Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Cincinnati Zoo News 2022

The zoo will be continuing the annul Penguin Days this year. The parade is at 11 on Friday through Sunday from January 14 through February 28.
Penguins will go on parade again this winter at Cincinnati Zoo

There is now a Laughing Kookaburra in the Animal Ambassador Building (former nursery) in the Children’s Zoo. The kookaburra lives in the exhibit that used to house armadillos and is next to the tamandua.

 

Giant spiny leaf insects hatch:

From social media:

The first babies of 2022 have arrived! 3 Giant Spiny Leaf Insects hatched in the early hours of 2022. Cincinnati Zoo's World of the Insect was the first place in the US where this species could been seen, starting in the early 1980s.

 

A little blue penguin chick has hatched on December 13 last year.

 

Izzy the Malayan Tiger was transferred to the Baton Rouge Zoo for a breeding recommendation. Batari, her sister will also be moving to another zoo soon.

 

Chester, the zoo's beloved geriatric Andean bear, has passed away due to age related issues. Leaving the bear hill currently empty for the first time in over a century.

 

With the loss of Chester, does this mean that Cincinnati no longer has any species of bear on display. If that is the case, I’m sure that they could eventually get around this issue by building an entirely new habitat for them by the time that Elephant Trek has finished construction. May he also rest in peace poor fellow.

 

Yes, this also means there are no more bears at the zoo. The word on the street says the zoo wouldn't get started on construction on the Bear Hill until Chester passed away. I wonder if they anticipated that to happen closer to Elephant Trek's opening. So who knows when they'll start revamping this area?

 

The plan last that I heard was to start construction after Elephant Trek but then again they expected Chester to a least live for another couple years.

 

I hope they don't get another bear just to have one on exhibit. Honestly, I wouldn't even be upset if they did something completely different with the bear line. It's kind of a bad and antiquated set of exhibits even with it's most recent renovations. The zoo might be better served re-appropriating it into something different.

 

The zoo have named a Little blue penguin chick in honour of Betty White:

Cincinnati Zoo Names New Baby Penguin Chick in Honor of Betty White

The month-old penguin has been named "Rose," after actress and comedian Betty White's character, Rose Nylund, on the iconic sitcom The Golden Girls.

White would have celebrated her 100th birthday today, Jan. 17, but she passed away on Dec. 31, 2021 at the age of 99.

 

The bear line is officially fenced off (the exhibits, not the path)

 

Wonder if it sits empty until the Elephant exhibit is completed. Hard to see them having the funds to get work done on the bear line with something as big as the elephant upgrade in process.

 

Then again, why would the bear line be fenced off with construction fencing this early? Wouldn't they temporarily have smaller mammals in there if they were prioritizing the elephants?

Side tangent, I agree (as of the time I'm writing this) with the sentiment that they'd stick to polar bears given CREW's work with them in the past, though whether Cincinnati'd be home to a nonbreeding pair or rescues is up in the air. Best case scenario design-wise, it'd be Cincinnati's equivalent to Lincoln Park's Arctic Tundra or Henry Vilas' Arctic Passage, minus any potential exposed concrete walls. Those were both rows of old grottos that were reutilized for two bear yards (the latter even has a seal pool at the end!), and they were designed with the intention of maximizing the amount of usable space for their animals.

 

According to the zoo's website, the Reptile House will be closed from January 28th until early March to upgrade the Chinese alligator exhibit.

 

I fully expect that what you're suggesting is how they will proceed. It's definitely not the worst option. The worst option would be keeping multiple bear species in the grottoes with a few exhibit renovations. I think that this is highly unlikely to happen and would be frustrated to see it.

I've always been of the opinion that the zoo should scrap the idea of keeping bears unless it's elsewhere the property, or perhaps in an expansion if they can obtain land to build new parking areas and use the current lot for animal holding/exhibitry.

I'm fairly certain that the zoo wouldn't consider it, but I'd like to see the area do a soft merge (thematically, anyway) with the neighboring Jungle Trails. Any number of tropical species could occupy the old bear enclosures that don't have the same extensive area requirements as polar bears, or any bears for that matter. They could have constructed a legitimate clouded leopard exhibit there fairly easily. Pygmy hippos, tropical otters, leopards, heck, even maybe even small crocodilians in warmer months, could occupy the vacant bear line with some work, which they are going to do anyway. They've largely done away with geographic theming in Jungle Trails, so they aren't exactly limited by zoogeography, either.

That's all just pie in the sky zoo nerd nonsense, but I can't help but feel that it's a missed opportunity. The zoo doesn't need bears to attract visitors. They are all in on hitching their wagons to Fiona and the hippos as their major draw, and it seems to work for better or worse. If they no longer care about exhibiting an impressive collection, then what difference would omitting a few sad bears in crap exhibits make?

 

The Cincinnati Zoo has posted an update about the Chinese Alligator Exhibit Renovation. The zoo currently has one Chinese Alligator which is going to be moved to Mast Farm until the new habitat is completed.

 

Cincinnati Zoo names penguin hatchling after Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow

The zoo has names their newly hatched blue penguin 'Cup O' Joe Burrow', of course, named after Joe Brrr.

 

The Cincinnati Zoo and Los Angles Zoo have made a wager on the Super Bowl. If the Rams win, the Cincinnati Zoo has to change their logo to a ram while if the Bengals win, the LA Zoo has to change their logo to a Tiger for the day. If the Bengals loose it will be the first time in over 100 years that the zoo has not had the black rhino on there logo.
Wild Wager with LA Zoo - Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden®

 

So the bear line is closed off for construction. It isn't just cherrypickers to take down the remaining Festival of Lights, we're talking bulldozers and excavators. From the Wings of the World exit, it sounds like they're first taking out the old black bear viewing.

In the Children's Zoo, the chicken barn that no one paid attention to was torn down.

The World of the Insect is also closed.

 

Update, world of the Insect is open