Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo 2021 News

-According to someone named Tony Rocca on Facebook, the meerkats have access to Meerkat Maze again but they may not always be out.
-It seems like the reason the meerkats were off exhibit temporarily was because of the oldest meerkat, Petey Pete, was having health issues. He’s 14 and a senior. He has done better recently and is ok now, so the meerkats were allowed back out. They are social and must stay as a group.
-According to the website, WildWorks Ropes Course seems back open.
-The baby sloth has been named Grogan, not sure if it’s a boy or girl.
-The current family unit of titi monkeys is made up of an older father, daughter, and son. I heard Bellini and his mate Marjorie Belle, who died in 2016, had many offspring over the years but all the others were transferred away for breeding. Not sure what they will do with breeding now with the remaining two offspring but nothing has gone on for years. The daughter, Pepper, is only 9 years old which is still genetically valuable. At one point, the zoo had 9 titi monkeys by my recall. When the number decreased eventually they moved to a smaller exhibit near the end of RACC where they didn’t need as much space. When they moved in there were 4 monkeys but there was another daughter that has also since moved to another zoo. The remaining two offspring are planned to stay in Philly the rest of their lives. At 18 years old, Bellini is now near the end of his life expectancy since titi monkeys usually live in their early 20s. When Marjorie Belle died, she was 16 which she still could have lived longer. She was actually a mother in 2015 to Cooper, who is still at the zoo.

I’m going back to the zoo tomorrow morning, if I notice more updates I’ll post them. Except for the titi monkeys, I found all the rest of them online. I haven’t visited in 3 weeks
 
Went to the zoo today.
-Saw the meerkats in Meerkat Maze. They all seem well.
-Black tree monitors are in the vertical exhibit with Travancore tortoise. A keeper told me they have always been there, but they were never signed. I do not know what the keeper meant, because I heard in February 2020 they were off exhibit. Look up to spot them. The black tree monitors are 17 years old which is very old.
-Abrazzo the tortoise is on exhibit. He was outside while the girls were inside, they should eventually be introduced to each other but they are taking it step by step.
-I heard about the miniature horses passing back in June. Flash, the horse that died had asthma problems and towards the end he was declining so the zoo decided to euthanize him. He was 9 years old, I thought that was young but the zoo said miniature horses live at most 15, so the remaining two horses are also getting up there but are not super old yet.
-The zoo is down to 3 royal palm turkeys, they had 8 at one point but I heard that the others were shipped to other zoos.
 
Kevin2342 said:
Went to the zoo today.
-Saw the meerkats in Meerkat Maze. They all seem well.
-Black tree monitors are in the vertical exhibit with Travancore tortoise. A keeper told me they have always been there, but they were never signed. I do not know what the keeper meant, because I heard in February 2020 they were off exhibit. Look up to spot them. The black tree monitors are 17 years old which is very old.
-Abrazzo the tortoise is on exhibit. He was outside while the girls were inside, they should eventually be introduced to each other but they are taking it step by step.
-I heard about the miniature horses passing back in June. Flash, the horse that died had asthma problems and towards the end he was declining so the zoo decided to euthanize him. He was 9 years old, I thought that was young but the zoo said miniature horses live at most 15, so the remaining two horses are also getting up there but are not super old yet.
-The zoo is down to 3 royal palm turkeys, they had 8 at one point but I heard that the others were shipped to other zoos.
Click to expand...
More reptile updates
-Adding to the reptiles, forgot to mention the zoo has a new Solomon Island tree boa since the old one passed away over covid. The new one is much smaller, it’s a male and the old one was a female. The zoo did have two at one point but the other one presumably passed away as well. On my last visit, another reptile keeper told me the boa is in his 20’s so when he came he was already old.
-On another post I asked this, but both forest cobras passed away years ago.
-Forgot to mention I actually saw the black tree monitors. I went in there twice and at the end of my visit one of them was moving around quite a bit.
-There are two prehensile tailed skinks on exhibit and one is quite a bit smaller than the other. The ones at Elmwood are quite small also. Is it due to male or female? I presumably assume it is.
-The are two Madagascar tree boas on exhibit and they have been there as long s I can remember. A keeper said that they have always been in the same exhibit, but not necessarily the same individuals so they’re not as old as you think they are.
-I finally saw the Standings day gecko. I have seen it before, but only on occasion.


