Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens LA Zoo News 2010

L.A. Zoo Orangutan Picks Texas Longhorns to Win BCS National Championship!

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010, the Los Angeles Zoo’s male orangutan, Bruno, chose the University of Texas to win college football’s BCS National Championship.

Animal keepers placed two fruit-filled papier-mache figures, decorated as the mascots for University of Texas and the University of Alabama, in the orangutan habitat. Then the L.A. Zoo’s 30-year-old orangutan, Bruno, chose his favorite to win the 2010 National Championship by immediately picking up the Texas Longhorn mascot and placing it on the ground. Next he demolished the Alabama elephant, Big Al, before returning to the Texas Longhorn.

From Wednesday, Jan. 6 through Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010, the L.A. Zoo is offering discounted admission to college football fans. Fans wearing their favorite college football team's gear (e.g. hats, shirts, sweatshirts) just need to mention the promotion to receive a dollar off the price of Zoo admission.

 

October 2009 zoo news according to the Dec./Jan. Zoo Scape:

Arrivals:
0.0.2 Emperor Tamarins from Santa Ana Zoo
0.0.1 Aruba Island Rattlesnake
0.1 Maned Wolf
0.1 Indian Sarus Crane
1.0 Reeve's Muntjac
0.1 Masai Giraffe from San Diego Zoo
0.0.6 California Condors for medical treatment

Births:
0.0.2 Red-rumped Agouti
0.0.1 Cayuga Duck

Departures:
0.0.3 Rock Hyrax to Living Desert
0.0.1 Rock Hyrax to Brookfield Zoo
0.1 California Sea Lion to Brookfield Zoo
0.1 Bighorn Sheep to Living Desert
0.0.1 Royal Antelope to San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 Speke's Gazelle to San Diego Zoo
0.1 Masai Giraffe to San Diego Zoo
0.0.2 Buff-cheeked Gibbons to Phoenix Zoo
0.0.2 California Condors released to the wild!

As I mentioned above, these are zoo news from October 2009.

 

Blackduiker

Animal Activity For the Month of December:

Births:
Red-flanked Duiker
African Hedgehog(3)
Madagascan Spider Tortoise

Arrivals:
Lady Amherst Pheasant(2)
0.2 Gerenuk
0.1 Coquerel's Sifaka
Paca(2)
1.0 Sumatran Tree Pit Viper
Rowley's Pit Viper(2)
Yellow-blotched Palm Viper
0.2 Santa Catalina Island Rattle-less Rattlesnake
0.1 Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake
Rock Rattlesnake(2)

Departures:
Gerenuk(3)
Santa Catalina Island Rattle-less Rattlesnake(2)
0.1 Madagascan Tree Boa
Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake(2)

 

For the Lady Amherst Pheasants I believe it's a 1.1 pair. They will be slowly introduced into the "China" exhibit. I can't wait to see the three species living together in that exhibit!

 

The map was recently updated to include the francois' langurs. Link: http://www.lazoo.org/visit/zoomap/images/WinterSpring2010.jpg

Also, the new map includes the new "California Condor Recovery Zone" which is located in the Children's Discovery Center. The CCRZ opened a while back (maybe november?) and is only opened during the week days. This area is targeted towards children and it explains everything that the zoo is doing to help California Condors.

Also, here is more info on Snow Days: http://www.lazoo.org/snowdays/

 

Snow Days Postponed

Due to the rainy forecast for this weekend, Snow Days at the L.A. Zoo has been postponed until the weekend of February 13 and 14th.

 

Well, considering I already have a plane and hotel booked for the original weekend (Feb. 6-7), that just stinks. However, I have Feb. 13 off work (to attend a docent meeting at my zoo), but I may be able to skip my meeting and do a same day out-and-back flight to L.A., which is what I did for last year's snow day.

 

Ok, I have booked a same day flight for Feb 13 (good thing L.A. is only a one hour nonstop from Tucson). But if the zoo postpones this one, I give up.

(Will spend this Saturday, Feb 6, at the Aquarium Of The Pacific instead of the zoo - photos to follow shortly thereafter).

 

Blackduiker

Glad to see you have a backup plan to the Snow Day postponement. Looking forward to seeing your Aquarium of the Pacific photos. Did you get the new digital camera? What kind did you decide on if you did?

 

Yes, I never thought the day would come when I would replace (for the most part) my beloved slide film with a digital SLR. But I got a Canon 5D mark II, arrived the day before I left for L.A., so I used it at the aquarium on Saturday (yesterday) and at the zoo a couple hours this morning (Sunday). I just got home and will post pictures tonight if I have time.

 

Here are some photos that the zoo has posted on Flickr of last year's Snow Days.

Snow Days at the L.A. Zoo - a set on Flickr

and here is the commercial from a couple of years ago.

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazoo/4323987578/"]Snow Days at the Los Angeles Zoo on Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]

 

Blackduiker

I thought this official Los Angeles City 100 page report from 2005, concerning the Zoo's history with elephants and Pachyderm Forest revisions would be of some interest to ZooChat readers.

http://cao.lacity.org/Reports/LAZooElephantReview.pdf

 

Wait, is that an Asian Black Bear in the flickr snow day's album? Does the LA Zoo really have one?

 

No, the zoo has two American Black Bears.

 

According to the LA Zoo's twitter account, construction on the parking lot master plan (Prop O) began monday (Feb. 22). Here are two links with more info:

Los Angeles Zoo Parking Lot
http://www.lapropo.org/sitefiles/docs/Concept_Reports/LAZoo_CR.pdf

The pdf link is from 2006, so I don't know if anything has changed since then.

 

This is great news. If zoos are going to be taken seriously as conservation organizations, they need to do more local projects like this. Anything that helps the Los Angeles River is great too, since it is literally the most artificially cemented and controlled river in the world. (My brother and a biologist friend of his from University of California recently published a short book on the Los Angeles River).

 

Blackduiker

Recent Animal Activities:

Births:
0.1 Brush-tailed Bettong

0.1 Southern Gerenuk

0.0.3 Mexican Beaded Lizard: So far the zoo has
been successful in reproducing these
endangered lizards for five consecutive years,
and these three make a total of 16 hatchlings.

Arrivals:

0.1 Visayan Warty Pig: Returned after being on loan.

0.1 Harpy Eagle: That had been staying at the World Center
for Birds of Prey in Idaho. Now on exhibit for the first time
in Los Angeles in 18 years for this species.

Departures:

0.4 Reindeer: That were at the zoo for the annual Reindeer
Romp event, returned to their home in Oregon.

0.0.1 Mexican-lanced Headed Rattlesnake: To the Fort
Worth Zoo in Texas.

2.0 Speke's Gazelle: To the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

0.1 Chacoan Peccary: To the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

0.0.1 Visayan Warty Pig: To the San Diego Zoo.

0.0.1 Red-flanked Duiker: To the San Diego Zoo.

 

That eagle will be exhibited in the roundhouse in front of the Hippo exhibit, where the Japanese Mountain Hawk-Eagle and the African Crowned Eagle also reside.

 

I wish I would have gotten out there one more time before she left. I didn't know she was leaving.

 

Blackduiker

Is that the enclosure between the DeBrazza Monkey and Japanese Mountain Hawk-Eagle that use to hold Guenons, or the Nicobar Pigeon enclosure? I've passed this roundhouse up on my last couple of visits. And I've never seen an African Crowned Eagle in there before, were they recently put on exhibit?