Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2020

{Note from mods - this thread continues from here: Smithsonian National Zoo News 2019 [Smithsonian National Zoo]}



I know it's way too soon since my last dash but I did another (taking the exact same route... go figure) and can report that the mythical crocodile monitor was again not on exhibit, at least as far as I and 5-10 serious and 15-20 unserious other visitors could tell. Emperor tamarins were back in the cage in Amazonia but the volunteer told me they're now spending most of the day out and just go in at night to make sure that the titis don't mess them up when no human is looking.

I also saw (and photographed) my first ever confirmed wild turkey vulture. Unexpected and cool.

 

I was at NZP today. I'll report elephant news a bit later. I decided to go have a look at the Smokey Bear grottoes. It is a full semi-circle of enclosures that have--at present--no barriers separating them and one big continuous moat. There are no pools whatsoever. Furthermore, I did quite a bit analysis on the spacial relations of these grottoes vis-a-vis the old polar bear tank with the underwater viewing where the tip of American Trail first met what is now Amazonia. That deep tank simply couldn't have been in the big Smokey group, because the Smokey grottoes are too far back from where the cliff drops on American Trail and too far north to be covered by that tip of Amazonia that has no windows and is just a retaining wall. I even considered whether there could be evidence of the tank and exhibit behind Amazonia and went on a big of a prowl. There is a whole area there--behind the first souvenir boulding--that contains at least six old wire cage exhibits of differing styles, nothing architecturally beautiful like, say, the Bronx's pheasantry, but old exhibits standing in place as if time had stopped after Amazonia blocked their path. There's even an ancient stairway (with the black rail) that starts down to them, but has then been replaced by wooden steps that just end. There are other things like equipment sitting around these cages, but the whole thing--with the massive footprint of the Smokey grottoes--is a pretty big chunk of space in a landlocked zoo to be just sitting empty. On one hand, I'm reminded that bears used to be exhibited in raised cages just like these, so this whole complex and the grottoes on American Trail were actually a huge improvement 50-60 years ago despite how outdated they seem. I guess the real question is why has all of this so deliberately been untouched for so long? And where was/is the famous training tank the polar bear occupied? With all those abandoned cages, I can't see a place it could have been anywhere near Amazonia--and the area directly in front is a cliff with a pathway down to American Trail. Is there a zoo historian?

Second bit of sleuthing:. I had seen the veterinary complex on maps, as well as the adjacent Holt House, a 200-year-old historic villa that was built by the mill owner in Rock Creek Park around 1800, making it a legitimate architectural gem. Zoo administration occupied the building until the 1970s, when it became uninhabitable. Although a historic building, the government doesn't want to spend the fortune necessary to repair, yet they can't tear it down. So they are letting it decompose until it falls down and can be condemned. Demolition by intentional neglect.

What had also mystified me was this recent fundraising campaign for "portable hospitals," not just ambulance transport vehicles. Why? The hospital is on zoo property--just how long can it take to reach in emergencies? I knew just where to go, but I couldn't believe my hitherto squeaky clean obedient self was now proceeding directly through signs that said either "Authorized Personnel Only" or "No Admittance," or "Private Property.". There were hordes of Zoo Lights visitors and police clogging the bottom of the zoo, but I decided with a NJ license plate, perhaps I could just plead that I was lost? I headed behind the farm and Amazonia to a little bridge with no sides that crosses Rock Creek with the bear grottoes and the sea lions stretching upward to the right. I had seen this unassuming little span many times, figuring it had to lead to the hospital, but if you look up, there is what looks to be a modern mansion with solid walls of windows and views, presumably Coñnecticut Avenue private property. I knew it had to be somewhere, though. I veered left after I crossed the bridge--and up and up and up and up I went. I reached a fork, a gated community straight ahead and a sharp turn to the left showing the map of the Holt House/Hospital Ihad seen online,e but it was all titled SCBI, Smithsonian Conservation and Biology Institute, not the Zoo! Up and up, and I immediately recognized a much-deteriorated Holt House surrounded by dumpsters and snow-plow attachments. Up further and beyond Holt House on the left was a whole group of greenhouses. On the right, however, was a panoramic view of the entire zoo from higher than any of the surrounding neighborhoods. It was breathtaking, clearly why Mr. Holt had chosen it as the vista for his villa--so good it made a grist mill look incredible! Well, now I knew exactly why the zoo needed portable hospitals; the actual hospital towers HIGH over the zoo, indeed inhabiting those very windows I had deemed a private luxury residence. Yet further up to the right of Holt House lies a series of buildings forming one very long structure culminating in that modern round structure on the promontory overlooking the zoo. The first two are, ironically, science research buildings (the famous Dr. Jo Gayle Howard and Dr. Janine Brown, pioneers in panda and elephant reproduction must have worked here!), and the ambulance dock is the very furthest yard one can drive on blacktop and not roll off the hill. My guess is the science building once served both purposes, but when expansion was needed, the much more modern building on cliff's edge became the hospital, even though it was the furthest and hardest to get to. On the left, directly across from the science building is a complete quarantine facility.

