Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo News 2022

I went to the zoo today. I am going away next Wednesday and won’t be back for a month. Some observations:
-Many changes in the Reptile House. The eastern massasauga and copperhead exhibits have been added colored light to mimic their woodland setting. The copperhead exhibit has red light, and the massasauga one has blue light. The crocodile lizard was recently taken off exhibit because the golden coin turtle was being aggressive to the lizard. There are plans to put the lizard in the former emerald tree boa exhibit, and the zoo is looking to add new species of lizards to their normal exhibit. The golden coin turtle may move to the snapping turtle exhibit and if so the snapping turtle could move to an outdoor pond for the summer somewhere else in the zoo. The keeper said it is in discussion, not finalized. There is construction on the giant tortoise outdoor yard and there is a white gate blocking the construction area so the tortoises currently only have access to a small portion of the yard.
-Keeper talks have gradually returned over the last few weeks. Currently there are chats at the ruffed lemurs, gorillas and African Plains. However today the African Plains keeper chat wasn’t going on since they were short staffed.
-You can now go inside the small building behind the main building of PECO Primate Reserve(where the sifakas used to be, where Clara and Toby the mongoose lemurs are now.)
 
The zoo has unveiled Habitat Hollow... it's a playground for kids. It opens tomorrow, with a members-only viewing thursday evening. I will not be going :)

The Giraffe encounter is also now open, for members only. Tickets must be purchased at the zoo near the giraffes. Times are 10-12 and 1-4. No idea what the price is.
 
TinoPup said:
The zoo has unveiled Habitat Hollow... it's a playground for kids. It opens tomorrow, with a members-only viewing thursday evening. I will not be going :)

The Giraffe encounter is also now open, for members only. Tickets must be purchased at the zoo near the giraffes. Times are 10-12 and 1-4. No idea what the price is.
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Another kids playground? The zoo seems more focused on guest services than animals.
 
TinoPup said:
They haven't had something new and permanent for kids in a while, and it's an inner city zoo, so I kinda get it. Just wish they'd give us something new for people who want to see the *animals*, too.
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Wdym they haven’t given something permanent for kids for a while? They have the whole childrens zoo
 
TinoPup said:
The zoo has unveiled Habitat Hollow... it's a playground for kids. It opens tomorrow, with a members-only viewing thursday evening. I will not be going :)

The Giraffe encounter is also now open, for members only. Tickets must be purchased at the zoo near the giraffes. Times are 10-12 and 1-4. No idea what the price is.
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You know - for a zoo that is so pressed for space, there truly is no need to be so profligatory with the limited amount of space they have left to play with (pardon the pun) that isn't already developed exhibit space.
 
StoppableSan said:
You know - for a zoo that is so pressed for space, there truly is no need to be so profligatory with the limited amount of space they have left to play with (pardon the pun) that isn't already developed exhibit space.
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The area may not be suitable for exhibits.
 
StoppableSan said:
Wasn't it the former Children's Zoo? Unless the site is difficult to work with or unless there's a prominent gas line, IDK why it wouldn't be used as actual exhibit space.
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That may be part of why they moved the children's zoo, though. There could be issues with water hook ups, ground stability for building, etc. Stuff that could probably be upgraded, but would cost a lot more to do.
 
TinoPup said:
That may be part of why they moved the children's zoo, though. There could be issues with water hook ups, ground stability for building, etc. Stuff that could probably be upgraded, but would cost a lot more to do.
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So if Habitat Hollow is a more temporary solution until something permanent does get built, much like the nature play area at Seneca Park...
 
The old Fossa enclosure in the Water Is Life exhibit is temporarily holding single individuals of Golden Pheasant, Temminck's Tragopan and Flying Steamer Duck.
These plus the Emu and Eclectus Parrots are the first birds that have returned to exhibit following HPAI outbreak. The zoo plans on reintroducing the Andean Geese and possibly other waterfowl very soon, possibly as early as tomorrow. There are no immediate plans to reopening the aviaries, however.
 
A piece of 2022 News not mentioned

On May 16th, the zoo announced the names of the (0.0.3) ankole watusi that they have recently acquired, Yamaani, Gaaju, and Kutekaana.

