Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens LA Zoo News 2010

The Harpy Eagle will go in the Nicobar pigeon/Crowned pigeon/Bali Mynah exhibit. The African Crowned Eagle has been next to the Japanese Mountain Hawk-eagle for a couple of months now.

Here are some photos of the African Crowned Eagle that I took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mstickmanp/sets/72157623071648944/

From what I've heard is the pigeons will be once again be moved to the bottom walk-through aviary in the spring, but I don't know what will happen to the Bali Mynah that lived there also.

 

Wow, thanks Mario. And to think I've been passing this area up for the last few months. That's an impressive looking eagle and photos.

 

re: new births - L.A. is certainly the gerenuk-producing capitol of America (and possibly the world).

 

And don't forget about red-flanked duikers.

 

Blackduiker

They actually are the top Gerenuk breeder, at least in the U.S. That also includes Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies, Cape Griffon Vultures, Black-headed Weavers, and the supposedly being phased out Mountain Tapirs (under my protest).

 

The top gerenuk breeders are in the Middle East.

LA Zoo is indeed the foremost AZA zoo in breeding gerenuk.

 

I get all of their newsletters from my cousin, and I remember reading something a few years ago about mountain tapirs. This was by their previous director (who I believe is now San Francisco director - I forget his name). Anyway, he said they were in negotiations with Columbia to import two more mountain tapirs to invigorate the U.S. bloodline to maintain a healthy breeding program. I guess that fell through?

 

Several negotiations have fallen through in recent years concerning Mountain Tapir exchanges, but I'm still hopeful. And that former director here in L.A. was Manuel A. Mollinedo. And I've heard that in recent months, he's been replaced by a new director in San Francisco, but I don't remember the name. I believe it was a woman.

 

LOL. Not news or anything, but today at the zoo I was witness to a wild raccoon attempt to take down one of the zoo's peacocks! It was very stressful! My heart was beating a mile-a-minute. Its one thing to see stuff like that in documentaries or Animal Planet, but in person is totally different. Thankfully the peacock got away.

Sorry, this is the only place I could think to share something like this. . .

 

Blackduiker

Which zoo Caipora, Los Angeles/Miami? I'm assuming L.A., but since you list both cities, I had to ask.

 

Yes, LA.

 

I just found a video that shows the beginning stages of the parking lot construction:


When I saw the video I could not believe that they cut down all the trees.

 

The snow leopard cubs are going to the Seneca Park Zoo in May

Snow Leopards Coming to the Zoo - Rochester.YNN.com

Has anyone heard whether LA is going to get a new male and hopefully have cubs without eye problems?

 

I had no idea that the cubs had eye problems. Is the problem serious and are you sure it comes from the male?

 

When I was there for snow day, I heard them talking about that. But what I heard (keep in mind this is unsubstantiated second-hand info) is that they do not know if it is the mother or father passing on the problem, so they were not going to breed anymore.

Although the parents look fine, you can notice when you are there that the cubs have kind of a glassy-eyed appearance.

 

Now that you mention it, I did notice the problem, but on the previous litter from 2 years ago. I have not payed attention to the eyes with this current litter. I wonder if that same problem was passed on to the latest litter cubs at the Woodland park zoo, since "Tom" from the 1st litter is the father.

I found a pic of "Tom" and you could clearly see his left eye is much bigger than his right. Here is the link: Woodland Park Zoo Blog | Naturally Inspiring: New snow leopard joins the zoo
Is that the problem you guys are talking about?

I also have a photo a one of the cubs from the current litter and the same problem is seen on the left eye: [ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mstickmanp/4177834144/"]Snow Leopard on Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]

 

Both of the current cubs had eye surgery in both eys shortly after birth. Since all 4 eyes are affected, the problem is not as noticeable as it was with Tom. I believe that the 4 cubs which were born at the LA Zoo are the only offspring for either parent, so there is no way to know whether the problem is the male or the female. Because the LA zoo wanted to continue to breed snow leopards, there was originally some discussions on tyring to breed the female with a different male in hopes that the problem came from the male. I also heard more recently that they might not breed either of them at all. I was hoping that the SSP would authorize a different male since she is such a great Mom.

I'm surprised that Woodland Park Zoo was allowed to breed Tom. I was told that the new cubs would not be allowed to breed, which seems to explain why they are going together to Rochester.

Does anyone know where Gerry went?

 

Blackduiker

I'm wondering if this is more of a visual handicap or cosmetic deformity?

 

I think he went to the North Dakota Zoo. I also checked ISIS and there is only one male there, so that might be him.

 

Blackduiker

Well according to the article, Seneca Park does plan to eventually send one away, and keep the other to be matched for breeding purposes later. So I'm still wondering, is this more of a cosmetic rather than visual impairment? And could that be why Tom was allowed to breed in Seattle?