Brandywine Zoo Brandywine Zoo - only AZA zoo in state of Delaware

Australian Reptiles Animal Profiles:

Green tree python: Verdi

Mossy prehensile-tailed gecko: Peaches, Plum, Conan, Blintz

Prehensile-tailed skink: Dr. Spaceman, SJ, Denver

There are two new rats named Gustav and Sven

The new frilled dragon is named Norbert.

Atticus (the great horned owl), Curly ( the red-billed toucan), and Cali (the two-toed sloth) have passed away.

They are going to lose the goats, llamas, and rhea and turn it into a Madagascar exhibit with three types of lemurs and radiated tortoises.

 

Is that confirmed? They're still taking applications for goat volunteers.

 

It was listed in the Zoo News magazine.

 

This is more of the plan:

Brandywine-Zoo-Master-Plan

Here's the proposed animal collection plan from that site:

http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/parks...posed-Illustrative-Plan-Animal-Collection.pdf

Overall, I actually think this is a great master plan for a small zoo. It's just ambitious enough for a zoo of its size while also being realistic in implementation. Many of the animals, like markhor and snow leopards, are great picks for the terrain. It doesn't call for great apes, lions, tigers, giraffes, or pachyderms, but it still features animals charismatic in their own right, like jaguars, snow leopards, and sloth bears. I like some of the mixed species habitats, like colobus monkeys and crested porcupines, the latter which often get shafted with tiny exhibits in zoos.

Does anyone have any idea if there's going to be a building for reptiles or amphibians in this new master plan besides the habitats for Komodo dragons or radiated tortoises? I'm a herpetology guy myself.

 

I attended a wonderful presentation by the director a few months ago and it seems the plan has changed a bit since then. As it doesn’t seem to be publicly available I won’t share details, but yes, they hope to involve a lot more herps.

 

I'm really hoping they're still planning on getting hyenas, along with the bat-eared foxes, pudu, and markhor. Nowhere nearby has those, other than Bronx having hyenas and markhor, the latter of which is only viewable briefly on the monorail. I wish they'd vary it a bit more, as the rest of the species on that plan are at either Philly or Elmwood Park a half hour away, but Brandywine advertises more to locals than they do to the greater area.

 

Nice! What about more avian species?

Agreed. I really like that a member of the Caprinae is being considered in a master plan.

Using the publicly available plan, I'd personally rather the callitrichid habitat be more of a walk-through aviary-type exhibit with small monkeys, birds, and maybe other small Neotropical animals, but that's just my personal preference.

 

A few were mentioned.

 

The zoo has a new educational animal for the summer - a young alligator. It was seized during a drug bust just over the border in PA and is being held by the zoo during the court case. After the summer, it will be sent to St. Augustine. Pennsylvania Drug Bust Leads to New Tenant at Delaware Zoo: Alligator

 

The zoo has two new wallbies, ravens, a new nubian goat enclosure, closing the otter exhibit, and will be recieving alligators from a private facility in Florida, all as part of its Master Plan.

Brandywine Zoo hosts wallabies and alligators as $13 million transformation begins

 

Do the ravens have names?

 

Not that I know of.

 

I went to the zoo on saturday and have uploaded a bunch of photos, including one of every enclosure except the Black-headed Caique, which was ruined by the sun and I didn't notice. Most of their current species matches up with the website, but in general order:

1. Andean Condor
2. Bobcat
3. North American Porcupine
4. Italian Honey Bee
5. Red Pandas
6. Swift Fox
7. Serval
8. Golden Lion Tamarins
9. Australasian Reptiles - Green Tree Python, Prehensile-tailed Skink, Mossy Prehensile-tailed Gecko
10. Golden-headed Lion Tamarins (across from reptiles)
11. Virginia Opossum

Then going counter-clockwise around the loop:
12. Bennett's Wallabies
13. Black-headed Caique (across from wallabies)
14. Llamas
15. American Alligators
16. Aviary - Capybara, 2 Toco Toucans, Black-crowned Night Heron, ducks. Only the heron and capybara have signs. I saw 2 ducks clearly and neither are on their website.
17. Goats (in middle of area)
18. Bald eagles, Ravens
19. Burrowing Owl
20. Sandhill Crane

I also met a tenrec that's an ambassador animal.
A lot of people were asking about the ring-tailed lemurs.

 

A wild bear has made an appearance near the zoo! He (or she) was first spotted near the I-95/495 split, just a few miles away. It's the first sighting in this state since 2016, and only the second known one since colonial times, supposedly.

 

Lesser hedgehog tenrec, right?

 

They only called it a tenrec, but yes.

 

That's amazing you've had so few bears. In NJ, with habitat loss to building developments, we see them quite frequently on the news. I've even seen one myself. And deer, forget it. Between my home in the suburbs of NY and Staten Island, I see at least a half dozen deer a week. There's a whole stretch of highway labelled "Deer Crash Zone," because there have been huge pile-ups--one I've witnessed--caused by deer crossing a four-lane highway. Habitat loss is definitely affecting far more than exotic animals abroad.

 

I was a bit surprised by it, too, but I guess they don't normally come in to the metro Philly area and instead stay more north in NJ, west in MD. I've seen some of the reports of the ones near you! I hope to see a wild one, one day. We do have a ton of deer here, I usually see at least one herd whenever I leave the house. There's a very dark buck that lives over near the AFB.

 

Construction was started today on the future Madagascar exhibit, and is expected to take only 6 months to complete. It'll be 4,000 square feet and should cost $3.5 million. It's being paid for by a grant and by state money (the zoo is part of the state parks system). DNREC breaks ground on Brandywine Zoo Madagascar exhibit that will house endangered lemurs, tortoises - State of Delaware News

Because of the small size and limited shape of the current zoo, they're closing the entire place until April 4th, when the outside of the building should be done. The exhibit will be in the far back corner of the current zoo, where the llamas were.

I'm not really excited about this exhibit - more radiated tortoises and lemurs, like everyone else has - but there is one species they're adding that'll be exciting to some: Crowned lemurs! They'll be getting a breeding pair. There will also be ring-tailed lemurs and black-and-white ruffed lemurs. Lemurs are undeniably good for bringing in visitors, something the zoo has been struggling with.

This will be the end of Phase 1. Phase 2 is expected to be funded by public donations and sponsorships. If they stick to the plan, they'll start with a new animal hospital, followed by a new entrance and entry exhibit (flamingos, sloth, pudu). After that should be otter and eagle exhibits, then the lower level exhibits (an upgrade for the andean condors, jaguars, capybara, komodo dragons), and the herpetarium. It'll probably be a decade before I get close to seeing what I'm looking forward to - snow leopards, markhor, bat-eared foxes, and spotted hyenas.

 

The zoo's construction is going fine, along with a new quarantine building.

Lemurs, flamingos and more: Big changes coming to Delaware’s only zoo