Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo 2021 News

I saw a video when Abrazzo arrived at the zoo, and as far as I know I never heard they have been introduced yet. Once he is out of quarantine he will go on exhibit but I’m not sure when that’s going to be. He now takes Mommy’s title of the oldest animal in the zoo. And the sign is outdated. Bubba has been absent for a year and a half now and the sign is still up. I actually saw him the day before he left because a reptile keeper said that he was leaving Feb.15.2020 and I saw him Feb 14.

 

Do you know the destination for him in California?

Have all the Aldabrans now left Philly Zoo (I believe there was another Aldabran named Grunt)?

 

Abrazzo came from South Carolina, not California. He came from Riverbanks Zoo. And the rest of the Aldabras are still at the zoo. They still have 5 aldrabras, including Grunt.

 

The entire recent conversation was targetted at Aldabrans and in this very case Bubba Who was sent to some place in Californië. That question remains unanswered and I would love to know.

As far as Galapagos tortoises goes I probably have a fairer idea Who is or goes where. In fact, I provided much on the background of proven male Abrazzo. Given his status it should not be too long if F Mommy is still laying eggs for them to breed successfully. The Galapagos are male Abrazzo, Mommy and Philly hatched Little Girl.

Since, it seems that 5 Aldabrans remain - which is news to me - which individuals apart from Grunt are there?

 

There are 5 aldrabras, 1 male Grunt and 4 females Wilma, Betty, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

 

Near Water Is Life, I am not sure what happened to the construction. It might have been part of the Dino exhibit and it probably was, but I’m not 100% sure.

No, they no longer have both subspecies of red panda. They only have the Western red pandas(fulgens fulgens.) When Water Is Life was Carnivore Kingdom, the open-air exhibit always held the other subspecies, Styan’s red panda(fulgens refulgens/a.Styani.) The zoo had two elderly females Mei Lin and JJ. They were both born in 2002 and passed away years ago. JJ was the first to die in 2016, and she was 14 years old which is very old for a red panda. Mei Lin followed her in early 2017. I saw her in February of that year shortly before she died. Since she passed the exhibit was empty until Water Is Life was built.

 

It seems like to me that Philly has a lot of animals that not many zoos keep. There are many species that used to have a big family that now only have one or a couple surviving individuals left. Moira Abby is the last mhorr gazelle in the AZA. They are an extremely rare subspecies of the Dama gazelle and are extinct in the wild. Plus Philly is the only zoo I know of in North America that keeps one. There are probably a few zoos in Africa that keep them but that’s probably pretty much it. I’ve been to Asia many times and I don’t know of any zoos all through Asia that keep them.

Speaking of that the zoo is now down to three squirrel monkeys where only two of them come from the same family. All 4 parents have since passed away. Hazel was the first to die all the way back in 2008, the father Al died in 2016, of the other two females Coco died in 2019 and Meg just last year in 2020. Before she died Coco also had health problems losing weight and was on a bunch of medications. Not sure how old Hazel was but Al was wild born in 1993 and Coco and Meg in 1996. They all came together in 1999. As they were all in their around mid-20s they were very old for squirrel monkeys. They usually live around 20 like most monkeys. The remaining two from that family unit are their two daughters, Chestnut and Ivana. Chestnut is already 21 which is very old. Ivana is 17 so not as old but getting up there. About 2 years ago their son Andrew moved to another zoo to breed and he was replaced by a new male, Wolfie. Andrew is pretty valuable because he’s only around 12 or 13, and for a male they don’t need to produce. Wolfie is recommended to breed with Chestnut and Ivana but the chances are low. Chestnut is definitely too old, and Ivana is just a few years away from reaching her lifespan.

 

26 zoos in Europe have Mhorr Gazelles, along with at least one in the Middle East.

 

Thanks for the info, I didn’t know. I’ve never been to any European zoos. I only base the information from where I have been.

 

There are 2 Pygmy loris behind the scenes in Small Mammal House. They are not in PECO.

 

Where were the squirrel monkeys imported from if they're wild born?

~Thylo

 

I’m not sure. All 4 parents were wild born. On the old website it said that Al, Coco and Meg arrived together in 1999 but it didn’t say which facility. Maybe they were rescues. They were wild born in Guyana, Al in 1993 and Coco and Meg in 1996. Not exactly sure when Hazel arrived but probably she came with the rest.

 

Philadelphia Zoo squirrel monkeys
Al(male)
Wild born in Guyana 1993. Arrived 1999, passed away 2016 at age 23.
Coco(female)
Wild born in Guyana, 1996. Arrived in 1999 with Al and Meg. Passed away in 2019 at age 23 due to age-related health issues losing weight.
Meg(female)
Wild born in Guyana, 1996. Arrived in 1999 with Al and Coco. Passed away in 2020 at age 24.
Hazel(female)
Wild born in Guyana(not sure what year but if she died in 2008 she was definitely way older than 1993). Passed away all the way back in 2008. Not sure when she came but probably with the rest.
Chestnut(female)
Born at Philadelphia Zoo 1999. She’s the smallest monkey with long sideburns.
Ivana(female)
Born at Philadelphia Zoo 2004. She’s the largest of the group.
Andrew(male)
Born at Philadelphia Zoo 2008. Left the zoo in 2019 for breeding purposes and it was time for him to move on from his family and he was replaced by a new male named Wolfie.
Wolfie(male)
Arrived at Philadelphia Zoo in 2019 to breed with Chestnut and Ivana but given their age that is not very likely to happen.

Al, Hazel, Coco and Meg were probably rescues. Wolfie came from another facility, not sure which.

 

Al and the 3 older girls must have been part of those 247 imports.

 

Well that's good to know, thanks! I sometimes forget that CITES records are public. I find it interesting then that there are virtually no Peruvian animals left in the country while there are still hundreds of Guianan animals about.

~Thylo

 

Back in the 1950-1960' era hundreds of squirrel monkeys were imported by Tarpon Zoo(now extinct) from Leticia Colombia and retailed for $19.95 in the USA pet trade.

 

I visited the zoo today and noticed some changes.
-The elderly mongoose lemur pair, Clara and Toby, were moved to the sifaka exhibit. The sifakas were nowhere to be seen.
-Milan, the elderly Angora goat has been moved to the side yard. A staff member said that that yard is for older goats and certain goats that have sharp horns(to prevent injury). Milan now gets to live outside all the time without being touched if she doesn’t want to. I still was able to touch her today though when she was close to the fence.
-There are now three crested caracaras at the zoo. I only saw two turkey vultures.
-In the reptile house, since the weather is cooler now the exhibits in the desert wing that used to be dark are now bright again.
-Didn’t see the wolf or cheetahs, could smell the wolf though
-In the KidZooU Building, the exhibit that used to hold butterflies now has Gouldian finches. I didn’t see the budgies in the regular spot so I don’t know if the zoo still has them.

 

The Gouldian finches have been there for a while now. I saw them back in May 2019. I also know Milan well. She’s very old, and I’m glad she no longer has to deal with crazy kids.