Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2019

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This is sadly what I reported in my October post. When I asked deliberately whether the elephant and vet teams thought she was close to that "red line" where her comfort can no longer be maintained, he said yes. She was not lying down to sleep or swimming even at that point. This article is clearly to prepare the public. I watch the Twitter account every day for news, but I'll never be prepared to lose her.
 
Some species changes I noticed from my last visit. That was well over a year ago, so some of these might be old news; however, I can't find a species list more recent than 2016. I didn't take down a list, but I might go back soon and write one up. In the meantime, I have a pretty good memory so I might be able to answer general queries.

- The Small Mammal House no longer exhibits Greater Mouse Deer or Banded Mongoose; there are two reverse-light enclosures for N. Luzon giant cloud rat, of which I saw one outside the nest box (a first for me); the agouti has moved from the sloth/aracari/tamarin exhibit to the saki exhibit.

- The Think Tank no longer has Red-tailed Guenons, and I only saw three Allen's Swamp Monkeys.

- The Amazon building now has Hawk-headed Parrots and Emperor Tamarins (inside a cage, still adjusting to their new home); however, it seems like the building might have lost one or more bird species as well.
 
The 12/6 Twitter post about Shanthi's decline was repeated in today's weekly member zoo newsletter. And the following 11-year-old article is, for some reason, in my trending news today. It's pretty clear we're being prepared for an impending euthanasia. I hope she can hold on until Sunday, so I can see her one last time.

Taking Care of Older Zoo Animals at the Smithsonian's National Zoo
Aging in Place at the Zoo
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Some species changes I noticed from my last visit. That was well over a year ago, so some of these might be old news; however, I can't find a species list more recent than 2016. I didn't take down a list, but I might go back soon and write one up. In the meantime, I have a pretty good memory so I might be able to answer general queries.

- The Small Mammal House no longer exhibits Greater Mouse Deer or Banded Mongoose; there are two reverse-light enclosures for N. Luzon giant cloud rat, of which I saw one outside the nest box (a first for me); the agouti has moved from the sloth/aracari/tamarin exhibit to the saki exhibit.

- The Think Tank no longer has Red-tailed Guenons, and I only saw three Allen's Swamp Monkeys.

- The Amazon building now has Hawk-headed Parrots and Emperor Tamarins (inside a cage, still adjusting to their new home); however, it seems like the building might have lost one or more bird species as well.
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Most of this is fairly old news.There's two agouti, one is still in the sloth/tamarin exhibit but will likely be moving when they get in the new tamarin for breeding, as they'll likely attack it.
 
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TinoPup said:
There's two saki, one is still in the sloth/tamarin exhibit but will likely be moving when they get in the new tamarin for breeding, as they'll likely attack it.
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On my visit there were three saki (1.2) and they were all in the same exhibit, separate from the sloth/tamarin.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I noticed that too, but couldn't remember if it was new or not. I'm confused about why the crocodile monitor has a large room to itself, while the dragon is relegated to a much smaller room next to it.
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This confused me so much, too. I just moved back to D.C. and took a (very) quick dash through the zoo while passing by - I'll do a longer trip soon. Wanted to see the new arrivals, of which the crocodile monitor was not on exhibit. I spent a good 5 minutes looking in that huge tank alongside a guy who seemed well versed on reptiles - monitor wasn't out. Cloud rats, on the other hand, were super active and great to see. I was also surprised to see two maned wolves (I always used to think it was just the one) out and interacting with the cheetah across their barrier.

Also, emperor tamarins seemed to be out of the cage in Amazonia.
 
I have a new species list typed up from my visit today. I'll post a separate thread for it, but before I do I had some questions I wanted answered, plus a couple notes:

- There are two empty enclosures at the back of the Small Mammal House between the howlers and the coatis. Anybody know what those hold/used to hold and how long they've been empty?

- Are Common Raven and Hooded Merganser still on the American Trail? The Trail past the pinnipeds is the only area I didn't check today that I should have.

- How long has the old bear exhibit behind the Patagonian maras (formerly Giant Anteater) been empty?

- Some of the following species are listed for Amazonia (walk-through room), but I've either never seen them or haven't seen them recently. Can anyone confirm whether or not they are there/have been there recently?

Blue-gray Tanager
Silver-beaked Tanager
Red-footed Tortoise
Linne's Two-Toed Sloth
Phantasmal Poison Dart Frog
Smooth-sided Toad

And a couple notes:
- Indian Peafowl is now signed in one of the former Bobcat/Caracal cages, but I didn't see any.
- The Emperor Tamarins were back in the cage today, so I think being intermittently in and out could be part of their acclimation process.
 
I don't have a lot of answers, but those bear grottos across from the old giant anteater enclosure have been empty for years. Many years. I haven't gone down that path since the anteaters left (I was gutted), but those grottoes go back almost 60 years according to a map drawn circa 1960 I saw recently. One of them had a very, very deep pool where a polar bear lived and could be observed below where the Amazonia private library now is. The polar bear left so that Amazonia could be built, and lol, it's a well-known gripe of mine that I'm still bitter about the loss of that bear more than 40 years later. What's interesting, though, is that the pool was so unique and so deep it was used thereafter for years by government ocean divers for instruction and practice. If that pool is still intact, the zoo may be hesitant to simply demolish the grottos and repurpose them in case the pool is ever needed for such use again. Of course, for many years, I took this as hope that the polar bear might return. These grottoes are-:I'm pretty sure--the only enclosures in the entire zoo to remain unchanged and vacant of animals for the better part of several decades.

