Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden What's Gnu at the Cincinnati Zoo - 2016

In the wake of the beloved musician's death,"Bowie" the little penguin chick has been receiving national attention:
Cincinnati Zoo names baby penguin "Bowie" - CBS News

In other news, Discovery Forest will be closed on February 2nd and 8th for tree trimming and removal. Over the course of the past nine years, 80ft of vertical growth has been removed from the kapok tree, and after this trimming, the total will likely rise to over 100ft. In addition to the trimming of the kapok, two palm trees that are now pushing against the roof of the greenhouse will be removed and replaced with smaller palms.
 
"Sahara", better known as "Sarah", the cheetah famous for setting the record for fastest land animal, was euthanized yesterday at the age of 15 due to declining quality of life:

Cincinnati Zoo Says Goodbye to World’s Fastest Cheetah

CINCINNATI, OH (January 21, 2016) – One of Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s most beloved and charismatic animals has died. Fifteen-year-old Sahara (aka Sarah), the world’s fastest land animal, was euthanized yesterday by the Zoo’s vet staff due to a diminishing quality of life. The average lifespan of a cheetah is eight to twelve years.

“She lived a full life and was a phenomenal ambassador for her species,” said Linda Castaneda, Lead Trainer for the Cincinnati Zoo’s Cat Ambassador Program. “Sarah was the queen bee around here. She had a very expressive face that communicated what she wanted. And we obliged. She was a dynamic individual and we were privileged to know her and learn from her. We will all miss the princess cat.”

Sarah came to the Cincinnati Zoo when she was only six weeks old and was hand raised by Cathryn Hilker, Founder of the Zoo’s Cat Ambassador Program. She was one of the first cheetah cubs to be raised with a puppy companion, a common practice today, an Anatolian shepherd named Alexa. While Sarah had various trainers throughout her time at the Cincinnati Zoo, her favorite human by far was the woman who raised her, Cathryn Hilker. “Anyone who saw them together could see their unique relationship,” said Castaneda. “Sarah would often challenge her trainers when asked to do a task but she would fulfill any request made by Cathryn. It was an exceptional relationship, one that every keeper and trainer hopes to have with animals in their care. Even in her retirement from the Zoo, Cathryn continued to be a constant in Sarah’s life, visiting her earlier this week to say her goodbyes.”

As a cat ambassador, Sarah visited hundreds of schools and thousands of students during the last decade and a half to raise awareness of the plight of the cheetah. At the Zoo, she showed drop-jawed visitors just how fast a cheetah can run!

Sarah was a well-known cheetah around the Cincinnati area and around the world. She was featured in magazines, print and even a local Metro commercial, but her claim to fame is being the fastest captive cheetah in the world!

During the filming of a National Geographic cheetah special in 2012, Sarah ran 100 meters in 5.95 seconds, beating her previous world record of 6.13 seconds set in 2009. That’s more than 3 seconds faster than the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, whose fastest time for the same distance is 9.58 seconds. Sarah’s top speed was clocked at 61 mph.

Cheetahs are built for speed. Their flexible spine allows their front legs to stretch far forward on each stride, covering 20 to 22 feet in one stride, about the same distance as a racehorse. Cheetahs are off the ground more than half of their running time! Their claws are hard and sharp like cleats, giving them great traction when they run.

Cheetahs are endangered, and their population worldwide has shrunk from about 100,000 in 1900 to an estimated 9,000 to 12,000 cheetahs today. The Cincinnati Zoo has been dubbed “The Cheetah Capital of the World” because of its conservation efforts through education, public interpretation, and the captive cheetah breeding program. The Zoo’s Regional Cheetah Breeding Center is one of only four similar facilities in the United States managed by the Species Survival Plan. In total, there have been 73 cheetah cubs born in Cincinnati.

Since 1980 the Cincinnati Zoo’s “Cat Ambassador Program” has taken African cheetahs to schools and programs around the U.S, Canada, and Central America to spread the word that cheetahs are running for their lives. In addition, each summer the Zoo takes 22 school teachers to the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s headquarters in Namibia for a two-week conservation field study. Since 1990 the Cincinnati Zoo’s “Angel Fund,” named after our first cheetah ambassador, “Angel,” has directly supported cheetah conservation in Africa. From South Africa and Namibia in the south, up through Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, The Angel Fund has contributed more than $1 million in support for cheetahs in the wild.
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Construction workers are renovating the middle part of the cow elephant exhibit. For now, the females have access to both the indoor viewing exhibit, along with Sabu's yard.
 
Just because I know this was a question that has cropped up before, while applying for internships, I found that the zoo currently houses over 500 birds of 150 species in its collection.
 
After the death of the Indian Rhino in 2014, what species are kept now in the exhibit, and are there any plans to get Indian Rhinos again or do want the zoo focus only on the Blacks ?
 
The zoo turned the right half of the exhibit to combine with the adjacent okapi habitat. Currently there is nothing in the exhibit but once Kifaru possiblly impregnates Seyia (Black rhino), Kifaru will be held in the empty yard. Even though it is insignificant to the answer, two Southern Screamers took over the exhibit when Nikki passed.
 
It is important to note that the zoo still houses one female Indian rhinoceros named "Manjula" in a yard on the opposite side of the black rhinoceroses from where "Nikki" was housed. Last I heard, they were beginning to work on prepping her for work with artificial insemination.
 
Today is "Samantha" the gorilla's 46th birthday. She is the oldest mammal at the zoo.
 
Moebelle said:
Construction workers are renovating the middle part of the cow elephant exhibit. For now, the females have access to both the indoor viewing exhibit, along with Sabu's yard.
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Any details on what the renovation includes?
 
@Kudu21

I didn't knew an Indian Rhino left at Cincy Zoo after Nikkis death-but indeed, she is listed in the last edition of the Iternational Studbook from 2014-she came from The Wilds to Cincinnati. But why the Zoo is not also keeping a male instead of, all the time,"breeding"by using A-I.?
 
"Manjula" has been at the zoo since 2010. She came to Cincinnati from The Wilds, where she was born in 2005.

As far as why they have not invested in a bull for natural breeding, I have heard that "Manjula" was brought to the zoo specifically for work with the zoo's CREW research team, so I do not think that she is here as much for breeding, per se, as she is for furthering the scientific understanding of these creatures and their complex reproductive systems and cycling, for seeing if artificial insemination could possibly be a viable option for insuring this species's survival.
 
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ctfctf7 said:
Any details on what the renovation includes?
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2 hours after I had posted that Sabu was back in his habitat while the cows stayed inside. It seems that extra dirt that had built up naturally in the middle part of the exhibit was removed along with half of the hotwire being removed as well. Nothing special but even today it was still being worked on.

I also forgot the mention that the bonobos are off exhibit both outside and inside. Outside, of course being too cold, and it seems repainting along some parts of the walls are being redone in the indoor viewing building.
 
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