Reid Park Zoo Reid Park Zoo News 2016

A new meerkat exhibit is being built directly in front of the children splash area (Kenya Get Wet). The splash area is temporarily closed until construction is complete.
(source - zoo website and facebook page)
 
Here is a really nice news clip with a construction worker at the new gibbon exhibit. He shows the framework of the large artificial tree and talks about how they are designed, so this is the kind of thing ZooChatters love.
Zoo 4 You: Gibbon Exhibit
 
The new gibbon habitat opens to the public next week and zoo director Jason Jacobs does a great job of promoting the exhibit on the clip below. The 3-minute video shows the old gibbon enclosure, the indoor den of the new exhibit and provides information on the innovative "treehouse" that the gibbons will utilize in the future.

 
The end of the clip says it opens December 28th (2016). Surprisingly I have not received any emails or mailings from the zoo to the membership mentioning this. Anyway it looks nice and it will be a great addition to one of the best small zoos in the country.

I will be interested to see the layout in person. There were two adjoining bear exhibits, though for many years only the left exhibit (shown in clip) was for sun bear and the right was for warty pigs. The very elderly bear died and the pigs were shipped out. I thought both exhibits would be incorporated but from what I can tell from the clip only the left exhibit was used? (I could be wrong). If this is the case it will be interesting to see what becomes of the right exhibit? (Jason if you are reading this clouded leopard or fishing cat would be ideal :)).
 
With the moving of the gibbons, someone on Facebook asked what will become of the old gibbon exhibit. The zoo replied they are not sure but it may become an aviary (which would make sense IMO and be an easy transformation).
 
Arizona Docent said:
With the moving of the gibbons, someone on Facebook asked what will become of the old gibbon exhibit. The zoo replied they are not sure but it may become an aviary (which would make sense IMO and be an easy transformation).
Click to expand...

AZ, do you know if in the early history of the zoo there were ever any ape species at Reid Park Zoo besides gibbons? I know that they don't plan to get additional ape species, but was curious if there were once other species there. When I first visited this zoo in 1988 gibbons were the only ape species.
 
I am virtually certain there have never been any great apes at Reid Park Zoo, or any other Arizona zoo except for a gorilla at Phoenix Zoo when it first opened and the orangutans at Phoenix Zoo. (There may have been a medical lab with chimps in Arizona - seems I remember it listed in Int Species Inf Sys years ago - but none in a zoo).
 
Arizona Docent said:
I am virtually certain there have never been any great apes at Reid Park Zoo, or any other Arizona zoo except for a gorilla at Phoenix Zoo when it first opened and the orangutans at Phoenix Zoo. (There may have been a medical lab with chimps in Arizona - seems I remember it listed in Int Species Inf Sys years ago - but none in a zoo).
Click to expand...

Phoenix Zoo did have some baby chimpanzees at some point early in their history as well.
 
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