Okra Mae gave birth June 20th but the infant either died just after birth or was a stillborn. While its a set back the zoo is confident Okra, Cocoa and Bonnie will be successful in the future. Sloth born at Zoo Atlanta but did not survive
Gorillas return. I read that the two young silverback Gorillas that have been held at the private Dewar Sanctuary/Facility for the last two years have been returned to the Zoo. Atlanta Zoo issued a statement recently saying they were no longer going to be involved with the Dewar set-up and so the males would return to Atlanta, which apparently has now happened.. Does anyone know the reason behind this?
Giant Otters have made their debut. The male is Bakairi and female is Yzma. They are on exhibit in the mornings while the asian small clawed otters go on in the afternoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPtiAJ8xGU
The zoo is celebrating the first birthdays of twin pandas Mei Huan and Mie Lun July 12th (because most can visit on the weekend) and their actual birthday July 15th. Zoo Atlanta?s giant panda twins turn one | www.wsbtv.com
As a member of Zoo Atlanta, I just received the following email. Apparently the Zoo will be taking over the current Cyclorama building, which will lead to an expansion of the Zoo's African savanna and a new elephant facility. In addition, the Zoo will be removing the old administration building (administrative offices will be moved to the Cyclorama building) and constructing a new entrance plaza.
I am very happy that the zoo will be expanding its elephant exhibit. While the current exhibit looks nice enough from a guest perspective, it is very small by modern standards (about 1/4 acre) The zoo does a lot to exercise its elephants, but I feel like a much larger habitat is needed as soon as possible! Curious to see what happens to the flamingo exhibit and parakeet aviary, as these two things would be directly in the way of expanding the savannah yards down to the cyclorama building.
The new reptile building is coming along nicely. A quick pop-in to see a friend working on the fifty-five plus exhibits was nice. If you like MOLA at FW Zoo the same companies that worked on it are working here as well. Everything looks great and LSS are coming together. Only things that bugged me are the bird stickers on the atrium glass. They prevent birds from flying into them, but cast shadows. Lastly, Gharial are not included at this time.
Delta Airlines just donated $1 million to the zoo which was doubled by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation Inc. Delta Air Lines donates $1 million to Zoo Atlanta - Atlanta Business Chronicle
The new reptile house, called "Scaly Slimy Spectacular," is opening April 2nd. Scaly Slimy Spectacular slithers to Zoo Atlanta
What a truly awful name, surely they could have found something a little more positive and inspiring!!!
Indeed, a hot contender for the 'Worst Name for a Reptile House' prize. Also, according to the press release "The $18 million exhibit houses about 100 animals representing more than 70 species" - which, if true, would mean the majority of species are held as singletons (with no chance of breeding). I suspect this is either an error, or that much of the zoo's herp collection will still be off-show & isn't included in these figures.
With Slimy Scaly Spectacular opening tomorrow it was nice to walk through with my contractor and zoo friend. The exhibitry and theming is fantastic! Some exhibits offer multi-dimensional views into other exhibits making it flow seamless that the multiple species enclosures are one. I did not care for the screen displays. I'm not going to stand there and wait to find out information. I'd rather watch the animals. There's plenty of graphics on the walls and in rocks, trees, etc. The thirty foot tall waterfall crashing into the rhombifer pool is a soothing sound and can be heard throughout the building. One of the things this complex has also done is allowed for another viewing area into Gorilla Habitat #4. There were plenty of gorillas in the 5 habitats to keep it interesting. The varied habitats and different family and bachelor groups make this my favorite display of gorillas. There was also a designer from a local firm who has done work with ZA previously walking around. I picked their brain a bit. Besides the Cyclorama and Savanna expansion, if all pans out, this densely packed Zoo will only get better.