San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo News 2012

kknudsen

kknudsen

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I was at the zoo last week. I really enjoyed the new Panda Trek. It moved way faster than I expected given the crowds and the previous comments posted here. The new red panda exhibit was fantastic and she was super active.

I did two Jungle Bells tours and they were amazing! Kenny the sloth bear was hysterical and way more fun than I expected! The tigers were amazing and getting so close to them was very unique! The amount of time the keepers gave to us during the tours was truly spectacular and they should be commended! I'm very grateful as they really make the experience.
 
Arizona Docent said:
The zoo will be getting three young amur leopards (just under a year old I would guess by looking at the video). This is stated in the comment under the video, filmed at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound. The EFBC is temporarily holding the cubs before they are transferred to San Diego Zoo. Anyone down there in SD know where they will put them?
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That is really cool. I've been to EFBC and was pretty impressed with their facilities. One of their female jaguars, Twilight (d), was born at the Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona and one of her grandsons, Rocco, now lives at WWZ. I rarely get a chance to go to Cat Canyon so can't speculate on whether that might be a good place to put them, but if it's in an area that was occupied by ONE Leopard, I can't imagine it being acceptable for THREE, even if they are cubs. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
kknudsen said:
I was at the zoo last week. I really enjoyed the new Panda Trek. It moved way faster than I expected given the crowds and the previous comments posted here. The new red panda exhibit was fantastic and she was super active.

I did two Jungle Bells tours and they were amazing! Kenny the sloth bear was hysterical and way more fun than I expected! The tigers were amazing and getting so close to them was very unique! The amount of time the keepers gave to us during the tours was truly spectacular and they should be commended! I'm very grateful as they really make the experience.
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I never saw Lily (red panda) before she was moved to Panda Trek so I'm glad she's there. I agree, it's a pretty neat exhibit and yes, the crowds do move fairly quick, but there have been bottlenecks, especially when Yun Zi is awake and active.

I did the two Jungle Bells tours, too, and totally agree about how awesome they were. Being that close to Connor and Christopher while having Denai on one side of you and Ubon on the other (in their nighthouses) was really amazing. Kenny the sloth bear was fun to watch demand the honey water and it was a lot of fun getting to pet the Okapi. And you're right about the amount of time the keepers gave us. I never once felt like there was someplace else they'd rather be. Yes, being nice and talking to the public on tours like that is part of their job, but I didn't get the impression they didn't want to be there. I would definitely recommend those tours and would likely do them again.
 
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January 2012

Updates on Cat Canyon (or whatever they call it now).

The bottom main cat cage that used to house north china leopard now houses african wild dog. I did not actually see the animal, but that is what the sign says.

The snow leopard exhibit has some of the large boulders removed to create a natural dirt area. A newly arrived snow leopard was on exhibit which they hope to mate with their other one.

The north china leopard is in a new exhibit (most of you know this) at the top of the trail, which appears to be even smaller than its former exhibit. It has great climbing opportunities and is nicely filled, but I was really disappointed at how small it is. My only hope is that it is a temporary home for the elderly cat until it passes and then it will be used for a smaller carnivore.

The small mammal cages across the road from the big cat cages now house all carnivores - much to my delight :). The lineup, in order from the upper part of the hill going down: turkmenistan caracal, ocelot, fossa, bat eared fox, kinkajou.
 
I saw the sign for the Wild Dog, but didn't actually see the animal. I guess they have two Fossas on exhibit? There is one in the Children's Zoo. A rather large one, I might add. Of course, I don't know the starndard size for Fossa so it might be average. hahaha. Jama's (nor ch leopard) new enclosure did seem to be a bit on the small side, but he seemed quite content sitting atop his rock. It satisfies a cat's desire to be above everything else (well, domestic ones anyway). I agree, though, that it would probably be better suited for a smaller animal. I only saw the snow leopard exhibit from the express bus and didn't see either of them, but I only got a brief look.

