Saint Louis Zoo Saint Louis Zoo News 2023

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Piece of 2023 News Not Mentioned:

On June 21st, it was reported that the zoo transferred a (0.1) Amur leopard named Anya to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in North Dakota.

MSN

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Forge said:
-The Giraffe Paddock now has Dama Gazelles mixed in with the giraffes, and two new giraffes have been introduced to the herd. It seems like we may have sent one of our old giraffes away.
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On July 14th, the zoo announced they acquired (1.2) generic giraffes named Gomer, Honey, and Luna over the spring which are now on exhibit.

Saint Louis Zoo
 
Smaggledagle said:
Piece of 2023 News Not Mentioned:

On June 21st, it was reported that the zoo transferred a (0.1) Amur leopard named Anya to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in North Dakota.

MSN

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On July 14th, the zoo announced they acquired (1.2) generic giraffes named Gomer, Honey, and Luna over the spring which are now on exhibit.

Saint Louis Zoo
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Any idea what facilities the giraffes are from?
 
ZooBinh said:
Wow- thanks for the information! That’s quite pleasing to hear, I was shocked to see so many, glad to see that they are actively involved in breeding this wonderful species.
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Here here, I 2nd the motion zoo devotion to this species. Good to to multiple individuals than standard 1 or 2 of a species on display. Good to see herd opportunities, and actually allowing a species to procreate that increases species survival .
 
Visited for the first time in a while. I do work a full time job with standard office job hours now, so unfortunately I will not be able to go to the zoo quite as frequently anymore, but I will still do my best to keep the community updated on changes.
-Somehow the Herpetarium has gone a whole month without any changes, other than whatever maintenance that was being done last being over and the whole building being accessible to everyone again. I did notice that the exhibit formerly home to emerald tree boa now has several big rocks on the bottom and two pink sticky notes with no writing. Hopefully this is indicative of a new resident moving in soon, as this particular exhibit has been vacant for a long time now.
-White-cheeked bulbul has moved into the central garden of the Bird House.
-Bali myna is no longer in the exhibit in the Bird House front left corner.
-Golden-breasted starling has returned to its former exhibit, but is no longer mixed with the female buff-crested bustard.
-There is a new species in the Bird House! Chinese hwamei. Its in the former crested wood partridge exhibit.
-Crested wood partridge has moved in with superb staling where the Congo peafowl used to be.
-There is now a female Congo peafowl. There was only a male as per my last visit.
-Saipan white-eye is removed from the superb starling/ white-throated ground dove exhibit, but they're still mixed with Palawan peacock-pheasant..
-Red-billed blue magpie is no longer mixed with king vulture.
-The small walk-in aviary and white-naped crane viewing shelter on the Bird Garden Trail are blocked off. Its unfortunate because the latter is a great peaceful resting area. The white-naped cranes are still visible from the main trail, though.
-The white-naped cranes are no longer exhibiting nesting behavior. The nest is still there, but there is no sign of eggs in it.
-Tawny frogmouth has replaced Kenyan crested guineafowl and northern red-billed hornbill in the second to last exhibit on the Bird Garden trail.
-I saw both central Chinese gorals together for the first time. I did not see any interaction between the two, though.
-The African aviary in River's Edge is occupied again. It has the Kenyan crested guineafowl and northern red-billed hornbill as per last time, as well as white-headed buffalo weaver.
-I noticed that the (former) Andean bear had a painted dog picture on it on the River's Edge map. As of now though, the exhibit is still unoccupied and specifically signed as such.
 
Observations from today's visit:
-The eastern diamondback rattlesnake/timber rattlesnake hybrid ("hammock rattlesnake") has been removed and everything has been taken out of the terrarium.
-The viewing glass on all the greenhouse exhibits is covered up.
-It appears like there is some more work being done on the former emerald tree boa exhibit that I mentioned last time.
-The female buff-crested bustard has moved back into her former exhibit with the yellow-breasted starlings.
-The gray winged trumpeters are split again.
-The zebra yards are separated again.
-There's a lot going on in the Addra gazelle/east African crowned crane mixed exhibit. The most exciting of which, there's a calf! It seems like it has been introduced to the yard recently, as there are orange flags around the trees and greenery in the exhibit, which I know is something zoos do to help adjust new individuals to the spatial layout of the exhibit and prevent them from bumping into things. As of now, it seems like the cranes and gazelle are being rotated, as the cranes weren't present while the gazelle were out, and when I stopped back later, just the cranes were out. The cranes are currently nesting as well.
 
