Madrid and Berlin had all 7 bear species in the past too, and may be more zoos in Europe.
San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo news 2022
- Thread starter Julio C Castro
- Start date
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
Vincennes (Paris) too, in the 1970's and maybe later.
Probably ZSL - London too (@Tim May?
Visited the zoo yesterday and spent a good 5-6 hours there but a lot of that time was in the aviaries as I was trying to find as many birds as I could. I was able to see a ton of species I've never seen before, some of my personal highlights were seeing the Sulawesi Green Imperial-pigeon and Mount Goliath lorikeet in Owens Aviary. I also spent a lot of time in Scripps Aviary, so much so that my sister got pooped on by a bird! She had to drag me out at that point! 
Anyways because of this, I wasn't able to see Africa Rocks, and numerous sections of Lost Forest including the orang section, Parker Aviary, the bonobo section, etc. Here are some updates from the remainder of the zoo though!
-The Children's Zoo is looking great, they put up the big sign over the top recently and there were some volunteers standing in front answering some questions about it. It looks ready for a March opening to me!
-There were a pair of unsigned black-breasted leaf turtles (I think) in the Chinese Crocodile Lizard habitat and the lizards were nowhere to be seen.
-The zoo has some Pascagoula Map Turtles in the Reptile House now, I believe this is a new species for the zoo.
-The zoo has a new young Chinese alligator, their older female Xiao was sent to the Santa Barbara Zoo a few months back.
-A new juvenile Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle was on habitat in the Turtle section of the Reptile Walk.
-I do not know if it's just me but the Hummingbird Habitat is starting to fill in with plants a little bit and I think it's starting to look better than it did initially. The birds also seem to be more comfortable with their habitat now and were easier to see this time.
-The raccoon habitat was empty and there was a sign saying the animals were temporarily off habitat.
-Snow leopards Ramil and Naphisa were together and snuggling, hopefully, the zoo will finally have some success with this pair and we'll have a couple cubs sometime soon!
-Batari the Malayan tiger was transferred to Zoo Knoxville last month and the signage for her habitat on Center Street was taken down and was replaced by an Andean bear sign but I didn't see a bear in there.
-Malayan tapir "calf" Sinar Cahaya is nearly a year old and has grown a lot. His mom Amirah is getting ready to wean him and keepers plan on introducing Amirah back to male Camo once that happens.
-The zoo has tons of red-billed leiothrixes, I saw them in at least 4 to 5 aviaries spread throughout the zoo.
-The zoo's single African Darter continues to do well in his Scripps Aviary home, if I'm not mistaken he's the only individual of his species on the continent so I was very happy to see him!
-There were some Magnificent Bird-of-paradise in one of the Australasian aviaries across from the gorilla path, with some Wompoo Fruit-doves. I believe the BoP are new as I don't recall seeing them there in the past.
-There were also some Papuan Mountain-pigeons in the Malayan long-tailed parakeet aviary along with Chestnut-backed Thrush, Mountain peacock-pheasant, and Scarlet-faced liocichla.
-The Jambu fruit doves were nowhere to be seen in the aviary they shared with the Chestnut Backed Scimitar Babbler, and their sign was taken down.
-A volunteer/docent was telling me and some others that the plan is to send gorillas Paul Donn, Jessica, and Denny up to the Safari Park when the park's silverback Winston dies and the zoo will remain a bachelor facility with its bachelor trio for a while.
-Keepers are planning on putting okapis Zuri and Subira together for breeding soon now that Subira is starting to wean her 1-year old son Toby.
-Found out that the zoo's breeding pair of black duiker may be the last breeding pair in the SSP population. I was quite surprised to hear that the species is doing so poorly but just checked and saw that they're being phased out by the AZA. The zoo has had a lot of success with their current breeding pair, but their female just won't raise her calves so they've all been partially hand-reared. The latest calf born to the pair was female and was born in August.
-There's a new pair of Spotted-necked otters in the Allen's Swamp Monkey/Schmidt's Red-tailed monkey habitat.
