Franklin Park Zoo Tropical Forest & Gorilla exhibits

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

Forgot to include this in my last post:

Gorilla shifts in the Tropical Forest / Gorilla Grove:
In warm enough weather where it’s also not raining hard Kiki, Kambiri, Azize, and Pablo always go outside while the zoos two silverbacks Little Joe and Kitombe, Kit for short (who is the dad to Kambiri, Azize, and Pablo) Take turns with being outside with the girls and Pablo and having the entire indoor on exhibit section to themselves. In cold weather and when it’s snowing the girls and Pablo are kept in the indoor on exhibit area and the Silverbacks take turn being with the girls in the indoor on exhibit area and being indoors behind scenes.

Things I have noticed recently in the Tropical Forest:

I’m not sure if it is just me but more and more they seem to be fazing out lots of the species in the Tropical Forest. Using a combination of recent social media posts from the zoo and just being able to remember the Tropical Forest ten years ago and now species in the Tropical Forest that have significantly less than a few years ago or are not in a current breeding situation are:

Ring Tailed Lemurs: I remember that there used to be 10 plus of the species in the exhibit but now there are around 4 of them. I believe that they are also getting fazed out too because the zoo recently added a mural on the outside of the Tropical Forest which just happens to include White Ruffed Lemurs which they do not hold in their collection but not Ring Tailed Lemurs in the mural.

Cotton Topped Tamarins: A few years ago the zoo had 4 or some Cotton Topped Tamarins. Using a recent social media post from the zoo I can confirm that they have two of tangential currently. A father-son duo. They are not in a breeding situation and only having two of them makes me sort of think that they may be fazing out this species.

Bairds Tapir: A few years back the zoo actually had twin tapirs born. One of them was named Millie. I can confirm that Millie is the only Bairds Tapir currently at the zoo by looking at the zoos social media feed as when they talk about Bairds Tapir they only talk about her. Also there has only been one tapir in the exhibit when I have visited the zoo in the last 2 or 3 years. I believe that they are fazing out this species as they have held one female of this tapir subspecies alone for multiple years.

Potto: I believe that someone mentioned on Zoo Chat that the zoo only has one potto currently and with the decrease in facilities in the USA holding Pottos decreasing and most of them already related to the potto they currently hold at the zoo I can see them replacing this species with lorises or even just knowing the zoo going a cheaper route and putting in another terrarium for a reptile.

Animals that have been removed from the Tropical Forest in the past 10 years:

Capybara: The Tropical Forest used to house this species in its own exhibit. Currently the exhibit is a second Pygmy hippo exhibit with the first one right next to it.

Emperor Tamarin: This species was held in a small exhibit with a sloth. The exhibit currently only holds a singular sloth.

Mandrill: This species was held in an exhibit that is like most of the exhibits in the Tropical Forest completely indoors. On top of that the exhibit was way too small to house Mandrills. Currently the exhibit houses a small family of De-Brazza monkeys.

Rupell’s Griffon Vulture: This species was actually held in the first Pygmy Hippo exhibit where they could go on the ground or clump on a measly dead tiny tree in the corner. I personally had never seen the vulture go on the ground. I believe that the Vulture’s wings were clipped as then the vulture would just fly throughout the aviary which I never saw happen.

Hope this info is helpful to someone!

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

There is no good reason to place Little Joe in a breeding situation. Little Joe's sire, Kongo, was a prolific breeder at the Bronx Zoo, so Little Joe has many full- and half- siblings, many of whom have had kids of their own:

• Koga (deceased): half-sibling, 3 offspring
• Tusa (Cleveland): half-sibling
• Holli (Houston): half-sibling, 2 offspring
• Tunko (Bronx): half-sibling, 2 offspring
• Honi (Philadelphia): half-sibling, 2 offspring
• Tommy (Sedgwick County): half-sibling
• Billy (Sedgwick County): half-sibling
• Pattycake (deceased): half-sibling, 7 offspring
• Imani (deceased): full-sibling, 2 offspring

With six living half-siblings, and eighteen living nieces/nephews, needless to say Little Joe has no shortage of relatives in the population. Furthermore, this isn't even considering that some of these nieces/nephews have offspring of their own, more distant relatives, or his maternal relatives. Little Joe's mother, Triska, is still alive at the Bronx Zoo, and Little Joe has three additional living half-siblings on his maternal side, at least one of which has children of her own.

