Reid Park Zoo Reid Park Zoo News 2009-2012

Zibulu, the first white rhino born in North America, died on July 23 here at Reid Park Zoo. He was born in October 1972 at San Diego Wild Animal Park and moved to our zoo in June 1976. A female, Yebonga, came with him in June 1976 and is still on exhibit. She is also quite old, having been born at SDWAP in April 1973.
 
I always thought the first White Rhino born in the US was at the San Antonio Zoo.
 
Well, that's what zoo staff have told us, but of course they could be wrong. If you can get a date for the birth at Fort Worth, that would clear things up.
 
It was sometime in 1972. San Antonio (not Fort Worth) received some of the rhinos that the SDWAP got in their big shipment around that time.
 
Male lion Kitabu died yesterday. He was elderly (18) and had been given a vasectomy prior to the arrival of your young female. Since the female Kaya is an SSP animal (unlike Kitabu), I am hopeful we will get an SSP male and may see cubs in the future. (Of course it is too soon to say, this is just speculation on my part).

There is also a strong possibility that we will get a female tiger sometime next spring to pair with our lone male. So there could potentially be lots of cubs running around here in a couple years - which is great news for a cat lover like me.
 
@ Ann,

Very good coverage and I hope you enjoyed your visit. I am not sure the rhino's downward sloping horn is a deformity, I have seen it in other white rhinos. The reason it ends flat instead of a point is we had to cut a good section off the end recently, because it was so long that it actually hit the ground when she tried to eat and was making eating difficult.

As for the closing statement about a nice small zoo that needs a better situation for its elephants, I agree 100%. You will be happy to know that the official groundbreaking on the new exhibit is next month and the entire project is only supposed to take one year to complete.
 
Yes, I did enjoy our visit. I should add that the docents were informative and friendly. That's very interesting about the rhino horn--thanks for the information. Glad to hear the elephants are on their way to better housing, troubling to see the repetitive motion. I hope the project goes as swiftly as scheduled.
 
Are all the elephants coming from San Diego safari park? And will they be keeping their female Asian with the herd in an African themed enclosure?
 
Dallaspachyderm said:
Do you know how many elephants are leaving San Diego?
Click to expand...

I know for sure we are getting two adult females with one calf each. There was also some talk of us getting a bull, but I am not sure if that will happen at the same time or later.

As for whether or not San Diego is sending any out to other zoos, I do not know. (Talking strictly about africans from Safari Park, not the asians at the zoo. As we all know by now, they are sending the two rescued asians to Los Angeles.)
 
The Female asian elephant at Reid Park zoo

I FEEL STRONGLY that the ethical thing for the zoo to do is to move the female asian elephant to a zoo with other asian elephants.I think it is absolutely terrible that Reid Park,San diego,and the Topeka zoos still exhibit these species together.None of these zoos would ever consider exhibiting an orangutan with a chimpanzee.Or a gorilla and chimpanzee together.Or even a lion and a tiger.They actually share the same genus together(Pantera)!!!I really hope Tuscon really does away with this practice.It really is a shame.Especially in this modern day and age in zookeeping!!One thing that I do agree with the elephant sanctuarys(paws and the one in tennessee) is that they do not believe in mixing these elephant species together.I hope that step up to the plate and trade the lone asian in Tuscon with the lone african in San Diego's zoo.I would be very surprised if these two zoos did the right thing.Something tells me they won't though.Please let me know.-A former elephant trainer that quit the circus!
 
@jackandthecats - Reid Park Zoo will make an official announcement and final decision once the exhibit is complete. But it really could go either way (I mean this), so you should not assume that it will necessarily be them staying together. The AZA is pushing for an ultimate goal of only africans together and only asians together, so there is a good chance our asian could be shipped out. As soon as the zoo makes an announcement, which I would guess would be sometime in Fall 2011, I will post it here.

As for the Elephant Sanctuary, they have big trouble and I would not hold them up as a model. TB has popped up in their collection, a keeper (most of whom are NOT professionals) was killed by an elephant, and the board of directors recently fired the founder and banned her from the property.
 
In other (non-elephant) news:
Two rheas, one white and one normal, are finishing quarantine and should go on exhibit in about a week.

A young male lion has arrived from Fort Worth Zoo and will go on exhibit after 30 day quarantine. He is an SSP breeding recommendation with our young female.

A female giraffe is nearing end of quarantine and slowly being introduced to the others. This increases our herd from 3 to 4. She is a breeding recommendation for our lone male.

A female malayan tiger will hopefully come to us next Spring, most likely from the Bronx Zoo. She will be mated with our lone male.

In Tucson news (but not directly related to our zoo):
World renowned small cat researcher Jim Sanderson is moving here next month to head a new cat conservation program centered at the University of Arizona. I will be meeting with him the day he arrives with some other local conservationists for dinner. As a cat fanatic, I am very excited.
 
I find the new CEO of the Elephant Sanctuary to be quite impressive.

Rob was born on a farm in rural England and grew up around animals. He
took a degree in zoology at London University, then worked through his Masters and a doctorate at Oxford, before beginning his career in animal welfare at Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire.

Speaking about Rob's invaluable contribution to the RSPCA's animal welfare work, RSPCA chief executive Mark Watts said:

"Rob has provided leadership and vision to the teams he has led over the past 11 years with the RSPCA in championing animal welfare.

I can think of no-one better placed to lead the sanctuary, its staff and its elephants to a positive future."
 
Elephants

Arizona docent.Thanks for your reply!My opinion on elephants in captivity falls somewhere in between the zoo and the sanctuary.I believe elephant can have a great life in a zoo if the exhibit is very outstanding and allows for alot of activity.I'am not for elephants in circuses.I have witnessed abuse first hand and left.I'am actually more of a fan of the Paws sanctuary than the one in tennessee.I do hold them as a model of never mixing the two species together.I just hope that the lone asian finally gets to be with her own species.There is a big difference between the two species and a zoo like San Diego should know better.I'am very impressed thaT reid park is building a brand new exhibit.I look forward to seeing it.
 
jackandthecats said:
There is a big difference between the two species and a zoo like San Diego should know better.
Click to expand...

You do realize that the african elephant living at the SD Zoo has been with the other two asian females for a long time, so removing her would be the worst thing the zoo could do to her.
 
She is a different species

from them.They said that about ruby(African) and Gita(Asian) in Los angeles.Ruby now is doing great with her own kind at Paws.I have WORKED with elephants first hand.DO NOT BELIEVE THIS NONSENSE.For Tembo(San Diego)to be with her own conspecifics withg two young calves would be a wonderful experience at Reid Park!Also,I do not trust San Diego.The "NUT JOB" so called elephant expert at San Diego reccommended that MAGGIE(aLASKA ZOO) SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED FROM Alaska.Fortunately,she is now at Paws sanctuary with her own comspecifics being part of a herd with Ruby(LOs Angeles),Lulu(San francisco),and one other.Also,Maggie is ALOT MORE HEALTHIER I could go on with this.....
 
I agree with jackandthecats, the asian elephant should be placed with others of her species. African elephants and asian elephants are MORE distantly related then chimpanzees are to humans (about 96% shared DNA to 99% shared DNA), so its a big gap to have them live together. As for the questions stated earlier about the tennessee sanctuary, the TB incidents occured with elephants that had previously tested positive for TB as a result of poor care from the Hawthorne Corp. I would not put that on the sanctuary, and despite the fact that the founder might be a bit a crazy and got fired.
 
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