Oregon Zoo Oregon Zoo

I personally think the log is a tad bit fake looking, but once there is more foliage in place... maybe it will help blend a bit (The exhibit itself is looking good though :) )

BTW, that duiker calf is the mother's 13th calf :eek:
 
These three bears come from Utah's Hogle Zoo. The Hogle Zoo can now begin demolishing the old bear grottos to make way for their new Rocky Shores complex featuring Polar Bears and Sea Lions.
 
Oregon Zoo orangutan struggles to survive | OregonLive.com
All doctors have troublesome patients, and this week, Mitch Finnegan's is Batik, a 22-year-old endangered Sumatran orangutan who is severely ill, supremely uncooperative and suspicious of caregivers trying to help.

In early June, keepers at the Oregon Zoo noticed the shaggy, auburn-haired, 108-pound primate had lost her appetite. An ultrasound showed a gut full of trouble. When a surgical crew opened her up last week, they found infection that appeared to have spread from her intestines to her gall bladder and liver, says Finnegan, the zoo's chief veterinarian. They removed her gall bladder and enlarged right kidney.

The day after surgery, Batik took a turn for the worse. Vomiting, she lost so much blood because of suspected stomach ulcers that she required a transfusion with a liter of blood from her 16-year-old exhibit mate, Kutai. The procedure required anesthetizing both animals.

And Monday morning, Batik refused to take her medicine.

"She's a perfect example of the challenges of zoo medicine," Finnegan said. "Orangutans are some of the most difficult patients to work with because they become suspicious of you when you try to medicate them."

For instance, Finnegan said, when a keeper hid Batik's medicine in jelly, a treat on Monday, "She kept it in her mouth 20 minutes before she spit it out."

So for now, keepers and the medical crew must deliver antibiotics via darts and try to find ways to disguise ulcer medicine so the orangutan will swallow it.

This week, she'll start on diuretics to try to reduce fluid gathering in her abdomen. Were she human, her doctor would monitor her weight and electrolytes, under the circumstances. But with an orangutan, that would require anesthesia, and Batik's health is too fragile for that.

"She's eating a little," Finnegan said, "and drinking enough to keep her going ... but we're still really not sure which way she's going to go."

If Batik does not survive, she'll miss out on an opportunity her keepers have long wanted: a move outdoors for Batik, Kutai and 50-year-old Inji.

Since arriving at the Oregon Zoo in 1996, Batik has occupied an indoor enclosure in the primate building, constructed in 1959. But the new Red Ape Reserve exhibit, due to open in late August, includes 5,400 square feet of open-air space, giving animals the chance to experience the elements -- wind, sun and rain, and maybe birds that can fly through the mesh walls.

The zoo's white-cheeked gibbons will move into Red Ape Reserve soon, but the orangutans' move has been delayed indefinitely, to keep Batik's stress to a minimum.

"When we can move the orangutans, we'll have a big celebration," said Kim Smith, zoo director. "And hopefully, Batik will be with them."
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Another year, another attendance record for the Oregon Zoo! Every year this massively popular zoo seems to create a new record, and a marginal increase saw 1.6 million visitors in the past year:

Oregon Zoo July 2010 Press Releases
 
There is a survey contained on this link that asks the public extremely specific questions about the zoo's master plan (due this fall) and the future of a few exhibits. One conundrum for the zoo is whether to expand the hippo exhibit and not display black rhinos, OR to expand the black rhino habitat and thus the hippos would be moved to another zoo. Cost wise it would definitely make sense to go with rhinos, and the new education center and famous train ride will also be affected by results from the survey.

Oregon Zoo wants to know what you think about its exhibits
 
The three caracal kittens are planned to make their public debut on September 3rd for the labor day weekend. Mkuze (male), Binti (female) and Aziza (female) are the names chosen for the kittens by the keepers.
 
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