According to zoo FB and website, there is a lion cub in the nursery and a striped hyena pup in the nursery. It is the only striped hyena in Arizona. (The zoo already has a pair of spotted hyenas, as does nearby Out Of Africa).
Are Out of Africa and Wildlife World Zoo run by the same people, or are they completely different organizations?
Completely different. When I said they are nearby, I was exaggerating a bit, as it is over an hour freeway drive between.
According to Facebook, the small mammal building now has a pair of woodchucks. (I do not think I have ever seen woodchucks before).
Thanks for the clarification, as marmots is the term I am more familiar with. However, I still do not think I have seen one.
Looking at the photos, they are indeed Woodchucks (Marmota monax), which are a species of marmot native to the eastern deciduous forests (not the western mountains). Perhaps you are confusing them with the similar looking but different Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris).
According to FB there is a baby bobcat and baby cougar in the nursery. I assume these will be residents in the new Americas section opening soon.
Miscellaneous updates from my visit on September 15, 2015. Current nursery occupants are (from left to right): 1.0 bobcat 1.1 mountain lion 1.0 African lion All are roughly two and a half months old. There is a new cage attached to one of the aquarium buildings (outside) with an unlabeled raptor that just says "new exhibit - please stay on cement path." It is something with a brown body and white neck and head - perhaps an African fish eagle? When I took the Safari Park tram ride (for the first time) I could see additional field exhibits beyond the back boundary. I was informed this is an expansion of the Safari Park (unrelated to the new Americas Land) that will open early next year. When I inquired what animals will be there I was informed the hope is to acquire two female white rhinos to match with their current male. The new 303 freeway is now complete and open and it runs literally right next to the west side of the zoo, with an exit at the zoo road (Northern Avenue). I found this to be hugely convenient.
Next week's episode of Jack Hanna Into The Wild, which airs (in the USA) on Sunday, October 25, was filmed at Wildlife World.
According to FB the new Adventure Land will open February 1, 2016. It features animals from The Americas as well as four new amusement park rides.
Dr Grey was on a morning news yesterday...10 maybe?...and they went on some of the new rides. I got the impression the new animal exhibits will be opening sooner than February 1st. Would you believe I haven't been to see the Cheetahs yet...?
With today's opening of Adventure Land, admission has increased to a whopping 37 dollars per adult. This fee does NOT include any of the rides throughout the zoo (which are a dominant feature of the new Adventure Land). I think (not sure) they may even tack sales tax on top of that, making it basically forty bucks, about the same price as San Diego and double most similar size zoos, including nearby Phoenix. (Opinion - I think virtually every ZooChat member who has visited will agree that the exhibits range from mediocre to awful and this fee is overpriced for what you get).
Wow, really? $37? It wasn't even worth it at $25 or whatever it was before the current increase. And with each new addition, the price is just going to keep going up. And yes, they do charge tax on top of that. San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park are barely worth the amount they charge, but they have MUCH better facilities.
If a family of four went and they wanted to do all the rides (around five bucks each), what would they spend? Two hundred bucks? More??? The thing is, as long as people keep paying there is no reason for them to lower the price. I wonder if the price is finally so high now that it will backfire and they will start losing visitors?
It's hard to say. From what I've seen on their official FB page and the "fan page" on FB, people love this joint. They think it's better than Phoenix Zoo and is the best thing since sliced bread. And since there are no other amusement park rides in the state, unless you count Encanto Park, they love it. Personally, I think it's a joke. They keep building more and more rides. Where are they going to put all of those rides? In the animal exhibits because they're going to run out of room. I haven't been to see the Cheetahs yet and I kind of wanted to see the new area that opened Monday because of the mountain lions, but I really don't think this place is worth $40. I don't know. If people are complaining that the Phoenix Zoo is too expensive and it's HALF of what WWZ charges, yeah. They'll probably start complaining about WWZ before long.
Black backed jackal pups were born recently. I have been to dozens of zoos across the United States and this is the only one where I have seen jackals of any species. The zoo has also added pronghorn, which are fairly common in Arizona and New Mexico zoos but rare in zoos in general. There is also a local news clip showing the (disturbingly barren) bison paddock and it appears to house two typical individuals and one leucistic individual.
I have seen jackals at a number of zoos that no longer house them (e.g., Brookfield) and I know the Columbus Zoo got a few black-backed pups last year (perhaps from Wildlife World) that should be part of the rotation in the Heart of Africa waterhole this summer. As of a few years ago, ISIS (admittedly often incomplete or incorrect) listed Black-backed in the collections of San Diego and Kansas City (and no golden or side-striped jackals in any collection). Other than that, the jackal species are, so far as I know, absent from (accredited) U.S. collections.