Given these genetics, Franklin Park has historically used Kitombe as their breeding male, as Kitombe is far less over-represented than Little Joe is. That said, female gorillas, such as Kiki, typically go into senescence around the age of 40, so it is highly unlikely that Franklin Park Zoo has any additional gorilla births in the near future unless more females are acquired to breed with Kitombe, or a new silverback is brought in to breed with Kambiri and Azizi (both of which are nearing reproductive age and are genetically somewhat valuable).

Thanks for the info! I never realized that Little Joe had so many relatives.

 

[15399]

Ring Tailed Lemurs: I remember that there used to be 10 plus of the species in the exhibit but now there are around 4 of them. I believe that they are also getting fazed out too because the zoo recently added a mural on the outside of the Tropical Forest which just happens to include White Ruffed Lemurs which they do not hold in their collection but not Ring Tailed Lemurs in the mural.

To be fair, ring-tailed lemurs are not a rainforest species, as they are from the dry spiny forests of Madagascar. A separate lemur species, whether that be Varecia or Eulemur, would be more thematically appropriate for the Tropical Forest anyways. That said, lemur mixed-species exhibits have been done before, so it is possible Franklin Park Zoo could acquire a second lemur species without phasing ring-tailed lemurs out entirely.

Cotton Topped Tamarins: A few years ago the zoo had 4 or some Cotton Topped Tamarins. Using a recent social media post from the zoo I can confirm that they have two of tangential currently. A father-son duo. They are not in a breeding situation and only having two of them makes me sort of think that they may be fazing out this species.

Bairds Tapir: A few years back the zoo actually had twin tapirs born. One of them was named Millie. I can confirm that Millie is the only Bairds Tapir currently at the zoo by looking at the zoos social media feed as when they talk about Bairds Tapir they only talk about her. Also there has only been one tapir in the exhibit when I have visited the zoo in the last 2 or 3 years. I believe that they are fazing out this species as they have held one female of this tapir subspecies alone for multiple years.

Just because the zoo isn't breeding these species at the moment is not evidence they are being phased out. Most SSPs need zoos to be housing non-breeding individuals, whether that is due to them being genetically overrepresented, medical exclusions, elderly individuals, or some other reason. There's really no evidence here to support the claims that either species is being phased out, in my opinion.

Potto: I believe that someone mentioned on Zoo Chat that the zoo only has one potto currently and with the decrease in facilities in the USA holding Pottos decreasing and most of them already related to the potto they currently hold at the zoo I can see them replacing this species with lorises or even just knowing the zoo going a cheaper route and putting in another terrarium for a reptile.

Correct- pottos are a phase-out species by the AZA. The space is well-designed for a nocturnal prosimian, however, so I would expect either pygmy slow lorises or Moholi bushbabies to take up residence here in the future. A reptile terrarium would not be the "cheaper route" given that the exhibit for prosimians is already in place.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

I personally hope that the zoo does a white ruffed and red ruffed lemur mixed species exhibit.

 

[NNM.]

Cotton Topped Tamarins: A few years ago the zoo had 4 or some Cotton Topped Tamarins. Using a recent social media post from the zoo I can confirm that they have two of tangential currently. A father-son duo. They are not in a breeding situation and only having two of them makes me sort of think that they may be fazing out this species.

Bairds Tapir: A few years back the zoo actually had twin tapirs born. One of them was named Millie. I can confirm that Millie is the only Bairds Tapir currently at the zoo by looking at the zoos social media feed as when they talk about Bairds Tapir they only talk about her. Also there has only been one tapir in the exhibit when I have visited the zoo in the last 2 or 3 years. I believe that they are fazing out this species as they have held one female of this tapir subspecies alone for multiple years.

Just because the zoo isn't breeding these species at the moment is not evidence they are being phased out. Most SSPs need zoos to be housing non-breeding individuals, whether that is due to them being genetically overrepresented, medical exclusions, elderly individuals, or some other reason. There's really no evidence here to support the claims that either species is being phased out, in my opinion.

