San Antonio Zoo San Antonio Zoo News 2022

The Hixon Bird House is currently receiving a facelift to better theme the building to its surroundings, and should be completed by June

 

Visited today and have just a few notes. It was 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) so the zoo was not too busy and the animals weren't crazy active, but still a great time. The zoo has enough air-conditioned spaces to make it bearable though.

• The Hixon Bird House was closed due to the aforementioned renovation. They have already added the bird cutouts to the exterior, yet the interior was blocked off.

• The 4-D theater appears to be mostly done with only exterior work remaining. It is just next to the king vulture aviary, across from tiny-tot nature spots entrance.

• Tiny-Tot Nature Spots' renovation continues. Most of the work seems to be in the interior, yet the old diamondback terrapin pond has been demolished. The prairie dog exhibit remains though so maybe they'll be back. The terrapins have been moved to the turtle pond at the back of the nature spot area.

• In the reptile house they have now added Black-Tailed Horned Pitviper (Mixcoatlus melanurus), a lifer for me. I don't know how many other species have them but assume they are fairly rare.

• The zoo has blocked off the swamp area behind the carousel. It had housed false gharials years ago, but in recent years had been largely vacant. They have removed the boardwalk and fully drained the pool. And are now in the process of emptying out the muck at the bottom. I wonder what may be happening to this exhibit and the adjacent now-vacant tapir exhibit.

• A pair of bat-eared fox are now on exhibit in the smaller exhibit between the lorikeets and kangaroos. It's not the best exhibit due to harder substrate and few plants, but I imagine its not a long-term solution.

• Lastly the bond was approved, so the zoo will now get $10 million for its entrance. I imagine that'll begin next year. So improvements are ongoing and coming

 

The zoo is operating a drive-thru next month:

Drive-thru zoo experience returns to San Antonio Zoo | kens5.com

"We are incredibly excited to bring back this fun San Antonio Zoo experience to our guests this year," said Tim Morrow, President & CEO of San Antonio Zoo. "Drive Thru Zoo was imperative to our operations at the beginning of the pandemic and received worldwide attention and replication due to its creativity!"

 

The zoos really pushing later openings recently. Which isn’t a bad thing in the Texas summer. They’ll be open til 9pm every Saturday this summer as well. Interestingly unlike many zoos probably 80% of species seem to have late-night access to their outdoor exhibits.

 

Tomorrow marks the re-opening of the newly renovated Hixon Bird House.

San Antonio Zoo announces ribbon-cutting ceremony of Hixon Bird House

 

Texas horned lizard hatchlings expected:

Horned Lizard Day? No problem, new lizards on the way | kens5.com

The newly hatched lizards will be released into the wild this fall and there is an expected thirty-four hatchlings which is a big step forward for the Texas Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project, the Zoo said.

 

Other 2022 News:

On March 17th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) western grey kangaroo named Kraken was born. On March 23rd, the zoo announced that another (1.0) western grey kangaroo named Reef was born.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=5075402602526221
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1114899292700093

On April 1st*, the zoo announced they are in discussions with Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences about several projects, including being the test site for the de-extinction for woolly mammoths. The zoo also announced they are planning on utilizing zoo grounds on the west side of Highway 281 in the form of a landbridge.

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Also on April 1st, the zoo announced they have started fundraising for 2 new trains with unique engines and ADA accessibility coaches. The first train will come in the summer of 2022, while the 2nd train will be completed in 2023.

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On April 5th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) western grey kangaroo was born.

San Antonio Zoo - It’s a girl! Topaz’s joey has made her out of pouch debut, and she’s too cute! | Facebook

On April 6th, the zoo announced that some bird species have started to move off-exhibit due to avian influenza. The zoo also announced that some aviaries have been closed to the public.

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On April 9th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) jaguar named Arizona had been transferred to an unspecified AZA facility (Memphis?). Her last day on exhibit was April 11th.

