Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo 2021 News

RatioTile said:
Hi all, I'm going to visit Philly Zoo for the first time next week. I have a few questions:

1) Is the Small Mammal House open or closed right now? One of my main target species is Common Vampire Bat, so I really hope they're open, lest I have to negotiate with them.

2) Are there any outdoor animals that might not be exhibited due to lower temperatures?

3) Is the Travancore Tortoise still there, and if so, is it actually that species?

4) Has anyone successfully negotiated access to see offshow animals, particularly at the reptile house?

Thanks!
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@RatioTile, thank you for your interest of the Philadelphia Zoo. I am a regular visitor and in response to your questions:
1. Unfortunately, Small Mammal House is closed, both due to covid and the baby sloth. They want to give the baby time to bond with mom privately.
2. When it gets cold, the spider monkeys are not out, but sometimes when it gets too chilly some of the other animals like the African Plains animals may not be out, but it’s hard to say and you can’t be sure.
3. Yes, the Travancore Tortoise is still there. It shares its exhibit with two elderly black tree monitors which are usually up high.
4. Behind-the-scenes tours are not operating due to covid, but even when they were the offstage reptiles were not an option. All the offstage reptiles and amphibians in the Reptile House are in the basement of the building, which is staff only.
 
Elephantlover said:
Gazelle is usually out same thing with the red river hogs and storks that share the exhibit. The birds in bird valley are out and sloth bears and Andean bear are usually out. Also the cheetahs and maned wolf is usually out
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The sloth bears are often not out. There is a water problem in their outdoor exhibit so they have 24/7 access to inside areas. The two bears rotate because they don’t want them breeding right now and they have lived separately for two years. Also even when they are out you sometimes can’t see them, the exhibit is densely planted with tall grass and it has a moat where the bears can hide.

Gazelle, storks and red river hogs are usually out unless the temps get very cold. Gazelle is in-view most of the time, she is very old and likes to often rest in the top/back of the exhibit. The storks are usually in view but the red river hogs may depend, they are usually always sleeping or rooting around. The Phase is a big area so there is lots of space where the animals can’t be in view.
 
Elephantlover said:
Gazelle is usually out same thing with the red river hogs and storks that share the exhibit. The birds in bird valley are out and sloth bears and Andean bear are usually out. Also the cheetahs and maned wolf is usually out
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Lots of time the maned Wolf is not out. She is elderly and often is not active since they are nocturnal. Even if she is out, she is usually sleeping, sometimes in a far den you can’t see. She and the cheetahs 24/7 always has access to an indoor area. On Sunday, the Wolf was actually pretty active. The cheetahs are out more often but sometimes still not out.
 
Elephantlover said:
When I have gone hippos wont be out and the giraffes and rhino could be out though usually they are not. Also sometimes the otters are not out but I don’t know if I’ve been lucky or not but they usually are out when I’m there
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It all depends with hippos in the wintertime. The pool water is not operating so the hippos have access to an indoor pool. Sometimes you see them on land, but sometimes they are inside in the water. It seems like the hippos have always preferred being in their outdoor exhibit area. In the spring, summer and early fall, they are almost always in the water. A lot of times giraffe and rhino are out. However, this past Sunday the temps were cold, Tony the rhino was lying down which is not typical for him. I am surprised he decided to stay outside. Only saw 3 out of 4 zebras. Both the hippos and the two older zebra girls are considered older but not super old. The otters in Habitat 2(main habitat) are almost always out and very active but on Sunday I only saw one of them. They have access to Habitat 1(slide habitat) when it’s warmer. The otters I’m Habitat 3(former Canada lynx exhibit) like to rest more, but they often like to hide in a secret corner of exhibit that’s not visible. All the otters are older and are around 10-11 years old, but they can live around 15 in zoos.
 
Kevin2342 said:
@RatioTile, thank you for your interest of the Philadelphia Zoo. I am a regular visitor and in response to your questions:
1. Unfortunately, Small Mammal House is closed, both due to covid and the baby sloth. They want to give the baby time to bond with mom privately.
2. When it gets cold, the spider monkeys are not out, but sometimes when it gets too chilly some of the other animals like the African Plains animals may not be out, but it’s hard to say and you can’t be sure.
3. Yes, the Travancore Tortoise is still there. It shares its exhibit with two elderly black tree monitors which are usually up high.
4. Behind-the-scenes tours are not operating due to covid, but even when they were the offstage reptiles were not an option. All the offstage reptiles and amphibians in the Reptile House are in the basement of the building, which is staff only.
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Why is Small Mammal House closed due to covid when every other building is open?

Also in general why is this zoo closed that many days in the fall/winter? Other American zoos in similar climates are still open every day of the week or just about.
 
RatioTile said:
Why is Small Mammal House closed due to covid when every other building is open?
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Buildings can differ when it comes to the air ventilation systems, social distancing capabilities, and risk to animals. The Small Mammal House is both an older building and has open-air animal exhibits inside, either of which could be a factor - or it could be something else. I'm sure whatever the reason it's not arbitrary.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Buildings can differ when it comes to the air ventilation systems, social distancing capabilities, and risk to animals. The Small Mammal House is both an older building and has open-air animal exhibits inside, either of which could be a factor - or it could be something else. I'm sure whatever the reason it's not arbitrary.
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Yeah it's got an open-air meerkat exhibit inside, and that worry about carnivores/COVID might be why the building is closed.
 
StoppableSan said:
Yeah it's got an open-air meerkat exhibit inside, and that worry about carnivores/COVID might be why the building is closed.
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That is not what I heard, the covid part of the reason is not having enough air ventilation system to keep the air for covid.
 