Finally forgot to mention not related to reptiles, but the zoo has Pygmy slow loris mixed in with the aye-ayes. The don’t come from the same area but still get along fine. They tend to be high up in the exhibit and I did not see one. I heard especially the female likes to be high.
The aye-aye exhibits are separated. They recently made improvements and kinda swapped things around. On the right, the dad Tolkien lives with the geriatric jumping rat. They used to live on the left side, not sure why they swapped, maybe it was due to the loris needing higher climbing structures. On the left, there are two aye-ayes, the mom Kali along with her daughter Damien. Damien was discovered to be a girl but she was named Damien because when she was born they thought she was male. I didn’t see any aye-ayes on the left, but I did see a bushbaby moving around. The loris probably also live on the left but I didn’t see any. They pretty much swapped everything around since last time it was closed off.
More primate news:
-The ring-tailed lemur island is currently under construction. The swans still live in the pond, but the lemurs are sometimes using the trail.
-I heard again about brown spider monkeys: before Kirby died and Desi got moved, they often rotated the black and brown spider monkeys. Not sure why, maybe because they got into fights, but I also heard Kirby was sick so if she was sick a while before she died and only deteriorated the last few days, they may have been careful to not get the black spider monkeys sick. I saw them both early in the morning one day shortly before Kirby died, but after she died Desi still lived alone for a while. I never saw him but someone on Zoochat did in June 2018. So maybe it was a combination of both, who knows.

That’s all from me!
Kevin
 
Kevin2342 said:
More reptile updates
-Adding to the reptiles, forgot to mention the zoo has a new Solomon Island tree boa since the old one passed away over covid. The new one is much smaller, it’s a male and the old one was a female. The zoo did have two at one point but the other one presumably passed away as well. On my last visit, another reptile keeper told me the boa is in his 20’s so when he came he was already old.
-On another post I asked this, but both forest cobras passed away years ago.
-Forgot to mention I actually saw the black tree monitors. I went in there twice and at the end of my visit one of them was moving around quite a bit.
-There are two prehensile tailed skinks on exhibit and one is quite a bit smaller than the other. The ones at Elmwood are quite small also. Is it due to male or female? I presumably assume it is.
-The are two Madagascar tree boas on exhibit and they have been there as long s I can remember. A keeper said that they have always been in the same exhibit, but not necessarily the same individuals so they’re not as old as you think they are.
-I finally saw the Standings day gecko. I have seen it before, but only on occasion.


Finally forgot to mention not related to reptiles, but the zoo has Pygmy slow loris mixed in with the aye-ayes. The don’t come from the same area but still get along fine. They tend to be high up in the exhibit and I did not see one. I heard especially the female likes to be high.
The aye-aye exhibits are separated. They recently made improvements and kinda swapped things around. On the right, the dad Tolkien lives with the geriatric jumping rat. They used to live on the left side, not sure why they swapped, maybe it was due to the loris needing higher climbing structures. On the left, there are two aye-ayes, the mom Kali along with her daughter Damien. Damien was discovered to be a girl but she was named Damien because when she was born they thought she was male. I didn’t see any aye-ayes on the left, but I did see a bushbaby moving around. The loris probably also live on the left but I didn’t see any. They pretty much swapped everything around since last time it was closed off.
More primate news:
-The ring-tailed lemur island is currently under construction. The swans still live in the pond, but the lemurs are sometimes using the trail.
-I heard again about brown spider monkeys: before Kirby died and Desi got moved, they often rotated the black and brown spider monkeys. Not sure why, maybe because they got into fights, but I also heard Kirby was sick so if she was sick a while before she died and only deteriorated the last few days, they may have been careful to not get the black spider monkeys sick. I saw them both early in the morning one day shortly before Kirby died, but after she died Desi still lived alone for a while. I never saw him but someone on Zoochat did in June 2018. So maybe it was a combination of both, who knows.