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I went back to the zoo today after about a month away.
-There are some new baby Ossabow Island Hogs and Saanen goats in the exhibit where the royal palm turkeys lived before HPAI. The goats are behind a gray fence towards the left side, and the hogs are in the portion where the turkeys lived.
-The trumpeter swans were let back outside, but all other birds in Bird Valley were not out. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum the Aldabra tortoises were in an exhibit further down. They will eventually return to their normal exhibit at the Reptile House, since Abrazzo is now out with the female tortoises and they want to take it slow.
-The fossa enclosure in Water is Life currently has two Temminck’s tragopans, two flying steamer ducks and one Cabot’s tragopan. The Cabot’s tragopan is old and blind in one eye. The other birds in Wings of Asia are out, but you cannot go in. The atrium and theater of McNeil Avian Center are open but the walk-through areas are closed.
-In African Plains, the giraffe feeding station is now open and cost is $5 for members and $6 for non-members. An employee also told me there are now only two red river hogs but did not know what happened to the third one. I only saw Pork Chop and Wilhelmina so I speculate Charlotte passed away recently given her advanced age.
-In KidZooU Jordan, the Nigerian dwarf goat is inside for a rash on his nose. He is outside after the zoo closes but just like with Mason last year, he is inside during the day since his condition does not allow for people touching him. He has been inside for several weeks but the staff expect him to be back out in a week or two, and while he is inside the zoo rotates the other goats in with him since goats are social.
-In KidZooU, Logan the Nigerian dwarf goat passed away a few months ago. I just found out today since many people over other visits did not know what happened to him. He was 10 and had very bad arthritis suddenly(even though as he got older he got arthritis which was manageable with medication.) In his last few days, he would just stand there and would not do anything, including eat, sleep and pee. They tried injecting numerous medications into him that didn’t work, so he was euthanized. Four goats so far lost in 2022. Such a shame. So many are getting old.
 
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Also I forgot to mention in the reptile house they are adding musk turtle and yellow-spotted turtle to the exhibit where the copperhead was in. The copperhead is now in the exhibit where the yellow rat snake used to live, but the rat snake sign is still there and the copperhead sign is still at its original exhibit(which is completely wrong.) I also didn’t see golden coin turtle or Florida snapping turtle, not sure what is going on with them.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Is this an exclusive extract from your comprehensive records of every domestic goat held within a zoo in the USA? :p ;)
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No. Actually many zoos I do not know their goats. The ones I know most are Philadelphia Zoo, Elmwood Park Zoo, Lehigh Valley Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I know most people don’t have goat records but at any zoo I go to touch the goats whenever I have the chance to(which lots of visitors actually skip since they are afraid of getting dirty.) Since 2019, Philadelphia has lost 9 goats including two Nigerian dwarf goats, two Arapawa goats, two Golden Guernesy goats, a Saanen goat, a Toggenburg goat and an Angora goat.
 
Kevin2342 said:
Also I forgot to mention in the reptile house they are adding musk turtle and yellow-spotted turtle to the exhibit where the copperhead was in. The copperhead is now in the exhibit where the yellow rat snake used to live, but the rat snake sign is still there and the copperhead sign is still at its original exhibit(which is completely wrong.) I also didn’t see golden coin turtle or Florida snapping turtle, not sure what is going on with them.
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The Coin Turtle was in the exhibit with the Crocodile Lizard and the Snapping Turtle was still in its usual exhibit when I went a couple of days ago. I'd assume they're just temporarily off display then?
 
SusScrofa said:
The Coin Turtle was in the exhibit with the Crocodile Lizard and the Snapping Turtle was still in its usual exhibit when I went a couple of days ago. I'd assume they're just temporarily off display then?
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The coin turtle was just probably hiding as it’s a small turtle and in previous visits sometimes I haven’t seen it, but the snapping turtle may be off display for some reason since I have seen it every visit. Being a fairly large turtle there is really no place in that exhibit he could hide. The crocodile lizard is not currently on exhibit since the turtle was being aggressive to the lizard. There have been talks to put the crocodile lizard where the emerald tree boa used to live.
 
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