Apparently it's been almost a year and a half since I last visited SF's zoo...
The former nocturnal house is showing a movie -- Red Ivory -- on a loop every ten minutes or so. The title is self-explanatory.
The gift shop in the Primate Discovery Center is gone, and appears to, at least temporarily, be an event space.
The zoo acquired a pair of Colobus monkeys* sometime over the past year, and has had two successful howler monkey births over a similar time period.
* - I don't know why you'd get such a large monkey and put them in the smallest cage in the Primate Discovery Center. The space behind the African Savanna near the gorillas is a splendid spot for three or four African monkey exhibits.
The new snow leopards have been on site for ~2 months now. The female, Anna, is two and the male, Raj, is four. Both come from facilities in Winnipeg. Not sure which, but I think Raj comes via the Assiniboine Park Zoo. They are a recommended breeding pair. Keepers are actively working on habituating Anna; she's very uninterested in going in at night.
The zoo's eldery male snow leopard passed away last year at 17, and the female is currently living off exhibit at the old Feline Conservation Center. Mating occurred, but the pair never produced offspring.
Since Amanzi passed away last year, the zoo is down to three lions -- Jahari, Sukari, and the nearly two Jasiri. Sukari is no longer recommended to breed and is back on birth control; zoo officials are as yet undecided on whether or not Jasiri needs to be moved or housed separately since his father is not yet attempting to force him out. All options, including starting a new pride, are being entertained.
Martha, the zoo's female Amur tiger, passed away last year leaving only the male, Bronevik. I don't remember if he's recommended to breed or not. He was pretty young if I remember correctly.
The Lion House is now permanently (?) off-limits to visitors. A small section with the public restrooms remains open, and they conduct a keeper talk here with a different big cat daily. A small section of South American birds remains opposite the talk space.
Jillian, the zoo's Sumatran tiger offspring, was sent to Sacramento a while back, and it looks like the zoo might be trying to encourage breeding again -- Larry & Leeanne are on exhibit together.
Harrison, the new male koala, is also now on site. He's primarily getting used to the outdoor yard at this point in time.
I can't be certain, but it appears that the zoo received a large collection of birds including a pair of Black Palm cockatoos and a trio of Eclectus'. The Bali mynah might have been there before.
Construction continues on the new komodo dragon enclosure where the old tapir exhibit used to be (now next to the wolverines and Indian rhino). The outdoor space faces the penguin pool, and the indoor viewing will be next to the wolverines.
Whatever the Great Ape Project actually entails is ongoing as well. Construction appears to be focused on the old elephant barn at the moment. Can't see inside, but there are three small doors cut into the building near the top; one of which I assume will be the for the eventual passageway. A new, large human-sized door has been cut into the wall at ground level closest to the walkway the used to cut behind the chimp exhibit.
Oh, and the black bear cubs are getting along famously. The male has been neutered since there are eight hundred million black bears in the country, so no breeding. Still, they seem to have a great time wrestling.
I think that's all the pertinent info from my notes at this time.
Of note: Almost every exhibit now has restricted viewing. The mandrill is practically invisible unless he opts to sit on top of the hillock. Even the flamingos are walled in.
The former nocturnal house is showing a movie -- Red Ivory -- on a loop every ten minutes or so. The title is self-explanatory.
The gift shop in the Primate Discovery Center is gone, and appears to, at least temporarily, be an event space.
The zoo acquired a pair of Colobus monkeys* sometime over the past year, and has had two successful howler monkey births over a similar time period.
* - I don't know why you'd get such a large monkey and put them in the smallest cage in the Primate Discovery Center. The space behind the African Savanna near the gorillas is a splendid spot for three or four African monkey exhibits.
The new snow leopards have been on site for ~2 months now. The female, Anna, is two and the male, Raj, is four. Both come from facilities in Winnipeg. Not sure which, but I think Raj comes via the Assiniboine Park Zoo. They are a recommended breeding pair. Keepers are actively working on habituating Anna; she's very uninterested in going in at night.
The zoo's eldery male snow leopard passed away last year at 17, and the female is currently living off exhibit at the old Feline Conservation Center. Mating occurred, but the pair never produced offspring.
Since Amanzi passed away last year, the zoo is down to three lions -- Jahari, Sukari, and the nearly two Jasiri. Sukari is no longer recommended to breed and is back on birth control; zoo officials are as yet undecided on whether or not Jasiri needs to be moved or housed separately since his father is not yet attempting to force him out. All options, including starting a new pride, are being entertained.
Martha, the zoo's female Amur tiger, passed away last year leaving only the male, Bronevik. I don't remember if he's recommended to breed or not. He was pretty young if I remember correctly.
The Lion House is now permanently (?) off-limits to visitors. A small section with the public restrooms remains open, and they conduct a keeper talk here with a different big cat daily. A small section of South American birds remains opposite the talk space.
Jillian, the zoo's Sumatran tiger offspring, was sent to Sacramento a while back, and it looks like the zoo might be trying to encourage breeding again -- Larry & Leeanne are on exhibit together.
Harrison, the new male koala, is also now on site. He's primarily getting used to the outdoor yard at this point in time.
I can't be certain, but it appears that the zoo received a large collection of birds including a pair of Black Palm cockatoos and a trio of Eclectus'. The Bali mynah might have been there before.
Construction continues on the new komodo dragon enclosure where the old tapir exhibit used to be (now next to the wolverines and Indian rhino). The outdoor space faces the penguin pool, and the indoor viewing will be next to the wolverines.
Whatever the Great Ape Project actually entails is ongoing as well. Construction appears to be focused on the old elephant barn at the moment. Can't see inside, but there are three small doors cut into the building near the top; one of which I assume will be the for the eventual passageway. A new, large human-sized door has been cut into the wall at ground level closest to the walkway the used to cut behind the chimp exhibit.
Oh, and the black bear cubs are getting along famously. The male has been neutered since there are eight hundred million black bears in the country, so no breeding. Still, they seem to have a great time wrestling.
I think that's all the pertinent info from my notes at this time.
Of note: Almost every exhibit now has restricted viewing. The mandrill is practically invisible unless he opts to sit on top of the hillock. Even the flamingos are walled in.
