Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2014

Willow, the female beaver, must have died earlier this year. I have been wondering where there was only two beavers recently. And now there's only one. They have a great exhibit to get up close to them.
 
Remi is an ok name. I liked it for our polar bear cub because it honoured our veterans. He was rescued on Remembrance Day.
 
Nope they are still in Calgary. What Calgary originally said was a little misleading. They said that Apr 14th would be the last day to see them... well turns out what they meant was it was the last time you were guarenteed to see them. Right now they are finishing up crate training so visitors to Calgary may or may not see them based on the training schedual. I blame Calgary for the misinformation. The minute I hear they have left Calgary I will post the info but with their offical goodbye weekend two weeks ago I would guess that time is sooner rather than later or the zoo will look like ****** having everyone say goodbye a month or more earlier than their real departure date.
 
I completely agree with you TZFan, very misleading indeed. Their communication and PR should have been more clear on that. In this whole time they have been working on finalizing crate training the girl could have already been in Washington by now. I can understand the keepers attachment but hopefully the Zoo's interests won't conflict too much longer with whats in the girls' best interests and the quicker they move the quicker the long stressful haul will be over with.
 
Dont worry about Calgary Zoo's commitment to giving them to the National Zoo. They made the decision over two years ago to send them away of their own accord. Now that sounds long but a calf was expected and they didnt want to move Maharani until the baby was born, and was big and strong enough to move (given her history that was very important). When the baby died they immediately switched gears and started looking for a new home. Male Spike has already been in Tampa for seven months now but being a single bull he was easier to find a home for. Choosing the National Zoo took longer for the girls.

Don't forget the hassle involved in moving. While they continue to train it might really be paperwork slowing things down. We all know what a hassel it is to get things across the border. They also want conditions to be right. It might just be too cold still in Calgary to move them. Medical check need to be completed. The National Zoo's keepers need to get to know them in that intro before moving phase. Lots of things could have stalled the plans.

The zoo is fully committed to their transfer. A pair of Indian Rhinos is due in sometime in the fall and renos need to be completed before their arrival. They dont want to fool around with the elephants longer than necessary because people are looking forward to meeting the rhinos.

The zoo really should have been more cautious in their promotion of the elephants and say that they would be around and on display after the goodbye because one can never tell when things would kick into motion. But thats a mistake on the part of their marketing team more than purposeful delays.
 
After much speculation from myself, I have officially read in the zoo's newsletter, yes, the bison exhibit will be in the area next to Giant Pandas and the Backyard exhibit.
 
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