-The habitat on the other side of the bridge was drained of water and there was some maintenance work going on in there.
-The zoo has a small flock of Greater flamingos in one of the ponds that can be seen from Eagle Trail. I believe they are a newer addition as the zoo has only had American flamingos for a while now.
-Saw some of the koalas being active and moving around for the first time ever! There are numerous joeys in there as well, one of them was moving around too!
-A single brush-tailed bettong was on habitat in one of the koala yards. The last time I visited, there was a male koala in there, so I was glad to see this species for the first time.
Anyways because of this, I wasn't able to see Africa Rocks, and numerous sections of Lost Forest including the orang section, Parker Aviary, the bonobo section, etc. Here are some updates from the remainder of the zoo though!-The Children's Zoo is looking great, they put up the big sign over the top recently and there were some volunteers standing in front answering some questions about it. It looks ready for a March opening to me!
-There were a pair of unsigned black-breasted leaf turtles (I think) in the Chinese Crocodile Lizard habitat and the lizards were nowhere to be seen.
-The zoo has some Pascagoula Map Turtles in the Reptile House now, I believe this is a new species for the zoo.
-The zoo has a new young Chinese alligator, their older female Xiao was sent to the Santa Barbara Zoo a few months back.
-A new juvenile Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle was on habitat in the Turtle section of the Reptile Walk.
-I do not know if it's just me but the Hummingbird Habitat is starting to fill in with plants a little bit and I think it's starting to look better than it did initially. The birds also seem to be more comfortable with their habitat now and were easier to see this time.
-The raccoon habitat was empty and there was a sign saying the animals were temporarily off habitat.
-Snow leopards Ramil and Naphisa were together and snuggling, hopefully, the zoo will finally have some success with this pair and we'll have a couple cubs sometime soon!
-Batari the Malayan tiger was transferred to Zoo Knoxville last month and the signage for her habitat on Center Street was taken down and was replaced by an Andean bear sign but I didn't see a bear in there.
-Malayan tapir "calf" Sinar Cahaya is nearly a year old and has grown a lot. His mom Amirah is getting ready to wean him and keepers plan on introducing Amirah back to male Camo once that happens.
-The zoo has tons of red-billed leiothrixes, I saw them in at least 4 to 5 aviaries spread throughout the zoo.
-The zoo's single African Darter continues to do well in his Scripps Aviary home, if I'm not mistaken he's the only individual of his species on the continent so I was very happy to see him!
-There were some Magnificent Bird-of-paradise in one of the Australasian aviaries across from the gorilla path, with some Wompoo Fruit-doves. I believe the BoP are new as I don't recall seeing them there in the past.
-There were also some Papuan Mountain-pigeons in the Malayan long-tailed parakeet aviary along with Chestnut-backed Thrush, Mountain peacock-pheasant, and Scarlet-faced liocichla.
-The Jambu fruit doves were nowhere to be seen in the aviary they shared with the Chestnut Backed Scimitar Babbler, and their sign was taken down.
-A volunteer/docent was telling me and some others that the plan is to send gorillas Paul Donn, Jessica, and Denny up to the Safari Park when the park's silverback Winston dies and the zoo will remain a bachelor facility with its bachelor trio for a while.
-Keepers are planning on putting okapis Zuri and Subira together for breeding soon now that Subira is starting to wean her 1-year old son Toby.
-Found out that the zoo's breeding pair of black duiker may be the last breeding pair in the SSP population. I was quite surprised to hear that the species is doing so poorly but just checked and saw that they're being phased out by the AZA. The zoo has had a lot of success with their current breeding pair, but their female just won't raise her calves so they've all been partially hand-reared. The latest calf born to the pair was female and was born in August.
-There's a new pair of Spotted-necked otters in the Allen's Swamp Monkey/Schmidt's Red-tailed monkey habitat.
-The habitat on the other side of the bridge was drained of water and there was some maintenance work going on in there.
-The zoo has a small flock of Greater flamingos in one of the ponds that can be seen from Eagle Trail. I believe they are a newer addition as the zoo has only had American flamingos for a while now.
