Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park News 2023

Just a couple of observations from my 5th visit visit since the new year (don't judge me lol):

I'm highly unimpressed with the Florida revamp, however seeing at least 8 red wolves between the two enclosures is pretty cool

I have yet to see one of the mother/daughter pairs of elephants this year. Granted I've been arriving at the zoo with only about an hour before closing but I find that curious

Consistently have seen 3 yellow foot rock wallabies every visit as well

Sun bear has been visible every visit too (1 of 15 left in the U.S. now?)

An exciting development is one of the shoebills (presumably a female) has been on the nest every visit so far. Fingers crossed
 
PSO said:
Just a couple of observations from my 5th visit visit since the new year (don't judge me lol):

I'm highly unimpressed with the Florida revamp, however seeing at least 8 red wolves between the two enclosures is pretty cool

I have yet to see one of the mother/daughter pairs of elephants this year. Granted I've been arriving at the zoo with only about an hour before closing but I find that curious

Consistently have seen 3 yellow foot rock wallabies every visit as well

Sun bear has been visible every visit too (1 of 15 left in the U.S. now?)

An exciting development is one of the shoebills (presumably a female) has been on the nest every visit so far. Fingers crossed
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A bit more info on the shoebills, I also went to Tampa today and was able to talk to the shoebills keeper, she told me that they do have an egg, they do not know if it is fertile since they are doing this 100% parent raised no human interference. She said they are hopeful though since both the male and female have been showing all the behaviors they expect to see, so with any luck we will hear about a baby shoebill in the near future!
 
A few updates, since I've been ~2-3 times in the past month and a half, and I don't believe anybody's touched on these:

  • The zoo added sandhill cranes to the former singing dog exhibit in Australia, then promptly removed them and placed them in the skunk exhibit, leaving an empty, signless exhibit on the Australian boardwalk once again.
  • Removed the parrots (can't remember the species, I think Amazons?) from their separate section of the walk-through aviary. Replaced them with the seriemas, which were always my favorite part of the walk-through, but this kind of feels, like...neutered. The half that the seriemas were originally in is basically just a tern exhibit.
  • Removed the "under construction" sign from the old Emu exhibit. The fence is still up, leaving another empty, signless exhibit on the Australian boardwalk.
  • They removed the Alligator Snapping Turtle from its original tank and put it in the gator exhibit. So, now, you can never see the turtle, while also not alleviating the feeling that the gator exhibit is empty.
I find a lot of these decisions baffling, though they might be minor. I understand that they are gearing up towards this major expansion, but frankly, I'm worried that the expansion means they might leave their old exhibits to further degrade in quality (though, if renovating means they look like the new Florida Boardwalk, maybe it's best they leave them be, lol)
 
Rijin said:
  • Removed the parrots (can't remember the species, I think Amazons?) from their separate section of the walk-through aviary. Replaced them with the seriemas, which were always my favorite part of the walk-through, but this kind of feels, like...neutered. The half that the seriemas were originally in is basically just a tern exhibit.
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During my January 2022 visit, I saw Cuban Amazons and Red-browed Amazons in the exhibit you may be referring to.

Rijin said:
  • They removed the Alligator Snapping Turtle from its original tank and put it in the gator exhibit. So, now, you can never see the turtle, while also not alleviating the feeling that the gator exhibit is empty.
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Bruh, why would they do that? Do you know what they are going to put in the original tank?

The Alligator exhibit was closed during my visit, but I was able to get a glimpse at it; like you said, it would basically be impossible to see the turtle in that given the enclosure's size and the fact that the water is covered in duckweed (when I saw it).

The North Carolina Zoo used to have a similar setup (one of their alligator exhibits is similar to the one at Tampa in terms of style, but smaller). At least there, you could still see the turtle when they had them mixed because the water was clear.

Zoo Tampa seems to have gained a reputation for making bizarre decisions with their projects, and these latest developments surely don't help. Even during my single visit, there were plenty of things about this facility that left me scratching my head, even if ultimately I still enjoyed it.
 
Astrotom3000 said:
During my January 2022 visit, I saw Cuban Amazons and Red-browed Amazons in the exhibit you may be referring to.
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Yep, that'll be the ones! Thanks! I assume they're off-exhibit with the other parrots rn.

Astrotom3000 said:
Bruh, why would they do that? Do you know what they are going to put in the original tank?

