Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium News 2021

Does anyone actually know what they are doing to the exhibit? Are species being added or removed? What changes are they making to the gorilla exhibit? Or is it mostly just a renovation for visitors and staff areas?

 

The lower entrance to Gorilla Valley opens tomorrow, August 20th. Not sure if Orangutan Forest will open yet. But at a minimum the indoor family habitat will be viewable again.

 

Orangutan Forest and the elevator building will not be open yet tomorrow, there is still ongoing construction in that area. Hopefully that will all open up soon!

 

Any stats on the other elephants at Omaha and potential successful matings?
(It seems that bull Callee has not let the grass get too green ..., arriving in 2019 and already a calf on the way).

 

WATCH: Hubbard Gorilla Valley renovations revealed at zoo

The new renovated gorilla exhibit is open!

 

Just got back from the zoo and will upload a bunch of photos I took of the renovated Gorilla Valley to the gallery. It looks really nice now compared to the fairly utilitarian look of the interior before and it makes a world of difference. All the habitats were updated in some way, the biggest changes were adding more water features so now all of the habitats have one.

Here is the updated species list for those interested:

• Western Lowland Gorilla (previous tenant)
• Guereza Colobus (previous tenant)
• Angolan Colobus (previous tenant)
• Blue Monkey (previous tenant)
• Rock Hyrax (previous tenant)
• Yellow Backed Duiker (previous tenant)
• Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (previous tenant)
• West African Crowned Crane (previous tenant)
• Cattle Egret (new tenant)
• White Faced Whistling Duck (new tenant, has been at zoo)
• White Stork (new tenant, has been at zoo)
• Abyssinian Blue Winged Goose (new tenant)
• Cape Teal (new tenant, has been at zoo)
• African Spurred Tortoise (new tenant, has been at zoo)

The breakdown of how these species are in enclosures is as follows:

• Indoor Gorilla Exhibit
  • Bachelor Western Lowland Gorillas
  • Guereza Colobus
• Side Monkey Exhibit
  • Angolan Colobus
  • Blue Monkey
  • Rock Hyrax
• Smaller Outdoor Gorilla Habitat
  • Bachelor Western Lowland Gorillas
• Larger Outdoor Gorilla Habitat
  • Family Western Lowland Gorillas
• Middle Habitat
  • Yellow Backed Duiker
  • Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
  • West African Crowned Crane
  • Cattle Egret
  • White Faced Whistling Duck
  • White Stork
  • Abyssinian Blue Winged Goose
  • Cape Teal
  • African Spurred Tortoise

 

Here's a full walkthrough of the renovated exhibit from director Dennis Pate. The gorillas had a lot of landscape changes to get them closer to guests, a lot of large climbing structures have been added, and the roof was extended out to give more shade. The duiker and bird yard was expanded and the blue monkey/colobus exhibit got some aesthetic touch ups like new rock work. A ton of new guest amenities and additional theming have been added as well. A lot of the obvious concrete has been replaced by murals and rockwork. Overall It looks like Omaha continues its streak of superb improvements. Looking forward to the photos @MGolka and thanks for the species list. Surprised and excited the blue monkeys are still around.

Omaha zoo unveils renovated gorilla exhibit

 

Just uploaded 26 photos of Gorilla Valley to the gallery.

Also of note, here is a photo of the construction work going on in the Orangutan and Gorilla plaza at the upper entrance to Gorilla Valley. One is able to walk all the way to the upper entrance doors before you have to turn and go back. This looks to be at least a couple weeks away from being open yet.



I know there was a gas main hit by some construction activity earlier in the week somewhere near or in the zoo. Could have easily been in this area.

 

Thanks very much @MGolka for your detailed update on Gorilla Valley. It is great to see the species list, your thoughts and all the photos. After the numerous mega complexes in recent years (African Grasslands, Asian Highlands, Children's Adventure Trails, Owen Sea Lion Shores), I think that most of us predicted that Omaha would take 2021 as a 'rest year' with no major new developments. We were mistaken!

It's been nice to see a trio of projects in 2021 that upgraded existing areas. I know that the $6 million Stingray Beach is in a new location, but it's essentially a far superior stingray touch tank experience. Then $2 million was spent revamping the huge Simmons Aviary, and now another $7 million has been spent on renovating Gorilla Valley. It will never be one of my favourite gorilla exhibits, but the improvements are impressive and the work has 'softened' the previous harshness of the complex. Large zoos struggle to continually fix up older areas, as for example probably 50% of Brookfield and 50% of Los Angeles needs to be overhauled, and the whole Urban Jungle/bear grotto mess in San Diego is a disaster, but Omaha has fewer flaws as the years go by. The zoo continues to improve and tweak older sections, and now we can all wait in anticipation to see what's going to be the next big exhibit announcement. If Omaha continues to revamp older areas, then there a few all-indoor enclosures in Desert Dome, Lied Jungle and Expedition Madagascar that need work, but probably 85-90% of the zoo has been modernized.

