Calgary Zoo Calgary Zoo news 2008-2011

I suspect that the Calgary Zoo will easily recuperate the costs of koala forage through increased attendance. The last time the Calgary Zoo had visiting koalas in 1999 attendance saw an increase well into the double digits. During the summer some visitor waiting times to see the koalas exceeded 45 minutes. This time around that problem will hopefully be alleviated somewhat by the construction of risers in what was once the plant filled center of the Australia building.

The koalas will be inhabiting the former indoor enclosure for double wattled cassowaries, radjah shelducks, tawny frogmouths, and some psittacines. The smaller birds have been moved into other mixed species exhibits, but I have no idea where the cassowary will be/is being kept. The last koala exhibit was quite unremarkable and basically consisted of a couple clusters of large branches in an indoor box like exhibit with continuous glass viewing panels. Hopefully they can construct something more interesting this time around.
Koala education and interpretation was attended to quite well in 1999 with informative staff and volunteers giving speeches to every cluster of visitors allowed in.

A potential alternative spot for the visiting koalas would have been the wing of Elephant Crossing currently holding the ray touch tank. Compartmentalization of the tank would have permitted easy dismantling and storage, but this space doesn't provide the same template for a koala exhibit that the cassowary indoor enclosure does. On the plus side traffic can be much better controlled at this area of the Zoo and it would not have required the moving of former exhibit inhabitants-except for a single ray.

 

Are there still coatis in the Australia building? What did there exhibit originally house, because I can't believe the original designers of the exhibit where THAT bad at geography.

 

Coatis

Currently the 2 coatis at the Calgary Zoo are housed in the South American building in an exhibit that had spider monkeys before Destination Africa was completed.

Both the Nocturnal exhibit and the Australian exhibit the coatimundis have at times inhabited are atrociously small! The indoor part of the Australian exhibit ,by my own estimation, is probably smaller than 150 square feet ! After being stuck in that exhibit the coatimundis would probably feint from exhilaration if released into the Zurich Zoo's exhibit!

@Ituri Originally the Australian exhibit you referred to held a pair of Australian psittacines. I can remember Palm Cockatoos, and Moluccan Cockatoos at different times.

 

So what lives in the exhibit the coatis were in? The one I'm talking about is the last one on your right before entering "Creatures of the Night"

And on the same note, are there still gibbons lemurs, and patas monkeys in the South America building?

 

@Ituri: on a side note, I think that the South American building at the Calgary Zoo is arguably the worst part of the zoo. The mixture of animals from all parts of the world, and the tiny, smelly cages combine to form a disappointing venture. The Aussie building isn't that much better, and those two areas are definitely due for an overhaul.

 

@Ituri The exhibit to which you were referring currently houses a pair of prehensile-tailed porcupines that are used in outreach programs and occasionally brought to places like local schools.
The South American house still has Patas monkeys, gibbons, and DeBrazza's guenons. Patas monkeys are being phased out in North America and the two remaining individuals at the Calgary Zoo are very old and nearly blind from cataracts. They are actually being housed in a mixed species exhibit with giant anteaters right now!The guenons were planned for Destination Africa, but that never materialized. As for the gibbons the lone male was recently paired up with a female.

 

@Snowleopard The South American House is quite old and outdated, but it has been improved by changing the species it holds and has undergone several small modifications. For example, spider monkeys inhabit the exhibit once housing gorillas. Potted plants and natural branches have been added to other exhibits that now also house smaller animals. I don't think that the inhabitants of this area currently have significantly smaller exhibits than other animals at the Calgary Zoo. There are several problems with this building, but I don't think that the Calgary Zoo believes that they are bad enough at this point for the Zoo to justify demolishing the whole thing and displacing many animals in favor of a new multi million dollar project. Several years ago there was a plan to renovate the complex into a primate display/research facility run in conjunction with the UofC's Anthropology department, but I think that that plan has been completely deserted by now.

BTW I'm considering writing a very long and in-depth review of the Calgary Zoo including how the animals utilize their exhibits and the Zoo's conservation and education projects. Would there be any interest in this?

 

Patas Monkeys are not being phased out of North American zoos - they're a SSP now. Maybe they are being phase out from Calgary Zoo, but not North America.

 

@Taccachantrieri: any zoo reviews are like gold to me, and so if you were to write an informative summary of the zoo then I'd read it for sure. What is the latest scoop on the proposed $135 million Arctic/Antarctic project? Is it dead in the water? This mega-complex has been rumored to happen for years now.

 

The zoos website has nothing about the complex on it. So I do not think that it was afloat in 2008, this year however they may actually begin plans for the complex at least half of it!

 

@Quartz92: you are right about the huge Arctic/Antarctic project, as all of the information has been removed from the website.

The new Calgary Zoo website now features an interactive map that can be clicked on and scrolled over to produce a list of all the animals in the different geographic regions of the zoo. The major news is the arrival of a pair of koalas in February, on loan from the San Diego Zoo until Sept, the arrival on a 5 month loan of a white bison named Blizzard from Winnipeg's Assiniboine Zoo, and the reopening of stingray bay.

 

A 2year old markhor was found strangled in its enclosure at the zoo.

Toy kills goat at Canadian zoo - UPI.com

 

oh thats so sad.And to make it worse, its more bad PR for the zoo

 

Negatively Biased Media Portrayals of the Calgary Zoo

I thought I should include this link so that other zoo fans on this website could have a fuller picture of how the Calgary Zoo has been portrayed in the media recently.

CTV Calgary- Calgary Zoo saddened by bizarre animal death - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television
click on the video to the right

When I first watched this video I was quite infuriated with the response from R.J. Bailot from ZooCheck Canada. He said, "People are not putting the best interests of the animals at hand so their welfare is being jeopardized". I can't believe that a major local news broadcast would play that footage without even allowing a rebuttal from the Zoo. Just what authority does R.J. Bailot even have in this situation? Furthermore, what could he possibly know about this incident beyond what was provided third hand? How often has he visited this enclosure, and if this problem was so obvious why didn't he bring it to the attention of anybody?

I hope this provides some context for Dr. Clement Lanthier's comments attacking ZooCheck that can be found on this link also posted in the thread about the cancellation of Arctic Shores.
The Calgary Sun - Despite the cancellation of the $200M Arctic Shores project the Calgary Zoo isn't jumping ship in the ebbing economy

 

Hmm...does anyone know when the Koalas will be out on display? The website doesn't say anything- but I came across a blog that said they should be out this Friday (the 6th?) Can anyone confirm? I'm there on the 7th so it would be too perfect!

 

The koala bears will be on display starting February the 11th. You'll miss out by only 4 days!
I wonder if you could negotiate a special viewing ...?

 

Figures- haha. I'm sure I'll be able to catch them another time- I'm going with 30+ other students...so it might be hard to squeeze all of us in- oh well

 

Koalas arrived at Calgary Zoo:
The Calgary Sun - Who's new at the zoo?

 

Summer 2009 Trip! I will hopefully be making my way to Calgary for August 2009. I would like to know if there are any MUST sees at the Calgary Zoo or any other areas near/around Calgary that spark peoples interest!

 

The Calgary Tower is kind of cool, and sort of like a smaller version of Toronto's CN Tower. There is even a glass bottom section! About an hour or so away from Calgary is the tiny town of Drumheller, which has the Royal Tyrrell Museum as its major tourist attraction. It contains one of the world's greatest collections of dinosaur bones and is a brilliant place to visit. Also, I've never visited the Glenbown Museum in Calgary but I'm fairly sure that it is the largest museum in western Canada and probably second only to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.