The Zoo (Bronx Zoo) - General Discussion

[hilaryvm]

I always wondered about the animals in the ambassador program.  Whenever we see them and the keepers working with them, they're in a hallway that basically looks like a kennel at a pound.  Do these animals ever get to go outside, go outside in something like their natural habitat, or get to interact with other members of their species (if appropriate)?  Because if not, that seems incredibly horrifying to me.

[Kohola3]

Just now, hilaryvm said:

Do these animals ever get to go outside, go outside in something like their natural habitat, or get to interact with other members of their species (if appropriate)?

We have seen them in a grassy area outside but I doubt very much that they are interacting with their own species in a natural habitat.

[Yeah No]

On 4/8/2020 at 10:03 PM, suomi said:

Yep, Jim is very well connected through marriage.

There are tons of articles online about Kathleen's parents. Big. Money.

https://programs.wcs.org/press/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/6215/categoryId/123/WCSs-Bronx-Zoo-Holds-Groundbreaking-for-The-LaMattina-Wildlife-Ambassador-Center-and-the-Special-Care-Unit-of-the-Global-Center-for-Wildlife-Health.aspx

Yep, being from the Bronx I'm familiar with this, even posted about it once last season.

On 4/9/2020 at 11:45 AM, RoxiP said:

I assumed Kathleen came from a fairly affluent family - after all there is a Lamattina Building at the zoo.  Her voice is her voice - it probably works very well when dealing with elementary school-aged children.

Kathleen and her voice are fairly typical of a certain type of New York woman.  That's not a judgment, just an observation.

[suomi]

Finally! After days and days of Treehouse Masters we finally get to watch an animal show on ... Animal Planet.

I enjoyed re-watching Susan get the sexing result for Little Blue Penguin. (Female).

When she says bird she sounds like Stands With Fist in Dances With Wolves.

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, suomi said:

Finally! After days and days of Treehouse Masters we finally get to watch an animal show on ... Animal Planet.

Some of these marathons have been brutal!  I especially hate Tanked. 

So glad to have new zoo episodes and the extra feature was interesting.  And horrific when hearing about the wet market.  Ugh.

I do love how devoted Susan is to the birds!  Love the giraffes as well, I remember one keeper saying in a previous episode that they have the disposition of a chipmunk which I thought was hilarious.  I must admit I liked Jigsaw's first name better as it seems more appropriate.  He looked so cute peeking around each corner.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Kohola3

[LittleIggy]

You could tell that the zookeeper didn’t like the renaming of the giraffe. The rich person who made the generous donation must have let their young child or grandchild name the poor giraffe “Jigsaw.” 🙄 The African name was elegant.

[possibilities]

On 4/11/2020 at 10:21 PM, Kohola3 said:

I must admit I liked Jigsaw's first name better

I did, too.

I was so relieved when the giraffes seemed to have a happy first meeting. I figured they wouldn't show us if it turned out horrible, but they seemed really sweet together, and lately the world seems to be deficient in sweetness.

[CrazyInAlabama]

At the end of the new episode they had Jim, and other staffers talking about the Tigers, and Lions coming down with Covid.    They explained that the animals had respiratory symptoms, but were all treated, and recovered, and the keepers that were sick were treated, and doing well too.    Everyone who works in the big cat area wears biohazard gear while working.    

The veterinarian also explained that testing went through the veterinary laboratories, not human laboratories, which is what always happens with samples that need testing.    Apparently some people were saying that the animal tests were taking up the lab resources that should have been for humans, but it wasn't true.      The Bronx location parking lot is being used for a staging area for 250 out of area ambulances that have come to help in NYC.

[Kohola3]

22 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

You could tell that the zookeeper didn’t like the renaming of the giraffe.

Yeah, his tone was even but I definitely got the vibe that he was not pleased.  Money talks, I guess.  But then I hate sports venues with the names of businesses as well. 

