Bronx Zoo Bronx Zoo Walkthrough

Wow, that's a really weird mix, especially because that enclosure doesn't have much land area to it at all. And I never liked that enclosure for seals, it worked much better with just sea birds in it.

Interesting, I thought I'd read somewhere on here that that area of the zoo held Arctic Fox and North American River Otters before the Snow Leopards..

~Thylo

 

You are right about the otters, but it was only a fraction of the space now devoted to snow leopards. Agree the fox/seal mix was not ideal (for the foxes).

 

I know the Staten Island zoo recently added Arctic Foxes with the Red foxes. Would love for a Moose to replace the Polar bear. For some reason they are extremely rare in Zoos.

 

well girafee1985, there may soon be more mooses in zoos

Why haven't I seen a moose in a zoo - Quora

 

I think there still 1 or 2 totem poles at the Bronx Zoo that say either North America or Holarctica. My first zoo memories are from the late 1980's so it is interesting to go through this walk through and then remember what was there when I was 7-8 years old vs what was there in the late 1990's vs what is there now. Some changes have certainly been for the better, while others have not.

As for Tundra's exhibit; I have some thoughts about what could go there. I think for any species the exhibit would have to be softened; similar to what has been done in the brown bear exhibits at the Bronx and Central Park. I also think it would be of benefit to fill in the moat so it would also change viewing opportunities and add a lot more space.

1) With just these improvements and some interpretive elements a smaller bear species could be added. I would like Asiatic black bears; but since they are phase out North American black bears that are rescue animals could be added. Would follow a theme with the brown bears about living with these animals and the risks they face. I think the bears could be popular too and with maybe glass viewing for closer encounters.

2) Takin; they fit the theme of the surrounding area, but I don't think any hoofstock would be good here. Not enough space. However; somewhere in Wild Asia would be great (when the elephants phase out what would go there???)

3) Dholes or wolves: Would be a great addition; however even with the moat filled I don't know if it would be enough space. Maybe for a small pack and if they can add trees and shade to the space. Arctic fox or another fox species would have plenty of space; but would not be a real blockbuster animal.

4) Amur Leopard: Now you need more trees, soft space and netting. But it would work. However; the Prospect Park Zoo is supposed to get this species, would the Bronx have them as well? Mountain lions could also work. Thematically no other large cat (not already exhibited) would work.

5) Smaller carnivore: Canadian or Siberian lynx, wolverine, river otters...depending on the work done they could work. The otters wouldn't need netting over the exhibit.

6) Sea Eagles: It would need netting, perches etc. But it the area was covered including the cliff face where the waterfall is with high netting this could be a really interesting display. It would fit thematically and would by far be the best birds of prey exhibit at the zoo. So realistically the current bald eagles could go here too if no sea eagles were available.

Those are my ideas. As for foxes in the Big Bears exhibit. In the old Bronx Zoo guidebook (from the 1980's) it listed red fox living with the brown bears. It discussed how originally arctic fox lived with the polar bears; however they were removed when it was realized the polar bears actually tried to hunt the foxes. The brown bears apparently ignored the red fox; however they were eventually removed since they were never really comfortable in the exhibit. I can't understand why I fox would be scared in an exhibit with 4 large bears???

Back on the main topic; I can't wait to hear what birds are listed in the Pheasants area since those cages change frequently too!! Oh bronx Zoo never change!

 

Yeah Takin would be better off elsewhere. As for the elephants, from what I've heard the decision to phase them out was made by an old director and the current one may not hold the same position on them. Personally I think it'd be pretty stupid for them to phase-out elephants considering all the work and publicity they're doing to try and save elephants in the wild. I do think a new year-round elephant exhibit would be nice, though.

I'd love for Bronx to get Wolverines but I believe there's a shortage of them in the AZA currently so a lot of zoos are already on a waiting list for them. And while they unfortunately wouldn't work with the theming, I think either Giant or Spotted-Necked Otters would do great in Tundra's enclosure.