RatioTile said:
Why is Small Mammal House closed due to covid when every other building is open?

Also in general why is this zoo closed that many days in the fall/winter? Other American zoos in similar climates are still open every day of the week or just about.
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Plenty of zoos are closing for several days a week in winter now. Every zoo near Philly does, and/or closes for Jan/Feb.
 
I’ve never posted this before, but last time someone told me according to data statistics from the zoo, if an animal is no longer on exhibit 9/10 times it has died. That happens so much because many of the zoos animals are so old. However, there are exceptions, and that’s not always the case. The zoo rarely publicizes the passing of an animal except a very popular one like the polar bears and asiatic black bear, which I don’t like but is better for the workers so they can grieve themselves. Also, don’t think I ever mentioned but Argyle the sloth is in the zoo animal database(which includes a bunch of zoos) as the oldest sloth ever in the database! One sloth at the National Zoo’s Amazonia was 49 years old, which is older than Argyle’s estimated age, so the animal database should not be a part of the zoo. The zoo animal database is for select zoos to take part of as choice(not every zoo) just like AZA and SSP.
 
Kevin2342 said:
I’ve never posted this before, but last time someone told me according to data statistics from the zoo, if an animal is no longer on exhibit 9/10 times it has died. That happens so much because many of the zoos animals are so old. However, there are exceptions, and that’s not always the case. The zoo rarely publicizes the passing of an animal except a very popular one like the polar bears and asiatic black bear, which I don’t like but is better for the workers so they can grieve themselves. Also, don’t think I ever mentioned but Argyle the sloth is in the zoo animal database(which includes a bunch of zoos) as the oldest sloth ever in the database! One sloth at the National Zoo’s Amazonia was 49 years old, which is older than Argyle’s estimated age, so the animal database should not be a part of the zoo. The zoo animal database is for select zoos to take part of as choice(not every zoo) just like AZA and SSP.
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What database? Do you mean ZIMS?
 
TinoPup said:
What database? Do you mean ZIMS?
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I don’t think it’s ZIMS. In the zoo animal database there is a section called AnAge, where is the longevity database. There is an area you can search oldest by species, but I’ve never searched anything. I’m not sure if everything on there is accurate or if it even says since I’ve never searched, but I just heard about Argyle being the oldest sloth ever on the database last year.
 
Kevin2342 said:
I’ve never posted this before, but last time someone told me according to data statistics from the zoo, if an animal is no longer on exhibit 9/10 times it has died.
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That seems very unlikely to be true. Animals go off-exhibit temporarily or permanently for all kinds of reasons, from medical procedures to breeding to institutional transfers to conflicts with other animals in the enclosure. The idea that 90% of animals are off-exhibit for only one of those reasons makes little sense when you consider how common all of those situations are.

Do you have any official or professional source for where that came from?

Kevin2342 said:
I don’t think it’s ZIMS. In the zoo animal database there is a section called AnAge, where is the longevity database. There is an area you can search oldest by species, but I’ve never searched anything. I’m not sure if everything on there is accurate or if it even says since I’ve never searched, but I just heard about Argyle being the oldest sloth ever on the database last year.
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I believe @TinoPup was asking what the "zoo animal database" you're referring to is.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
That seems very unlikely to be true. Animals go off-exhibit temporarily or permanently for all kinds of reasons, from medical procedures to breeding to institutional transfers to conflicts with other animals in the enclosure. The idea that 90% of animals are off-exhibit for only one of those reasons makes little sense when you consider how common all of those situations are.

Do you have any official or professional source for where that came from?



I believe @TinoPup was asking what the "zoo animal database" you're referring to is.
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@Coelacanth18, that is true, but in my experience, it really seems that most animals are off-exhibit due to the fact they died in Philly. but a person idk his name just told me last time, he used to work in Guest Engagement but left in August. I was talking to him about a bunch of the zoos animals. He should be correct. You are right but it varies by zoo.
 
TinoPup said:
What database? Do you mean ZIMS?
Click to expand...
Kevin2342 said:
I don’t think it’s ZIMS. In the zoo animal database there is a section called AnAge, where is the longevity database. There is an area you can search oldest by species, but I’ve never searched anything. I’m not sure if everything on there is accurate or if it even says since I’ve never searched, but I just heard about Argyle being the oldest sloth ever on the database last year.
Click to expand...
Coelacanth18 said:
I believe @TinoPup was asking what the "zoo animal database" you're referring to is.
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He is referring to this website: AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database
 
Kevin2342 said:
One sloth at the National Zoo’s Amazonia was 49 years old, which is older than Argyle’s estimated age, so the animal database should not be a part of the zoo.
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What does this sentence mean?

Kevin2342 said:
@Coelacanth18, that is true, but in my experience, it really seems that most animals are off-exhibit due to the fact they died in Philly. but a person idk his name just told me last time, he used to work in Guest Engagement but left in August. I was talking to him about a bunch of the zoos animals. He should be correct. You are right but it varies by zoo.
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Do you realise how unreliable this sounds? Some guy you don't know, who was maybe a zoo volunteer (? - I don't know what "Guest Engagement" means), and who "should be correct".
 
Chlidonias said:
What does this sentence mean?


Do you realise how unreliable this sounds? Some guy you don't know, who was maybe a zoo volunteer (? - I don't know what "Guest Engagement" means), and who "should be correct".
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Guest engagement is a job, but it's more like hospitality than anything actually zoo related. They make sure visitors enjoyed their experience, basically, deal with complaints, engage visitors on social media if the place doesn't have a designated person for that, etc.
 
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