Riverside Discovery Center Riverside Discovery Center News

I visited this zoo today and I just uploaded approximately 70 photos of the facility into the gallery.

 

Jack the chimp passed away.

http://www.geringcitizen.com/articl...09-17%5D&Member_ID=&l=&First_Name=&Last_Name=

 

A pair of grizzly bear cubs, made famous by a photo, arrived.

Orphaned Wyoming grizzly cubs find new home, fame at Nebraska zoo

 

Two female bison arrived from Sedgwick County Zoo.

Two baby bison join the herd at Riverside Discovery Center

 

Thanks to an anonymous donation, the indoor chimpanzee area will be significantly renovated. A new troop of chimps will arrive in spring.

Scottsbluff zoo renovates habitat for new chimpanzees

 

I visited this zoo a couple days before 4th of July and figured I'd give a quick update.

The new grizzly bear exhibit is still a work in progress. It was supposed to open this summer, but due to Covid, progress took a little bit of a hit. The outer fencing was being constructed while I was there. I have a couple photos of the area in the tons of photos I took of the zoo, since it has been at least 15 years since I last visited. The two cubs were quite active in their temporary home however, it will be neat to see them in their much larger yard when completed.

The zoo has also acquired a couple new species. There are now a pair of Red Ruffed Lemurs that split the indoor/outdoor area with the Colobus Monkeys, the little Slither Inn snake "room" (IIRC) has been converted into a house for the larger Waldrapp Ibis exhibit. There was a Waterbuck that was roaming around the old Moose exhibit that is directly behind the Plains Zebras. However, I could not get a great picture of it since the lookout viewing area was closed due to the virus.

All in all, the zoo has changed a little bit from the last time I was there, all for the better.

 

The new grizzly bear exhibit opened up over the weekend on October 17th. There are a couple photos in the article linked below. Will take some time for the vegetation to grow in it looks like, but this exhibit is a vast upgrade from where the two bears were temporarily living. I might try and make it out to Scottsbluff next summer again to see this new exhibit.

Riverside Discovery Center holds grand opening of bear exhibit

 

That link has more than 20 photos, but there are only 2-3 with decent views of the grizzly bear exhibit. Thanks to @MGolka for the information as it is great to see something new at this mid-sized zoo in Nebraska. The bear enclosure is all chain-link fencing with no attempt to hide the night quarters, but there is a water tower inside the exhibit and that is something a little different. Also, the revolving sign with the various bears of the world looks great. Where in the zoo is the new exhibit? (Locating the zoo's map on their website seems as if it's a lost cause)

 

@snowleopard It is located directly in the middle of the zoo where the old zebra/hoofstock enclosure was. It is now completely surrounded by the cat complex/ chimp building to the south, the barn to the east, and raptor row to the west. The swift fox exhibit is directly up against the barrier.

The plans I saw had the night quarters having an indoor space with viewing so I’m not totally sure they intended to hide it. I will try to find a link with what the final look is to be and go back thru my photos and post a couple of the construction.

 

A pair of cougar cubs is now on display; their exhibit will be further renovated early next year. Other new additions consist of muntjacs and a male spider monkey.

Riverside Zoo’s puma cubs playing like kittens in new enclosure | Local | starherald.com

 

I designed the roaring bear sign (which I’m super proud of) and it is next to the training wall which is located directly in front of the Amur tiger exhibit.
This summer 2022 we are redoing the first 2 exhibits (fox/raccoon and bobcat) exhibits to expand them and add more climbing structures. Funds for this project has already been secured.

 

We got a new director who was working hard to change the zoo for the best as it was a zoo near and dear to his heart

 

Welcome to the board @Alexandra! Good to see someone from western Nebraska to keep us up to date out there!

 

Thank you for the warm welcome. Lots of new changes coming and done at RDC!

 

I visited RDC on July 2nd over last weekend and uploaded 8 photos of the "new" Grizzly Bear exhibit that opened in October of 2020 as no photos have been posted on the Zoo's gallery yet. It is a difficult exhibit to encapsulate how large it is, so I took multiple photos from different angles. I also posted a picture of the zoo map from 2022 for those that are interested as the map isn't posted on the zoo's website.

Riverside Discovery Center - ZooChat

I also included a couple photos of the exhibits in the Garden Walk that was where the old walkthrough Aviary was located. I took those photos on my last visit in 2020 and saw no images of the Garden Walk were uploaded yet. @Alexandra When did the Garden Walk open?