I'd really love to see some Steller's Sea Eagles in that enclosure as well

Well you might not have to wait much longer! I've already written up the Pheasant Aviary section (though it's a bit short considering all the enclosures are more or less the same) and am about halfway through CGF Being as African Plains is a pretty big area in itself, I think that'll all be one separate section.

~Thylo

 

Great Idea!

 

Edmonton's Valley Zoo opened Arctic Shores in March of 2012, containing a mixed-species exhibit with Harbour Seals/Northern Fur Seals/Arctic Foxes.

A photo of part of the outdoor pool:

http://www.zoochat.com/1811/polar-extremes-arctic-shores-new-2012-a-288685/

Land area of exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/1811/polar-extremes-arctic-shores-new-2012-a-288675/

Fantastic visitor pathway:

http://www.zoochat.com/1811/polar-extremes-arctic-shores-new-2012-a-288672/

 

This is a fantastic thread cant wait for the part

 

Just realized that I forgot to add Malayan Great Argus (Argusianus argus argus) to the list of species for World of Birds!

And sorry for the delay on the next section. I got about 2/3 done with it on Sunday but then I ended up being too busy with other things Sunday and Monday to finish it up. It's done now, though, and will be posted shortly!

~Thylo

 

Pheasant Aviary-Congo Gorilla Forest
From the South side of the Zoo Center, you can head further South for a short while before reaching the Dancing Crane Café. This is the zoo’s main restaurant and serves general food such as chicken, burgers, fries, pizza, hotdogs, water, and soda. The café is found in a small plaza area along with the zoo’s main gift shop, a large group of eating tables, a popcorn stand, and a large gazebo complex where the zoo sometimes hosts events such as ice sculpturing in the winter.

If you keep South, you’ll find a small wooden walkway that goes around the café. If you’re to go down this, you’ll find a large pond home to a nicely sized flock of Chilean Flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) and Coscoroba Swans (Coscoroba coscoroba). Just after this starts the Pheasant Aviary. This exhibit is a long stretch of multiple enclosures ranging in sizes from very large to a bit small. The enclosures are largely made of metal bar cages which unfortunately make for poor viewing and photographing sometimes. While the species exhibited here often change, the regulars/current residence include:

Yellow-Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea)
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae)
Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)
Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen)
Plush-Crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops)
White-Throated Ground Dove (Gallicolumba xanthonura)
Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus)
Migrant Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans)
Swinhoe’s Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii)
Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus)
Mérida Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi pauxi)
Mountain Peacock-Pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum)
Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma)
Lord Derby’s Parakeet (Psittacula derbiana)
Mariana Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus roseicapilla)
Elliot’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus ellioti)
Mikado Pheasant (Syrmaticus mikado)
Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii)
Cabot’s Tragopan (Tragopan caboti)
Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra)


