Orange County Zoo Orange County Zoo news

One of the Orange County Zoo's famous residents was a black bear named Samson who would come down from the hills in Orange County, break into people's backyards, and use their hot tubs: Samson, O.C. Zoo's Star, Heads for That Hot Tub in the Sky - Los Angeles Times

There is a children's book about it: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Samson-The-Hot-Tub-Bear/dp/157098090X]Samson The Hot Tub Bear: A True Story: Wendy Tokuda: 9781570980909: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

Apparently bears really like hot tubs:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Last edited:
New Cat Exhibit Now Open

OC Zoo opens a new large mammal exhibit | KTLA

It will house a mountain lion, three orphaned mountain lion cubs and an adult jaguar.

The new two-acre habitat will be the largest expansion project in the zoo’s history. The expansion plan is designed to provide guests with a close up look at the large animals while creating a comfortable home environment for them.

Their new habitat features artificial rock walls, a waterfall and climbing platforms.
 
Made it to the Orange County Zoo today. I took some photos of the new Large Mammal Exhibit. I have posted those photos in the appropriate media section of this website.

Orange County Zoo - ZooChat

Four adequately sized enclosures, with excellent viewing opportunities, but with plenty of space for the occupants to hide from prying eyes. I saw 3 Mountain Lion who occupied two separate enclosures connected by the overhead, path crossing, catwalks, 1 Jaguar in a third enclosure, and the fourth seemed to be vacant.
 
I’m a little confused by the large mammal branding for this complex, which conjures up images of ungulates first and foremost.

Given it’s currently housing felids, it’s really a cat complex; with any future additions likely to be felids or at least carnivores - making either of these labels more appropriate.
 
Will be making a visit today to photograph the new complex for myself and also visiting for the first time ever :) I’ll upload photos later today or tomorrow of the inhabitants at the zoo, the new complex looks pretty solidly done!
 
I was able to see this area for cougars and jaguars when I visited this zoo a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it was still closed but the look was very interesting and well done.

This little zoo really surprised me positively.
 
Just made it back from OC Zoo, my first impressions: it’s a pretty nice zoo, very much geared to families who visit Irvine Park as a small fun family activity :) Their cat complex is their star attraction for sure, it literally greets guests as soon as you walk in. The main star most guests were obsessed with Ziggy the melanistic Jaguar, a show stopper in his own right! Also, there was a booth by the first left sided habitat which asked for name suggestions for their female mountain lion cubs. Will definitely visit in the near future again :p
 
Julio C Castro said:
Just made it back from OC Zoo, my first impressions: it’s a pretty nice zoo, very much geared to families who visit Irvine Park as a small fun family activity :) Their cat complex is their star attraction for sure, it literally greets guests as soon as you walk in. The main star most guests were obsessed with Ziggy the melanistic Jaguar, a show stopper in his own right! Also, there was a booth by the first left sided habitat which asked for name suggestions for their female mountain lion cubs. Will definitely visit in the near future again :p
Click to expand...

Do they still have a beaver exhibit? That was one of the highlights when I visited this zoo several years ago. At that time their star exhibit was Samson the hot-tubbing bear, a black bear who was roaming around back yards in Orange County and using hot tubs before he was captured and sent to the zoo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top