Poor Mshango must have been really confused since he'd been in training and responded to that name for years.

[LittleIggy]

I was amazed at the commands the tiger could follow. They do the same sort of training on “Secrets of the Zoo” (Columbus Zoo), another zoo show I love.

BTW, where is the Boogie Down Bronx guy?

[suomi]

27 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

BTW, where is the Boogie Down Bronx guy?

Jose!

Did you know his identical twin is a keeper at another zoo, Queens maybe?

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

BTW, where is the Boogie Down Bronx guy?

We're just starting the new season so he'll probably be on.  I think he does the mammals like buffalo and kudu.

It was cute when he and his twin brother were on together at the transfer of the bachelor sea lions.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, Jose and his twin work at different locations of the zoo, and I think the third brother works at one also.     About 10 years ago, Jose already had ten years as a zoo staff member, and mostly worked with the tigers.     

Here's an old interview with him:

 

https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/city-zookeepers-talk-animal-attraction-article-1.294482

[DanaK]

On 4/13/2020 at 9:49 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

The veterinarian also explained that testing went through the veterinary laboratories, not human laboratories, which is what always happens with samples that need testing.    Apparently some people were saying that the animal tests were taking up the lab resources that should have been for humans, but it wasn't true.      The Bronx location parking lot is being used for a staging area for 250 out of area ambulances that have come to help in NYC.

I'm really glad they answered that question about who did the testing, as I had the very same question when I initially heard the news about the tiger's infection. I'm glad they had the Q&A segment with the various animal experts talking as it was pretty enlightening.

I love this show, especially in getting to see the animals, particularly the babies. The giraffe segment was cute. Giraffes seem like remarkable animals, especially given their size.

I think the real downside of predator animals like tigers being in zoos is they can't hunt normally. Few zoos would likely let them hunt and kill a live wildebeest. But then, as captive animals, they get to live longer and eat everyday, so I guess there are tradeoffs

[possibilities]

Those condors were gorgeous. I was particularly struck by the one having red eyes and the other having green eyes. They were just so gorgeous.

And of course, snow leopard babies are always going to be adorable. Even feisty ones.

I was distracted by the chyron saying the insect keeper was head of mammology. I like insects, so I shared his enthusiasm, but I couldn't understand why he was the head of mammology while saying his job was to take care of bugs. Don't confuse me, show!

Kevin the binturong was fun. His tail is so thick! I wondered if he uses it to balance, or what? It looked a lot like the mama snow leopard's tail, actually.

They talk a lot about medical stuff on this show. It's like they need constant interventions. I am hoping they will talk about other things, too, because I'm starting to think the animals are sick or injured or otherwise in need of intervention all the time. Is there anything else going on in their lives?

Do we know who the dad is of the snow leopard baby? I don't remember anything about that being mentioned, either time we saw snow leopard babies. All the Bronx zoo snow leopards I can remember are females. But they say they've had a lot of success breeding snow leopards, so...?

[LittleIggy]

I wanted to hug Bala the baby snow leopard! Such a chubby little fur baby! I remember when they did the physical therapy with the previous cub.

Anytime a binturong is on a tv show, I think it should be a requirement that there is a mention of the fact that binturongs smell like popcorn! 🍿 

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

Those condors were gorgeous. I was particularly struck by the one having red eyes and the other having green eyes. They were just so gorgeous.

And of course, snow leopard babies are always going to be adorable. Even feisty ones.

I was distracted by the chyron saying the insect keeper was head of mammology. I like insects, so I shared his enthusiasm, but I couldn't understand why he was the head of mammology while saying his job was to take care of bugs. Don't confuse me, show!

Kevin the binturong was fun. His tail is so thick! I wondered if he uses it to balance, or what? It looked a lot like the mama snow leopard's tail, actually.

They talk a lot about medical stuff on this show. It's like they need constant interventions. I am hoping they will talk about other things, too, because I'm starting to think the animals are sick or injured or otherwise in need of intervention all the time. Is there anything else going on in their lives?