That’s all from me!
Kevin
Click to expand...
I actually saw the new Solomon Island tree boa moving. I never saw there old one move.
 
Kevin2342 said:
More reptile updates
-Adding to the reptiles, forgot to mention the zoo has a new Solomon Island tree boa since the old one passed away over covid. The new one is much smaller, it’s a male and the old one was a female. The zoo did have two at one point but the other one presumably passed away as well. On my last visit, another reptile keeper told me the boa is in his 20’s so when he came he was already old.
-On another post I asked this, but both forest cobras passed away years ago.
-Forgot to mention I actually saw the black tree monitors. I went in there twice and at the end of my visit one of them was moving around quite a bit.
-There are two prehensile tailed skinks on exhibit and one is quite a bit smaller than the other. The ones at Elmwood are quite small also. Is it due to male or female? I presumably assume it is.
-The are two Madagascar tree boas on exhibit and they have been there as long s I can remember. A keeper said that they have always been in the same exhibit, but not necessarily the same individuals so they’re not as old as you think they are.
-I finally saw the Standings day gecko. I have seen it before, but only on occasion.


Finally forgot to mention not related to reptiles, but the zoo has Pygmy slow loris mixed in with the aye-ayes. The don’t come from the same area but still get along fine. They tend to be high up in the exhibit and I did not see one. I heard especially the female likes to be high.
The aye-aye exhibits are separated. They recently made improvements and kinda swapped things around. On the right, the dad Tolkien lives with the geriatric jumping rat. They used to live on the left side, not sure why they swapped, maybe it was due to the loris needing higher climbing structures. On the left, there are two aye-ayes, the mom Kali along with her daughter Damien. Damien was discovered to be a girl but she was named Damien because when she was born they thought she was male. I didn’t see any aye-ayes on the left, but I did see a bushbaby moving around. The loris probably also live on the left but I didn’t see any. They pretty much swapped everything around since last time it was closed off.
More primate news:
-The ring-tailed lemur island is currently under construction. The swans still live in the pond, but the lemurs are sometimes using the trail.
-I heard again about brown spider monkeys: before Kirby died and Desi got moved, they often rotated the black and brown spider monkeys. Not sure why, maybe because they got into fights, but I also heard Kirby was sick so if she was sick a while before she died and only deteriorated the last few days, they may have been careful to not get the black spider monkeys sick. I saw them both early in the morning one day shortly before Kirby died, but after she died Desi still lived alone for a while. I never saw him but someone on Zoochat did in June 2018. So maybe it was a combination of both, who knows.

That’s all from me!
Kevin
Click to expand...
Philadelphia Zoo Primate Profiles
Geoffroys marmoset: Acorn(M), Jasimine(F), Mufasa(M)
Bolivian gray titi monkey:Bellini(M), Pepper(F), Cooper(M)
Red-capped mangabey:Storm(M)
Blue-eyed black lemur:Stewart(M), Bardot(F)
Black-and-white ruffed lemur:Huey(M), Kiaka(F), Lucas(M), Connor(M), Mikey(M), Olivia(F)
Ring-tailed lemur: Logan(F), Iris(F), Cleveland(M), Lucky(F), Charlie(F), Dalia(F) now there are only 5 not sure which offspring has moved
Aye-aye:Tolkien(M), Kali(F), Damien(F)
White-faced Saki:Bugsy(M), Abner(M), Sammy(M)
White-handed gibbon:Mercury(M), Phoenice(F), Polaris(M), Ophelia(F)
Sumatran orangutan:Tua(F), Sugi(M)
Western lowland gorilla:Motuba(M), Honi(F), Kira(F), Amani(F), Ajabu(M)
Coqurels sifaka:Julia(F), Gratian(M)
Black-and-white colobus monkey:Zabibu(F), Dhrouba(F), Mbili(M), Tatu(F), Moe(F), Oku(M)
Pygmy loris:Otti-ly(F), Rizzo(M)
Mongoose lemur:Clara(F), Toby(M), Natasha(F), Ernesto(M), Bert(M), Oscar(M), Zoe(F), Grover(M)
Black-headed spider monkey:Arana(F), Chanza(F), Duke(M)
Common squirrel monkey:Chestnut(F), Ivana(F), Wolfie(M)
Golden lion tamarin:Jameson(M), Devra(F) PECO Primate Reserve, not sure of the other twos names in RACC
Pied tamarin:Napoleon(M), Chip(M), Alcide(M) exhibit near end of RACC, Summer(F) not sure of the other males name(exhibit in the front of RACC with Argyle the sloth)
Francois langur:Chester(M), Mei Mei(F), Ling(F), Quy Bau(F), Lei(F)
How many bush babies does the zoo have? That’s the only one I’m not sure of.
 
