Kira the gorilla is pregnant. https://www.google.com/amp/www.phil...-Kira-is-pregnant-January-2017.html?amphtml=y
AJ, the oldest aardvark in the US, has died at age 28. https://www.google.com/amp/www.phil...aardvark-oldest-in-nation-dies.html?amphtml=y
Some observations from my visit yesterday: In the recent couple years, the sloth and Andean bear yards have been combined and the whole space is used by the sloth bears. The young sloth bear pair rotate time with the older female sloth bear. The Andean bear relocated and rotates with the Asiatic black bear. The big cats currently have black marks on different parts of their body. A docent told visitors it was so the zookeepers could tell them apart. I did some further research and I was actually told it was done for a study they are doing on habitants of the 360 animal trails and it helps identify them the animals easier/quicker. Another nice addition I saw was that since the big cats rotate in all the exhibits, they now have signs telling visitor which species is in them and the individual and their name. The small mammal house is quite dismal. As mentioned a couple years ago, the nocturnal section was closed off and nothing went in its place. The main hallway with terrarium exhibits has quite a few empty spaces as well. I did not document what species they had left, but it's not a lot. The lone aardvark still shares an exhibit space with the meerkats and the Hoffman's two toed sloths share one with an agouti. Gertie, the female yellow knobbed curassow was transferred to another zoo for breeding purposes. The volunteer could not remember which zoo. Ben, one of the red pandas born a couple years ago does not live in Carnivore Kingdom with the rest of the red pandas. He lives in the rare species building (inside exhibit not visible to public), but can be see in the main treetop trail at the entrance of the zoo.
I visited today. As blospz mentioned, the Small Mammal House is quite dismal lately, with very few species: Vampire bat, fat-tailed gerbil, pygmy marmoset, northern tree shrew, Eurasian harvest mouse, Hoffman's two-toed sloth, agouti (unsure which species), aardvark, and meerkat. Black-and-rufous elephant shrews no longer share an exhibit with sloth in Rare Species Conservation Center. The pair that formerly did so was nowhere to be found, while the lone individual was still with the titi monkeys. The Reptile House now has two African forest cobras in one exhibit, as opposed to two exhibits with one each (both are now in the King Cobra Temple at the center of the building). The exhibit that was emptied by this move is now home to a Brazilian lancehead viper (B. moojeni). The red panda exhibit formerly home to the refulgens (is that the correct name?) subspecies was under construction. The okapi and red river hog exhibits are now empty, and are in the process of being combined into a new exhibit which will hold the zoo's kangaroos (currently outside Small Mammal House) and emu (near the kid's zoo). Black-necked swans were transferred from Bird Valley (practically empty currently) to the first exhibit in PECO Primate Reserve (I imagine this is just for the winter season as lemurs are off exhibit). The zoo's former lorikeet walk-through opened for the first day of the season today, but with a new species list. The current residents are a black-billed magpie, satyr tragopans, Temminck's tragopans, a flock of very skittish spotted doves, and three male golden pheasants. Eventually birds will (hopefully) accept hand-feeding from the public, but that will take a while. I almost was able to feed a tragopan, but couldn't persuade it to come down from the structure it was on. Future species will include European blackbird and white-crested laughingthrush.
I visited yesterday. My friend and I were the only ones in the Birds of Asia exhibit; it costs $2 and the ticket booth is a short walk away, instead of right next to the exhibit, so most people weren't interested in going back and forth. The birds were all very willing to be fed and have developed their own quirks for taking the worms. The laughing thrush and black birds are both in the exhibit now; the laughing thrush made several different sounds while we were there, the first any of the three keepers had heard from it. Unless you're into birds the exhibit is underwhelming and not worth the hype, they didn't do any upgrading and the building looks rather run down. The hammerkops are no longer present in the Aviary, I forget what the keeper told us. We were asking about the other species present since most weren't labelled. I don't normally go in the Aviary so I'm not sure what were different from before. The lynx weren't in their exhibit and their signage was gone. The main red panda exhibit is still empty, but there doesn't seem to be anything done with it. The kangaroos were in their new spacious home but like the birds of asia, it's rather over-hyped, since it was just a relocation. The emu wasn't present. The camels and camel rides are now gone. They're somehow turning that area into a new home for the bald eagles. The bald eagles already have a rather large home so I'm not sure what they're doing or why. Does anyone have a complete species list for the zoo, particularly the birds? Their website is rather lacking and I want to be able to put labels on my photos. Also, does anyone know where the pumas went?
I saw in the master plan that a rather distinctive building would take the place of the former eagle aviary. A building signaling the return of one of the most prominent species at the zoo... African Elephants. (Their holding area, at least. Plus the zoo really wants to bring elephants back, so I'm guessing this is their motion).
Nothing. The cobra exhibits are two exhibits. Since I've started visiting, one has always had king cobra, and the other has always had African forest cobra. Now two African forest cobras are kept in the same exhibit instead of one.
Orangutans Tua and Sugriwa are expecting and the baby due over the summer. Sumatran orangutan pregnant at Philadelphia Zoo
