Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden What's Gnu at the Cincinnati Zoo? - 2012

Wooten, one of the zoo's Florida manatees, will soon be returning to Florida to be released into the wild next month. There are no current plans for the zoo's other manatee, Betsy, to leave any time soon.
 
Here's a new video of Wooten, the Florida manatee who will be returned to the wild next month:

Here's a new video of the baby Coquerel's sifaka:
 
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Press release of the manatee release:
CINCINNATI (October 16, 2012) – Wooten, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 630-pound Florida manatee will soon be heading home! After arriving at the Cincinnati Zoo two years ago, Wooten will return to the wild as part of the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Program. Visitor’s last chance to see Wooten at the Zoo’s Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Manatee Springs exhibit will be Sunday, November 4. Coincidentally, Wooten was seen at the Cincinnati Zoo for the first time on November 4, 2010. Video of Wooten - Manatee Wooten Going Home - Cincinnati Zoo - YouTube

The USFWS recently deemed Wooten releasable, after nearly two years at the Cincinnati Zoo, as he now has enough extra weight to transition to life in the wild. He was brought to the Cincinnati Zoo after being rescued in Wooten’s Pond, near the city of Ochopee, Florida, in Collier County. Due to his size at the time, experts agreed that he was more than likely an orphaned calf. Young manatees, left alone in the wild do not typically fair well as they have no protection from large predators. In addition, they seem to stay in the area they lost their mothers, which can result in cold stress if they are late fall travelers. They are usually very weak and are in need of nourishment, when rescued, as they are typically still of nursing age.

On November 5, Wooten will travel to the Miami Seaquarium before being released into the Orange River, near Ft. Myers, at a date still to be determined. Since he was rescued near the Orange River, it is hoped that he may have some recollection of the area which would benefit him greatly.

Wooten is the 11th manatee the Cincinnati Zoo has rehabbed and released back to the wild. The Cincinnati Zoo is one of only two facilities outside of Florida to participate in the USFWS’ Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Program. This Program began in 1973 with the mission of rescuing and rehabilitating distressed and injured Florida manatees. The fundamental purpose of the program is to release these rehabilitated manatees back into their wild habitat.

“Wooten is the perfect example of why facilities like the Cincinnati Zoo are so important for the long-term management and care of these amazing animals,” said Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo. “Without rescue, rehabilitation and release programs for manatees, animals like Wooten would die from being orphaned at a young age, without the knowledge to survive on their own. Seeing him released back into the wild is yet another major accomplishment for conservationists around the world.”

Orphaned manatees are considered “Naive”. In the first two years of a manatee’s life, its mother shows it what to eat, what dangers to avoid and most importantly, the routes necessary to migrate to warm water springs. These behaviors are not instinctively known. They must find warm waters each fall in order to survive winter water temperatures, which can be as low as 50 degrees in parts of Florida. Though manatees are large animals, they have very little resistance to cold temperatures and prolonged exposure to temperatures below 65 degrees result in a condition known as “Cold Stress”, symptoms of which include skin ulcers, digestive system failure, cardiopulmonary issues and death.

Manatees can live up to 60 years of age. However, human activities throughout the years have accounted for about one-third of the known manatee deaths each year with watercraft collisions comprising the greatest human-related threat. Most adult manatees bear permanent scars from watercraft propeller strikes. In January of 2010, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) reported a preliminary count of 5,076 manatees statewide. This aerial survey is the highest population count since surveys began in 1991. Unfortunately, the number of known mortalities continues to increase.
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The three name options for the giraffe calf are Lulu ("Precious" in Swahili), Mara ("Spotted" in Maasai), and Rosie (For the Reds mascot). The name can be voted for on Facebook until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The zoo has posted another video on Wooten, the Florida manatee that is returning to Florida next month:
 
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The giraffe calf has been named Lulu.

Also, today is the 22nd birthday of the zoo's 2,030lb Florida manatee, Betsy.
 
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The zoo uploaded another video about Lulu the Masai giraffe calf:
 
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I was at the zoo today and I saw a couple changes from my last visit in april. First there is 2 young arctic foxes that came from the como park zoo on exhibit in the old barred owl exhibit and the raggiana BOPs weren't on exhibit. they had a pesquets parrot on the right side and in the left was a lady Ross tuaraco.
 
jusko88 said:
I was at the zoo today and I saw a couple changes from my last visit in april. First there is 2 young arctic foxes that came from the como park zoo on exhibit in the old barred owl exhibit and the raggiana BOPs weren't on exhibit. they had a pesquets parrot on the right side and in the left was a lady Ross tuaraco.
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Goodness! those are great changes. :D (although the tuaraco ruins the Australasia theme). I can't wait to see Arctic foxes!
 
Thank you for the update jusko88. I hope you had a nice visit. It would not surprise me if the Raggiana bird-of-paradise situation is merely temporary. Last I heard the zoo has two breeding pairs of them, and I would say that they are only off exhibit for breeding. It is nice to hear about the addition of the foxes. They will fit in quite nicely next to the polar bears. Not to mention that this brings the zoo up to a total of four fox species on display!

Also, I don't know if any of you noticed, but at the end of the new video about the giraffe calf Thane Maynard does mention African wild dogs for Africa, so there is still a chance that they will make a return appearance to the zoo!
 
Yes Moebelle. The zoo has 2 of them. I personally like them in that exhibit. I also like to note that on my visit today i finally saw cat canyon. I think the zoo could have done better with the tiger exhibits but i love the snow leopard exhibit. Im mad also cause they took the diana Monkeys off exhibit.
 
jusko88 said:
Yes Moebelle. The zoo has 2 of them. I personally like them in that exhibit. I also like to note that on my visit today i finally saw cat canyon. I think the zoo could have done better with the tiger exhibits but i love the snow leopard exhibit. Im mad also cause they took the diana Monkeys off exhibit.
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Then what's in one of the rotation exhibits? My opinion is the opposite of your's on Cat Canyon. The snow leopard exhibit has every thing but the giant hill, and the tiger exhibits are a lot better than the old ones.
 
MrOkapi said:
Were the Diana Monkeys in Gorilla World (or whatever that exhibit is called)?
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No they were in Jungle Trails and they/are rotated(ing) indoor and outdoor with the sifakas. The other primates in Gorilla World are the colobi and crowned guenons.
 
Black and white ruffed Lemurs were outside and the other 2 exhibits, one of them had a sign saying animals off exhibit and the other one had a sign for angolan colobus.
 
jusko88 said:
Black and white ruffed Lemurs were outside and the other 2 exhibits, one of them had a sign saying animals off exhibit and the other one had a sign for angolan colobus.
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Oh okay good at least the Angolan colobus is back. So the middle exhibit had the 'off exhibit' sign, the Congo peafowl one.
 
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