Past the aviaries in a slight East direction, you’ll come across the entrance to the Congo Gorilla Forest. Opened in 1999, this world class exhibit is still considered one of the best at the zoo and is arguably one of the best gorilla exhibits in the world. The exhibit is home to two large troops of gorillas and over the years the exhibit has produced at least 16 gorilla, 23 Red River Hog, 13 Wolf’s Guenon, and four Okapi babies. Unfortunately, this exhibit is one of the few at the zoo where you’re required to pay an extra entry to visit. These fees are used to fund some of the WCS’s conservation programs in Africa. That said, as mentioned earlier, one can avoid paying the extra fee by purchasing and all-experience ticket or by being a member of the WCS. The general set-up of Congo Gorilla Forest is a long, winding trail through a highly forested section of the zoo. Along with the trees, things like waterfalls and fake caves are set-up to make it feel as though you’re walking through a real rainforest. Additionally, a couple of small statue animals can be found hidden in the foliage. When you first enter, the first enclosure is home to a small troop of Peters’s Angolan Colobus (Colobus angolensis palliatus) who live in a nicely sized, netted area with a large climbing structure set in the middle and made to look kind of like a large fallen branch or tree amongst several smaller trees. This enclosure also has a nicely sized floor area due to it previously housing duikers as well, although they’ve since been moved out. A little further down the path brings you to the enclosure for Okapi (Okapia johnstoni). This enclosure has a bit of obscured viewing as the viewing areas are small and have large plants placed in front of them as well as being a bit distanced from the enclosure fence, probably to give this shy and elusive species some privacy and give the illusion that you’re spotting it through thick vegetation in the wild. The enclosure itself is largely open apart from a couple of mixed live and fake trees. Next you’ll go through a fake cave that leads into a large, generally square-shaped indoor room through a pair of glass doors. To your immediate left is a very large nocturnal enclosure for an African Rock Python (Python sebae) and to the right is a smallish enclosure for Ornate Monitor (Varanus ornatus) and East African Black Mud Turtle (Pelusios subniger). In the center of the room, there’s a large, open-topped fish tank with a fake mangrove tree coming out of it, leading into the ceiling. In here you can find fish species such as the “Congo River Tetra” (Phenacogrammus interruptus) and the Yellow Congo Tetra (Hemigrammopetersius caudalis). The rest of the room is lined with various small terrariums hold to species such as:

Barbary Striped Grass Mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus)
Calabar Ground Python (Calabaria reinhardtii)
Common Egg-Eating Snake (Dasypeltis scabra)
Ball Python (Python regius)
Congo Dwarf Clawed Frog (Hymenochirus boettgeri)
African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus)
Lake Victoria Cichlid (Haplochromis ishmaeli)
Common Electric Catfish (Malapterurus electricus)
African Butterflyfish (Pantodon buchholzi)
Spotted African Lungfish (Protopterus dolloi)
African Giant Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)
“Central African Tailless Whip Scorpion” (Damon diadema)
“Mozambique Goliath Beetle” (Goliathus albosignatus)
Cameroon Red Tarantula (Hysterocrates gigas)
Two-Spotted Assassin Bug (Platymeris biguttatus)

Facing into the room from the doorway, the cichlid and aforementioned python enclosures are to your left along that wall. After these, there’s another open doorway leading into a small hall. In front of you is a large glass wall and this is the viewing for the Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus) and Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) enclosure, both of which alternate on and off-exhibit. The signage also claims that Eastern Black-and-White Colobus (Colobus guereza kikuyuensis) and De Brazza’s Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus) are found in here although I’ve not seen either in a very long time. The enclosure is large and netted over, with some large climbing structures leading up to slightly elevated areas. The floor of the enclosure is largely bare and there’s a small stream-like pool to one side. After this short little hall is a right turn. Right at this turn is a nice enclosure for a breeding pair of Wolf’s Guenon (Cercopithecus wolfi wolfi) who actually had twins not too long ago. The enclosure has some good height to it and it's nicely vegetated and branched for these active monkeys. Directly next to this is a large enclosure for African Pygmy Goose (Nettapus auritus), Black Crake (Amaurornis flavirostra), Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis), and White-Crested Hornbill (Tropicranus albocristatus albocristatus). This enclosure is very similar to the guenon one except it's larger with a little less branching and a small pool home to several small fish species, although I don't know which ones. A little further past this is finally the complex for the Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), complete with large open-aired, glass, and even a small tunnel viewing, a small movie about gorilla conservation, a place for donations, and multiple displays about gorillas and some of the other endangered species of the African rainforests. The first room you enter into is a large space with the majority of the displays and the largest gorilla viewing. As mentioned before, the zoo has two troops; both living is very large and very naturalistic enclosures. The enclosures have slight variations in elevation throughout as well as multiple fake and even a few small live trees. The glass viewing allows you to get face to face to some of zoo’s gorillas, especially their silverback who likes to sit right up against the glass. This room is also home to another small indoor enclosure previously home to marmosets but it currently sits empty. After this you head through a glass tunnel-like hallway with gorilla viewing on both sides. Next up is another small room with some conservational and donation displays, after which you go back outside. From here you’re on a bit of an overlook, looking down into the gorilla enclosure. For whatever reason, though, I’ve never seen a gorilla in here. In my opinion, if the gorillas don’t use it I’d like to see maybe either Eastern Bongos or Sitatunga go in here. After this enclosure, you exit Congo Gorilla Forest with a small gift shop to your left (the direction the Pheasant Aviary is on from your location). There’s also a small viewing for that seemingly empty gorilla enclosure next to the gift shop as well. After this, you’ll be turning right and heading to African Plains….

