I didn't know they still held this species. I think many of us were holding our breaths hoping for a revived kiwi exhibit with the opening of the Australian Outback. It's an interesting and rather rare species to see.
San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo news 2016
- Thread starter Chlidonias
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I didn't know they still held this species. I think many of us were holding our breaths hoping for a revived kiwi exhibit with the opening of the Australian Outback. It's an interesting and rather rare species to see.
They have plenty of space in the area between the devil exhibits and the koalas for a kiwi building. However, it doesn't quite fit the Australian theme. Perhaps a small New Zealand area will develop that exhibits the Brothers Island tuatara, kiwi, kea, and whatever other New Zealand animals the zoo has behind the scenes.
Ground cuscus are found in a number of European zoos, but the only one I saw in the US was a specimen at Busch Gardens Florida a few years ago.
Ground Cuscus used to be a much more common species in US collections. I remember way back when the Cleveland Zoo's primate/cat house nocturnal house section held the first ground cuscus I saw, and much more recently, Columbus Zoo's roadhouse held ground cuscus (in the first mixed species exhibit now home to Kiwi and Tawny Frogmouth; sadly the other species sharing this exhibit - at first, Prevost's Squirrel and Greater Mouse-deer - are also now gone from the collection).
Another article about the Kiwi-hatching :
US zoo hatches first kiwi in decade | Radio New Zealand News
US zoo hatches first kiwi in decade | Radio New Zealand News
I visited on Tuesday and Thursday of this week and have many random notes and musings to share:
-The large multi-level employee garage is finished and open, and is accessed from behind the Botanical Building in Balboa Park. It is easily seen from the Skyfari, and the absence of the trees in its place provides backdrop views of the backside of the San Diego Museum of Art from part of the Galapagos Tortoise exhibit. A pedestrian bridge links the garage across a ravine to an employee-only gate located between the Brown Tortoise Exhibit and the Johnston's Crocodile/Turtles Exhibit. This results in a steady stream of zoo employees exiting the zoo at this location at the end of their days! The Johnston's Crocodile Exhibit was entirely empty on Tuesday, but by Thursday access was closed off but I could look over the temporary barrier and see at least one croc had been reintroduced. I will post a few pictures in the gallery of the garage and gate later.
-Wegeforth Bowl is open after the installation of large metal structures to support awnings over the audience. It looks good, and part of the curved wall on the outside of the amphitheater near the entrances is adorned with a centennial timeline mural, listed on the map as Centennial Plaza. The show in the bowl is called 'Centennial Celebration' and opens with a long video about the zoo on a giant screen, followed by a standard presentation of various animals with their trainers. Afterwards, the audience can go down to the front row to get closer to a few animals, or exit to the plaza for further entertainment by costumed animal characters and music. I will post a picture of the new awnings in the gallery later.
-The Reptile House has new backlit graphics in all exhibits that are a great improvement. Most of the exhibits and species appeared to be the same from my visits a year-and-a-half ago.
-In the Children's Zoo, the large moated yard exhibit that previously held Indian Crested Porcupine now has Common Wombat, and the yard appears to be divided with a backyard behind a fence.
-Also in the Children's Zoo, the former otter exhibit with underwater viewing has African penguin, a preview of one of the species that will later inhabit Africa Rocks.
-Also in the Children's Zoo, one of the rooms of the former nursery behind a large glass window is devoted to common small moveable terrariums for an impressive collection of (mostly) tarantulas with simple labels of the species in each. I will post a photo of the room in the gallery later. The species are:
African Whip Spider
Amazon Sapphire Pink-toe Tarantula
Antilles Pink-toe Tarantula
Brazilian Black Tarantula (3 terrariums)
Brazilian Pink-toe Tarantula (3 terrariums)
Brazilian White-knee Birdeater (2 terrariums)
Chaco Golden-knee Tarantula
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula
Chinese Trapdoor Spider
Desert Blond Tarantula
Emperor Scorpion (2 terrariums)
Mexican Fire Leg Tarantula
Mexican Flame Knee Tarantula (2 terrariums)
New River Rust Rump Tarantula (2 terrariums)
-In Lost Forest's 'Monkey Trails', the two yards that previously held Yellow-backed and Black Duikers are now only occupied by Black Duikers.
-'Asian Cats', the new section of 'Panda Trek' in Panda Canyon, is a nice addition although it creates a wall of cages along the service road/main walkway there. The four exhibits each have views into small caves or dens in addition to 4 overhead walkways for the cats to traverse over visitors' heads on the pedestrian path, even if the doors to adjoining exhibits are closed on one end. It is a very versatile exhibit complex. On Tuesday, the two East exhibits held Snow Leopard (I saw one in each) while the two West exhibits held Amur Leopard (I saw one in each). The end of the visitor path was closed off where it connects to the Panda exhibit queue at the photo spot since the queue extended past there, creating a deadend. On Thursday, the two East exhibits and one of the West exhibits had Snow Leopard, while the other West exhibit had Amur Leopard, and the visitor path connected to the panda queue since the line was not as long.
