Zoo Atlanta Zoo Atlanta News 2025
- Thread starter King of Komodo Dragons
- Start date
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
2 Solomon Island Prehensile-Tailed Skinks were born in late September, and are currently living BTS.
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Atlanta
3 Pieces of August / September 2025 News Not Mentioned:
On August 15th, the zoo announced they renovated the gila monster exhibit inside Scaly Slimy Spectacular.
Zoo Atlanta
On September 12th, the zoo announced that 2+? Taveta golden weavers hatched, which are on display in the Living Treehouse aviary. This is the first for Zoo Atlanta in at least a decade.
Zoo Atlanta
On September 25th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a clutch of Chilean flamingo eggs to Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri.
35K views · 1K reactions | Exciting Zoo News: Chilean flamingos have joined our flock! Earlier this summer, Saint Louis Zoo staff traveled to Zoo Atlanta to collect a group of Chilean flamingo eggs. These birds are the newest members of our Ambassador Animal Team for Henry A. Jubel Foundation Destination Discovery, a brand-new Zoo experience for children and families set to open in 2026. The chicks have already started to hatch and will be cared for in a private, behind-the-scenes bird area until their new home at Destination Discovery is ready. A huge "thank you" to Zoo Atlanta for partnering with us to bring this new flamingo species to Saint Louis. Keep an eye on our channels for baby flamingo updates coming soon! | Saint Louis Zoo
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On October 30th, the zoo announced they acquired a female (0.1) plains zebra named Neighomi from Wildlife Safari in Oregon, which will go on display in the African Savannah exhibit in the future.
The zoo also announced they acquired a female (0.1) common ostrich named Olive from Georgia Ostrich Farm in Georgia, which will go on display in the African Savannah exhibit in the future.
Zoo Atlanta
On August 15th, the zoo announced they renovated the gila monster exhibit inside Scaly Slimy Spectacular.
Zoo Atlanta
On September 12th, the zoo announced that 2+? Taveta golden weavers hatched, which are on display in the Living Treehouse aviary. This is the first for Zoo Atlanta in at least a decade.
Zoo Atlanta
On September 25th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a clutch of Chilean flamingo eggs to Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri.
35K views · 1K reactions | Exciting Zoo News: Chilean flamingos have joined our flock! Earlier this summer, Saint Louis Zoo staff traveled to Zoo Atlanta to collect a group of Chilean flamingo eggs. These birds are the newest members of our Ambassador Animal Team for Henry A. Jubel Foundation Destination Discovery, a brand-new Zoo experience for children and families set to open in 2026. The chicks have already started to hatch and will be cared for in a private, behind-the-scenes bird area until their new home at Destination Discovery is ready. A huge "thank you" to Zoo Atlanta for partnering with us to bring this new flamingo species to Saint Louis. Keep an eye on our channels for baby flamingo updates coming soon! | Saint Louis Zoo
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On October 30th, the zoo announced they acquired a female (0.1) plains zebra named Neighomi from Wildlife Safari in Oregon, which will go on display in the African Savannah exhibit in the future.
The zoo also announced they acquired a female (0.1) common ostrich named Olive from Georgia Ostrich Farm in Georgia, which will go on display in the African Savannah exhibit in the future.
Zoo Atlanta
There's not even a token antelope for an "African Savanna".
It used to have bontebok, it may still.
USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
It was there up until 2024 at least, I saw the lone male on my last visit. Pretty sure he is still there.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Was there ever a sign for the bontebok? I don't recall. I didn't see him or the sign in my last two visits so I assumed it was gone.
I made it back to the Atlanta Zoo for about two hours on Monday. It was rainy earlier in the day so a number of species were not outside most or some of the day. My main intention to go back was to spend more time with the elephants, but there was a behind the scenes experience involving them going on so they were still only visible in the barn. I saw four elephants there, and this time three rhinos in their habitat. No meerkats, no warthogs, no giraffe, zebra or ostrich were seen. The lions were very loud and kept roaring! I also caught a better glimpse of the Sumatran tiger this time and spotted one of the outdoor eastern box turtles and the cavy.
While many of the savanna species appeared to be off-display, all of the monkeys and lemurs in Ford African Rainforest were explicitly signed as off, as were the red panda and orangutan, which I overheard a keeper say had been out earlier. The gorillas were not visible for a while but did head back out to forage. Double fail on the wrinkled hornbill.
As an addendum on Slimy Scaly Spectacular, the terrapin and neighboring two exhibits were still empty, but the Jamaican iguana "Grandma" was visible in her enclosure. The zoo also posted an article on Tuesday about the change, so the iguana is in the former anaconda exhibit.
