Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Los Angeles Zoo News 2015

Few notes from my visit today:

- male colobus was born on April 6. He was born weak, so the Nursery is getting him strong enough to reunite with his mother in the enclosure.
-baby Francois' langur looks good, and tried to escape from its mother a couple of times to no avail. Meanwhile, the male was frequently attempting to copulate with the childless female. Perhaps another mohawk baby in the near future?
-the gharials were submerged next to each other at the gate separating their two enclosures. It was a rather heartwarming sight, though ruined by the HUNDREDS OF COINS SITTING IN THE WATER AND ON THE ANIMALS' BACKS. A few weeks ago there was a visitor map in there. People make me angry.
-There was also a baby Sichuan takin. It looks like a teddy bear with tiny little horns. -The koalas are still off-exhibit after the traumatic incident a month ago.
-The giant otters were extremely playful, active, and loud as usual. I look forward to this species being added to more zoos in the future as they are a fantastic marquee animal.
-There has been a discussion about the tapir enclosure and how the central area is hotwired off as an exhibit for cottontop tamarins. I have never seen signage for these monkeys, nor have I ever seen one; I am somewhat doubtful that anything lives there.

 

I've seen them, but it's been a while. I've been wondering if they took them off exhibit or if they're just impossible to spot from that distance.

 

Thanks, Duiker, I always enjoy these. Have you seen any public news about the next master plan?

 

The gharials always have coins on their backs. It's disgusting,but according to the zoo's Facebook page,extra steps are being taken to prevent this,I'm not sure what that means though. As for the cottontop tamarins,that's always confused me. I've been going to the zoo since August of last year at least 1 time per month,and I've yet to see a single cottontop tamarin,or even a sign for the species,which is interesting.

 

I don't know if the tamarins are still out with the tapirs. They were originally, but I don't know that I have seen them in the dozens of times I have been through that exhibit.

It would be good if they could install some kind of human idiocy prevention barrier to keep the coins out of the gharial exhibit. Short of a big glass wall I'm not sure what that would be though.

Putting up some signs and a video camera to capture bad behavior maybe would be an effective deterrent? This behavior is obviously a problem at other zoos and aquariums also with open aquatic exhibits. What are some solutions that work to prevent coin-throwing behavior?

 

At the National Zoo in DC, the seal/sea lion area is plastered with autopsy photos from a seal with a stomach full of coins :/

 

A really fine net might do the job.

 

It's gonna be plexiglass, and it's gonna be covered in churro and ice cream smudges

 

Putting a docent/volunteer there could solve the issue and give an opportunity for educating the public about the crocodiles. That being said, I've never seen many volunteers around the place. Since I have a membership and live nearby, I'm seriously starting to consider camping out there to study and yell at people who do it.

A barrier of some kind would also be helpful. Kind of degrades the viewing opportunities, but at this point all options should be on the table.

As for the tamarins: like I said, no signage and no monkeys in 4 visits since last fall. I'm not willing to say they aren't there, but I seriously doubt it.

 

They were there when rainforest area launched, but I haven't seen them in a year+

 

So now the question is: does the tapir have access to the middle portion (trees and such) if the tamarins are indeed gone?

 

Have never seen a walkway up there...they've always had the ability to walk all the way around it

 

Probably not. There is still wire around the trees, as well as a nesting box for the tamarins. I always see one of the tapirs sniffing around the edge, but they never go onto it. It's pretty dense, so I'm not sure if they would even without the wire.

 

Also there is a huge vulture aviary behind the jaguar exhibit! I didn't notice it until my last visit, when I came to the jaguar last (on all previous visits I started ROTA with the jaguar enclosure), and so this time I saw it while I was walking up. According to old maps, there used to be a path going up there for people to see it, but now ROTA has blocked it off. The vultures are definitely still there though: I saw at least 6 of the massive birds!

 

Right? They're huge birds (cape vultures) and it's supposedly one of the oldest exhibits in the zoo.

Apparently, before there was a zoo to speak of, the aviary was just a complement to the botanical gardens and stretched from where the vultures are now to the maned wolves/tortoises/taco shop. The old concrete pits that the tapirs/otters live in were the base of the old nets.

 

The current Cape Vulture aviary, was not a part of the old aviaries, now totally demolished and replaced by ROTA. It was added much later to house Topa Topa, the oldest California Condor in captivity, and later a successful participant in the California Condor captive breeding program. Topa Topa recently celebrated his 50th birthday, having been hatched sometime in 1966. He has been a resident of the Los Angeles Zoo since 1967, and was kept off exhibit until the above mentioned aviary was built for him some years later.

That particular aviary also housed Andean Condors after Topa Topa was taken off of public exhibit. I remember seeing Topa Topa housed there when it was initially constructed sometime in the late 1970s. The oldest existing aviary, which was a part of the extensive maze of aviaries and in existence since the zoo's 1966 opening, is the large walk through at the far end, going in the opposite direction of ROTA. I use to enjoy the numerous species on exhibit in the old string of aviaries. Their wooden structure was eventually condemned as a safety hazard.

 

Yes, I have fond (if distant) memories of that sprawling maze of aviaries, in particular the Phillipine ("Monkey-eating") eagle that was tne collection's crown jewel for a number of years. I was always disappointed that the neighboring iconic "Theme Building" never had any animals, but was a glorified picnic shelter.

 

Fascinating, thanks guys!! I just go off the stories I can squeeze out of the keeprs