On November 30th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) American bison broke free of the exhibit area (to snack on bamboo near the exhibit) but was contained by the second barrier fence line. Neither the bison nor any staff/patrons were injured and the bison were moved to the back area of the exhibit while a more durable fence was installed. Salisbury Zoo - The Salisbury Zoo closed early Thursday...
The zoo has been closed the last several days because of flooding from the major weekend storm. Salisbury Zoo to Close Second Day Due to Flooding
The zoo has welcomed a new red wolf, female Skyrae, from the Wolf Conservation Center in New York for breeding purposes. What's most interesting to me about the transfer is that this is one of the first animal transports I've heard of using LightHawk, a new conservation service which transports animals by air for zoo breeding programs, reintros, and rescues. Shipping animals by conventional airlines has been getting increasingly complicated and difficult in recent years, so I'm curious to see how prevalent this new service becomes. Salisbury Zoo - If you guessed that the new friend Ollie...
Expansion plans: The zoo’s new director Chuck Eicholz says it has created a 5 year plan to get its accreditation back. Salisbury Zoo Plans for Expansion New eagle exhibit opening around April. Coati exhibit opening summer or fall time. New Osla monkey building. Designing new Andean bear exhibit (five times larger than the current exhibit).
In reference to the "osla monkey" building mentioned here - at Salisbury, the ocelot and monkey exhibits share a common holding building, so I suspect that the reporter miswrote "ocelot-monkey building" Edit: Found a video clip on WBOC, confirmed that's what they meant!
The Zoo, in partnership with Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, is initiating a study of prairie dog subterranean behavior. As common as prairie dogs are in zoos, they pose so many management challenges (much of which has to do with the amount of time spent underground) and there's still so little known about their behavior. Salisbury Zoo, Smithsonian research the secret lives of prairie dogs - 47abc
Piece of February 2024 News Not Mentioned: On February 2nd, the zoo announced that they installed new viewing windows inside the North American duck aviary. https://www.facebook.com/SalisburyZ...APnSQqXUvD5jFnqfALVJQWY5xt5J9B97i2CUWR98ytJil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On April 17th, the zoo announced they acquired a (0.1) white-tailed deer named Rosie after she became too closely habituated with people and is now on exhibit. https://www.facebook.com/SalisburyZ...H3ujwUysmsPdfPJuaDBCF8zxNPSZQG6iqyaJQ2WwHcWul
A nice piece of in situ and in our own backyard fundamental ecological research ... essential to conserve the prairie grassland areas and their biodiversity.