The Alligator exhibit was closed during my visit, but I was able to get a glimpse at it; like you said, it would basically be impossible to see the turtle in that given the enclosure's size and the fact that the water is covered in duckweed (when I saw it).
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Currently, it houses a longnose gar and one that is either a juvenile alligator gar or a Florida gar- I'm not quite sure. (Given that I was last there less than two weeks ago, maybe I should be concerned- but oh well, lol). Either way, I don't quite think the tank is large enough for either of them, much less both. But it's perfect for an alligator snapper!

The gator exhibit is still absolutely swamped with duckweed and there's only like, three gators in there. Mixed with the fact that it's a decently large, it feels horribly empty. And you'll never see the turtle! Ever!

Ultimately, it pains me to say this, but I have to say that I agree with their dwindling reputation. Even a friend of mine's coworker, who moved in from out of state and doesn't know much about zoos, called it "extremely disappointing."

I'm just not sure what's going on in the administration. May of their decisions are mind-boggling at best and outright dismal at worst- I'd be surprised if the AZA lets them keep their accreditation after their new black bear "exhibit."

I do still love ZT, and what they do right is still nice, but I can't say I'm happy with many of their more recent decisions.
 
Yeah, I literally told my wife "well, we are never going to see that turtle again" when I read that in the news letter and then saw it myself on my last visit. It is strange, that turtle has been in that tank for a super long time, they have had an alligator snapping turtle there or near that tank since I was young, probably since close to when the place opened. My only hope is that they are prepping for remodeling the Florida building. But that is a long shot hope. Rather it seems like another bizarre choice by admin.
Rijin said:
  • The zoo added sandhill cranes to the former singing dog exhibit in Australia, then promptly removed them and placed them in the skunk exhibit, leaving an empty, signless exhibit on the Australian boardwalk once again.
  • Removed the parrots (can't remember the species, I think Amazons?) from their separate section of the walk-through aviary. Replaced them with the seriemas, which were always my favorite part of the walk-through, but this kind of feels, like...neutered. The half that the seriemas were originally in is basically just a tern exhibit.
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At least it makes sense for them to be in the skunk habitat, Australia was a strange place to put them. I hope they can give Wallaroo station some more animals, it is so strange. Without having someone "on the inside" it is hard to say what is going on . With the emu, crane, and seiemas all being bird related it would imply some changes in that department. Hopefully it will all come together in the coming months. The main aviary really needs some changes.

The Cuban amazon's were/are? in the kind of hidden back aviary between the red-brown amazon (originally toco toucan aviary) and hornbills. As much as I love Cuban amazon's, I hope the red-brown are still there.

Rijin said:
I'm just not sure what's going on in the administration. May of their decisions are mind-boggling at best and outright dismal at worst- I'd be surprised if the AZA lets them keep their accreditation after their new black bear "exhibit."
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I agree, choices are strange and the recent openings have left a LOT to be desired. As for AZA pulling their accreditation over the new bear habitat, I think that it is unlikely. Having a second habitat allows both bears to be out at the same time, whereas previously they had to rotate. So, while my disdain for the new "habitat" is well known, there at least are some animal husbandry benefits to it existing.
 
 
It's second to last enclosure on your right if you enter from the bald eagle side, before indigo snake
 
The female was off the nest and didn't see anything in it. That was 3 weeks ago
 
PossumRoach said:
Dang I missed the news on the egg. When was it first found.
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I don't know exactly when it was laid, but during my visit on Jan 16th, the keeper told me that they have been on the egg for a few weeks and were hopeful it was gonna hatch as both parents were being attentive, the keepers were letting the parents rear the egg as Shoebills are a species that seem to have greater success parent rearing rather than keeper rearing.
 
Took another trip to ZT last week while some friends were in town; the Sandhill cranes are no longer in the skunk exhibit (or anywhere, for that matter.)

The seriemas were still in the old cuban/Amazon exhibit, i don't believe they're anywhere in site. Additionally, I didn't see the emu in the wallaby walkthrough anymore, and its signage is missing. The Australian boardwalk also seems to be entirely closed off, so hopefully there's some renovations there.

Also, not sure if they've officially announced it anywhere- I couldn't dig anything up- but the zoo is currently advertising a fall opening date for their new stingray tank. There's some holes in the tarps they put up to block the view, which leaves construction plainly visible, and it looks pretty good so far.
 
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