-Saw some of the koalas being active and moving around for the first time ever! There are numerous joeys in there as well, one of them was moving around too!
-A single brush-tailed bettong was on habitat in one of the koala yards. The last time I visited, there was a male koala in there, so I was glad to see this species for the first time.
The only one left in captivity period I believe. Definitely one of the "must see" rarities for many zoo nerds visiting San Diego.
If in the actual Australian aviary string, they aren't new. I saw them signed there over 4 years ago, but only saw the Wompoos.
Sadly yes, Black Duikers are on their way out. Less than 20 animals left iirc.
When I visited in Jan. 2018, only the superb BOP were on-exhibit. I actually bumped into the zoo's bird curator in the Africa Rocks aviary (they were still introducing new birds to it at that point) and he mentioned that they had plans to display the Magnificent in the future once the chicks they had at the time had grown a little older. IIRC they went on-exhibit some time in late 2018 or early 2019. I finally saw the species when I revisited in Aug. 2021.
Think it was less than 10 as of last year... Truly a shame, they're my favorite of the duikers I've seen. There infant mortality seems to have skyrocketed in recent years, coupled with adults starting to die off.
~Thylo
Very intriguing news, although it seems the obvious option. Paul Donn is unrelated to all four of the Safari Park's possible future breeding candidates, and allows him to head up a large troop. It also allows San Diego's bachelor males to have full, all-day access to the outdoor enclosure. I'd also imagine Denny could form another mini bachelor group with Frank and Munroe at the Safari Park once he comes of age.
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Are there any current plans to acquire a male River Hippo, male Masai Giraffe, additional Indian Rhino, or more juvenile elephants?
Male river hippo's gonna be down the line (it's mainly mother and calf on exhibit), the zoo's giraffe herd is doing fine, Indian rhino-wise, I think they may be waiting to potentially redevelop Urban Jungle once the Wildlife Explorer's Basecamp opens and the Elephant Valley rejuvenation happens at the Safari Park, and (speaking of elephants), the zoo received Nipho and Sundzu as part of a little bachelor herd. Patience, young padawan.
Platypusboy
Well-Known Member
I'm glad to see the Magnificent birds of paradise and African darter are still around. Hopefully they'll survive until i get to visit someday.
There are probably no immediate plans to acquire a new bull hippo. Funani is most likely past her reproductive years and her daughter Amahle is only 2 years old and is still too young to start breeding.
The zoo's adult female giraffes are all well represented in the population so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't acquire a new male for a little bit. Domibella is one of the lowest-ranking females in the entire SSP population, for example.
Nope, no more Indian rhinos for the time being.
Probably no more elephants either, Sundzu and Nipho just arrived last year and while there are a few bachelor bulls in the population that could potentially be sent over to join the boys, it's likely not going to happen.
The birds-of-paradise should still be, though anyone know roughly how old the darter is? I'd imagine it's getting up there.
San Diego Zoo is almost only ever used for overflow exhibitry as far as Indian rhino are concerned.
Maybe once some of the older cows pass away and space is freed up, they will import some additional bulls.
That's correct. They only hold the regions surplus individuals.
4.4 to be exact... It'll be a real shame to see another duiker species lost. They're such fascinating creatures.
This simply escapes me .... shame at the lack of interest
This species wasn't lost due to lack of interest, but rather just a lot of bad luck. The population was doing fairly well eight or ten years ago, but the founder base was small and there were issues with infant mortality and lack of maternal care. The population really just crashed. There was a last ditch effort to consolidate the last breeding individuals, but it has had minimal success, and the remaining adults are starting to die off.
Probably no chance of imports to try again either I'm guessing...
Unfortunately, no. Imports were discussed when the population first started to crash, but with how difficult it is to import bovids into the United States in the first place combined with the political situations in their range countries, it was determined that imports would not be feasible.
That really id
That really is quite disappointing. Why is it so difficult to import animals? What are the issues, this means legislation is blocking ex situ conservation.