Naples Zoo Naples Zoo News

One of the groups trying to defend the lily pond has accused Naples of not preserving the historic horticulture planted by horticulturist Henry Nehrling.
Group claims Naples Zoo failing to preserve historic horticulture Naples Daily News

 

Spotted Hyenas and Striped Hyenas rotate through 2 different enclosures per day.
The ratels and fossas should be on exhibit.
The lemurs and gibbons can be seen on the Primate Expedition Cruise.
Dingoes and Kinkajous can only be viewed through the Planet Predator show, along with a lot of other animals. The Cuban Croc is only seen during a show, but I'm not sure which one.
The black bear exhibit is also a pretty good one, and is the largest Black Bear exhibit east of the Mississippi River.

 

Finally, news that's not about the pond! A baby Blackbuck was recently born at the zoo.

 

The Blackbuck calf is a female and was born 7 weeks ago from yesterday.
Also in the Blackbuck exhibit are 2 juvenile Reeve's Muntjacs. They come from different mothers, but were born on the exact same day in January.

 

Yet another pond update. However, this update shows that the Naples Zoo board has approved some options to save, and even expand the pond.
Naples Zoo: Pond Update

 

It's not easy being a zookeeper...
Farmer File: The bottom line of monkey business Naples Daily News

 

Kumbaya? Zoo officials, pond advocates agree on alternative to paving Naples Daily News

 

I just heard they are opening a new cheetah exhibit on July 7.

 

I am not suprised to see them add another species to their already very large collection the bad part is this exhibit will probally be barren and be chain link enclosed like basicaly all the exhibits at this zoo.

 

Cheetah pair finds new Naples home purrfect Naples Daily News
A male and a female are at Naples now. It seems that they will be in the average hyena yard that the Striped Hyenas and Spotted Hyenas used to rotate through. Naples seems to be priding itself for rare species in its collection (take a look at its homepage and at the bottom there's a section about rare African wildlife they have and Striped Hyenas are part of them), so the Striped Hyenas won't be leaving, so I assume the Spotted Hyenas will. This leaves the Striped Hyenas with the smaller more barren enclosure.
Naples has a tradition of opening a new exhibit a year:
2006: African Wild Dogs (now what is probably the Cheetah enclosure)
2007: Leopard Rock
2008: Fosas of Madagascar
2009: Black Bear Hammock, South African Lions, Temporary White Tiger Exhibit
2010: Brazilian Ocelots (Now Honey Badger Exhibit), Giraffe Exhibit
2011: Striped Hyenas, Blackbuck, Honey Badgers
2012: Cheetahs
In my opinion, instead of spending money on more and more new exhibits, they should be renovating exhibits and making better experiences for animals and for guests. Only two of these exhibits are actually good (Black Bear Hammock and Blackbuck Exhibit.)

 

This video makes me 98% certain that this is the hyena enclosure.

 

Anyway, read this—

Naples Zoo Board of Directors

As you realize, the popular herd of giraffes officially completed the first phase of the Coastal Africa wing. The second phase now welcomes cheetahs and begins to lay the needed infrastructure along the northern acreage.

 

Could a zoochat Admin please move this thread to the United States forum, subsection Naples Zoo where it belongs? Placement in the right subforum also makes future searches easier.

 

Cheetahs have arrived.

Cheetahs retire to Naples Zoo | The News-Press | news-press.com

 

The zoo board has voted to save the lily pond!
Naples Zoo: Pond Update

 

Due to repairs to the dock, the Primate Expedition Cruise will be closed from today to August 2nd.

 

Selous, a male Greater Kudu and the second oldest in the nation celebrated his 13th birthday today.

 

An official post from the Naples Zoo's Facebook:
Hurricane Isaac? Honey badger don't care.

But we do. Because of the storm, Naples Zoo will be closed Sunday and Monday. We will assess and update on Monday to see if we are able to open on Tuesday.

Keepers are readying the animals and staff is making final preparations for the storm. Each spring, the Zoo updates its hurricane protocols and makes any changes to accommodate new animals. The core
buildings were constructed in 1969 by Larry and Nancy Jane Tetzlaff when the devastations of Hurricane Donna was still a fresh memory. These are reinforced concrete block with solid concrete roofs that were placed on by cranes. A large pine tree fell on one of these during Hurricane Wilma and the building suffered no damage.

Thanks to all for well wishes and prayers as staff and animals weather out our 43rd hurricane season.

 

Issac had done no harm to Naples, and it will be open today.
EDIT: Thank you to the moderator that moved this thread!

 

Zoo Director Accepts New Position

David Tetzlaff, director of Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, has accepted a new position as vice president of Zoological Operations at Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. David will continue his leadership in Naples until December and will begin work at Central Florida in 2013. I wonder what this means for the zoo's future; will they continue to add a new animal exhibit every year? Will this have any affect on Kiwa Ranch, the planned African expansion?
Naples Zoo Director David Tetzlaff Accepts New Position