(Below are images for Wolf's Guenon, Western Lowland Gorilla, Peters's Angolan Colobus, Elliot's Pheasant, Coscoroba Swan, and Ornate Monitor)

~Thylo

 

By the way, I've discovered that my unknown cichlid is a currently undescribed species called the "Saro Cichlid" (Ptychochromis sp.).

~Thylo

 

when do you think you'll be finished with the african plains?
whenever it is, MAKE IT SOON!

 

Not sure exactly. I had a snow day today so that's why I was able to get CGF done this morning. I might start it later today or maybe tomorrow. I predict it should be out by the end of the week, though.

The next section will include African Plains, the Carter Giraffe Building, and Baboon Reserve (so effectively all of the African section).

~Thylo

 

Earlier you listed the exhibits you would name. Are you not doing world of reptiles?

 

thanks. can't wait!

 

Since the African section is more or less a circle from CGF, I'm going to do that next and then wrap around to do the Mouse House, Butterfly Garden, and World of Reptiles for part 6.

~Thylo

 

Great walk through of probably still the greatest section of the zoo.

For the pheasant area: I remember recently seeing Montezuma Ordopendula (spelling way off!) and at times seeing golden, blue eared and several other pheasant species. Aren't Northern Shrike still displayed too?

As for the Congo: The signage for the Maxwell's duiker is still with the colobus monkey. It is too bad that species or another duiker species (zebra, red, black) don't live with the okapi. What lives in the little tank in the first entry log before you get to the main viewing of okapi? I think I have seen a millipede species in that tiny tank, but never any signage.
I have seen the debrazza monkey 2 years ago, so i wonder if they are still exhibited.
I do think it would be a great idea to have another exhibit by the main waterfalls and the forest overlook at the end of Congo. Bongo, sitatunga, forest buffalo....however I always wanted bonobos; which I know is a pipe dream.
What do you think will go in the old pygmy marmoset exhibit? Galagos? I do wonder of the zoo still has pygmy marmosets? I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in the Mouse House...

 

Oh yes, there are Montezuma Oropendolas and often Golden Pheasants in the Pheasant Aviary. I've never seen a Northern Shrike but I do believe I once saw the endangered Migrant Loggerhead Shrike in there. I based my list here off of what I saw last time I visited and then memory so that's why I left off a few. I've added the three birds however.

Yeah I'm not sure why the signage is still there because the zoo definitely doesn't have them there anymore. hehe I'd love it if they were to get Zebra Duiker but I doubt that will happen I would love to see another duiker species or maybe even Royal Antelope in with the colobus, though. I'm not familiar with that log terrarium you're speaking off..
Yeah Bonobos would be cool.
I don't think they will put galagos in there considering galagos are nocturnal and that's not a nocturnal enclosure. Besides, they already have some in the Mouse House. I'd love it if they were to get a talapoin for that enclosure since I've heard they're quite small (around the size of a lion tamarin), though that's unlikely. Cape Genet would be cool, too, although that's also nocturnal.. Not really sure tbh. A small bird or reptile is also possible. As for the Pygmy Marmosets, if they still do have them I can see them fitting nicely into the enclosure currently home to Golden-Headed Lion Tamarins.

~Thylo

 

does anyone have a picture which shows that exhibit area where you want the bongo, sitatunga, bonobo etc..