San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo News 2014

From the zoo's Facebook:
"An 8-week old Gray Wolf pup is being hand-reared in the nursery to be an animal ambassador."
 
According to the July issue of ZooNews, the new mountain lion exhibit is now open. Can anyone in SD confirm this?
 
I just posted some photos of what was visible of the new Mountain Lion exhibit. These were take last week (6/16) and the exhibit looked practically finished, but the mountain lions were still in their old exhibit when we were there.
 
The mountain lions are now in their new exhibit. I posted a few pictures but I did not have the correct lens to get a good view. When I walked by their old exhibit the keepers were replanting; getting it ready for a male and female fossa.
 
If anyone is interested in seeing great photos of the zoo and Safari Park animals, you should "like" the Facebook page "Focusing on the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park" page. It is a group of professional and amature (luckily for me) photographers that have a passion for the zoo. They usually have the first photos of baby animals and new exhibits. It is a closed group so while you can't comment you can "like" the photos.
 
I'm not sure if this has been noted yet:
Zoo Adds Rare Island Night Lizards, Thanks to the Navy | Times of San Diego
recently recovered endangered species, the island night lizard, was added Friday to the list of reptile species at the San Diego Zoo, officials announced.

Five night lizards arrived at the zoo Friday, brought by the Navy to be available for guest viewing. The species was removed from the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on May 1.

“It is one of the few species that visitors to the zoo will see that was recovered under the Endangered Species Act, and the only one estimated to occur in the millions on U.S. Navy lands,” said Dr. Robert Lovich, senior natural resource specialist at Naval Facilities Engineering Command SW, Desert Integrated Product Team.

The island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana) is native to three federally owned Channel Islands (San Clemente, San Nicolas and Santa Barbara) off the Southern California coast, and a small islet (Sutil Island) just southwest of Santa Barbara Island.

San Clemente and San Nicolas islands, used by the U.S. Navy as training lands, are also home to several unique and endangered species that the naval command works to preserve, the zoo said.

“San Clemente Island is critical to the Navy’s ability to train and prepare sailors to fight in realistic situations,” said Capt. Christopher E. Sund, commanding officer of Naval Base Coronado.

“By adaptively managing wildlife like the island night lizard, we can conduct our mission requirements and remain great stewards of our natural resources. We’re pleased the San Diego Zoo has an opportunity to share this interesting creature with the public,”

The island night lizard was placed on the endangered species list in 1977 because its habitat was threatened by feral goats, pigs and predators that had been introduced to the island.

In 1992, the Navy removed the last of the feral goats and pigs from San Clemente Island and has an ongoing program to trap and remove feral cats and rats. In conjunction with these efforts, nonnative species of plants were removed from the island as well, greatly improving the habitat of the night lizards and promoting their recovery.

“Now that the species is recovered, it is important to ensure its ongoing survival by creating a satellite population away from its island home,” said Kim Lovich, curator of reptiles for the San Diego Zoo. “This satellite population provides insurance that the species will survive even in the event of a sudden natural disaster to its island home.”

The lizards will soon be available for viewing at the zoo’s reptile house.

The San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy works to bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction.

The conservancy makes possible the wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) of the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and international field programs in more than 35 countries.
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Chlidonias said:
I'm not sure if this has been noted yet:
Zoo Adds Rare Island Night Lizards, Thanks to the Navy | Times of San Diego
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How commonly are night lizards displayed in North America? As a small native family, with many endangered species, one would think that there would be some displayed. I don't recall seeing any on my trip. (will have to check). I can see only a couple of photos in the USA gallery, and only two collections in Europe are listed as holders, so it seems they are fairly rare - why?
 
zooboy28 said:
How commonly are night lizards displayed in North America? As a small native family, with many endangered species, one would think that there would be some displayed. I don't recall seeing any on my trip. (will have to check). I can see only a couple of photos in the USA gallery, and only two collections in Europe are listed as holders, so it seems they are fairly rare - why?
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I can't answer any of that, but I did some googling to see how widely the Xantusiidae were kept and they appear to be very rare in private herpetology as well.
 
A white spectacled cobra who was found in loose in the community of Thousand Oaks this week has been sent to the zoo after it was captured. They have the anti venom needed to risk keeping it. After 90 days quarantine it will go on display with the other cobras. Another case of a person keeping an animal they shouldnt have, luckily no one had to pay with their lives and now the cobra will have a safe and secure home.

White cobra caught in Thousand Oaks arrives at San Diego Zoo - LA Times

In other news cheetah cub Ruuxa required surgery to fix his front bowed legs. His companion dog Raina is watching over him while he recovers. He will be fine.

http://timesofsandiego.com/life/2014/09/04/zoos-cheetah-recovering-limb-surgery-puppy/
 
TZFan said:
A white spectacled cobra who was found in loose in the community of Thousand Oaks this week has been sent to the zoo after it was captured. They have the anti venom needed to risk keeping it. After 90 days quarantine it will go on display with the other cobras. Another case of a person keeping an animal they shouldnt have, luckily no one had to pay with their lives and now the cobra will have a safe and secure home.

White cobra caught in Thousand Oaks arrives at San Diego Zoo - LA Times

In other news cheetah cub Ruuxa required surgery to fix his front bowed legs. His companion dog Raina is watching over him while he recovers. He will be fine.

Puppy Awaits Recovery of Cheetah Buddy After Zoo Surgery - Times of San Diego
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Keeping Cobra's as pets should be illegal if it isn't already. I'm glad the zoo was willing to take it. Usually Zoo's aren't interested in taking someone's exotic pet.
 
TZFan said:
A white spectacled cobra who was found in loose in the community of Thousand Oaks this week has been sent to the zoo after it was captured. They have the anti venom needed to risk keeping it. After 90 days quarantine it will go on display with the other cobras. Another case of a person keeping an animal they shouldnt have, luckily no one had to pay with their lives and now the cobra will have a safe and secure home.

White cobra caught in Thousand Oaks arrives at San Diego Zoo - LA Times

In other news cheetah cub Ruuxa required surgery to fix his front bowed legs. His companion dog Raina is watching over him while he recovers. He will be fine.

Puppy Awaits Recovery of Cheetah Buddy After Zoo Surgery - Times of San Diego
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The article said it was a Monacled Cobra.
 
My apologies. I read a couple of different ones on the cobra and its possible one of them got it wrong or I goofed.
 
most venomous snakes (including cobras) are illegal to own privately in California, along with primates, most wild carnivores, birds of prey, and a heck of a lot else. All the US states have different laws regarding exotics as pets and California is renowned as being one of the most draconian (not that I agree with people keeping monkeys and such as pets of course). On the other side is that you are allowed to keep boas, pythons, monitors, iguanas and lots of other things. I find it amusing (or scary... yes, probably scary) that it is illegal to own a domestic ferret in California but not a handgun.
 
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