african wild dog

Nice shot.

Wow! When did the Reid Park Zoo get African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)? I knew that they did keep them in the 1970s or so, but I wasn't aware of them coming back to the collection. What part of the zoo are they held?

@UngulateNerd92 I took this on November 16 and I believe it was only their second or third day on exhibit. They are in the former tiger exhibit and I am exceedingly happy that they removed that fence in the middle that had split it into two. It is now one continuous yard like it originally was. The dogs also went in and out of the water frequently.

@Arizona Docent ah very nice! Seeing on the master plan that that section of the zoo is going to be an African area. It seems appropriate. I am glad to see African wild dogs back in Tucson. Will there be a new tiger exhibit in that new Asia area?

@UngulateNerd92 Yes, the new Asia will have a two sided exhibit that will be (if I remember correctly) five times bigger than the old exhibit now occupied by wild dogs. It may or may not have underwater viewing.

@Arizona Docent ah very nice. Thank you. They will still be Sumatran tigers I assume?

@UngulateNerd92 The last tigers they had were Malayan and the announcement for the new exhibit also says Malayan. However I assume it will be whatever the SSP recommends, so I suppose it could be either Malayan or Sumatran.

@Arizona Docent ah yes I had another brain fart because I actually meant to say Malayan.

Pardon my digression, but Baton Rouge Zoo actually has both Malayan and Sumatran side by side and in a newer exhibit complex. Being that Louisiana State University (LSU) has the tiger as their mascot, they were able to do that. I think it would be cool to see Reid Park Zoo do that!

@UngulateNerd92 I have seen the same at Jacksonville Zoo (Sumatran and Malayan in two adjacent exhibits). I believe for a while Dallas Zoo had both that rotated into the main exhibit. To me having one subspecies makes more sense from a breeding standpoint.