Kevin2342 said:
Philadelphia Zoo Primate Profiles
Geoffroys marmoset: Acorn(M), Jasimine(F), Mufasa(M)
Bolivian gray titi monkey:Bellini(M), Pepper(F), Cooper(M)
Red-capped mangabey:Storm(M)
Blue-eyed black lemur:Stewart(M), Bardot(F)
Black-and-white ruffed lemur:Huey(M), Kiaka(F), Lucas(M), Connor(M), Mikey(M), Olivia(F)
Ring-tailed lemur: Logan(F), Iris(F), Cleveland(M), Lucky(F), Charlie(F), Dalia(F) now there are only 5 not sure which offspring has moved
Aye-aye:Tolkien(M), Kali(F), Damien(F)
White-faced Saki:Bugsy(M), Abner(M), Sammy(M)
White-handed gibbon:Mercury(M), Phoenice(F), Polaris(M), Ophelia(F)
Sumatran orangutan:Tua(F), Sugi(M)
Western lowland gorilla:Motuba(M), Honi(F), Kira(F), Amani(F), Ajabu(M)
Coqurels sifaka:Julia(F), Gratian(M)
Black-and-white colobus monkey:Zabibu(F), Dhrouba(F), Mbili(M), Tatu(F), Moe(F), Oku(M)
Pygmy loris:Otti-ly(F), Rizzo(M)
Mongoose lemur:Clara(F), Toby(M), Natasha(F), Ernesto(M), Bert(M), Oscar(M), Zoe(F), Grover(M)
Black-headed spider monkey:Arana(F), Chanza(F), Duke(M)
Common squirrel monkey:Chestnut(F), Ivana(F), Wolfie(M)
Golden lion tamarin:Jameson(M), Devra(F) PECO Primate Reserve, not sure of the other twos names in RACC
Pied tamarin:Napoleon(M), Chip(M), Alcide(M) exhibit near end of RACC, Summer(F) not sure of the other males name(exhibit in the front of RACC with Argyle the sloth)
Francois langur:Chester(M), Mei Mei(F), Ling(F), Quy Bau(F), Lei(F)
How many bush babies does the zoo have? That’s the only one I’m not sure of.
Click to expand...
For those of you that don’t know about the sifakas, the zoo swapped Johann with Gratian from the Maryland Zoo. Gratian is 18 years old which is considered geriatric for sifakas. Johann moved because he reached maturity and didn’t need his mom anymore. With the recent death of Baltimore’s elderly female sifaka, Anastasia, Johann will soon be moving to another zoo to breed and MD Zoo hopes to bring in new sifaka. Coqurels sifaka live slightly shorter than most lemurs with an average lifespan of 15-20 years, compared to most lemurs live around 20-25.
 