NOW I get it. The Zoo hospital is more than a mile from the closest part of the zoo up a very steep, winding road. They not only need portable hospitals, they should probably create at least a satellite office in the zoo proper. Perhaps the Smokey grottoes and old cage enclosures would be better utilized for that purpose than sitting idle.

 

I was thinking of the comments about space in all these exhibits behind the reptile house. There is not one but apparently two crocodile monitors in the first building on the left. They only look to be 36-42", so the space seemed right. However, the tomistoma is longer than her pool and almost the length of the walls in each direction, and the Komodo dragon is absolutely huge, probably 7' and far too big for this space. The dragon had a log exactly his size that he was hidden on, and the tomistoma uses the slip of space under the window that is exactly her width and length because she doesn't fit anywhere else! The commenters were right!

(However, I feel obliged to add that I think this whole "added space" is one of the best spots in the zoo, with clean modern architecture creating a Zen atmosphere while complementing the magnificent original building!)

 

Long post, beware. I went to NZP yesterday primarily to say goodbye to Shanthi in case it's the last time I see her. We've been given ample ànnouncements describing the failure of treatments to help her debilitating arthritis, so euthanasia is not far off. I wanted to give the assistant manager something for her, a picture of our two pugs Ambika and Shanthi from 2006 that she could first smell me from, then eat. I wanted some time to stare into her gaze, and I hoped for a moment to get some kind of unobstructed pictures of her face. Due to a holiday schedule of yard pairings, she was in the barn nearly all day, and I hardly saw her at all. However, I spent some unusual time with the Calgary girls and heard stories from the assistant manager, and it ended up being a day when I could finally imagine peace and happiness in the Elephant House in an era post-Shanthi and Ambika.

We old-timers have thought of Shanthi and Ambika as family, certainly the standbearers of the NZP herd. When Komala, Swarna, and Rani arrived in 2014, they seemed, well lol, deranged. If a bird so much as tweeted, Rani ran around trumpeting, with Komala and Swarna on the run to see what was wrong. We knew they had been violent, and we knew that together, Komala and Rani had let
one of Rani and Spike's calves die. When Swarna was given some time with the trio (Ambika, Bozie, and Shanthi), she used every opportunity to dart in to hurt Ambika. Because Rani happened to be our precious Kandula's aunt and couldn't breed him, he was sent away to OKC. And Komala could be so nasty that the gentlemanly Spike knocked her over one day in the fall. It was hard to imagine how the Elephant House could ever be a happy place again.

But keepers had been making small strides, inch by inch, personally with each of the girls. I learned that Rani was often violent to Swarna and her mother, so they had all lived in this state of hyperattention and high anxiety and always being on the offensive, But Komala especially was very smart and loved learning behaviors with her keepers more than charging around. They let Swarna spend more and more time with the trio, and she seemed much more relaxed.

