When an exhibit opens but remains closed... Auckland Zoo's new Pridelands extension will open tomorrow, except for most of it... Story here: African savannah development opens
Here is a link to a very cool document: http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/about/Documents/Auckland-Zoo-10-year-plan.pdf It has a timeline of the zoos 10 year development plan. Lots of cool info in there about the Asian Precint: looks like it will include the orangutans, Tigers, otters, and siamags. (There is a little sketch of the possible orangutan enclosure.) Also things like a free flight flamingo aviary, and underwater viewing for the hippos! Definitely go and check it out!
Sounds good, and largely the path I expected the Zoo to go down, although I hadn't expected a Flamingo aviary. I did predict the Lemur walk-through at the entrance though! Very exciting developments though, and I hope the Wild Asia exhibit is done very well, with more species than the four currently listed (especially birds and perhaps Komodo Dragons). The Zoo also has a new map, showing what the layout of the new Pridelands extension looks like. Seems to take up half the giraffe enclosure, but that's just the scale. I didn't realise the aviary was now the Zoo's second largest, it must be a good size. The Australian aviary is closed for the rest of the year, reopening in 2017. I wonder if the reptile exhibits will be located in this area too then? According to the 10 year plan, there will be a freshwater and forest exhibit added, housing "giant lizards" and "freshwater turtles". I don't think Auckland has had any turtles on display for a while now, which is surprising really, so it will be good to have them back.
Yes, I'm very excited to see how everything turns out. I have been constantly going on Auckland Zoos website to see if a new map is up showing the pridelands development! I will check it out now. I'm very interested to see the design for the new orangutan and tiger exhibits. From that sketch in the 10 year plan of the orangutan exhibit, it looks like they might be going down the path of a similar design to Hamiltons new siamang enclosure; a floating board walk looking out over the water in the enclosure maybe? And the tiger exhibit; I wonder what this will be like...
I think the Orangutan sketch is unlikely to be informative, and that relatively little of the design work has been done yet. I am hoping to see large exhibits, with lots of elevation both for Orangutans and visitors. Will be interesting to see what they do about the tigers, if they will largely stay as they are and just be linked to Wild Asia, or if they will be given totally new enclosures too.
I'd expect them to replace the pit enclosure entirely but only make minor alterations to the newer glass-fronted exhibit.
Do you think they will replace it? I really like that exhibit, its a good size and is more or less the only historical exhibit left in the zoo. It could certainly be improved though. If it was up to me, I'd be keen to install ground-level viewing from an underground cave-type area at the Lake level. That would be pretty awesome. But I don't know if that would be feasible.
Sad news - taken from the zoos Facebook: We're extremely sad to share that our much-loved male hippo Fudge has died. Normally energetic with a great appetite, Fudge (28), had been showing signs of illness over the past few days – being uncharacteristically lethargic and off his food. His cause of death is unknown, and a full post-mortem is to be carried out to investigate. Fudge was born at Auckland Zoo in 1988, and is survived by his 40-year-old mother Faith, also born here at Auckland Zoo. Our thoughts go out to all our staff and volunteers and everyone who loved Fudge, especially to our amazing team of Pridelands keepers who cared so passionately for him
oh that is really sad! Faith is now the sole hippo left in NZ, although hopefully she will still be round for a lot more years.
This is very sad news. Poor Faith and Fudge. I guess importation of hippos is currently prohibited? But hopefully the importation of a couple of new animals is a priority for Auckland Zoo. I don;t think Faith is the friendliest hippo though, so integration could be difficult. Regardless, a one-hippo country is not acceptable.
When I did a private encounter for the Galapagos tortoises in 2012, my tour guide (who's worked at the zoo for a long time) said that the original plan for the tigers was to fill the pit enclosure up and have an exhibit called tiger trail or something. Instead they just went with the new enclosure at the time. So I'm thinking maybe they'll go with that idea for the new South East Asian precinct.
Two female Little Blue Penguins have been added to the Zoo's shorebird exhibit, according to Facebook: There is more info and photos here: Help keep our penguins safe
brilliant! I've been waiting for some news to appear about breeding. Two is a low number for a litter though; perhaps because it's a first litter, or perhaps they lost a couple.
Visited Auckland Zoo today and the Bonnet Macaque are back on display in the old Chimpanzee/ Orangutan enclosure. And two female Nyala were off display out the back of Pridelands. Nyala are also now shown on the map in with the Rhino enclosure. http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/explore-the-zoo/Documents/auckland-zoo-map.pdf
Very interesting news - has the exhibit changed much to accommodate the macaques - photos please! Also, was there any sign of any other developments - what is happening with the Lorikeet aviary?