blenny, starry blenny, blue throat fairy wrasse, pin tail fairy wrasse, powder brown tang, tomini tang, copperband butterflyfish, maxima clam, white sea urchin, & pencil urchin
  • The octopus is currently undergoing senescence.
Lied Jungle
  • There is now a young Mexican spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi vellerosus) living with the black-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris).
  • The black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) are back on exhibit.
* I also noticed that a USDA inspection report has recently been released, which should contain pretty accurate information on bird and mammal species and their numbers currently at the zoo. There are a few birds that were not identified correctly.
 
Other Mid-2025 News Not Mentioned:
On May 13th, the zoo announced they helped release ~170 Salt Creek tiger beetle larvae into the wilds of Nebraska.

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

On May 11th, the zoo announced they acquired a female (0.1) meerkat named Acacia from Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, which is on exhibit.

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

Omaha92 said:
Couple updates I've seen recently:

Meet the precious new ocelot kitten at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Ocelot kitten born at the zoo in May.

Per the Zoo's Facebook page a male black howler monkey was born last month as well.
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On July 15th, the zoo announced they sexed the ocelot as male (1.0).

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

On August 28th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a female (0.1) lar gibbon named Keoki to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Haliaeetus said:
3 Caribbean Flamingos have hatched in Omaha Zoo, for the first time in 30 years.
Omaha's Zoo & Aquarium on Instagram: "Big news from the Simmons Aviary this weekend… For the first time in 30 years, the Zoo has successfully bred and hatched three flamingo chicks! Theses fluffballs are being watched by the close eye of their respective parents, who will take care of the chicks full-time. While the chicks rely on their parents for warmth and feeding, viewing our newest additions will require a little patience and the right angle to see their tiny heads poke up from the nest. Come sneak a peek at these cuties this 4th of July weekend in the Aviary! They won't stay this little for long, in 3 months time the chicks will be the size of their parents, but still distinguishable bye their white and gray feathers (the iconic pink feathers come later!) by Annabelle S., Senior Keeper #omahazoo #visitomaha"
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On September 4th, the zoo announced that one of the American flamingo chicks passed away on September 2nd due to a decline in health.

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
 
Hello, I wanted to confirm if the zoo still has Baird Tapir? I saw someone post that the Baird tapir was replaced with a third one in 2020. I know they have Malayan Tapir in the Lied Jungle.
 
 
Austin the Sengi said:
@Conservationbiologist, while the sengi population here in the states is condensed to only five facilities; their numbers have had a slow, but substantial increase over the past year or so.

In general though, aside from the Smithsonian National Zoo regaining the species; little to no other holders are currently interested in displaying sengis.
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Thanks for the update!
 
MidwestFan said:
Will be interesting to see what the plan is for Omaha and white rhinos. This would leave them down to 0.1, I would not be surprised if they attempted to bring in additional animals for breeding. I think that was a plan when they expanded the Africa exhibit and build the rhino barn.
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I think the white rhinos are now a dead end at Omaha HDZ .... for now!

I cannot see for the life of me how things could go for the better in the short term. A non-breeding cow remains on site and all other individuals have been sent off elsewhere.
 
Numerous updates from my visit for the first time in a couple months and took advantage of our lovely weather today (over 70 degrees today in November!)

Lied Jungle
  • The former Veiled Chameleon/Home's Hingeback Tortoise exhibit next to the Pygmy Hippos and Spotted Neck Otters is under construction and blocked off over the viewing.
  • There are now Emerald Tree Boas in with the Chacoan Frog.
African Grasslands
  • Sonny, the zoo's oldest male African Elephant born a couple years ago, is rapidly growing. He is almost as large as, if not as large as most of the elder cows.
  • With the train not running, it's awesome to see all the elephant yards connected and the elephants making use of the full space. At least four of the zoo's herd were using the space around the lagoon near restaurant.
  • As noted in previous posts, there still is a single female Southern White Rhino at the zoo. I won't go into the history of White Rhino at the zoo in this post, but with the investment into the rhino barn as part of African Grasslands, I would have a hard time seeing the zoo go out of African rhino. If they do go out of White Rhino, how is the Black Rhino population doing? I could see Omaha becoming a potential bachelor holder.
  • Despite the zoo's fall map posted online showing Sable Antelope again after the summer map showed the Plains Zebra in that space, it appears there was a copy/paste job from the spring map. There is Plains Zebra in the former Sable Antelope exhibit still, and all signs around the exhibit are for zebra.
Expedition: Madagascar
  • Crested Coua are off exhibit and their exhibit is currently empty, looks like potential maintenance.
  • Always great to see an active Grey Mouse Lemur and don't take that for granted.
Hubbard Gorilla Valley
  • The Agile Gibbon and Buff Cheeked Gibbon were on exhibit today in the shared primate space. Not sure how much longer the zoo will have these individuals, so getting to see them is a treat.
Desert Dome
  • There are now Tawny Frogmouth in the original Burrowing Owl exhibit across from the Ocelot/Collard Peccary exhibit.
  • There is now a Tiger Rattlesnake in the last herp cave in an exhibit next to the Sidewinder. This space previously held additional Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake.
Kingdoms of the Night
  • I have never seen such an active Ringtail at any zoo I've been to at the moment. The individual seems to be doing really well here and is usually pretty showy, today was no exception and I actually got a decent photo of it.
  • There are quite a few Togo Slippery Frog now at the zoo. I would be shocked now if any of you visit and don't see one. Our Amphibian Keeper must be a wizard as he continues to breed rare amphibians like crazy, there has to be at least 25-30 individuals now in that terrarium. I saw on another thread that maybe this species can be the new Lake Titicaca Frog?...
  • As @DesertTortoise mentioned on the last update, the Hellbender exhibit continues to be empty and it looks like there may be some work on the filtration at the bottom of the tank as the rock has been pushed around to expose the bottom. I will keep my eye on this exhibit though as hopefully a behind the scenes species takes this spot after maintenance is done.
  • The former Vampire Bat/Amethystine Python exhibit in the wet bat cave continues to be empty.
  • There is now a Virgin Islands Boa in the former Namibian Sand Gecko exhibit near the big mixed species South American exhibit.
  • Indian Flying Fox are no longer signed in the larger bat exhibit in the dry bat cave.
Scott Aquarium
  • Another new jellyfish species is now on display, White Spotted Lagoon Jellyfish, and are right next to the Lion's Mane Jellyfish.
 
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