 

Does anybody knows if the gorillas are troops the same?

Last time I heard it was:

Group 1:
Tambo
Muke
Timu
Bambio
Kgosi
Zuri

Group 2:
Samson
Timmy

Group 3:
Tatu
Kijito
Ngoma

 

Yes. Same groups as before.

One species I forgot in the side monkey exhibit was Bush Hyrax. However both species were not seen, but they were signed. Bush Hyrax was previously in this exhibit as well.

 

Here's an article on the new gorilla exhibit with a video to give you a little look at it.

Omaha zoo's Hubbard Gorilla Valley reopens after $7 million renovation project

 

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium visitors sheltered in place after rhino escaped its enclosure

A rhino escaped from its enclosure at the Omaha Zoo

 

I found some photos online of Jontu's jaunt. Looks like he handled the situation like a pro. Not getting irritated, aggressive or anything!






Here's some videos covering it:



Rhino escapes enclosure at Omaha zoo

BREAKING: Rhino briefly breaks loose at Omaha zoo - 4 pm

 

Went to the zoo today and the elevator building down to Gorilla Valley is open as well as the upper entrance to the exhibit which is very welcome as it creates the shortcut to the back of the zoo that has been really missed.

The indoor portion of Orangutan Forest is still closed despite all the construction outside of it is complete.

I did walk down a new path constructed around the old Cat Complex and the outdoor portion of Orangutan Forest to see if there were anything in the outside cages of the Cat Complex like they had previous to the refurbishment of Gorilla Valley. The path itself was new, but the route has always been there, it has just been repaved. The cages have had scrims put up over them, with nothing in the cages. Here are some photos:

Old Cat Complex Cages

Refurbished Gorilla area snack bar


Refurbished upper Gorilla Entry


Another thing I noticed for the first time in the Lied Jungle was in the White Handed Gibbon exhibit, there were some Iridescent Sharks swimming around in the moat. I’ve not noticed them before, and maybe I only spotted them now because there wasn’t a logjam of people crowding this area.

 

0.1 Red Panda has arrived from the Lee Richardson Zoo. She joins the resident male who was transferred from Denver in 2018: Omaha zoo welcomes red panda

 

Some big news out of Omaha tonight, pretty much the zoo’s biggest donor and chairman of the board, Walter Scott passed away at 90 years old. Not only does his name grace the Scott Aquarium, but other areas of the zoo as well. The article is linked below, but it looks like he will be leaving $4.2 billion (!) to Omaha charities and would have to imagine the zoo will get a nice piece of that. It will be interesting to follow this as his foundation will continue to be a major source of contributions into the future.

Omaha billionaire philanthropist Walter Scott Jr. dies at 90

 

Today the Zoo formally announced some new arrivals in the Giant Plated Lizard exhibit I posted about on here back in July.

Also in this exhibit is a Black Girdled Lizard, a Karoo Girdled Lizard, an Armadillo Lizard, and the aforementioned Giant Plated Lizard.

Omaha's Zoo on Twitter: "Just as you enter the first reptile cave in the Desert Dome, take a good look to your right! In the former red-billed hornbill display, check out the black girdled lizard, the Karoo girdled lizard, the armadillo lizard, and a hatchling from this June, our giant plated lizard. https://t.co/E1E9CkzU9v" / Twitter

 

100,000th Western boreal toad released:

https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local...for-species-once-declared-extinct-in-the-wild

According to a release from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, its Amphibian Conservation Area staff celebrated a repatriation effort milestone with the release of its 100,000 Western boreal toad into the wild. The species was declared extinct in the wild in 1991.

In September and August, the zoo sent 3,847 Western boreal toads at various levels of development to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for release in the Paunsaugunt Plateau area near Bryce Canyon National Park.

The zoo said this was the first time it has participated in a reintroduction effort for the species since it signed on to help in 1995. The toads sent in August and September were the zoo’s largest contribution to the program to date.

The zoo spawned its first Western boreal toads with 30 in August of 2020.

 

Second elephant pregnancy:

https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local...elephant-herd-they-say-its-a-big-announcement

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium President and CEO Dennis Pate and Dr. Sarah Woodhouse, Director of Animal Health, announced on Tuesday morning that female elephant, Kiki is expecting a large bundle of joy early next year. The zoo now has two baby elephants on the way.