Working with Marsh Crocodiles at the Bronx Zoo The Muggar or Marsh Crocodile - Encounters in Captivity and the Wild - Part 1
Bronx Zoo Working with Marsh Crocodiles at the Bronx Zoo
- Thread starter findi
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Well he seems to have been working at Bronx years ago (1990's at least) so that would be back then. That said, the zoo could quite possibly still keep the species off-show. Everyone thought they no longer kept Gharial after they were removed them from JungleWorld but they recently traded 10 Gharials for 3 Komodo Dragons with the LA Zoo so who knows what they have back there!
~Thylo
Hi, Sorry for the delay..they were in the collection from 1985 until the late 90's. No more in the collection, nor are their gharials, sadly. A huge pair of False Gharials, in their 40's, are on exhibit at the reptile house: Working with the False Gharial - One of the World's Largest Crocodiles. Best, Frank
What species do they now keep in JungleWorld where the gharials used to be?
Hi..no crocs; exhibit was open-air; - warming air to appropriate temps would have affected public comfort, etc; management would not approve basking lights (would be visible to public); river area has fly river turtes, Batagur baska, fish; ; 2 exhibits that formerly held marsh crocs and water monitors now house bintourang and tree kangaroos (tree kangaroos perhaps replaced now). Best, Frank
Gharials might not be on-show but they had to have had them off-show until at least a few weeks ago to be able to trade 10 of them for Komodo Dragons. My suspicions are that they managed to breed them off-show.
I've never seen batagur in that enclosure but their are Fly River Turtles and one or two other turtle species. The fish are Tinfoil Barb, Giant Gourami, and Iridescent Shark. There's also Comb Duck in there. The tree kangaroos are still in JungleWorld in the first enclosure when you walk in by the Oriental Small-Clawed Otters. I've never seen a Binturong at Bronx and presuming this enclosure was the one by Malayan Tapirs, this now houses are pair of generic black Leopards.
@David, the enclosure the Gharials used to be kept in is a huge walk-through aviary with bats, a multitude of birds, for a while a blood python, and has a large pool going the length of the room. This is why it was too hard to keep them correctly in this enclosure.
~Thylo
Dicerorhinus
Well-Known Member
Gharials might not be on-show but they had to have had them off-show until at least a few weeks ago to be able to trade 10 of them for Komodo Dragons. My suspicions are that they managed to breed them off-show.
I've never seen batagur in that enclosure but their are Fly River Turtles and one or two other turtle species. The fish are Tinfoil Barb, Giant Gourami, and Iridescent Shark. There's also Comb Duck in there. The tree kangaroos are still in JungleWorld in the first enclosure when you walk in by the Oriental Small-Clawed Otters. I've never seen a Binturong at Bronx and presuming this enclosure was the one by Malayan Tapirs, this now houses are pair of generic black leopards.
~Thylo
The Gharial are fresh imports. If they had been bred outside of the indian sub-continent WCS wouldn't sit on a such a significant achievement.
I've been told the first two exhibits in Jungle world were intended for Komodo Dragons (see the murals). These were not obtained and findi is telling you that marsh crocodiles and water monitors were exhibited in their place. Later these exhibits contained tree kangaroos and binturong. I believe the awful "glass box" originally contained clouded leopards.
You see, I had thought that but why would the WCS import 10 adult Gharials just to send them all away to one zoo. And how could one zoo support 10 adult Gharials?
What murals? I can perhaps see Komodo Dragon in the current tree kangaroo enclosure but not in the current otter one. And I certainly couldn't see a croc in an enclosure with so little water. And only one side has and can even fit climbing opportunities so Binturong could not have been where the current otter enclosure is. As far as I'm aware the "glass box", as you call it, was once home to Binturongs and was planned to hold Clouded Leopard but never did. it's believed that's what it'll hold when the Leopard leave. And that enclosure isn't awful, just too small to hold two adult Leopards.
~Thylo
Dicerorhinus
Well-Known Member
San Diego received the last gharial at the Bronx zoo in 2003.
Take a look at this early plan: http://www.zoochat.com/547/jungleworld-original-plan-70732/
Take a look at this early plan: http://www.zoochat.com/547/jungleworld-original-plan-70732/
Hmm... Still find it odd that Bronx would have 10 spare Gharials.
Seems you're right. That area must have undergone some changes since then then as I couldn't see Binturongs fitting there now. I still don't think Clouded Leopard ever ended up there, though. Hopefully in the future as it would make a pretty nice enclosure for a smaller carnivore such as Clouded Leopard or Binturong, for that matter.
~Thylo
HI All,
I've moved on after 21 yrs at the Bx Zoo but have not heard anything re gharials being there in recent years, and nowhere to keep 10, large or small, as far as I know. Clouded leopards were in the exhibit you mention for a very short time in the late 80's. Did not exhibit well and were removed. Too bad, very interesting creatures. Komodos were intended to be in place when building opened in '85; proved impossible to get at the time, best, Frank
I've moved on after 21 yrs at the Bx Zoo but have not heard anything re gharials being there in recent years, and nowhere to keep 10, large or small, as far as I know. Clouded leopards were in the exhibit you mention for a very short time in the late 80's. Did not exhibit well and were removed. Too bad, very interesting creatures. Komodos were intended to be in place when building opened in '85; proved impossible to get at the time, best, Frank
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
They may have imported them for the LA zoo specifically, perhaps this was easier from a regulatory point of view or something. Presumably if they were imported they would be juveniles - has anyone seen photos of the LA individuals.
mstickmanp
Well-Known Member
There are no signs of the new gharials at the zoo. However, there are two empty exhibits right next to The LAIR (reptile house) that could easily hold 10 young gharials.
And I was thinking the same thing, maybe the gharials were imported for the LA Zoo. Have any gharials been born in Europe lately? The LA Zoo has been sending quite a few animals to Europe lately, so maybe they were brought in from Europe and were at the Bronx Zoo for quarantine purposes.