Zoo New England's Stone Zoo has opened Caribbean Coast. To the sound of steel drum music, visitors meander past flamingos, macaws, and critically endangered Jamaican iguanas. The biggest crowd pleasers, however, are the seldom-displayed South American bush dogs.
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo has just opened a red panda exhibit, and hopes to open a spider monkey exhibit in the spring. The big project on the horizon, however, is the planned new home for Amur tigers - the Zoo had cubs recently and is need of more living space.
The Amur leopard and snow leopard exhibits at the Turtle Back Zoo just got a face lift. With the Zoo's African penguins relocating to the new African area, the slate was cleared at the Zoo's entrance for a new habitat of American flamingos.
Elmwood Park Zoo has added mountain zebras to its giraffe exhibit, continuing its slight branching out from North and South American species.
The National Aviary has completely refurbished its oldest exhibit, The Rainforest, with a new roof to let more light in, a 15-foot waterfall, and other features. Among the 100-odd birds calling the renovated room home are hyacinth macaws, Guam rails, and Victoria crowned pigeons.
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is in the midst of a renovation of its African Journey, making major renovations and expansions to the habitats of three of Africa's most iconic mammals - African elephants, giraffes, and lions. The elephants are getting a greatly expanded habitat, swallowing some empty exhibit space that's been vacant since the African penguins moved to their new habitat. I'll be a little sad to see the end of Rock Island - the exhibit, as unimpressive as it looked, had a huge role in the Zoo's history - but it'll be great to see their elephants with so much more room to roam.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore has furthered its commitment to animal care with the opening of a new facility for quarantine, holding, and special care, the Animal Care and Rescue Center. While not a part of the main facility, it will still be open to visitors on special tours.
National Zoo is still plugging away at their new bird house, Experience Migration, but at the same time is working on fixing up single-species exhibits through the Zoo. This year saw a fancy new home for naked mole rats in the Small Mammal House, complete with a behind-the-scenes view of the tunneling rodents. Next up is a new home for one of the zoo world's earliest conservation success stories (yet one little-heard of by the public) - the Przewalski's wild horse. This is especially great news due to the role that National Zoo's sister facility, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, has played in the conservation of this species.
The big news at Virginia Zoo is the opening of the new World of Reptiles. It's an incredible upgrade over the old building. Passing by the giant viper sculpture guarding the entrance, visitors will encounter a host of exciting species, including an impressive assortment of venomous snakes and monitor lizards. Not all of the occupants are reptiles or amphibians - two species of monkey are also found inside, along with two-toed sloths, goliath bird-eating spiders, and lined sea horses. The stars are the Siamese crocodiles - the first ever to be displayed at the Zoo - in an exhibit complete with underwater viewing.
Sylvan Heights Bird Park opened a wonderful saddle-billed stork aviary. Often featured in hoofed mammal exhibits, these birds only breed in aviary settings, so hopefully the Park will be boasting chicks in the near future!
Jacksonville Zoo opened up its new African Forest, a spacious new home for gorillas, bonobos, mandrills, and other African primates. The centerpiece of the exhibit is an enormous artificial tree, from which keepers can have access to the animals at all levels of the exhibit. This allows the staff to provide enrichment and training opportunities up high, encouraging the animals to climb and spend more time exploring the upper-reaches of their exhibit. A small new manatee hospital has opened in the Zoo's Florida area, allowing visitors to watch as Jacksonville Zoo staff rehabilitate injured manatees for release back into the wild.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm unveiled the new Oasis on the Nile, a new habitat for Nile crocodiles. This Egyptian-themed enclosure used artifacts and décor to celebrate the role that Africa's largest reptile had in the culture and religion of Ancient Egypt. It's such an awesome exhibit that a local idiot decided that he had to jump into it recently, with predictable results.
Brevard Zoo is working on an aquarium building. The Zoo also recently took in a pair of non-releasable black bears.
Detroit Zoo also just opened a massive new habitat for red pandas. The fiery-red pandas can be viewed in part from an 80-foot rope bridge that extends along the enclosure. The red pandas aren't the only East Asians to get fancy new digs at the Zoo, as a new, room-sized habitat for Japanese giant salamanders was opened in the amphibian house, replacing what was already one of the better exhibits I've seen for the species. A new exhibit for tigers is next on the agenda.
Phase One of Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo's Asian Highlands has opened. The first phase includes Indian rhinoceroses, red pandas, two species of Asian deer, and white-naped cranes. Tigers, snow leopards, sloth bears, gorals, and takin will follow next year in Phase Two. After that, there is much more renovation and expansion ahead. The Zoo's old cat complex is now empty, as are the bear dens. A new sea lion exhibit is in the works.
For years, San Diego Zoo has been known for having one of America's best collections of Australian wildlife. Now, it's sharing the wealth with its sister facility, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Matschie's tree kangaroos, wombats, and cassowaries are among the species being featured in Walkabout Australia. The exhibit includes a walk-through habitat of grey kangaroos and red-necked wallabies.
On top of all of this, a host of zoos - including North Carolina Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, Albuquerque BioPark Zoo, Brandywine Zoo, and Potawotami Zoo have all unveiled new master plans, with big hopes for exciting new exhibits. I can't wait to start revisiting some of these zoos to see what new surprises are in store.
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