I spent much more time with Komala and Swarna yesterday than I ever had and more than I did with anyone else. New Year's Day is the birthday for all animals born in the wild with no known birth month or date. This meant that Shanthi, Bozie, Swarna, and Komala (all from the Sri Lankan Pinnewela Elephant Orphanage in 1976) were all turning 45, and grande dame Ambika was turning 72. It seemed clear later that Ambika and Shanthi had been kept in the barn due to their painful walking. They briefly appeared a few steps outside the barn door to have some presents, but Shanthi again resumed her sway. While stereotypical 15 years ago, the upswing of her right foot now is probably more to take pressure off her right wrist, which only makes it sadder to see, as they are clearly no longer able to manage her pain. Ambika stepped gingerly, as if fragile. She has aged visibly in the last three months, as if suddenly suffering more in sympathy with Shanthi. They both seemed very old and delicate, soon taking their few steps to get back into the barn.

But the time I spent with Komala and Swarna made me think they were happier. I had seen a very sweet and emotional side to Swarna once when I saw how close and tender her relationship is with Spike, who carressed her and curled his trunk around her face. The Swarna I saw yesterday on her 45th birthday looked dramatically different from the tough little Napoleon type who once always seemed to be scowling. All furrows had disappeared from her face, and she looked as radiant and wide-eyed as Dumbo. She took glee in her birthday watermelon, cardboard boxes, and pineapple and looked up as we sang. She looked truly content. Komala surprised everyone with the speed and gusto she exercised downing her huge painted cardboard boxes, only later considering the contents. She took her watermelon directly to her mouth--no wasting time with the foot method! Some big chomps and it was gone. By the time she slowed down to eat her smaller treats, though, she looked older than her three age-mates. She has an irregular gait, a sign she is indeed suffering from arthritis, despite the IRAP treatments intended to prevent it worsening. She looks like she's had a hard life dealing with her violent daughter. For the first time ever, I felt for them both and hoped that they could be truly happy in their new year.

What made this hope seem possible was hearing stories of the effect Bozie has had on Rani. I did a doubletake. Maharani? Really? I never needed convincing of Bozie's awesomeness after witnessing her fierce protection of Ambika from Swarna or seeing her become Shanthi's very first best friend. Shy Shanthi has always been fond of food, but stoic. Then Bozie made Shanthi her best friend. Oh my, was this a sight to behold! On World Elephant Day two years ago, it rained--and everyone knows when it rains, Ambika takes a dip. The three ladies were shifted into Spike's big pool yard and said their goodbyes before getting in and being practically on top of each other. Frolicking ensued until the keepers decided a good downpour had been had by all. Bozie climbed out and stood there practically champing at the bit for Ambika to lumber out,. As Shanthi stepped out, she and Bozie had a full-on vocalizing reunion filled with trunk embraces as if they had just been reunited after years apart! Bozie has managed to give of herself precisely what each elephant needs of her and has never had. I loved that Shanthi and Ambika were getting so much good from her.

Well, I never quite believed that Bozie could have much effect on the Calgary girls, but apparently Bozie and Rani have been paired up!. This I never thought would happen, but Bozie is teaching Rani how to have fun. One day they walked the Trek together, and even though Rani is 18 years younger, it was Bozie who raced ahead, turning around to hustle up her walking mate, even pointing out a treat left by the side of the path. She did this the whole way like a little girl all excited. Rani didn't understand. Later Bozie rolled around in the sand on her back inside wiggling her legs and vocalizing, clearly having a ball. Rani looked on as if it was strange. Her life had been so much about anxiety and lashing out that she never really learned what it could feel like to have fun. Now, with Bozie, who always stood up to her, she may realize from someone she respects that there is something more enjoyable than aggression.

Thus, the final thought of my day was not sadness over Shanthi, but joy in Bozie. She's given so much to Ambika and Shanthi, each just what they needed, and now to know how to give Rani what she needs without provoking her aggression. Keeper Becky announced that Rani and Spike were together because she was coming into heat today and that they were going to see if they could have a baby in the next couple years or so. That was a relief, that there may not be a time clock ticking down the days until Spike leaves. So it seems as if the SSP is planning on Spike being around for the foreseeable future.