19 year-old Sumatran orangutan, Rubih, is pregnant and due next year.

Saint Louis Zoo on Instagram: "❤️ Don’t wake our sleeping Rubih! We are thrilled to share that 19-year-old orangutan Rubih is expecting her first baby, and we could not be more excited for this first-time mom-to-be! She is early in her pregnancy, and the expected due date will be in 2024. The Zoo is home to four Sumatran orangutans – Cinta (the baby's father), Rubih, Merah and Ginger. Rubih’s baby will be an important addition to the population of Sumatran orangutans both in AZA communities and in the world. This critically endangered species faces a high chance of extinction in the wild. But, thanks to the efforts of our Primate Care Team and others, the orangutan family at the Zoo will welcome a wonderful addition next year! Congratulations, Rubih!"
 
Some updates from today:
-Nothing new in the Herpetarium. I have noticed that the Herpetarium has been a lot more consistent than it has been in the past as of late. I wonder if the keepers have been so busy working on the greenhouse exhibits that they haven't had time to switch things out as much. That's just pure speculation. The greenhouse exhibits are completely blocked so I have no way of knowing if they are doing work there at all.
-Some spur-winged plovers have moved in with the northern carmine bee-eaters.
-The sarus cranes have moved back in with the bantengs. A Soemmering's gazelle has taken their place from before.
-The male Addra gazelle is now out on the exhibit with the female and calf. The east African gray-crowned cranes are no longer rotational, both species are exhibited simultaneously.
 
pachyderm pro said:
According to the transaction report below, the zoo has received 1.0 Southern gerenuk and 0.1 Grevy's zebra from Los Angeles Zoo. For the former, this is a return to the collection after being absent for about a year.

https://lazoo.org/wp-content/upload...n-Animal-Transaction-Report-9.19.2023-rev.pdf
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Very happy to see St. Louis continuing their commitment to the gerenuk program as a holder of surplus males! Dedicated bachelor holdings are so very important for hoofstock programs.
 
Went to the STL Zoo this week for the first time since I’ve moved away, and was expecting to see the new peccaries while walking through River’s Edge. Strangely enough, approaching the exhibit, there was a sign for the Peccaries, but a Red River Hog in the exhibit! Wonder if they’re rotating the pigs now?

Also, for the first time after at least a hundred visits since 2021, the Anteater exhibit had a “this habitat is currently unoccupied” sign. I wonder if the old girl finally passed away.
 
Forge said:
Went to the STL Zoo this week for the first time since I’ve moved away, and was expecting to see the new peccaries while walking through River’s Edge. Strangely enough, approaching the exhibit, there was a sign for the Peccaries, but a Red River Hog in the exhibit! Wonder if they’re rotating the pigs now?

Also, for the first time after at least a hundred visits since 2021, the Anteater exhibit had a “this habitat is currently unoccupied” sign. I wonder if the old girl finally passed away.
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During my visit today a keeper (or docent?) said the anteater was just off for exhibit renovations.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
Did you get any information about what's going on with the red river hogs and Chacoan peccaries? Which did you see on your visit?
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The exhibit looked empty. Peccary was signed, but no sign of either animal in the habitat.

River's Edge sightings were capybara, distant rhino, ibis, hyena, painted dog, three hippos, sleeping but visible sun bear!!!, and elephants. My dad watched the bull while I was hiding from the rain. I just asked and he might have seen the red river hog.
 
JVM said:
The exhibit looked empty. Peccary was signed, but no sign of either animal in the habitat.

River's Edge sightings were capybara, distant rhino, ibis, hyena, painted dog, three hippos, sleeping but visible sun bear!!!, and elephants. My dad watched the bull while I was hiding from the rain. I just asked and he might have seen the red river hog.
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Glad you were able to catch a glimpse of the sun bear! I rarely get so lucky myself.
 