I was thinking this based on separate comments, it sounds like a lot of assumptions are being made here. I do know that the zoo plans on doing some phasing out, but there has not been any definitive word that tapirs or tamarins are among them, or even really word about ring-tailed lemurs unless you count the new murals, which I personally don't really.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

I was thinking this based on separate comments, it sounds like a lot of assumptions are being made here. I do know that the zoo plans on doing some phasing out, but there has not been any definitive word that tapirs or tamarins are among them, or even really word about ring-tailed lemurs unless you count the new murals, which I personally don't really.

Yes I’ve noticed that I forgot to mention that it is all assumptions and speculation but as you can’t change messages you’ve made a while ago I’ve not been able to put it in so just to let everyone know these are assumptions. Apologies for being unclear in my original message.

 

[Critterkeeper]

Cotton Topped Tamarins: A few years ago the zoo had 4 or some Cotton Topped Tamarins. Using a recent social media post from the zoo I can confirm that they have two of tangential currently. A father-son duo. They are not in a breeding situation and only having two of them makes me sort of think that they may be fazing out this species.

Bairds Tapir: A few years back the zoo actually had twin tapirs born. One of them was named Millie. I can confirm that Millie is the only Bairds Tapir currently at the zoo by looking at the zoos social media feed as when they talk about Bairds Tapir they only talk about her. Also there has only been one tapir in the exhibit when I have visited the zoo in the last 2 or 3 years. I believe that they are fazing out this species as they have held one female of this tapir subspecies alone for multiple years.

Potto: I believe that someone mentioned on Zoo Chat that the zoo only has one potto currently and with the decrease in facilities in the USA holding Pottos decreasing and most of them already related to the potto they currently hold at the zoo I can see them replacing this species with lorises or even just knowing the zoo going a cheaper route and putting in another terrarium for a reptile.

The zoo has had some health-related issues with the CTTs, which is why there are only 2 on exhibit currently. Those 2 are actually the pair that was at Stone Zoo previously. I don't believe there's any thoughts about phasing them out, as a new individual was brought in last year and is now residing at Stone.

There are 2 Baird's Tapirs; Millie and her mother Abby. I don't believe there's any plan to bring in another male for Abby as she's already had several calves, but once she passes they may consider bringing in a mate for Millie. I'm fairly certain this is a species they intend to keep around.

You are correct that Potto will be phased out. The current resident, Joey, will remain there for the duration of her life but no other potto will be acquired. As previously mentioned, AZA as a whole is phasing the species out. Last I heard there are only 4 facilities in the US that still have them.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

The zoo has had some health-related issues with the CTTs, which is why there are only 2 on exhibit currently. Those 2 are actually the pair that was at Stone Zoo previously. I don't believe there's any thoughts about phasing them out, as a new individual was brought in last year and is now residing at Stone.

There are 2 Baird's Tapirs; Millie and her mother Abby. I don't believe there's any plan to bring in another male for Abby as she's already had several calves, but once she passes they may consider bringing in a mate for Millie. I'm fairly certain this is a species they intend to keep around.

You are correct that Potto will be phased out. The current resident, Joey, will remain there for the duration of her life but no other potto will be acquired. As previously mentioned, AZA as a whole is phasing the species out. Last I heard there are only 4 facilities in the US that still have them.

Thanks for the info! You know so much about the zoos animals! What about the cotton topped tamarins in the exhibit with the sloth? There are occasionally tamarins in the sloth exhibit while at the same time the father son duo are in the regular tamarin exhibit. Does anyone know what this is about?

 

[NNM.]

Thanks for the info! You know so much about the zoos animals! What about the cotton topped tamarins in the exhibit with the sloth? There are occasionally tamarins in the sloth exhibit while at the same time the father son duo are in the regular tamarin exhibit. Does anyone know what this is about?

I think think these are just tamarins who don’t get along with the others.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

I think think these are just tamarins who don’t get along with the others.

Yes you are probably right about them not getting along with the others but I still wonder why they are only sometimes in the sloth exhibit. The zoo has taken up and down the cotton topped tamarin sign in the sloth exhibit multiple times too. By sign I mean the one that holds the info about he animal.

 

[Critterkeeper]

Yes you are probably right about them not getting along with the others but I still wonder why they are only sometimes in the sloth exhibit. The zoo has taken up and down the cotton topped tamarin sign in the sloth exhibit multiple times too. By sign I mean the one that holds the info about he animal.

