This news is a shame. I wasn't overly impressed by Philadelphia Zoo when I visited, but one real highlight was the reptile house, which is saying something since reptile houses aren't usually my cup of tea. I was especially impressed with the diversity of rattlesnake species the zoo had on display. It'll be a big loss if these snakes are no longer kept by the zoo, although their could be an upside to this: we don't know what the zoo is planning to replace the venomous snakes with.
Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo News 2023
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Glad to see about the sengi, it's good they are still breeding, perhaps we may see them regain a few holders down the line.
During the mid-2000s when Brookfield Zoo's Reptile House closed down, they did pretty much the same thing -- I heard from multiple sources at the time the zoo was intentionally avoiding venomous snakes, and the overall reptile collection suffered for quite a while; the zoo has since resumed holding a few species, such as Gaboon viper, and gained a lot of nonvenomous reptiles in the meantime as well. So I would expect them to eventually make a return.
My information comes from the snake department of a major city zoo. They do not keep it on hand for the species they hold, all antivenom is kept by the hospital.
This is no longer the case for Baltimore.
It's not news. It's speculation.
Sloth bear cubs ready to make debut:
Philadelphia Zoo Introduces Baby Sloth Bear Cubs – NBC10 Philadelphia
In an online poll, everyone is invited for one of two names for the male sloth bear cubs:
Kelce & Harper– for Philly sports legends Jason Kelce of the Eagles and Bryce Harper of the Phillies
Hall & Oates– for Philly’s iconic pop rock duo with hits like “Out of Touch” and “You Make My Dreams Come True”
Philadelphia Zoo Introduces Baby Sloth Bear Cubs – NBC10 Philadelphia
In an online poll, everyone is invited for one of two names for the male sloth bear cubs:
Kelce & Harper– for Philly sports legends Jason Kelce of the Eagles and Bryce Harper of the Phillies
Hall & Oates– for Philly’s iconic pop rock duo with hits like “Out of Touch” and “You Make My Dreams Come True”
There's a cam set up for the sloth bears 
Sloth Bear Cam
Sloth Bear CamAntimony96
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Oh please be Hall & Oates.
Regarding the snakes, the VP of Animal Well-Being has put together a statement for sharing with the public. I have permission to post this. Hopefully it will stop the speculation and accusations.
"Thank you so much for reaching out about the Zoo’s decision to deaccession venomous snakes for the time being. The email you are referring to was intended to be an internal communication to staff after months of working directly with the reptile keeper team to understand their current constraints and how to best care for our overall reptile collection – including the eight venomous snakes you are referencing. Due to changes on the reptile team over the past year, the keeper’s ability to train one another so that we have the required number of venomous certified staff working each day, has become limited. And, as a Zoo member, you know how seriously we take our responsibility to provide the very best care to all of our animals, so right now it is not in the best interest of the animals to continue housing them until we have an acceptable plan in place. That said, we have several skilled and trained venomous keepers and we will continue to maintain their certification so we can be prepared for the potential return of venomous snakes in the future. Additionally, I think it’s important to mention that the Zoo is planning to maintain the same number of staff. Further, the Zoo will continue to maintain and restock its supply of antivenin, as we are one of the primary sources of antivenin for civilian envenomations in the region – it is our duty to continue to be a partner with the hospitals for our community."
"Thank you so much for reaching out about the Zoo’s decision to deaccession venomous snakes for the time being. The email you are referring to was intended to be an internal communication to staff after months of working directly with the reptile keeper team to understand their current constraints and how to best care for our overall reptile collection – including the eight venomous snakes you are referencing. Due to changes on the reptile team over the past year, the keeper’s ability to train one another so that we have the required number of venomous certified staff working each day, has become limited. And, as a Zoo member, you know how seriously we take our responsibility to provide the very best care to all of our animals, so right now it is not in the best interest of the animals to continue housing them until we have an acceptable plan in place. That said, we have several skilled and trained venomous keepers and we will continue to maintain their certification so we can be prepared for the potential return of venomous snakes in the future. Additionally, I think it’s important to mention that the Zoo is planning to maintain the same number of staff. Further, the Zoo will continue to maintain and restock its supply of antivenin, as we are one of the primary sources of antivenin for civilian envenomations in the region – it is our duty to continue to be a partner with the hospitals for our community."
That’s great news! This must be the only lemur walkthrough in the country now?
No, Omaha has theirs, at least.
The keeper staff are skilled to work the venomous reptiles. The animal management team on the other hand do not have the expertise.
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Please refer to the statement I posted.
Not to give workers a break, it’s a cost saving measure. Certain jobs are needed only when the zoo is open to the public.
Which gives employees a break from having to cover other jobs while being short staffed.
It's not a snake, so no.
Mary
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Visited Philly on Tuesday. Was incredibly disappointed to not see the baby sloth bears. I do understand completely that some days they will not be outside, but several keepers told several photographers the bears would come out later in the afternoon. We waited three hours and many keepers continued to walk past us and said nothing. The bears were never brought out. It would have been nice to have been told that the animals weren't feeling it today rather than told one thing and left hanging for hours. Again, I understand COMPLETELY and I am not entitled to anything, but it was still a huge bummer. One photographer said he's come 8 times in the past 2 weeks and it's the same story every time: told they'll be out in the afternoon and nothing happens.
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