los angeles zoo » Los Angeles Zoo

18-06-2008

it has got raised walkways, and hand rails adjoining the netted space.

19-06-2008

Can we get back on topic of Los Angeles Zoo?

I would really like to know from our US zoo followers what the future outlook is for the great apes and elephants. I hear rumours of more eles coming to LA. But where will they come from with a huge aged population within SSP zoos?

The great apes: can you tell us about breeding success in them at LA Zoo? In what way are the exhibits functional for that purpose?

19-06-2008

I can only join jelle with asking another question: does anyone know whether the Golden Snub Nosed Monkey exhibit is finished?

20-06-2008

@jelle: Well, I heard the zoo is planning to get the elephants from Asia, but I'm not sure how.

About the breeding success for the great apes in the new exhibits is:
-Red Ape Rainforest: the zoo had a baby orangutan born in 2005 and in Feb they witnessed another female mating for the first time with the zoos male orangutan, so here at the zoo they're keeping their fingers crossed.

-Chimpanzees of Mahale Mountain: the zoo is not allowed to breed yet because the troop is to big, but the zoo has used the troop's females as surrogate mothers to orphan chimps. The zoo has helped three orphan chimps so far and the three were able to stay in the troop.

-Campo Gorilla Reserve: the zoo has a three year old baby that was born while the exhibit was being built. The other female cannot breed because the silverback sees her as his mother (she was his surrogate mother). Right now the zoo is looking for another breeding female.

@Sun Wukong: The Golden Monkey Exhibit is indeed finished, but the problem is that the zoo is having problems with getting the monkeys. I heard that they did have an agreement with china, but something happened so now the zoo is stuck with an empty exhibit.

20-06-2008

@mstickmanp: Thanks for the response. So the LA Zoo is stuck with an empty exhibit worth ~7.5 million US$-now that's just great... Well, the other way round wouldn't be much better.

20-06-2008

Are there any outside of China?

20-06-2008

@MARK: Yes, at Yokohama "Zoorasia"; but they are property of China and "on loan".

05-07-2008

I assume this had not yet been picked upon.

The Los Angeles Zoo has bred 2.0 Peninsular pronghorn calves this March (March 25, 2008 to be precise), the first to be born in a zoo environment. Their parents were taken in July 2006 from a breeding center in Mexico.
When older both fawns - which are being handreared due to their rarity - will be sent on breeding loan to The Living Desert when they mature.

The Los Angeles Zoo is involved in the Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Project (PPRP for short) effort for this critically endangered subspecies of pronghorn in the lower Baja and upper Mexico. The entire world wild population only numbers 200 individuals. The captive facility holds up from 198 individuals and was established in 1998.

To promote the rapid increase in Peninsular pronghorn, a semi captive-breeding facility has been built in their last refuge, in which the calves are protected from any predation in their formative years. The first phase sought to stabilise the wild population and formally ended in 2002, a second 5-year plan has been in operation that plans to raise the number of Peninsular pronghorn to 1,000 individuals (up from 350).

The LA Zoo involvement dates back to 2000. Other zoo partners in this effort are California's The Living Desert and Florida's Disney Animal Kingdom (since the 2006 release), Oregon's Portland Zoo and Texas's Houston Zoo. The Mexican counterparts are the Espacios Naturales (an NGO) and the captive breeding center in Vizcaino.

A first release of 25 Peninsular pronghorn has occurred in the Vizcaino Desert Biosphere Reserve in February 2006. A major accomplishment for the project.
In coming years the breeding center in Vizcaino will sent some more fawns to US zoos to establish an insurance population in captivity.

06-07-2008

I actually already posted some pics of the two babies.

Here they are:

Baby Peninsular Pronghorn at the Los Angeles Zoo - Photo Gallery

Baby Peninsular Pronghorn at the Los Angeles Zoo - Photo Gallery

Baby Peninsular Pronghorn at the Los Angeles Zoo - Photo Gallery

The LA zoo actually try acquiring another pair by the end of last year, but there was some complications so it did not go through.

06-07-2008

I hope they will come through this year after the breeding season ending in March (so, perhaps end September 2008). Hopefully, by then the Mexican breeding center will also have 1-2 female fawns ready for Living Desert (which is due to receive the 2.0 born at the end of this year.

13-07-2008

The "Golden Monkeys of China" exhibit is indeed finished and is state of the art for these amazing animals. The exhibit is full of climbing structures and is well planted with many asian foliage. The only problem I see is that some of the newly planted trees are still too young and don't provide enough shade, but there is still some shade from the existing trees. I try to get some pics of the exhibit nex week.

Of what I've heard from people at the zoo is that the zoo will indeed be getting the golden monkeys after all, but now it's only going to be 1.1 instead of 1.2, which was the original plan.

02-08-2008

i was hoping they would be there by the time im there in October but i was wondering that since they probably won't be,are visotors allowed to atleast go into the viewing area and look in or is it forbidden.Also,will the uakari's being getting a new home in Rainforests Of The Americas?

02-08-2008

No, the visitors are not allowed inside the viewing shelter. And I heard from one of the South American Enrichment Volunteer that the Uakari's will indeed get a new exhibit in Rainforests of the Americas, but I'm not sure if it's true.

The Uakari monkeys are visible if you look to the top right, right next to the south american section entrance by the Cape Griffon exhibit, Aviary, and the World of Bird show. This summer, due to the heat, one of the tarps covering the exhibit was taken off, which allowed me to take pics.

02-08-2008

what area do you volunteer in

02-08-2008

I'm also an enrichment volunteer, but I'm more general because I work with animals all over the zoo not just a specific section. The section volunteers are higher in rankings because they are always with the zookeepers, so they are like zookeeper volunteers. I'm hoping that in the future I could get promoted to help in a section.