Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2017

His name was Randle if you were curious about that. He was sent to the Lowry Park Zoo, however I have no clue if he's still there.

The species was phased out in favor of a better home for the zoos Asian elephants. The zoo did say in a FAQ about Elephant trails that they had a "vision" that would bring giraffes and rhinos back to the zoo. I would assume the plan @jayjds2 is talking about involves both giraffes and rhinos.

I don't know anything about the plan so I could be wrong.

 

Randle is still alive .

BennettL

 

Like Andrew said it was because of space. They chose to build a large modern Asian elephant exhibit which necessitated closing down the giraffe and hippo areas to make more elephant space. Their large mammal house once house African and Asian elephants, hippos, pygmy hippos, Indian rhinos, and giraffes. The African elephant died and the rhinos were gone for several years before the new elephant exhibit was designed. Everyone else got moved to other zoos.

 

So, the bush dogs shall replace the anteaters. (flatly and sarcastically) yay.

 

If the anteaters were to come back, I'd say they would move in with the bush dogs. The canines are to small to chomp the anteaters fierceness, plus its a great idea for studying wildlife interaction. Because be honest, when have you ever seen an anteater and a bush dog together side by side? Never. This is good my friends this is good.

 

While I like giant anteaters, IMO this is a positive development. Anteaters are already fairly common and doing well in American zoos; bush dogs are much rarer and the American population is small and unstable at the moment. I also think bush dogs are an interesting species in their own right.

 

I'd much rather see bush dogs, which are much more uncommon in the US, than giant anteaters. They're a very interesting and active species and while I have seen them before, I've never had much of a chance to photograph them. If there's a chance that these will breed, I would be ecstatic because baby bush dogs are adorable. I don't know of any prior births in the US.

If giant anteaters were to return to the zoo in a mixed-species setting, it would most likely be with the maned wolves. This has been done many times and is usually successful.

 

You beat me to it! I heard this news yesterday as well. You weren't by the red panda exhibit when the zookeeper was talking about this information, were you? I must have misheard because I thought she said 2.0 sloth bears, but your information makes more sense. I also heard another zoo was to get a European sloth bear import, but I cannot remember which US zoo. I am not sure if it was mentioned on the 2016 thread, but Hank the sloth bear has moved to Zoo Miami. He has already been introduced to their female and they are getting along well.

I am very excited to hear about the bush dogs!

 

I got my information from a keeper by the sloth bear exhibit, perhaps half an hour before the zoo closed.

Some other things I forgot to mention yesterday:

The Grevy's zebra exhibit is now open again. It has new fencing, but only to prevent the zebras from accessing foliage in two places.

The test signage in the Great Ape House has been removed as well, but signs in the same style now mention how Batang and Redd (mother and son orangutans) may choose to be off exhibit.

 

Does anyone know what the zoo's long-term plans for great apes and big cats are? I've heard a rumor that the Great Ape House is scheduled to be knocked down. If so, will gorillas get a new exhibit or be phased out of the collection?

 

In the summer and fall they were doing construction to the roof, I think adding height to the building. I doubt with the work they just did that they would knock down the building. I am not sure about big cats. I would assume the exhibit area would remain the same. The only difference we may see in the cat collection is some of the juvenile lionesses be sent to other zoos and Damai the tiger potentially becoming pregnant whenever she mates with Sparky. Or her current offspring, Bandur, may move to another zoo as well.

 

Wow. One month in the discussion and we are already at six pages!

 

^Because of that can we please not just post random thoughts and realizations?

 

Thanks mostly in part to you...

 

To be fair to @Drew730, we all participated in the discussions and so I think we all share some responsibility for it. It's really not that big a deal, but it's obvious to me that we will need a new 2017 thread at some point. Perhaps we should try a dual-thread system where one thread is strictly news and the other allows for extended discussion?

 

I see nothing wrong with discussion, such as the last page or so when I posted about the zoo's plans. Questions and answers I also don't mind, but when it comes to posts such as this:

It becomes a bit ridiculous. Nothing against @Drew730, but there's a distinction between what is unnecessary commenting and what is discussion.

As for the two-thread system, I think that will become a bit muddled. I think I expressed to you in the chatroom last night (can't remember if you were in the room at that point) that I prefer anything that might be of relevance to a zoo's state (for example, a birth, of whatever species, but not a new commercial or whatever) to be posted, because some people prefer to keep more accurate records about a zoo or its animals. The two-thread system would be harder to sort into what news goes where, and if I or another member need to go look back through a thread (which I've done before) it's easier to find if it's all in the same place. As you say, it isn't that big of a deal, and we will probably need a new thread at some point. I suggest we just make a National Zoo News Thread 2017 #2 or whatever when the time comes, like Chester's system.

 

Hate to barge in on this discussion, but what if we just do the Toronto system. One for Births, Deaths, and Transfers, and one for Developments or new exhibits. Just a thought.

 

@jayjds2: To each their own. I'm also fine with just creating new threads as the need arises, as I understand a dual thread system might be too complicated a solution.

@pachyderm pro: That's a good suggestion and I would be fine with that as well. Whatever consensus we come to is good with me.

 

Bobcat, Ollie, has escaped and the zoo has closed the area around the bobcat exhibit as they search for her.

Bobcat escapes pen at National Zoo

 

Newsflash about the Bobcat-escape :

Bobcat Missing at DC's National Zoo