Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2018

New Amur Tiger Debuts at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

 

Any idea which tiger ssp. in future the NZ will focus on (as they already held Sumatran tigers - allthough just the female Damai now gets a mention - and now an Amur tiger male as well)?

I am really surprised that they have not mentioned in the feature that only this July the zoo reported breeding success with a litter of one Sumatran tiger cub born to M Sparky - ex Louisville Zoo on B/L and his first offspring and F Damai???\

See Link: Sumatran Tiger Cub Born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

 

Although not an answer to your question, it may be relevant to note that NZP has two tiger enclosures... so they at least have the room to exhibit two subspecies.

 

1. No clue.

2. I don't believe Sparky is at the zoo anymore and the cub was sent to the San Diego Safari Park in September. And of course the article is just about the new tiger. Probably why they didn't mention it.

In other news, Dennis Kelly retired as the zoos director back in November and Steven Monfort was named the acting director.

Leadership Change at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

A hartmann's mountain zebra died at SCBI.

Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra Dies at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

 

Ms. Chips, a 46 year old two-toed sloth passed away on January 2nd.

Elderly Two-toed Sloth Dies at Smithsonian's National Zoo

A small Q&A about the new amur tiger Pavel and amur tigers in general.

New At the Zoo: Amur Tiger

Edit: Well Sparky still is at the zoo.

"but he still appears very large in comparison to our Sumatran tigers, Damai and Sparky, and even our African lions."

I swear it only said Damai yesterday, but looking at it now it does mention Sparky under the meet the animals section of the tiger page on the zoos website.

 

It is a bit odd why Sparky was mentioned in this recent article. I do not have the official word, but I have heard from a couple of regular visitors that he has already been sent to Zoo Atlanta to breed with their female there. Not sure if plans changed last minute or if they didn't update the article to not include him.

 

The weirdest part is I swear Sparky wasn't mentioned in the article about Pavels debut when I first read it. I also swear he wasn't mentioned in the meet the animals section either when I first looked.

The zoo also doesn't mention him in their Facebook post about Pavels debut. It just says "he will rotate daily on exhibit with the Zoo’s Sumatran tiger, Damai, and African lion pride." Someone commented on that post about how they liked Sumatran tigers better and the zoo responded "Hi ***! We have Sumatran tiger Damai here at the Zoo too."

 

Will 2018 be the year that the zoo starts planning for a new giraffe exhibit?

Most likely nope.

Will 2037 be the the year that the zoo starts planning for a new giraffe exhibit? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

A common opossum has gone on exhibit in the Small Mammal House. As far as I can tell, this is the only one on exhibit in the US. Does anyone know where she may have originated from?

Common Opossum

 

I should be going to the zoo tomorrow, I'll see if I can find out where she originated.

Also if anyone's curious her name is Minnie.

 

It would also be appreciated if you could get a photo if you can.

 

Sorry couldn't get a good picture. When I get home I can give you a link to the best photo I got if you'd like, however it isn't all that good.

Anyhow, people were trying to smuggle her into the country, she was confiscated and the zoo took her in. That's how they got her, @jayjds2.

 

In other news, it looks like the zoo has started work on the bull elephant yard. The side yard (the one to the left of the community center, next to the old hippo pool) is blocked off and the fences have a sign on them that says "exhibit under renovation". According to a volunteer, the bull is coming from Florida. She didn't know where. However she said he's bred with Maharani before so if anyone knows her breeding history we might be able to find out his name and where he's coming from (unless someone on here already knows and could just say it).

A male green aracari is now on exhibit in the small mammal house. He lives in the South American exhibit next to the red-ruffed lemurs.

The new naked mole-rat exhibit will be where the old elephant shrew/current Madagascar hedgehog tenrec exhibit is (across from the degus, next to the sand cats).

The common opossum lives right across from the pale-headed sakis and right in between the dwarf mongooses and the meerkats (old Malagasy giant jumping rat exhibit, to those who remember those guys).

I didn't see Mo, the coppery titi monkey. It's obviously not weird to not see an animal, however I noticed they didn't have a sign for him (I could've missed it completely, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't there).

The new mixed-use space they're constructing at the bottom of the zoo is coming along nicely. If I remember correctly it should be completed sometime this spring.

The bobcats and caracals are off exhibit. It didn't say why.

I had an unexpected doctors appointment (as soon as I woke up my mom came in my room and told me they wanted to see me today) so my trip was cut short. However I should be going sometime later this week.

 

Maharani I believe bred with Spike, and Spike currently lives at Busch Gardens in Tampa.

 

Yes, Spike from BG Tampa will be the bull. Not sure what this means for BG’s elephant program, if anything.

I would not be surprised if he has passed away. I believe he was about 30 years old, obviously ancient.

 

@Andrew_NZP Are they going to incorporate the old Hippo yard into the new bull area?

 

I would presume they would add the two exhibits together, but I honestly have no idea. If no one else is able to answer your question, I will be going again later this week and will see if I can get you an answer.

 

It is likely. The entire area has been blocked off for construction for about a month and I did see some machinery in the hippo exhibit while you could still see into the area. I don’t know for sure, though.

 

I'm a short guy, so I couldn't see much, however I definitely did notice a bunch of construction equipment and a couple of construction vehicles. Also the fence had a sign on it that said the exhibit was under renovation. If they were just making minor changes I don't know they would put a sign up telling people or why they would have so much equipment. Honestly if they aren't adding the two exhibits together, I have no idea what on earth they would be doing.

Edit: Also I would like to say I meant "multi-use" not "mixed-use" in my earlier comment.

 

Well here's the best one I got. https://image.prntscr.com/image/mxUq4T9SS5SlBuyseyCthw.png

I told you it wasn't good, but she didn't move at all and like I said above I'm a fairly short guy and the box is pretty high up (the volunteer I talked to said he thinks they should move the box down 2 or 3 feet, which I agree with). However as you can see I did try.

If you just wanna see what she looks like, the zoos page has some photos.

Common Opossum