Cincinnati Zoo » Cincinnati Zoo

19-04-2009

link to a picture of the new baby
Our new baby bonobo on Twitpic

19-04-2009

@UCBearcat - Do you know who the sire/dam of the bonobo are?

19-04-2009

Probably Vernon and Lisa

21-04-2009

I wonder if the bonobo will go on display in the nursery--probably not.

24-04-2009

Video of a takin calf born last month

01-05-2009

This is a pretty big deal to me as a member of this zoo. They (on the main site) seem to want to re-establish this entrance as the main entrance of the zoo. If this is the case then the old "new" entrance will leave a lot of space for expansion in the parking lot, part of which has already been utilized for giraffe ridge. I think this is a terrific idea and hope that the parking at the vine entrance helps address that issue as it has dogged the zoo forever, it seems. It would be nice to see the current Veldt transformed into an expanded Rhino Reserve or added to the expansion/rennovation of the cat facitliies on the adjacent hill. The front lot could become a new African Savannah and the new entrace could become an Asian themed area with elephants and Sumatran rhinos as the centerpieces. I'm excited about the possibilites no matter what they do.

01-05-2009

Yay for Cincinnati Zoo members!

I keep hearing that the whole present main entrance lot is going to be an African Savannah (which makes sense as the Cheetah Encounter is there next to Giraffe Ridge). My only fear there is....well, what are we going to put there? Rhino to Elephant to Giraffe to Cheetah already makes a nice 'African' line. I'd like to see some antelope (something the zoo is short in) but...something tells me it's going to be hard to get people excited and to the zoo to see some "deer"

01-05-2009

Well honestly I'd love to see them bring the hippos back. In Ed Maruska's farewell letter he mentioned something about an African river theme with hippos and crocs. Would be welcome additions to the collection if you ask me. Also, a new home for the okapis would be great. Antelope and zebras are staples and could have their place, too. Also, I personally would like to see some carnivores like hyenas (can't remember them ever being at the zoo other than the aardwolves that shared space with the colobus monkeys back in the day) or even the return of wild dogs.

There's also always room for more North or South American species in Cincy. They've never had much in that department.

01-05-2009

I'd be a fan of hippos as I've still never been to a zoo that showcases them (which is a shame). I think the only problem with going 'African' in the parking lot is creating space other places. Sure, you could move the lions or the zebras or bongo over there. But then you'd have blank space in the center of a tightly packed zoo.

There's a 40 million dollar upgrade PDF floating around somewhere with plans for the zoo and parts of it have been done and after Vine's Entrance...all that has yet to be done is upgrades to rhinos, cat canyon and gorilla world. However, it doesn't mention anything about giraffe ridge (which is clearly done).

08-05-2009

video of the baby bonobo from youtube

09-05-2009

Zoo Babies start this week at the Cincinnati Zoo

Article from the local paper
Everybody loves Zoo Babies (from the Cincinnati Enquirer)

Gallery of the Zoo Babies

There was also four Malayan tiger cubs recently born, but they won't be on display until June.

09-05-2009

FOUR?!?! Wow!

Where are they going to go on display? Nursery?

11-05-2009

I visited the zoo today. I must confess myself a little disappointed with the Elephant Reserve expansion. It's not bad, I was just under the impression that the bull yard would be expanded into the old giraffe/okapi VG yards. He pretty much had the entire old moated yard. Not bad, just not what I expected. I thought there would be more exhibit space. The old exhibits are now either paths or planted areas near the rennovated Vine entrance.

11-05-2009

There was a recent expansion of the exhibit?

I do have a question you could probably answer: where were these okapi/giraffe yards? Were they in that giant plot of land between the bull yard and the Vine Street Village. IMO, that's SUCH wasted space as it stands.

The other day, the bull exhibit had two elephants--I have no idea why.

11-05-2009

I'm talking about the okapi/giraffe yards between the building and Vine St. They had Swan Lake in the background. Now there's a crane exhibit and a new boardwalk plus some grass and trees. I was under the impression, perhaps a false one, that the giraffes and okapis were moved so the eles could utilize the entire area. Apparently not. The only difference to the visitor is that the bull yard now includes the area where they used to have bleachers for animal shows not too long ago. Basically the bull yard is the old school African elephant/hippo/tapir outdoor yard. It wasn't that big too begin with. I'm gonna give them a mulligan and assume that the exhibit improvements were just adaptations to accomodate the bull. They do have full access to the historic Elephant House, though.