Imagine Bozie's affect on Rani's ability to be a better mother! On Rani's capability for happiness. On the clearly happier Swarna and Komala. She's already given Shanthi and Ambika so much, and this ability to understand what other herdmates need and try to provide it is surely the very definition of an excellent matriarchal figure. I didn't get my heart-to-heart with Shanthi, but maybe what I did get was even better and more surprising, a vision of the eventual herd of Bozie, Swarna, Rani, and Komala living as one group happily, perhaps even with a calf. Bozie may just enable future happiness for a united NZP herd.

 

I was so pleased to see three of them when I was there last year - couldn't quite believe it till eBird told me it was so - I had thought their range was much more southerly.

 

Turkey and black vultures are both year-round residents in the DC area; however, I see black vultures far more often during all seasons.

@AmbikaFan When was the Australia Pavilion torn down? Where was it and do you know what species lived there?

I do not understand the space given to the Komodo or the tomistoma. I would support an overhaul of that area - either to create a new, much better habitat for Komodo dragons, or create better habitat for other animals while moving the Komodo to a new, better enclosure on the Asia Trail. The tomistoma could live inside the House if they transferred out the gharial, or if they transferred out the alligator and renovated the front. Alternatively, they could just send the tomistoma out and replace with a species more suitable for that space.

 

I'd say it was around 2002 that the zoo realized what terrible shape it was in and commissioned the study of its condition, which then led to Asia Trail. There were gray kangaroos and wallabies and some hoofstock I can't remember. It was directly next to the panda house in what would become Tai Shan's yard, the third enclosure and building extension. You accessed it the same way you do the panda house, from the left looking up, and the exit from Australia led directly to the door of the panda house.

 

Prior to it’s closure, Australian Pavilion contained a mixed indoor exhibit housing two Matschie’s tree kangaroos, a echidna, and a brush turkey. There was also an aquarium along one of the walls (representing Great Barrier Reef) and one or two small herptile tanks (I seem to recall a blue tongue skunk, but there could have been one or two other species). There was also an indoor den for red kangaroos which had an open paddock directly attached to the building. Also outdoors were enclosures for emus (they may have shared a paddock with kangaroos, my memory is a little hazy here), western grey kangaroos, and a single New Guinea singing dog. The nearby hoofstock paddocks were not really a part of Australian section, I think. Two main ones housed Malayan tapirs, and bongos (the latter were mixed with marabou storks and Reeves muntjacs). There were a few more paddocks in the back (these weren’t even on the map, as I recall) with Eld’s deer and Spekes’ gazelles.

 

Some news/updates/whatever you want to call it:

New at the Zoo: Crocodile Monitor
Featured Creature: Meet the Gibbons!
Andean Bear Update: A New Hope

 

Thank you for all of this. It's so hard to remember, and what I do remember is that the kangaroos never seemed to be visible and the indoor wire cages for the echidna and turkey always seemed to be empty. Maybe they were already phasing animals out at that point, but I remember people just using it to pass through to the panda house, not bothering to look, because there wasn't much there. But now I remember the hoofstock were at the very bottom. I don't remember seeing tapirs, which saddens me now, but I do remember the bongoes. I never even knew about the singing dog, and I'm jumping up and down at the thought of missing Matschies!! Wouldn't it be glorious to have some of these species again!

 

Tree kangaroos were only there for a little while before the pavilion was closed. I remember being utterly surprised by the closure since they have brought in an exciting new species just recently. I agree that echidna was hardly ever visible - I have only seen it half-buried in the substrate.

 

I remember now the hoofstock yards! There was a hill going down from the building to the pathway before they scooped it out into a panda yard, and there were wire pens around the animals. They must have been taken somewhere else at night as the yards were completely empty except for food and water! How I wish I could reconstruct my memories and roll tape!

You have an incredible memory! Can you shed any light on where the old polar bear tank was near what became Amazonia? The tank that military divers trained in? Is it still there? I've been hunting with no luck.