-In Asian Passage's 'Sun Bear Forest', the exhibit that formerly held Lion-tailed Macaque now has Red-cheeked Gibbon and many more ropes have been added throughout. There was no sign of the macaques being reintroduced to create a mixed-species exhibit yet. The rest of the exhibit complex's visitor path was closed off due to refurbishment of the tall climate-controlled exhibit for Francois' Langur; that species has been relocated to one of the netted exhibits in Lost Forest's Monkey Trails (the one closest to the weaver aviary) so it is unclear if they will return to this exhibit. This closure meant that the small aviary and Sun Bear Exhibit were also closed off, but there was a Sun Bear on exhibit in the old grotto furthest up the hill adjacent to Sydney's Grill.
-In Northern Frontier, the old yard below the Skyfari exit ramp is occupied once again, by Giant Anteater. The yard has been divided in two by a fence for introducing a new male Giant Anteater to the existing female.
-Africa Rocks construction is evident from several spots. The canyon is completely stripped of all previous features (except for the Hunte Amphitheater and its large animal holding building) and is a massive bare earth landscape currently. It appears that the major grading is mostly finished and huge retaining walls have been constructed along most of the length of the canyon where needed. The Southern limit of construction ends in front of Hua Mei Café where large wood construction walls close off Park Way directly in front of the building and across to the lowest viewing shelter of Sun Bear Forest's Red-cheeked Gibbon Exhibit. A large area of cleared flat land protected by a large retaining wall has been created directly behind the Hua Mei Café in an area that I think may have been an unused hillside previously. At the Northern limit of construction is the Kopje Exhibit complex, which will remain although it is closed off (except the older Meerkat and Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax exhibits) and the visitor pathway at the bottom of the Bataleur Eagle Exhibit has been demolished. Peering through the construction fence in front of the Kopje Exhibit complex, I did see Rock Hyrax still occupying their exhibit but did not spot any Klipspringer or Dwarf Mongoose. There is an impressive vantage point of the canyon now from the Sabertooth Grill dining terrace in Elephant Odyssey, where previously there had been trees to block the view. Also, the koalas now have a clearer view of the upper canyon since their backdrop of trees have been mostly removed; the visitor pathway/boardwalk in the Koala area is a dead end at the Koala play statue area and large wood construction walls block the far end of the boardwalk adjacent to the former Tree Kangaroo yards that have been demolished. Lastly, of course the Skyfari has a good view of the lower part of the canyon construction. I will post photos in the gallery later.
-The large multi-level employee garage is finished and open, and is accessed from behind the Botanical Building in Balboa Park. It is easily seen from the Skyfari, and the absence of the trees in its place provides backdrop views of the backside of the San Diego Museum of Art from part of the Galapagos Tortoise exhibit. A pedestrian bridge links the garage across a ravine to an employee-only gate located between the Brown Tortoise Exhibit and the Johnston's Crocodile/Turtles Exhibit. This results in a steady stream of zoo employees exiting the zoo at this location at the end of their days! The Johnston's Crocodile Exhibit was entirely empty on Tuesday, but by Thursday access was closed off but I could look over the temporary barrier and see at least one croc had been reintroduced. I will post a few pictures in the gallery of the garage and gate later.
-Wegeforth Bowl is open after the installation of large metal structures to support awnings over the audience. It looks good, and part of the curved wall on the outside of the amphitheater near the entrances is adorned with a centennial timeline mural, listed on the map as Centennial Plaza. The show in the bowl is called 'Centennial Celebration' and opens with a long video about the zoo on a giant screen, followed by a standard presentation of various animals with their trainers. Afterwards, the audience can go down to the front row to get closer to a few animals, or exit to the plaza for further entertainment by costumed animal characters and music. I will post a picture of the new awnings in the gallery later.
-The Reptile House has new backlit graphics in all exhibits that are a great improvement. Most of the exhibits and species appeared to be the same from my visits a year-and-a-half ago.
-In the Children's Zoo, the large moated yard exhibit that previously held Indian Crested Porcupine now has Common Wombat, and the yard appears to be divided with a backyard behind a fence.
-Also in the Children's Zoo, the former otter exhibit with underwater viewing has African penguin, a preview of one of the species that will later inhabit Africa Rocks.
-Also in the Children's Zoo, one of the rooms of the former nursery behind a large glass window is devoted to common small moveable terrariums for an impressive collection of (mostly) tarantulas with simple labels of the species in each. I will post a photo of the room in the gallery later. The species are:
African Whip Spider
Amazon Sapphire Pink-toe Tarantula
Antilles Pink-toe Tarantula
Brazilian Black Tarantula (3 terrariums)
Brazilian Pink-toe Tarantula (3 terrariums)
Brazilian White-knee Birdeater (2 terrariums)
Chaco Golden-knee Tarantula
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula
Chinese Trapdoor Spider
Desert Blond Tarantula
Emperor Scorpion (2 terrariums)
Mexican Fire Leg Tarantula
Mexican Flame Knee Tarantula (2 terrariums)
New River Rust Rump Tarantula (2 terrariums)
-In Lost Forest's 'Monkey Trails', the two yards that previously held Yellow-backed and Black Duikers are now only occupied by Black Duikers.