The 2 in the sloth exhibit are sisters who are the offspring of the mated pair previously in the other exhibit. They have access to their off exhibit holding area all the time and can choose to go in and out, which is why they aren't always visible. The signs were removed when they had to be moved to an alternate holding space while work was being done in that area. Because they have health conditions which require more consistent monitoring, they are in with the sloth as this is more easily done in that space than the other exhibit. Introductions have never been done between the two pairs as far as I'm aware, so it's unclear if there would be any issues with a group housing situation.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

The 2 in the sloth exhibit are sisters who are the offspring of the mated pair previously in the other exhibit. They have access to their off exhibit holding area all the time and can choose to go in and out, which is why they aren't always visible. The signs were removed when they had to be moved to an alternate holding space while work was being done in that area. Because they have health conditions which require more consistent monitoring, they are in with the sloth as this is more easily done in that space than the other exhibit. Introductions have never been done between the two pairs as far as I'm aware, so it's unclear if there would be any issues with a group housing situation.

Wow! Thanks for the info! Just wondering if anyone knows but does the zoo still house Ptolemy the Pygmy hippo? If so do they also still hold his parents too? And finally this means that one of the Pygmy hippos has to be in the behind the exhibit section because their are only two exhibits? Right?

 

[Critterkeeper]

Wow! Thanks for the info! Just wondering if anyone knows but does the zoo still house Ptolemy the Pygmy hippo? If so do they also still hold his parents too? And finally this means that one of the Pygmy hippos has to be in the behind the exhibit section because their are only two exhibits? Right?

Correct. The zoo still has all 3 hippos and one is always off exhibit. I believe Ptolemy is usually out and they rotate the parents.

 

[tigris115]

Many years ago, they had a masterplan for the zoo that involved having many domed buildings just like the TF, with underground passages connecting them. This way the zoo would be great in the winter weather when many animals cant go outside. The guests could experience the entire zoo indoors. Each of these buildings were to be themed like a particular african biome. There would be a rainforest dome, savannah dome, desert dome, etc. Some were two or three times as large as the TF. They also all had exhibits that gave the animals the option to be outdoors in warm weather, and so during the summer, guests would be able to watch the animals outdoors, or indoors. This was all after most of the buildings in the zoo had been knocked down, or abandoned (this includes the old bear cages and old elephant house). The zoo at some point was also cut in half- If you look on google maps, the baseball field to the west of the zoo was once part of the zoo grounds. Ultimately, when construction on this new masterplan began, they realized this was going to be far too expensive, and so they decided to build only one new building, which was the TF. At some point in this process, the elephants were replaced with gorillas, which is probably for 1 of 2 reasons. First, gorillas are much cheaper than elephants, and this fits with the theme of them being low on $. Second, there were already gorillas at stone zoo, in a bad exhibit, and so those gorillas could just be moved to franklin park.

Today, it seems unlikely that Franklin Park Zoo will get elephants ever in the future. The zoo staff claim that they do not have enough space in the park, even though the zoo is more than 70 acres, and most of the land is unused. I think the real reason why they cant is because of the money. The most likely new big animal to be added to the zoo is probably southern white rhinos. The giraffe savannah exhibit was originally meant to include giraffes, zebras, and rhinos, but rhinos were cut last minute. The exhibit has a strong enough fence for the rhinos, and is large enough for them, they just need to build the barn. It would be a great addition, since rhinos can withstand colder weather than giraffes, and so that part of the zoo would be much less empty for more of the year.

The zoo is not doing too well financially, and really struggles with having a lot of empty space, and not as many animals, in my opinion. If you look at the original plans for their new children's zoo, nature's neighborhoods, and the final result of the construction, you can see what I mean. The next big construction project is a new entrance, and after that is some big waterhole exhibit, so we will see how those turn out. On the upside, they are growing (slowly), and are raising money faster than ever before. The zoos struggle materials-wise, and financially, but overall have a wonderful and very very dedicated staff and volunteers.

Here is a link to an article about the zoo's old masterplan with all the domes: FROM A to ZOO

It is really sad that a zoo in a city like Boston is having such struggles with money.

 

[Zoo-Lover-1-2-3]

Yes the zoo is pretty depressing sometimes but they have really been making lots of efforts to ramp up the zoo first with the outdoor gorilla exhibit and a new Savannah and penguin exhibit are in the making.