Terraforming habitats: Anaconda to Old Iguana - Zoo Atlanta
It's a shame about the carnivoran lineup. I could see fossa, panda and clouded leopard potentially returning, at least, but it's a shame there doesn't appear to be a replacement for the raccoon dog. Even keeping the tortoise there is better than an empty space in my book.
While many of the savanna species appeared to be off-display, all of the monkeys and lemurs in Ford African Rainforest were explicitly signed as off, as were the red panda and orangutan, which I overheard a keeper say had been out earlier. The gorillas were not visible for a while but did head back out to forage. Double fail on the wrinkled hornbill.
As an addendum on Slimy Scaly Spectacular, the terrapin and neighboring two exhibits were still empty, but the Jamaican iguana "Grandma" was visible in her enclosure. The zoo also posted an article on Tuesday about the change, so the iguana is in the former anaconda exhibit.
Terraforming habitats: Anaconda to Old Iguana - Zoo Atlanta
I'm glad I made it out finally! I'd be pretty comfortable to come back, too - as usual I wish I'd had another day or two on the trip as is.
It'll be very interesting to see what route they take with these enclosures, I agree!
It's a real shame king cobra, reticulated python and green anaconda are all absent, leaving them without any real 'mega' snake. I hope they can reacquire at least one of the three species.
I'd have loved to see the tenrec! Very interesting.
I made a thread for former species and did some light research. It looks like Waterbuck were held in the Savanna, then swapped for Lesser Kudu from 2012 to 2016, and then Bontebok arrived in 2022 and stayed a year or two.
It's a shame about the carnivoran lineup. I could see fossa, panda and clouded leopard potentially returning, at least, but it's a shame there doesn't appear to be a replacement for the raccoon dog. Even keeping the tortoise there is better than an empty space in my book.
Based on my research, it looks like the Kudu were from 2012 to 2016, so this adds up on them.
I wonder if the bts introductions have to do with why I saw neither ostrich nor zebra during my visit last weekend.
I have no official confirmation but it looks likely to me Atlanta is out of Bontebok. The arrival of Casper was announced in 2022 and there is a flurry of social media posts from 2022-2023 and then no real mention of him afterward. The species was also no longer listed on Zootierliste this year. A bontebok named Casper is cited as the father of a recent birth at Nashville Zoo, and while it is possible the name is a repeat, the top comment on the post seeming to connect him to the individual at Atlanta, so he may have just been moved for breeding.
BearMinimum
Active Member
Lots of construction around the former panda site when I visited this past Sunday. Whatever they're building is still in its infancy, but looks expansive.
Some concrete foundation that looks like it could maybe be a pool; also a new shelter over the walkway to the exhibit, in east Asian style architecture, and a new building that could possibly be indoor viewing/dayrooms. This is completely my own conjecture—the structures may not be part of a habitat at all. The panda theming hasn't been removed from the Panda Pagoda gift shop, which I found interesting, since that seems like it'd be the easiest thing to get rid of if they weren't confident about pandas.
The signs seem to me to point to a very likely panda return—the expansion seems too big and expensive if they had any doubts. I suspect an agreement will be made when the upgrades are closer to completion, which could take a while, but it appears progress has been decent so far.
The rest of the zoo is honestly in a bit of limbo right now, so many losses from the collection that haven't been replaced. The clouded leopard habitat is still tarped off, and my guess is it may be converted into space for the tigers if they're trying for cubs (and they probably are), so the species may not return. The red panda has been moved into the former fossa habitat, which seems like an awfully cramped space, I didn't even like it much for a fossa. Hopefully it's not meant to be permanent. The African savannah looked empty too, only two ostriches and two giraffes on exhibit. The lion habitat upgrade looks pretty good, at least, which I was happy to see.
Some concrete foundation that looks like it could maybe be a pool; also a new shelter over the walkway to the exhibit, in east Asian style architecture, and a new building that could possibly be indoor viewing/dayrooms. This is completely my own conjecture—the structures may not be part of a habitat at all. The panda theming hasn't been removed from the Panda Pagoda gift shop, which I found interesting, since that seems like it'd be the easiest thing to get rid of if they weren't confident about pandas.
The signs seem to me to point to a very likely panda return—the expansion seems too big and expensive if they had any doubts. I suspect an agreement will be made when the upgrades are closer to completion, which could take a while, but it appears progress has been decent so far.
The rest of the zoo is honestly in a bit of limbo right now, so many losses from the collection that haven't been replaced. The clouded leopard habitat is still tarped off, and my guess is it may be converted into space for the tigers if they're trying for cubs (and they probably are), so the species may not return. The red panda has been moved into the former fossa habitat, which seems like an awfully cramped space, I didn't even like it much for a fossa. Hopefully it's not meant to be permanent. The African savannah looked empty too, only two ostriches and two giraffes on exhibit. The lion habitat upgrade looks pretty good, at least, which I was happy to see.
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