Rico the fossa has been moved back to the world of water exhibit, based on a video on facebook. He's been kept behind the scenes at the conservation center (other than using the 360 trails) since soon after his arrival because he was very fearful in the exhibit, so maybe all of this time without people staring at him is letting him get adjusted to it
Water is Life strikes me as a geographical mishmash based solely on giving the animals more space (which is crucial and a good thing on the zoo's part). I wish that there was a much less utilitarian/slapped-together feel to the complex, and a lot more softscaping to boot. Maybe instead of the water sculptures which *ironically* take up space, why not implement species that would use the space/arboreal advantages said potential exhibit space would lend itself towards? Like in the former coati exhibit, maybe it could be netted over and used for a desert-dwelling cat species (e.g. caracal, sand cat or ocelot), and in the former dwarf mongoose habitat, maybe something like a uromastyx or a mountainous species (e.g. Pallas' cats seeing as their neighbors are red pandas). More landscaping appropriate to the animals' environments would be nice, highlighting the different environments and how they deal with water (desert for the caracal or ocelot, bamboo forest for the red panda, mountain for the Pallas' cats, tropical rainforest for Rico the fossa and wetlands for the otters). Something along those lines would seriously improve an otherwise middling (in terms of theming) complex. IDK, thoughts?
Wonderful! He was still up front on my last visit, in October. I love watching him hunt on that 360 trail but I have been wishing I could see him on every visit, not just the days he was out there. @Wyman I'm not sure even they know wtf they're doing with that area, beyond the otters being the feature. I have a feeling someone(s) gave them a big donation on the condition that they include those sculptures/machines, or something along those lines. As a theme, they could have done so much more with it if they had based it around the polar bears, penguins, flamingos, and then added a few species down the old bird row for it, and left this area to smaller carnivores. Instead, they turned an area that had 6+ species into one for 3 (one of which wasn't being kept there until recently, the fossa), two of which have absolutely nothing to do with the theme beyond needing to drink water, like every other animal.
The coati left several years ago. There's now one of the water sculptures in their yard. Not sure about the mongooses.
Yes, one of them died. The zoo had two of them. I am not sure if the other one is still alive at this point at his new home in a different zoo.
Does the zoo still keep the following species: 1. Red diamond rattlesnake 2. Blacktail rattlesnake 3. Conant’s milk snake 4. Northern copperhead 5. Eyelash gecko All of these species are not on exhibit as of now.
1. The Red Diamond Rattlesnake passed away 2. The black-tailed rattlesnake is no longer on exhibit 3. The milksnake passed away. 4. Copperhead is likely off exhibit or died 5. Not sure what happened to the eyelash gecko
A shame that the milksnake and red diamond rattlesnake passed away. Were they old when they died and when did they die?