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On April 27th, the zoo announced that they have opened a new seasonal exhibit named Planet Earth: Deep Sea Adventures. It features "large photographs, live entertainment, and aquatic animal interactions" and will be open from May 28th to September 5th.

Head to the San Antonio Zoo this summer for new Deep Sea Adventure exhibit

On May 26th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) western grey kangaroo was born. On June 24th, the zoo announced its name, Captain.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=3172599786360820

San Antonio Zoo - Adorable adventures with Captain the baby kangaroo! | Facebook | By San Antonio Zoo | Pyrite's joey officially has a name! Meet Captain!

On June 4th, the zoo announced that the Project Selva 4D Theater has officially opened to the public.

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On June 15th, the zoo announced that they have officially retired the Mary Barrett train on June 14th, which the train has been in operation since the 1980s.

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On June 20th, the zoo announced they will be doing a vibrant facelift and reimagining of the Nanyuki Market, Outpost Amazonia, and Train Deport starting on that day, with both the deport and the outpost taking 3-4 weeks to complete, while Nanyuki Market will reopen sometime in August.

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*I'm not sure if this is an actual April Fools joke or not. It doesn't seem like one, as there has been no confirmation it was ever a joke. I wouldn't have included it if they had posted something that would confirm its a joke, but they didn't.

 

On July 5th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) Komodo dragon named Bubba has passed away at age 27.

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Not a bad age for a Komodo dragon!

Taronga Zoo’s Komodo dragon (Tuka) passed away at the age of 33 years in 2015 and was believed to be the eldest in human care at that time. Bubba wasn’t far off this age and would certainly have been one of the eldest in the world.

His death leaves the zoo with a 12 year old female (Kristika) and the clutch of hatchlings from last year (sired by a loaned male).

 

On July 15th, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) crested coua was born.

San Antonio Zoo - Just in case you forget where snacks go, crested couas have built in mouth targets | Facebook | By San Antonio Zoo | Just in case you forget where snacks go, crested couas have built in mouth targets The ‘target’ shaped mouth markings are thought to help guide...

 

A large alligator-snapping turtle has been moved into the former tapir exhibit. It currently only has access to the pool though.

 

On July 26th, the zoo announced they bought a new train, the Union Pacific Mini Train, which is now open to the public.

San Antonio Zoo

 

On July 29th, the zoo announced that (0.0.3) West African crowned cranes were hatched recently.

San Antonio Zoo - Our baby crowned cranes are having a little trouble learning to walk | Facebook | By San Antonio Zoo | Prepare for a cuteness overload! Meet our new West African crowned crane chicks! Walking is a bit of a challenge at the moment, as you can see Not...

 

On August 10th, the zoo announced that their newly renovated and reimagined butterfly house and outdoor play area, named Discovery PLAYce, will open to the public in autumn.

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Actually the building is named Discovery PLAYce and will open sometime in Early September. The butterfly house and outdoor play areas have yet to go vertical and will open in the fall.

 

right thought both were one of the same.

 

On August 11th, it was announced that the zoo transferred (0.2) black-tailed pitvipers as well as a (0.0.1) Mexican lance-headed rattlesnake to the Los Angeles Zoo in California.

https://s36593.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08.2022-animal-transactions.pdf

 

On August 16th, the zoo announced that over the past couple of months, a multitude of species were born/hatched including crested couas, scaly-breasted lorikeets, curl-crested aracaris, fairy bluebirds, West African crowned cranes, Eastern Pibarra spiny-tailed skinks, Yunnan Mountain rat snakes, Malaysian giant pond turtles, psychedelic rock geckos (the first of any AZA facility to breed the species), lemur leaf frogs, green mantellas, pinstripe damba cichlids, and San Marcos redtail spitfins.

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On August 23rd, the zoo announced they have made a new director position for animal welfare, and have hired Dr. Charles Ritzler to become the director. He came from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where he worked as a research associate for ~5 years.

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On September 16th, the zoo opened the newly renovated Discovery PLAYce at the Kronkosky Tiny Tot Nature Spot.

Instagram post about the new area