2020 has begun and with it a whole new year of new events. The zoo recently updated its website and it is not very good. In other news, Illuminature will last until January 5.
Philly had a baby sloth bear born! The cub was born December 11. Baby Sloth Bear Born At Philadelphia Zoo
I visited the zoo today and I have some updates. The MacNeil Avian Center now has Hartlaub's ducks with the great blue turacos. There is a Tranvancore tortoise in the exhibit where the sailfin lizards and black monitors used to be. The emerald tree boas, blue poison dart frogs, and yellow-headed poison dart frogs are no longer on exhibit. Apparently, the Southern ground hornbills will now be living with the guerezas because there is a sign outside their exhibit. The bushy-tailed jirds have replaced the pygmy slow loris. The Mexican hairy porcupine is not with the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth in the Small Mammal House. I was surprised to find out the zoo got a third adult sloth bear. At first, I thought it was Kayla and Bhalu, and was worried the newborn cub didn't survive, but I was reassured, both mother and cub are behind the scenes until spring. The common squirrel monkeys have moved from PECO to the Rare Animal Conservation Center. A few golden lion tamarins and white-faced sakis now live in their exhibit at PECO. I find it a rather interesting mixed species exhibit.
I heard Bhalu is a social bear and was getting lonely without a companion. The Cleveland Zoo was running out of room for their male sloth bear, Balawat, because of the sloth bear cub there so they moved him to Philadelphia Zoo to be Bhalu's companion. I'm not sure how long Balawat will be at the zoo, but I assume they have enough room for him, Bhalu, and Kayla & cub.
Male gorillas Louis and Kuchimba are heading to Quebec. From the zoo: "It is with mixed emotions that we must say farewell to two of Philadelphia Zoo's most popular residents - male silverback gorillas, Louis and Kuchimba. Although we will greatly miss Louis and Kuchimba, we are heartened and excited about the new adventures they will share together at Granby Zoo in Quebec. Louis and Kuchimba are moving later this month after a recommendation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP). At Granby Zoo, Louis and Kuchimba will be joining two other male gorillas for a richer social environment. Meanwhile, our family group will have more versatility in where they can roam and explore year-round. If you would like to say farewell to Louis and Kuchimba, we suggest visiting on or before Presidents' Day. This Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9, and Presidents' Day Weekend, February 15, 16, and 17, one or both of the bachelors will be in their indoor habitat in PECO Primate Reserve from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m."
I saw an article that said that a mother Amur leopard from the Greenville Zoo will be staying in Philadelphia for a few months with her cubs, and will then return to Greenville.
Do you know which Amur Leopard has moved to Philadelphia from Greenville, SC? My understanding was there are two females at the Philadelphia Zoo, Emma and Kira. The first two Amur Leopard births of 2020 were at Greenville Zoo on February 10th born to mother Jade and father Nelkan. Jade has two sisters, born 03/17/10 in Indiana (Emerald and Clover). Born were at Greenville for a time. Last information I had was that Emerald was at Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas and Clover was at Binghamton.
Hello again, it looks like it was the male Nelkan that has been temporarily relocated to Philadelphia Zoo in an effort to minimize stress for the female and cubs as they get oriented. I am basing this on a February 26th article in the Greenville Journal.
This would make sense as I heard a rumor a male Amur leopard was coming to the zoo and they plan to breed him with Emma, one of the female Amur leopards. However, like I said, it's just a rumor.
The CEO sent out an e-mail at 9pm tonight saying as of now, the zoo will remain open. The measures they've taken are: - Enhanced cleaning protocols with crews paying special attention to high-touch area - Reminding staff to practice best health practices: regular hand washing and covering mouth to reduce germ transmission - Strictly enforcing that all staff stay home if they, or someone in their household, is sick - Ceased all Zoo-related travel – both domestic and international The annual member's weekend is next weekend.
Due to the coronavirus, the Philadelphia Zoo along with almost every other zoo in America is closed until the virus stops. This may not end anytime soon. During this troubling time, the zoo has asked for donations and staff are on-site caring for the collection. Every day at 2 PM, the zoo has streamed live videos of keepers doing their jobs to sate people like me who want to physically be at the zoo. I want to see the black baby gibbon, the baby sloth bear, and hopefully see the Senegal parrot which I think is on and off exhibit at McNeil.
Since the zoo has been closed, there is very little for us ZooChatters to report. We do not know of any new birds, reptiles, or amphibians at the zoo. The biggest things I've heard recently is that the sloth bear cub is now out on exhibit and the Raggiana bird of paradise has made a nest. The female will be the only one caring for the eggs. Males play no part in raising young. Other than that, there is no other news, except I saw a social media post that the zoo is planting a garden next to the Amazon Carousel.
With the Bronx Zoo's tiger testing positive for Covid-19, the Philadelphia Zoo is taking extra precautions to ensure their collection is safe from the disease. I doubt the Philadelphia Zoo's tigers will get it since they are 100 miles away from the infected tiger.