 

I just went back to some material a ZooChatter once sent me. It's far from the most interesting thing, but it's a diagram outlining all the failing structures in the zoo. I remember the report was in letter grades, so this may have been euphemized just a bit. Neverthess, you can see the Australia Pavilion and also those hoofstock yards you remembered, which were the "star attractions" (?) greeting visitors at the entrance.

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/Graph...NZ_AM_021018_0640/$File/FONZAM_021018_018.JPG

This diagram, by the way, also verifies a report here this week that sloth bears were once kept in the Smokey grottoes. I so specifically remember Lucy Spellman trying to sell them as the perfect intriguing species to greet visitors at the entrance that I must have remembered this as a reference to them being a new species. It's so interesting that this big semi-circle of grottoes has seen zero use since then, while the American Trail grottoes of similar age and vintage have been used consistently.

I highly doubt the date on this photo of 1898 especially since it's in color, but these were our sloth bears in the Smokey grottoes!

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/Graph...NZ_AM_021018_0640/$File/FONZAM_021018_014.JPG

Lastly, look at this original long-range plan that included an Africa House, which seem to be located very close to the Elephant House and utilizing all of the restaurant/shop/vendor amenities and presumably extend extend up to the cheetah compound. It's interesting to note the time frames put on these projects. One was never done, and one was finished almost a decade later. That deferred maintenance really took a long time to remedy; we're just now getting to the Bird House, and there is no mention of Africa House any more...

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/Graph...NZ_AM_021018_0640/$File/FONZAM_021018_022.JPG

 

I wish I could remember this! It sounds lovely, species-wise. I have photos of the singing dog so I know I saw it, but I have no recollection.

 

My time to edit ran out on the post above, and I discovered that Africa House would have been the Elephant House! I'm not sure where the Elephants would have gone--especially since we had just had the first successful AI birth in Asian elephant history, and he was still reliant on mom. But to be fair, African species (giraffe, rhinos, hippos, and pygmy hippos) certainly outnumbered the elephants and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs as the only two Asian representatives.

Lastly, I've mentioned for so many years that the zoo once planned to destroy the 20+ year old Great Apes building to build a new eastern entrance from a COLOSSAL parking garage over the general services building that many have thought me crazy. This map shows the proposed new entrance building plus the proposed tram system, which would have had a triangular route from this new center, to the education building, and the Zoo's south entrance. I know they have been catching up on all of the deferred maintenance, only now getting to the bird house, but this parking garage and some people-mover system should still be high priorities in my book. The Zoo's terrain is so Billy and steep that even able-bodied people I know struggle. I'm certainly able to walk, but for the first time ever on Wednesday, I decided to rent an electric scooter, and it made a tremendous difference in my enjoyment of the day. I imagine, though, that the tram would interfere with both exhibits and the tree canopy.

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/Graph...NZ_AM_071016_0640/$File/FONZAM_071016_137.JPG

 

Please post it!

While it sounds amazing, I never saw most of those animals over years of visiting. They either weren't there or were hiding out in dens. And I NEVER remember Matschies! I don't think all these animals were there at the same time, adding to their elusiveness.

 

1998.



Another exhibit no longer there, same year:

 

Wow, thanks! I must say you're the highlight because you are very cute--and I can't even make out a shape that could be the singing dog lol. The third pic looks like the yard between the Small Mammal House and the Elephant House that has held bison, camels, and P horses over the years. On Wednesday it was empty save for three big ZooLights figures,. There is a very adorable wallaby adjacent to this yard that is not nearly highlighted enough.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot help you with this. I started visiting the National Zoo in late 1998, after the polar bears were gone. The only bear species left by that time were spectacled bear (in the same grottoes as today), sloth bears, and a lone female Kodiak (both kept in the presently disused “Smokey” grottoes)

 

Not really 'news' as such, but this came up as a link on one of the Facebook pages I follow, it was something I did not yet know about and I find it very interesting and worth sharing.

Below is a link to an article about the milk repository and research into milk at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

Making Sense of Animal Milks