This thread got active over the last day! It was sad news reported that Mert the goose passed away As for the CGF- a warm April day is still a good time to go. Does anyone know if they finished renovations on the tank where the monitor was to the right when you enter the CGF building? As far as the cheetah encounter goes, you do get to be very close to the animals (they only allow for 15-20 people I think at a time), but I am not sure about being able to touch them. The Fennec experience you are able to stroke their back if they are willing. It is frustrating that the zoo has a lot of very interesting animals (cheetah, kangaroo, clouded leopard, binturong, 3 porcupine species) all behind the scenes as opposed to on exhibit. As for best exhibits at the Bronx Zoo; CGF is certainly top 3 just for how good the immersive elements are and if I had to rank the exhibits it would be my #1.
I watched a repeat of one of the episodes of ‘The Zoo’ last weekend which featured Mert. How sad. And I’ve had some beautiful weather at the zoo in mid April - so much so that I even left with sunburnt shoulders!
I've heard it's reopen and it's just a monitor still. The Binturong are particular frustrating as they're the Palawan subspecies which is off-show at every zoo with them. What three porcupine species? ~Thylo
I remember when African Brush-Tailed was on-exhibit in World of Birds and Brazilian Prehensile-Tailed in the Monkey House... ~Thylo
Thanks for that info! That's a lot of people compared to what I've done in the past, but at just $60 in the city, I'm not surprised, really. Thanks for that other info, as well. The porcupines were on my list of things to see there, as well as the binturong.
Yes it did. You missed the point and now Thylo has edited his post so there is no point. I will delete my post.
Visited the zoo yesterday only to find hundreds of elementary school children visiting in dozens of tour groups leading to a day full of blocked walkways, endless screaming, being continuously pushed aside and run into, and no shortage of glass banging and various animal harassment. Despite this, I had an alright visit and noted some changes: -Finally saw the Black-and-White Seedeater, though no Ruddy-Breasted -Oriental Pied Hornbills have been replaced by Sulawesi Knobbed Hornbills -Green-Backed Twinspots are in with the Great Blue Turacos, though I didn't see them -Malayan Great Argus chick in WOB -There's now more than one Turquoise Tanager in the South American walk-through and there might be a new species in there but will need to ID later -There was a transport crate in one of the outdoor cages of the Mouse House and several of the cages look as though they're being redone on the inside -There were no turtles in JungleWorld oddly -The musk turtles have been replaced by Roti Island Snake-Necked Turtles and not Parker's Snake-Necked Turtles as the signage originally said -There is a new lizard species in with the chuckwallas, though I'm not sure which -There's now an Ethiopian Mountain Adder on-display next to the Kihansi Spray Toads -There's now a pair of Madagascar Crested Ibis in the Aquatic Bird House -No sign of any of the pelicans species and only saw two or three Inca Terns ~Thylo
Despite this, I had an alright visit and noted some changes:... ~Thylo[/QUOTE] Thanks for posting the changes. I am headed there next week.
In a recent episode of the zoo, one of the main features was how the zoo cares for the Asian elephants. The zoos director talked quite a bit, but one of the most interesting quotes from the episode was, "Once these animals pass away, we will never keep elephants like this ever again." This means the zoo may continue with the plans set by the last zoo director to phase out elephants, or a new grand exhibit is being planed.
Mert was a charismatic well-known goose who made daily rounds in the children's zoo. There was an episode of the zoo where he was one of the main segments.
It's great you got out to the zoo, I am trying to get out there the 1st week of May. Interesting changes at the WOB, I am assuming the 2nd floor has finally reopened again? Do you know if the Carter Giraffe House reopened? Hopefully the crate outside the Mouse house means the marmosets and tamarins are being put back on display. I know they obtained an Ethiopian Mountain Adder on Instagram--so it's nice they will be on display. It's no longer an amphibian section in the World of Reptiles I guess? That's shocking only three inca turns, maybe the flock was in for vet care?
This was the episode I saw, and I was really taken with him! He was clearly very popular and quite a character.
I know right? I was really astounded with that sentence because it actually implied that the zoo would keep elephants in the future, although it's still a far-out there possibility. This episode was my favorite out of the series so far because it addressed the topic of the elephants, and how they're treated (spoiler alert for anyone from In Defense of Animals, they're fine).
If you want/need any tips, let me know Fingers crossed you make it and it is significantly less crowded! And yes the second floor is reopened as is the giraffe building with no signs of changes other than the duiker signage being removed. The crate was on the ground and almost all of the cages were actually barren of any climbing structures whatsoever. I don't think that section has been strictly amphibians for a very long time. I remember coqui frogs in 2011 but that enclosure (to the left of spray toads) has held a boa and pitviper mix for quite some time now and the tank to the right (now holding the viper) previously held mossy frogs and a crocodile skink. I'm assuming the terns are all just inside their nesting holes with chicks. That's where I saw all two of them and the third collected a fish then promptly flew over to one of the birds on the nesting wall. I'm wondering where the pelicans are. ~Thylo
I have visited the zoo yearly since around 2011 and visit multiple times a year and never once did I meet Mert nor ever hear of him until the show Never seen the zoo going around with educational animals in general actually. ~Thylo
