Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Zoo 2021 News

I just found out that Grunt went to the Bronx Zoo. Abrazzo will soon come out with the girls. 5 tortoises have been transferred out, along with the other Aldabra male Bubba and the 3 young Galapagos. Currently the zoo has 7 giant tortoises, 3 Galapagos and 4 Aldabra.

 

I heard today that the zoo is still planning to pair Kira the amur leopard to breed with their male, Nelkan. Nelkan was born in April 2006, so he is 15 years old which is quite old for any big cat so he’s not that valuable. Has anyone heard if the zoo has had any success while they are still trying? I think the zoo should get a new, younger male and send Nelkan away. Nelkan sired a litter of Cubs in February 2020 at the Greenville Zoo, born to mother Jade. At that time he was 13 years old. Emma is way too old to breed. I heard some rumors that Nelkan could be paired with either female which isn’t possible. At 19 years old Emma should be one of the oldest in the world(she’s the oldest one I know of). She used to have a mate many years ago but they always lived separately, and the mate got transferred but I doubt that he is still alive.

 

Kavan, the prior male, passed away in Philadelphia in August 2017 at age 16.

Nelkan is genetically valuable to the AZA population and should still be able to breed at 15, just not with Emma who at 19 is too old to breed. Pearl at the Potawatomi Zoo is about 6 months older than Emma.

 

Heard where?

 

Even when overheard, it appears this assumption may be quite truthful.

 

What?

 

I can only acknowledge what @Kevin2342 said overheard is correct.

 

You must have heard from a keeper about Kavan. He and Emma arrived around the same time and they had a recommendation with the AZA Species Survival Plan, but they never bred. At that time the zoo only had a single male named Krepke, who has also since died. Then a few years later the zoo got Kira. Her and Kavan also never bred. Since Kavan died I’ve heard many times that the zoo was getting another male leopard, and it took many years. Emma is probably the 2nd oldest Amur leopard in the US. Last year I heard the zoo has only had 9 Amur leopards and I only know of 6.

 

He still hasn't answered where he heard it.

 

I heard on 6abc News, Cecily Tynan visits the zoo every Wednesday and I heard from a big cat keeper talking to her in the video.

 

I have asked many people about what happened to Kavan. Someone told me many years ago he died in August 2017 and she said she knows because she did a project on Amur leopards. She wasn’t a keeper. I have asked many people, some said he died but more people have said he was transferred away for breeding. None were big cat keepers. I know Kavan has had some dental issues since mid-2016, when he was already 15 which is considered elderly for leopards. There was a short video showing a teeth clean. I’m not sure how he died, maybe the dental issues were causing him too much pain and he had some trouble eating due to the dental issues.

 

Grunt and Bubba were both originally supposed to move in 2020, in the past I have also heard rumors about the zoo getting another male tortoise. They were focusing on breeding the Galapagos. Grunt’s move was delayed probably due to covid. The Galapagos is a much more threatened species than the Aldabra so I think they should focus on that. Grunt joins two other male Aldabras at the Bronx Zoo, forming a bachelor, non-breeding group of three males. Grunt is quite small for a male at a little over 300 pounds, while Bubba was around 500. The average weight for male Aldabras are around 500 lbs, the two other males at Bronx weigh 400 and 600 pounds. Bubba and Grunt spent many years in Philadelphia and it’s sad to see them leave based on the amount of time they spent. Bubba arrived way back in 1947. Grunt came in 1986 shortly before the last two females Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but he still lived here for well over three decades.

And with the three young Galapagos, someone else said they were transferred due to the zoo breeding Galapagos tortoises. They would not have been transferred out due to Abrazzo’s arrival to breed, because they lived separately from the adult tortoises with being behind the scenes in the wintertime. When the Sebastopol geese came they had nowhere else to place them.

 

Bronx has kept and displayed a potential breeding group of 2.2 Aldabrans for some years now, the addition of Grunt makes this 3.2.

~Thylo

 

For Kevin2342, information on Amur Leopards at Philadelphia:
KREPKI (M born 1997), 27 Mar 1998 - 22 Mar 2001 (died)
KALINIKA (F born 1998), 2 Nov 2009 - 24 Jan 2013 (to Binghamton)
KATIA (F born 1997), 27 May 98 - 12 May 2009 (returned to Rosamond)
MAKARII (F born 17 Apr 2000, Krepki x Katia), 26 Mar 2002 to Lincoln Park, Chicago
SAKHAR (F born 5 Nov 2002, Krepki x Katia), 22 Jan 2004 to Rosamond
KAVAN (M born 2001) 31 Jul 2012 - 23 Aug 2017 (died)
EMMA (F born 30 June 2002) arrived 30 May 2012 from Binghamton
NELKAN (M born 2006, Mulhouse) arrived Feb 2020 from Greenville
KIRA (F born 2013) arrived 28 Aug 2015 from Jacksonville
[9]

All dates correct up to the end of 2018, so the arrival date for Nelkan may be wrong. They are from a printout from the ISB, which does not detail cause of death, just a d.o.d.

 

The arrival date for Nelkan is correct.

 

Makarii moved to Jacksonville in December 2006 and is Kira's mother. She passed away there in January 2019:

Critically endangered, aging Amur leopard euthanized at Jacksonville Zoo

 

I have always been interested in why the sloths and porcupine in RACC can’t go in Treetop Trail. I recently found because it’s because the prehensile-tailed porcupine is a very cautious climber with very sharp nails and they don’t want his nails to get stuck. He’s very old now, him being a cautious climber should have things to do with arthritis. Should be the same reason for the sloths, I forgot what the zoo exactly said but also they are upside-down and slow moving so they don’t need to travel long. Especially Argyle, who at estimated 47 years old does not need to go far.

Prehensile-tailed porcupines:
Felix(M) born April 27, 2004 at Albuquerque BioPark.

Diego(M) born November 1, 2009 at Philadelphia Zoo to dad(Felix.) Felix previously lived with a female that I assume has died. They also had another baby in 2013 that got transferred.

Two-toed sloths:
Argyle(M) wild born in Panama, estimated 1974. Arrived in Philadelphia Zoo 1998 from Rosalind Grifford Zoo.

Jabba(M) born October 22, 2000 at Philadelphia Zoo at Argyle and Charlotte(mom.) He left in 2002 and returned in 2008. Charlotte passed away in 2019 at the age of approximately 39.

Latte(F) born November 20, 2015 at Topeka Zoological Park. Arrived at Philadelphia Zoo on October 8, 2019 to breed with Jabba.

“The Child”(F) born May 27, 2021 to Jabba and Latte at Philadelphia Zoo. The Child is the baby’s nickname but he/she doesn’t have a real name yet.

 

One mistake: Jabba returned back in 2019

one mistake: Jabba returned in 2019, not 2008.

 

The zoo is doing a strange winter schedule again this year.
September: Open weds-sun, 930-5.
October: Open weds-sun, 930-5. Also closed Oct 7th.
November: Open 930-4 the first two weekends (6-7, 13-14). Open 10-3 the next two fri-sun (19-21, 26-28).
December: Open fri-sun 10-3. Closed 24, 25, and 31.
January: Only open the 2, 7, 8, and 9th, from 10-3. Closed the rest of January.

 

According to social media, the baby sloth has been named Grogan. Not sure if it’s a boy or a girl. It has started eating solid foods since now it’s a few months old.