Question to anyone who might know...do the SDZ's grizzlies hibernate? I was there for two days and didn't see either them or the black bear (I think that's the other) they rotate with. Matter of fact, the only bear I saw was the Sloth Bear.

Oh, in case some of you may not know, I was told the Sloth Bears will both be moving to another zoo for breeding. The keeper didn't know when, just that it was going to happen. She didn't know what would be moved into the Sloth Bear exhibits, but speculated it could be the Sun Bears to give them more space.
 
I think I really like the move of Jama to the kopje despite how I thought the geography was a bit weird. The exhibit provides a lot of climbing abilities and cage size doesn't always have a such a huge effect on an animal as being able to exhibit species-typical behaviors (such as climbing for the Leopard).

I went to the zoo today and everything seemed to be off exhibit. Red River hogs, Brown Bears, Malayan Tapirs, and half of the Ituri Forest. The box in front of the pandas where the red panda used to be displayed has finally been demolished and replaced with what seems to be a temporary gift shop for Panda Canyon. The area where the old gift shop was was fenced off, and it seems they may be rebuilding it before the summer crowds arrive.
 
azcheetah2 said:
Question to anyone who might know...do the SDZ's grizzlies hibernate? I was there for two days and didn't see either them or the black bear (I think that's the other) they rotate with. Matter of fact, the only bear I saw was the Sloth Bear.
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One of the keepers told us they do not hibernate. They eat less and are less active in the winter, but no hibernation. When I was there last week we saw the grizzlies but not the sun bears.
 
kknudsen said:
One of the keepers told us they do not hibernate. They eat less and are less active in the winter, but no hibernation. When I was there last week we saw the grizzlies but not the sun bears.
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Okay, thanks. I meant to ask Kenny's keeper about the other bears, but forgot. They must've been snoozing somewhere in their exhibit where I couldn't see them.
 
mstickmanp said:
Bad news, two elephants euthanized at the zoo in the last week:

Two elephants euthanized at San Diego Zoo - latimes.com
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This is really a shame, and not so good press for the zoo to have two elephant deaths in one week. 43 years old seems a little too young for an elephant to die in a facility that supposedly specializes in geriatric care. It's also a real shame Cookie didn't make it to her 60th birthday, as when elephants reach their 60's in captivity it sort of derails the claim animal rights activists have that elephants live shorter lives in captivity. Unfortunately, in this situation it proves their point exactly. What a shame for San Diego, especially after the death of Umoya at the Safai Park. Not their best year with elephants and its only the first week.
 
Arizona Docent said:
The zoo will be getting three young amur leopards (just under a year old I would guess by looking at the video). This is stated in the comment under the video, filmed at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound. The EFBC is temporarily holding the cubs before they are transferred to San Diego Zoo. Anyone down there in SD know where they will put them?

I asked a friend at the zoo who has always given me reliable information and he had not heard that the zoo was going to be getting these leopards. I will let you know if I hear differently.
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Here is a video of the 15 Tufted Capuchins that the zoo just received:
 
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There were lots of green fences at the zoo today. First one you encounter is in the parking lot. The sidewalk from the first bird exhibit to the koalas is closed. There is a construction trailer there now. Inside the zoo the fencing starts at the tree directly to your right as you enter. It extends to the koala exhibit. They are making the sidewalk more ADA friendly as well as updating the koala exhibit. The next fence starts at the meerkat exhibit in Urban Jungle (stupid name IMO) and goes all the way around the corner to the hairy-nosed wombats. Then the site of the old panda gift shop is fenced so they can build a new gift shop. They have moved the warty pigs to half of the red river hog exhibit by Panda Trek. Fencing is up until the pigs get used to their new digs.
 
pangolin at zoo

I see that the zoo has now posted a video about them having a pangolin on their website. Is this the only pangolin in a major US zoo?
 
It's the only pangolin in north America and the only tree pangolin outside of Africa.
 
The zoo has come up with a blog post of what is now being kept down the hill of the panda's. They have put a pair of babirusa's with a lowland anoa and right next door is 6 visayan warty pigs
 
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