Kevin2342 said:
For those of you that don’t know about the sifakas, the zoo swapped Johann with Gratian from the Maryland Zoo. Gratian is 18 years old which is considered geriatric for sifakas. Johann moved because he reached maturity and didn’t need his mom anymore. With the recent death of Baltimore’s elderly female sifaka, Anastasia, Johann will soon be moving to another zoo to breed and MD Zoo hopes to bring in new sifaka. Coqurels sifaka live slightly shorter than most lemurs with an average lifespan of 15-20 years, compared to most lemurs live around 20-25.
Click to expand...
I have never heard anything about the sifaka breeding for a long time and when Gratian came. At 18 years old Gratian is not a good genetic match to breed to the SSP. He just came so Julia won’t have to live alone since Johann can’t live with his mom anymore and it’s convenient for him and Johann to swap zoos because Philadelphia and Baltimore since they are just 2 hours away.

Philly’s history of sifaka: Philadelphia previously had another female, Eudoxia, who died many years ago. She was also in her late teens which was old. She bred with a male before, they had Loka in 2008 and Carlo in 2012. Not sure what happened to the male but after Carlo was born he was gone. Loka remained at the zoo much longer than he should have, he left in 2016 I think. Shortly after Eudoxia died and they got Carlo, and Julia came to breed with Carlo. In 2019 Carlo went to Duke Lemur Center to hopefully breed with other sifaka. That’s all messed up. Carlo should have came back and Gratian would stay at MD Zoo, and Johann would go to Duke. They have more than 2 or 3 sifaka at Duke so Johann would have been part of a larger breeding program to the SSP.
 
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Kevin2342 said:
I have never heard anything about the sifaka breeding for a long time and when Gratian came. At 18 years old Gratian is not a good genetic match to breed to the SSP. He just came so Julia won’t have to live alone since Johann can’t live with his mom anymore and it’s convenient for him and Johann to swap zoos because Philadelphia and Baltimore since they are just 2 hours away.

Philly’s history of sifaka: Philadelphia previously had another female, Eudoxia, who died many years ago. She was also in her late teens which was old. She bred with a male before, they had Loka in 2008 and Carlo in 2012. Not sure what happened to the male but after Carlo was born he was gone. Loka remained at the zoo much longer than he should have, he left in 2016 I think. Shortly after Eudoxia died and they got Carlo, and Julia came to breed with Carlo. In 2019 Carlo went to Duke Lemur Center to hopefully breed with other sifaka. That’s all messed up. Carlo should have came back and Gratian would stay at MD Zoo, and Johann would go to Duke. They have more than 2 or 3 sifaka at Duke so Johann would have been part of a larger breeding program to the SSP.
Click to expand...
One mistake: at one point there were 3, Eudoxia, Carlo and Julia. Carlo didn’t need his mom but needed a female to breed. Eudoxia died soon after leaving the zoo with Carlo and Julia, and they produced Johann. Male sifaka don’t take part, so as Johann got older Carlo was sent away to breed.
 
On the website, it says the zoo was closed today and closed yesterday at 12:00 pm, why is that? Are they doing a deep clean or something?
 
I visited the zoo yesterday and noticed some changes.
-In KidZooU, I didn't see Milan the oldest goat. I saw her two weeks ago and in the morning she was thus pretty active. I suspect that she has since passed given her age. I didn't ask because it just happened and didn't want the staff to get upset, I will ask online and get back to you.
-There are 3 prehensile-tailed skinks on-exhibit at the reptile house, two of them are much smaller than the third one. One is also missing a good chunk of its tail, not sure why. It was probably amputated for some reason.
-Didn't see the red river hog. It was probably hiding behind the rocks since The Phase is a very big area.
-Naked mole-rats are off-exhibit for construction, a keeper said not sure how long it will take. It may take several more months.
-The zoo is down to a single elephant shrew. A keeper told me the male died a few months ago, and the baby from this spring was sent to another zoo.
-I actually saw a Pygmy slow loris in the aye-aye exhibit. It was on a lower branch so it was probably the male. They are actually now on the right side, I think they swapped with the bushbabies recently when the exhibit was under construction. I saw a bushbaby on the left side, and the jumping rat on the right side.
-Didn't see any of the red pandas at all!
 
