Lesser Adjutant Stork & Western Tufted Deer Aviary

Were you able to go into the aviary onto the boardwalk or was it closed off? I need to go to Racine and see the Lesser Adjutants Sammy & Sokha!

Usually you are able to access the boardwalk. However, I wasn't able to the day this photo was taken because of Covid restrictions. This was about 10 months ago so its entirely possible the boardwalk may be open again now.

@pachyderm pro Thanks! Do they fly away if people come on the boardwalk or more brave habituated to visitors like Mycteria storks.? Also how tall is the railing for the boardwalk? 3.5 ft? Trying to guess the height of the stork. It looks as tall as a Marabou.

I have no clue how the storks behave but considering they are birds and the deck isn't very large, it wouldn't surprise me if they want nothing to do with people. As far as the height, 3.5 sounds like a good estimate.

@Sarus Crane Racine is down to a single stork now, so if you want to see it you may to come sooner rather than later (pretty sure it's a fairly old bird). The stork is super tame and likes to hang out on the boardwalk even when people are present.

@birdsandbats Thank you so much for letting me know! Is it Sammy or Sokha that passed? The fact that Racine is the ONLY facility that lets you go in with the Adjutants is a huge factor in why I'm now reconsidering my fall vacation plans! Does it like to hang out with anyone or only select people? This makes me want to do an upper Midwest zoo trip going to Racine for the stork and Baraboo to see the International Crane Foundation.

@Sarus Crane I don't know which stork is the remaining one. Racine doesn't like give out news of any sort, so the passing was never announced, but there's been only one stork on exhibit for a couple of years now.

@Sarus Crane If you do end up making the trip I'd love to hear your thoughts on the zoos of Wisconsin!

I don't think there's reason to be all that concerned here. Bronx had births in 2015 and 2018 and has a surplus of animals to go around. It's very likely they could send a stork to Racine to replace this individual once he or she passes. I certainly hope so, as this really is a standout enclosure in what's otherwise a very lackluster zoo.

@pachyderm pro How many LA's does Bronx currently house??? Is there still enough genetic diversity in the USA's population to sustain the species long-term or will there have to be new imports to keep the population going? From what I've seen too Bronx's exhibit has all that netting in the way with no way to let you go into the actual enclosure itself. I saw in 2016 that the Avicultural Magazine featured Lesser Adjutant Husbandry manual article put out by the Bronx Zoo so I hope that will stay devoted to the species and be willing to help other AZA facilities start-up flocks of their own if they're interested.