Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2023

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Andrew_NZP said:
Some small updates from my visit today.

Bird House:



Updated species list for this trio of exhibits:
  1. Scarlet Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, White-Checked Pintail, Wood Duck and Blue Jay
  2. Red-Legged Seriema
  3. Blue-Billed Curassow and Band-Tailed Pigeon

I actually saw the blue jays during my last visit but I incorrectly assumed they were just wild birds that had somehow gotten in. I learned today that they are very much a part of the zoos collection.

There's still band-tailed pigeons in the coffee farm aviary, but those are apparently all males while the ones outside are breeding individuals. I believe the keeper said there were a couple of breeding pairs but I only saw three birds.

Along with the previously mentioned clapper rail there's (as of my visit today) two other species that have been recently added to the coffee farm aviary that are not listed on the guide: Northern Parula & American Redstart. I did not see the redstart but the keeper told me that there should be at least one female somewhere in there.

The barred parakeets are off-exhibit currently, and actually have been for a few months now. I was told they were doing some work with them that is much easier to do with them behind the scenes. The keeper said they should be back potentially in the winter.
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A couple things I forgot to mention.

The Prairie Pothole aviary currently is completely empty. I only saw three birds in there today, a song sparrow and two red-winged blackbirds (including a male that I've never seen before). All ducks are off-exhibit for the summer and I forgot to ask the keeper when they'll be back so for all I know it could be tomorrow or in a month. I didn't even see the black-necked stilts though they might've just been hiding.

I also learned that in the coffee farm aviary there's some kind of anole in there. I didn't see it myself but a couple other visitors mentioned that they saw a lizard and the keeper said it was an anole and that it "came with the trees".
 
Andrew_NZP said:
Some small updates from my visit today.

Bird House:

Along with the previously mentioned clapper rail there's (as of my visit today) two other species that have been recently added to the coffee farm aviary that are not listed on the guide: Northern Parula & American Redstart. I did not see the redstart but the keeper told me that there should be at least one female somewhere in there.
Click to expand...

Looks like a fourth new species for the coffee farm aviary: Plain Chachalaca.
Plain chachalaca

I obviously didn't see any yesterday but a keeper had told me they were trying acquire them a while ago.
 
Nisha said:
The Giant Panda's will be returned to China by the end of this year
The National Zoo in Washington D.C. is returning its beloved pandas to China. Here's when and why.
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Maybe Sichuan Takin or another unique Asian hoofstock species could utilize the space once it has been renovated after the Pandas leave. The zoo is low on large hoofstock species. Maybe they can bring back Indian Rhinos since the Pandas are right next to the Asian Elephants? It's a large plot of land perfect for a large ungulate species, about 300' long and 175' wide.
 
Sarus Crane said:
Maybe Sichuan Takin or another unique Asian hoofstock species could utilize the space once it has been renovated after the Pandas leave. The zoo is low on large hoofstock species. Maybe they can bring back Indian Rhinos since the Pandas are right next to the Asian Elephants? It's a large plot of land perfect for a large ungulate species, about 300' long and 175' wide.
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I know the zoo has stated they would like to explore another contract for pandas. It's going to be difficult though because of the relations with China right now. Smithsonian is definitely one of the only zoos in America that could afford to have them since it's funded by the government.
 
An update about Zahra, the zoos now 3-month-old western lowland gorilla infant.

#GorillaStory: Zahra Wiggles and Tries Her Best

Andrew_NZP said:
A North American opossum has been added to the Small Mammal House. Per a member email he was a local rescue that was deemed non-releasable due to an eye injury. Members can vote on his name.

Virginia opossum
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A Q&A from the zoo about this guy, who has since been given the name Basil.

New at the Zoo: Basil the Virginia Opossum

Andrew_NZP said:
Small Mammal House:

A new species has taken over the former black howler exhibit: Collared Brown Lemur. This species was still signed at Lemur Island, but I'm assuming this is the same pair that lived there. Now as seen earlier my assumptions are often wrong, but in the nearly four years they lived on Lemur Island I never once saw them and had been told previously that they didn't like going outside and they (the keepers) struggled finding ways to make them go out. Also unless someone at the zoo just really loves the species bringing in new individuals of a species they have elsewhere seems like an odd choice, so I'm assuming this is the same pair.
Small Mammal House - Collared Brown Lemur

Small Mammal House - Collared Brown Lemur

  • Media owner Andrew_NZP
  • Date added
  • Comments 2
August 23rd, 2023
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Just wanted to make a minor correction, these two have been at the zoo since 2021, so only two years and not "nearly four".
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
I remember hearing March as a date for Atlanta's Pandas leaving and December for nationals, is that still true? I hope so as I am going to Atlanta in December mainly for the pandas
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Last I heard Smithsonian's lease ends this Winter but Zoo Atlanta's ends next Winter. The only Panda's at Zoo Atlanta who could leave in early 2024 would be the Twins as they were supposed to go back quite some time ago, but COVID also threw a wrench in those plans.
 
Yeah that could work. Make that panda area all for tigers and then redo all of the lion/tiger hill to be for lions
 
I really don't think the zoo is going to put in all the money to convert it for big cats. They want to get pandas back in a few years, it would be a waste of money. The yards were originally made for hoofstock, hoofstock would be much easier and cheaper both to move in and move out if pandas come back.
 
Let's all not forget too that any infrastructure change at the Zoo needs to go through not only the typical permitting that goes along with any city government, but the National Capitol Planning Commission - which ultimately has planning authority on all projects on federally own property.

No way they're getting plans designed, approved, and constructed for a big cat conversion in a reasonable amount of time.
 
Yeah that's a good point. I assumed that it wouldn't be that much of a change for the infrastructure, but then I realized tigers are way more athletic than pandas

Also I'm not sure if we're ever gonna get pandas back in America for a while, given US/China relations.
 
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