-'Asian Cats', the new section of 'Panda Trek' in Panda Canyon, is a nice addition although it creates a wall of cages along the service road/main walkway there. The four exhibits each have views into small caves or dens in addition to 4 overhead walkways for the cats to traverse over visitors' heads on the pedestrian path, even if the doors to adjoining exhibits are closed on one end. It is a very versatile exhibit complex. On Tuesday, the two East exhibits held Snow Leopard (I saw one in each) while the two West exhibits held Amur Leopard (I saw one in each). The end of the visitor path was closed off where it connects to the Panda exhibit queue at the photo spot since the queue extended past there, creating a deadend. On Thursday, the two East exhibits and one of the West exhibits had Snow Leopard, while the other West exhibit had Amur Leopard, and the visitor path connected to the panda queue since the line was not as long.
-In Asian Passage's 'Sun Bear Forest', the exhibit that formerly held Lion-tailed Macaque now has Red-cheeked Gibbon and many more ropes have been added throughout. There was no sign of the macaques being reintroduced to create a mixed-species exhibit yet. The rest of the exhibit complex's visitor path was closed off due to refurbishment of the tall climate-controlled exhibit for Francois' Langur; that species has been relocated to one of the netted exhibits in Lost Forest's Monkey Trails (the one closest to the weaver aviary) so it is unclear if they will return to this exhibit. This closure meant that the small aviary and Sun Bear Exhibit were also closed off, but there was a Sun Bear on exhibit in the old grotto furthest up the hill adjacent to Sydney's Grill.
-In Northern Frontier, the old yard below the Skyfari exit ramp is occupied once again, by Giant Anteater. The yard has been divided in two by a fence for introducing a new male Giant Anteater to the existing female.
-Africa Rocks construction is evident from several spots. The canyon is completely stripped of all previous features (except for the Hunte Amphitheater and its large animal holding building) and is a massive bare earth landscape currently. It appears that the major grading is mostly finished and huge retaining walls have been constructed along most of the length of the canyon where needed. The Southern limit of construction ends in front of Hua Mei Café where large wood construction walls close off Park Way directly in front of the building and across to the lowest viewing shelter of Sun Bear Forest's Red-cheeked Gibbon Exhibit. A large area of cleared flat land protected by a large retaining wall has been created directly behind the Hua Mei Café in an area that I think may have been an unused hillside previously. At the Northern limit of construction is the Kopje Exhibit complex, which will remain although it is closed off (except the older Meerkat and Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax exhibits) and the visitor pathway at the bottom of the Bataleur Eagle Exhibit has been demolished. Peering through the construction fence in front of the Kopje Exhibit complex, I did see Rock Hyrax still occupying their exhibit but did not spot any Klipspringer or Dwarf Mongoose. There is an impressive vantage point of the canyon now from the Sabertooth Grill dining terrace in Elephant Odyssey, where previously there had been trees to block the view. Also, the koalas now have a clearer view of the upper canyon since their backdrop of trees have been mostly removed; the visitor pathway/boardwalk in the Koala area is a dead end at the Koala play statue area and large wood construction walls block the far end of the boardwalk adjacent to the former Tree Kangaroo yards that have been demolished. Lastly, of course the Skyfari has a good view of the lower part of the canyon construction. I will post photos in the gallery later.
Just to clarify these two changes were made in June.
The zoo has recently begun trying to introduce snow leopards "Anna" and "Penny" to male "Ramil". So far, it hasn't gone well, but nothing more than minor scratches.
Also, an article about yellow-spotted hyrax- a weird species that can only be seen in America at San Diego:http://zoonooz.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/rock-hoppers/
Also, an article about yellow-spotted hyrax- a weird species that can only be seen in America at San Diego:http://zoonooz.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/rock-hoppers/
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To be a bit pedantic, that article says San Diego is the only place where that subspecies can be seen (Heterohyrax brucei bakeri).
Is it also the only place where the species can be seen in the US, or was that a typo?
I am almost sure that no other zoo in the US has Heterohyrax brucei species. At least I only heard of San Diego having them.
As zoo_enthusiast says, I believe it is the only zoo in the US with Heterohyrax brucei, which would also make it the only zoo in the US with that subspecies
. I'd never even heard of them before I started planning my California trip.
What happened to the Lion-tailed Macaques?
The red-cheeked gibbons were in a trashy, small exhibit. They are merging the gibbons into the macaque exhibit- they aren't all friends yet.
Do we know how or why and was it expected?
wensleydale
Well-Known Member
I'm glad to hear that.