Ironically, the polar bear--MY polar bear:rolleyes:--departed for parts unknown to enable the addition of Amazonia, a building where I can seldom find animals I'm looking for. I have never seen the Linneas sloth, and I was only slightly reassured on Sloth Day to find out from Mammal House staff that Amazonia keepers seldom see him either. If they need him for a medical procedure, they have to camp out overnight until the night he comes down to defecate and get him into a crate. Fortunately, there is a new female companion for the SMH sloth Vlad, and perhaps with someone to interact with, we'll get to see more of him than just a small patch of shaggy fur peeking over the tree canopy.

There have been other reports above about the peafowl in those caracal enclosures, but it seems like a very strange and out-of-the-way place--in the midst of most of the Zoo's cats--for a showy species in a zoo that currently has few birds at all on exhibit due to the major renovation of the birdhouse. He might as well be back behind the birdhouse with all the other birds in the temporary covered enclosures visible on Google Earth.
 
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Coelacanth18 said:
- There are two empty enclosures at the back of the Small Mammal House between the howlers and the coatis. Anybody know what those hold/used to hold and how long they've been empty?

- Are Common Raven and Hooded Merganser still on the American Trail? The Trail past the pinnipeds is the only area I didn't check today that I should have.

- How long has the old bear exhibit behind the Patagonian maras (formerly Giant Anteater) been empty?

- Some of the following species are listed for Amazonia (walk-through room), but I've either never seen them or haven't seen them recently. Can anyone confirm whether or not they are there/have been there recently?

Red-footed Tortoise
Linne's Two-Toed Sloth

And a couple notes:
- Indian Peafowl is now signed in one of the former Bobcat/Caracal cages, but I didn't see any.
Click to expand...

-During the warmer months the zoo gives some of the monkeys access to the cages behind the building. I've seen Geoffrey's marmoset before, and this past summer Goeldis monkeys.

-The ravens live in an old bobcat cage, which is on the trail that takes you above and behind the beaver exhibit. Don't know if you checked that. The mergansers have been gone for a minute now. Like, at least 3. The website lists wood ducks for American Trail, but I don't know if thats right. They would live with beavers if it is.

-I believe the zoo last kept sloth bears in those grottos, and have been empty since they moved to Asia Trail.

-The red-footed tortoises live on the small bank, above what would be the larger section of the Arapaima tank, though there's a little fence that keeps them close to the wall. They easily could've just been out of sight. I have never in my life seen the sloth that lives in Amazonia, but according to the zoo he exists and his name is Howie.

-During my last visit in early September, there was indeed a peafowl in the old bobcat cage.
 
AmbikaFan said:
I don't have a lot of answers, but those bear grottos across from the old giant anteater enclosure have been empty for years. Many years. I haven't gone down that path since the anteaters left (I was gutted), but those grottoes go back almost 60 years according to a map drawn circa 1960 I saw recently. One of them had a very, very deep pool where a polar bear lived and could be observed below where the Amazonia private library now is. The polar bear left so that Amazonia could be built, and lol, it's a well-known gripe of mine that I'm still bitter about the loss of that bear more than 40 years later. What's interesting, though, is that the pool was so unique and so deep it was used thereafter for years by government ocean divers for instruction and practice. If that pool is still intact, the zoo may be hesitant to simply demolish the grottos and repurpose them in case the pool is ever needed for such use again. Of course, for many years, I took this as hope that the polar bear might return. These grottoes are-:I'm pretty sure--the only enclosures in the entire zoo to remain unchanged and vacant of animals for the better part of several decades.
Click to expand...

If they could somehow repurpose those grotto walls/moats as a viewing area looking into a polar bear enclosure complete with a saltwater tank (as deep as the original for gov't oceanography studies) and potential views into the American Trail (sea lion/seal pool) and retool the Smokey the Bear exhibit for the one grotto he lived in, that'd be amazing IMO.
 
Andrew_NZP said:
The mergansers have been gone for a minute now. Like, at least 3. The website lists wood ducks for American Trail, but I don't know if thats right. They would live with beavers if it is.
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I'm pretty sure that's right. I remembered that there were waterfowl in with the beavers, but what I couldn't remember is whether they were mergansers or something else. I thought I remembered it being Wood Duck, and now that I know the website lists it I'm fairly confident that I remembered correctly.
 
Wyman said:
If they could somehow repurpose those grotto walls/moats as a viewing area looking into a polar bear enclosure complete with a saltwater tank (as deep as the original for gov't oceanography studies) and potential views into the American Trail (sea lion/seal pool) and retool the Smokey the Bear exhibit for the one grotto he lived in, that'd be amazing IMO.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this is what you mean, but the glass-walled underwater viewing window to the old polar bear would now be behind the private part of the Amazonia building closest to the sea lions and thus no longer visible unfortunately. For some reason, those grottoes have been largely empty for decades, with Smokey, the last grizzly who died 20+ years ago, and spectacled bears all occupying the grottoes on American Trail. I don't remember sloth bears there, and indeed, Dr. Lucy Spelman made a big fuss about how entertaining it would be to have sloth bears when American Trail was being planned. For some reason, those upper grottoes seem to intentionally be left empty, for decades now. But I defer to @Andrew_NZP on such matters. I may have been there in the flesh for decades, but his research skills and sheer repository of knowledge on NZP history always amaze me. I believe he may have been the one who discovered that the tank was used for diving training. In fact, I think it was Andrew who once sent me a picture of "my" beloved polar bear.:)
 
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