Visited today and I have notes as always! It was a great visit! A keeper was standing outside of the sea lion show arena before the first bird show with the African gray parrot, so I was able to get some close up portrait-style shots, which is something I have wanted to do with the species for a while, and after the zoo closed I saw an osprey for the first time ever in Forest Park, a species I never expected to be lucky enough to see in the wild at all, let alone in my hometown. Needless to say, I am writing this in a very good mood.
-The former hybrid rattlesnake exhibit is still bare, but has a new mural backdrop. It appears to be a foggy rainforest setting that emphasizes trees, which makes me think the next inhabitant will be an arboreal rainforest species. The viewing glass is covered in plastic wrap, so you can't see it too well, but its honesty really pretty and one of the best mural backdrops in the Herpetarium. I am really excited to see what the next resident will be!
-On a similar note, there is some more progress with the former emerald tree boa exhibit. There seems to be a shortish rock wall type structure cutting through the terrarium floor diagonally.
-The greenhouse exhibits continue to be blocked from view, but now with a different material. Instead of exhibit unoccupied signs, there are now closed for maintenance signs.
-One of the sacred ibises in River's Edge seems to be nesting.
-I got a little bit of insight on what might be going on with the red river hogs and Chacoan peccaries. Basically, what I put together based on what the zoo employee in the area said was that the peccaries would be taking over the exhibit as the red river hogs move to another unspecified facility, but that the red river hog was still at the zoo and the keepers want to give them some outdoor access.
-The white headed buffalo weaver that was in the River's Edge aviary seems to have moved back to where it used to be in the Bird House.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
Visited today and I have notes as always! It was a great visit! A keeper was standing outside of the sea lion show arena before the first bird show with the African gray parrot, so I was able to get some close up portrait-style shots, which is something I have wanted to do with the species for a while, and after the zoo closed I saw an osprey for the first time ever in Forest Park, a species I never expected to be lucky enough to see in the wild at all, let alone in my hometown. Needless to say, I am writing this in a very good mood.
-The former hybrid rattlesnake exhibit is still bare, but has a new mural backdrop. It appears to be a foggy rainforest setting that emphasizes trees, which makes me think the next inhabitant will be an arboreal rainforest species. The viewing glass is covered in plastic wrap, so you can't see it too well, but its honesty really pretty and one of the best mural backdrops in the Herpetarium. I am really excited to see what the next resident will be!
-On a similar note, there is some more progress with the former emerald tree boa exhibit. There seems to be a shortish rock wall type structure cutting through the terrarium floor diagonally.
-The greenhouse exhibits continue to be blocked from view, but now with a different material. Instead of exhibit unoccupied signs, there are now closed for maintenance signs.
-One of the sacred ibises in River's Edge seems to be nesting.
-I got a little bit of insight on what might be going on with the red river hogs and Chacoan peccaries. Basically, what I put together based on what the zoo employee in the area said was that the peccaries would be taking over the exhibit as the red river hogs move to another unspecified facility, but that the red river hog was still at the zoo and the keepers want to give them some outdoor access.
-The white headed buffalo weaver that was in the River's Edge aviary seems to have moved back to where it used to be in the Bird House.
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This is so disappointing. Peccaries are a great species, for sure, but I absolutely despise that they’re mixing up the geographic areas. Why put the Peccaries in Africa when you had a perfectly fine African species that fit the theme already. I’m almost certain the second babirusa exhibit has been empty for months, so why not put the peccaries there if they’re wanting to work with the species?
 
Forge said:
This is so disappointing. Peccaries are a great species, for sure, but I absolutely despise that they’re mixing up the geographic areas. Why put the Peccaries in Africa when you had a perfectly fine African species that fit the theme already. I’m almost certain the second babirusa exhibit has been empty for months, so why not put the peccaries there if they’re wanting to work with the species?
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I have to agree. I hate to say it but I honestly feel like River's Edge's best days have come and gone. Its still a great complex, but its hard not to notice the depreciation over the past several years. The bush dogs were a big loss, and now with the unoccupied Andean bear exhibit and the peccaries in the African section its just hard to ignore that its not what it once was. Its far from a lost cause though.
As for the babirusa exhibits they are actually both occupied and have been for some time. That being said they move the animals in Red Rocks around all the time so I am not sure why they could not have made something work for the peccaries rather than moving them into a section of the zoo themed to a entirely different continent.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
I have to agree. I hate to say it but I honestly feel like River's Edge's best days have come and gone. Its still a great complex, but its hard not to notice the depreciation over the past several years. The bush dogs were a big loss, and now with the unoccupied Andean bear exhibit and the peccaries in the African section its just hard to ignore that its not what it once was. Its far from a lost cause though.
As for the babirusa exhibits they are actually both occupied and have been for some time. That being said they move the animals in Red Rocks around all the time so I am not sure why they could not have made something work for the peccaries rather than moving them into a section of the zoo themed to a entirely different continent.
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I felt the same way my latest visit to the zoo. It is not as good as it used to be.
 
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