Phoenix Zoo Phoenix Zoo News

TZFan said:
The zoo's new tigeress, Suriya, has arrived.

Seeing stripes: Phoenix Zoo welcomes new Sumatran tiger
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She has an intense look similar to that of the male Jai. Hopefully they'll be compatible...and soon. ;) hahaha. Today would've been a good day to go see her because the weather here is really nice, but work comes first. Her first day out on exhibit was Wednesday. Missed that, too. Didn't know she was finally out of quarrantine. I can't wait to go see her.
 
We have a Date of Opening for the new tiger exhibit at the zoo. Member preview is October 2nd and 3rd, according to membership renewal paperwork a co-worker received. SUPER excited!
 
From the Zoo's website today -

The Zoo will be closed September 1 as we clean up tree and debris damage from last night's storm. All of our animals are well and accounted for. We hope to be open tomorrow for guests. Thanks for your concern for our animals.
 
Phoenix Zoo will be closed again today as the clean-up is taking a bit longer and there was some damage to a couple of exhibits as well. The fencing around them, actually. I live right by the zoo and we got hit HARD by the storm. Probably 98% of the animals were in their nighthouses, there might be a couple that're on exhibit 24/7, but I wouldn't swear to it. No, the birds are always out. Like the vultures and such in the African Savannah exhibit. Anyway, it's quite a mess they are cleaning up.
 
According to FB, the new tiger exhibit opens November 8, with member preview on Nov 6-7. (There is a semi-aerial view of the exhibit on the FB post).
 
Arizona Docent said:
The website now has a page devoted to the new tiger exhibit (with photos).
Isle of the Tiger - Phoenix Zoo
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Thanks for the link. The visitor viewing complex is a dominant feature of the exhibit but I am surprised at just how bare the two enclosures are. It will certainly be easy to spot a tiger with the lack of foliage and Phoenix Zoo has spent many years mastering "good exhibits" but not really creating many "great ones". A solid zoo that nevertheless has done well with limited funds.
 
The current tiger exhibit isn't exactly abundant with foliage, either. There's a couple of trees and that's about it. It doesn't appear, though, as though they've given Jai a tree to climb, which is a shame. But we can only see part of the new exhibit in the pictures so there may be things we can't see.

I'll be there Friday for Member Preview.
 
azcheetah2 said:
The current tiger exhibit isn't exactly abundant with foliage, either. There's a couple of trees and that's about it. It doesn't appear, though, as though they've given Jai a tree to climb, which is a shame. But we can only see part of the new exhibit in the pictures so there may be things we can't see.

I'll be there Friday for Member Preview.
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This is just an observation and i could be wrong but I'm doubtful that the larger pool will offer a slight underwater view which would've been nice! Also in the other yard will the pathway be filled to serve as a stream? or is it just additional terrain for the tigers?
 
ctfctf7 said:
This is just an observation and i could be wrong but I'm doubtful that the larger pool will offer a slight underwater view which would've been nice! Also in the other yard will the pathway be filled to serve as a stream? or is it just additional terrain for the tigers?
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From what I can see of the pool, it doesn't not look deep enough to offer much of an underwater view. It's larger than the current one, but doesn't look much deeper.

That's a good question about the pathway and right now it's difficult to say whether it's purpose is for a stream or just to make an interesting looking pathway for them. Probably won't know until Friday. Surprisingly, with the member preview being so close, they're not giving it a whole lot of media coverage like on social media, I mean. Media day for the press will likely be Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully there'll be a keeper around to ask a couple of questions about the exhibit and the tigers.
 
Thank you for posting that, Ituri. That is a really neat article. I did not know that they trucked Hadiah to Dallas then went to Oklahoma to pick up Suriya. Usually they fly larger animals. I wonder how long the tigers have been off-exhibit. The article says they were moved in October, but not when. I'm glad they didn't just toss them in the day before the member preview just to make the guests happy and still able to see them. I know people get frustrated when an animal is off-exhibit.

It'll be interesting to see what goes into the old lion yard. It's not really set up for anything other than a larger carnivore so they may have to do some heavy remodeling...well, maybe not heavy, but they'll have to fill in the moat for sure if they put in anything other than a large-ish carnivore. At least, that's my thinking.
 
Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it out to the new Tiger exhibit today, but I'm going tomorrow. I can just imagine how many people will be there. It took me almost 2 hours to get through on the phone to Membership Services.

ANYWAY...a co-worker who went today said they already have signs out for the new animal that'll be put in the old Lion yard and it's going to be Spotted Hyenas!!! I am so excited. I don't think Phoenix Zoo has ever had Hyenas before. I don't know when they'll be there, but I'm super excited for their arrival.
 
Well, apparently the hyenas are already here and on exhibit in the old lion yard. Their names are Huckleberry and Calhi. I'm going to assume, based on the names, it's a male and female. I don't know where they came from though or if they're related. I'm surprised their arrival got no publicity.
 
The Hyena are cousins and are from Riverbanks Zoo. They've been in Phoenix for some time, off-show as their old exhibit was part of a renovation and now houses Hamadryas Baboons.
 
Their old exhibit now houses baboons? You mean their old exhibit at the Riverbanks Zoo? Phoenix Zoo is planning on making an announcement about their arrival once the hubbub about the tiger exhibit opening dies down a bit and the hyena get more acclimated to their new home. They didn't want the two to have to share the limelight. They've been here at least two weeks because until sometime in October, the lions were in their old yard and the Tigers were still in theirs.
 
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