A couple of notes:

• Did see the new Plains Zebra foal that was born recently
• The American Badger and North American Porcupine switched exhibits
• A Great Horned Owl is on Raptor Row (the Rough Legged Hawk has been replaced)
• A second Amur Tiger is now located in the former African Lion exhibit
• The two Mountain Lion cubs were in the former Leopard exhibit
• The old Grizzly exhibit, part of Cat exhibits has a sign that it will eventually be part of the current Mountain Lion exhibit as it will be expanded
• I did not see the Waterbuck that I saw in 2020 and that exhibit was empty and unsigned

My biggest surprise, and a very pleasant one, was the discovery of an unsigned Madagascar Crested Ibis in with the Waldrapp Ibis! The zoo has a Quarters for Conservation board that has the Madagascar Crested Ibis on it, but I was not expecting to encounter one at this zoo!

I know @Alexandra posted some other news about future plans for this zoo in a different thread, but it sounds like some more good things are on their way.

 

Hey! I hope you enjoyed your visit, sorry I was unable to take you around, next time! The garden walk opened in 2015 when a bad hail storm took out the netting for the walk through aviary. We are in the planning phases for turning the garden walk back into a walk through aviary as we speak.
The waterbuck originally was where the zebra were (now bear) and then moved to where the zebra are now (behind chimps) and we got out of waterbuck and focused on growing our zebra herd for breeding (new additional female zebra coming in August).
We have a deal with the local signage company and have a few signage coming in later this summer (we have to have 2 full sheets before they will print for us at cost. Madagascar ibis coming soon as we are waiting for a female to breed. Once the tigers pass (they are 18 and 17) we will be combining those 2 exhibits for a lion pride. We also added a pop up children museum in the heritage barn with a technological draw alive feature as well. More renovations coming soon! I’ll keep you all posted!

 

Other 2021 News:

Spoiler

On September 8th, it was reported that the zoo is asking the public for historical pictures and films of the zoo for its 72nd anniversary in July 2022. It was also reported that a 10-15 minute documentary was shot at the facility, and will be shown to the public sometime in 2022.

Zoo director Anthony Mason asking for old photos, videos of Riverside Discovery Center

On November 3rd, the zoo announced they have acquired a (1.0) cougar from the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari in Nebraska.*

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On November 30th, it was reported that the zoo acquired another (1.0) cougar, this time from Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks.

2nd Orphaned Puma Cub Arrives At Riverside Discovery Center Zoo

Just some things Milwaukee Man left out, the muntjacs are Reeves, and the zoo's "new" (1.0) spider monkey is named Mojo from the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina. It was also reported that the zoo sent their (1.0) named Keegan to the Greenville Zoo.

*These are the cougars mentioned by @Milwaukee Man, just giving more context.

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Other 2022 News:

On January 31st, the zoo announced that a plains zebra was pregnant. On May 24th, it was reported that a (1.0) plains zebra was born on May 13th.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1016576582286901
Baby Zebra Born at Riverside Discovery Center

On March 11th, the zoo announced that the (2.0) cougars now have names, Diego and Mateo.

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On May 5th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) grizzly bear has passed away at age 5 due to encephalitis.

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On July 23rd, the zoo announced they have acquired (0.2) alpacas named Jazmin and Twitter.

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On July 29th, the zoo announced they have opened a new exhibit inside the Reeve's muntjac yard for (0.0.3) Asian forest tortoises.

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On August 5th, it was reported that the zoo moved some of their animals to a shelter due to a wildfire that was happening at the time. No animals were hurt and they are back in their exhibits.

One home, outbuildings destroyed in 170-acre blaze on West Overland

On August 8th, the zoo announced they have installed new picnic tables and shade umbrellas inside the splash pad area, with the facility adding new flooring over the next couple of days and reopening the area on August 16th.

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On October 5th, the zoo announced the name of its (1.0) plains zebra born on May 13th, Gunner.

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Zoo loses 4 big cats to avian flu


RDC Mourns Passing of Four Big Cats Over Several Weeks

 

2 cats, a (1.0) tiger named Ussuri and a (1.0) puma named Diego passed away due to avian influenza. The female tiger named Nika could be avian flu, but also found to have ovarian cancer and an enlarged kidney. The other male, Mateo, was never tested for avian flu.

The article also mentions they will acquire a (0.1) brown bear named Finley from Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, which will be on exhibit in early 2023.