From a USDA inspection last month -
-The zoo no longer has mountain lions
-There's still one bfc
-Still 2 damaraland mole-rats
-Still 4 jirds
-Rodrigues numbers are up to 64, vampire bats are steady at 47
-Zebra mice are down to 25, harvest mouse are steady at 24
-Down to 1 chinchilla
-The mexican porcupine is definitely no longer there :(
 
TinoPup said:
From a USDA inspection last month -
-The zoo no longer has mountain lions
-There's still one bfc
-Still 2 damaraland mole-rats
-Still 4 jirds
-Rodrigues numbers are up to 64, vampire bats are steady at 47
-Zebra mice are down to 25, harvest mouse are steady at 24
-Down to 1 chinchilla
-The mexican porcupine is definitely no longer there :(
Click to expand...
What happened to the mountain lions? They are removed from the website but I still thought they had two elderly siblings. And what does bfc mean

How did you hear about the Mexican porcupine? He has since been retired behind-the-scenes. He most definitely passed, he was very very old(mid to late 20s.)
 
Kevin2342 said:
Philadelphia Zoo Primate Profiles
Geoffroys marmoset: Acorn(M), Jasimine(F), Mufasa(M)
Bolivian gray titi monkey:Bellini(M), Pepper(F), Cooper(M)
Red-capped mangabey:Storm(M)
Blue-eyed black lemur:Stewart(M), Bardot(F)
Black-and-white ruffed lemur:Huey(M), Kiaka(F), Lucas(M), Connor(M), Mikey(M), Olivia(F)
Ring-tailed lemur: Logan(F), Iris(F), Cleveland(M), Lucky(F), Charlie(F), Dalia(F) now there are only 5 not sure which offspring has moved
Aye-aye:Tolkien(M), Kali(F), Damien(F)
White-faced Saki:Bugsy(M), Abner(M), Sammy(M)
White-handed gibbon:Mercury(M), Phoenice(F), Polaris(M), Ophelia(F)
Sumatran orangutan:Tua(F), Sugi(M)
Western lowland gorilla:Motuba(M), Honi(F), Kira(F), Amani(F), Ajabu(M)
Coqurels sifaka:Julia(F), Gratian(M)
Black-and-white colobus monkey:Zabibu(F), Dhrouba(F), Mbili(M), Tatu(F), Moe(F), Oku(M)
Pygmy loris:Otti-ly(F), Rizzo(M)
Mongoose lemur:Clara(F), Toby(M), Natasha(F), Ernesto(M), Bert(M), Oscar(M), Zoe(F), Grover(M)
Black-headed spider monkey:Arana(F), Chanza(F), Duke(M)
Common squirrel monkey:Chestnut(F), Ivana(F), Wolfie(M)
Golden lion tamarin:Jameson(M), Devra(F) PECO Primate Reserve, not sure of the other twos names in RACC
Pied tamarin:Napoleon(M), Chip(M), Alcide(M) exhibit near end of RACC, Summer(F) not sure of the other males name(exhibit in the front of RACC with Argyle the sloth)
Francois langur:Chester(M), Mei Mei(F), Ling(F), Quy Bau(F), Lei(F)
How many bush babies does the zoo have? That’s the only one I’m not sure of.
Click to expand...
I'd kind of like a complete list of all the zoo animal names.
 
Kevin2342 said:
What happened to the mountain lions? They are removed from the website but I still thought they had two elderly siblings. And what does bfc mean

How did you hear about the Mexican porcupine? He has since been retired behind-the-scenes. He most definitely passed, he was very very old(mid to late 20s.)
Click to expand...

I'm assuming they passed away, given their age. I only know that they aren't on the inspection list so the zoo didn't have them a few weeks ago.
Black-footed cat.
The USDA inspection...
 
TinoPup said:
I'm assuming they passed away, given their age. I only know that they aren't on the inspection list so the zoo didn't have them a few weeks ago.
Black-footed cat.
The USDA inspection...
Click to expand...
There are no black-footed cats left, they all left in 2017.
 
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