I was puzzled about the head of mammology taking care of the bugs too.  I know I've seen a binturong before but not in a long time and I had forgotten all about them.  They're one of those animals that I think looks like a few other animals put together.  In their case I think they look like a combination of a sloth, a racoon and a few other things I can't place right now.  But they're very cute!!!

I agree about the medical stuff.  It's starting to get a little one-note.  Plus we had already seen a snow leopard with that walking issue last season.  OK, now it was eyelids too, but I was not really so interested in that.

What bugs me about this show (ha, no pun intended) is that they KNOW people love José, but they rarely feature him.  Plus I saw them pan by an emu in one of the segment intros - Someone should tell them that people are curious about emus now because of that insurance commercial.  I was happy that they featured an ostrich a couple of weeks ago but would also like to see an emu too.

[Kohola3]

Snow leopards are so beautiful! I know that they said that they have a successful breeding program but how big is the gene pool?  Is too many interrelationships the cause of some of the issues like the eyelid issue?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Loved little Bala being feisty. It didn't seem that the vet appreciated it but I would think that would be a normal thing.  These are not meant to be circus animals or pets.

Hopefully we do so more of our favorites this season.  Saw a little of Susan last night with the condors but looking forward to see Jose as well.

That whole head of mammalogy handling bugs thing is definitely a head scratcher.

[LittleIggy]

I thought I saw José in the background of a scene last night.

[RealityCheck]

Animal Planet Answers Pet Owner Concerns in Special THE ZOO: COVID-19 AND ANIMALS on Saturday April 25 at 11PM ET/PT

Quote

Dave Salmoni, Animal Planet’s large predator expert, speaks with a wide spectrum of experts from the World Health Organization to wildlife biologists to veterinarians to uncover how the virus affects animals and how pet owners can keep their pets and family safe.

The special will feature Bronx Zoo Chief Veterinarian with an update on the big cats and their treatment; Dr. Peter Embarek from the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Task Force, who works particularly on all aspects of the virus related to animals; EXTINCT OR ALIVE’s wildlife biologist, Forrest Galante providing insight on COVID-19 and how it relates to wildlife; and Dr. Jeff of DR. JEFF: ROCKY MOUNTAIN VET how the virus affects pets.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by RealityCheck

[suomi]

I was bummed when I found out the LiMu emu is partly real and partly CGI. But it makes sense for some of the OTT moves he makes because his head/his beak wouldn't stand up under it. I do love those commercials!

[Kohola3]

Howie the swamp wallaby was just adorable!  I am so glad that her owner did the right thing and turned him in.  I do have to wonder how something presumably raised by hand will do introduced to a "wild" group.  I know that they are cared for by humans but one wonders if he'd ever been outside at all.

Liked the continuity of showing us how well Barbara Gordon is doing after her shaky start with life last year.

For your entertainment - alligator wrestling!

I enjoyed the Covid experts weighing in for us and glad that the big cats are all OK.

[LittleIggy]

Howie was a doll! I think he’ll do fine with the gang at the other zoo. Hope he fathers many cute joeys! 
Wasn’t that Jose’s twin wrangling the alligators at the Queen’s Zoo?

[Yeah No]

20 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Howie was a doll! I think he’ll do fine with the gang at the other zoo. Hope he fathers many cute joeys! 
Wasn’t that Jose’s twin wrangling the alligators at the Queen’s Zoo?

Yeah it was.  I got all excited at first from the preview that it was going to be José himself but then when I saw we were going to the Queens Zoo, I was all crestfallen.  Not that it don't like José's twin or anything!  What a tease, LOL!  😉 

[Yeah No]

On 4/25/2020 at 10:03 AM, RealityCheck said:

Animal Planet Answers Pet Owner Concerns in Special THE ZOO: COVID-19 AND ANIMALS on Saturday April 25 at 11PM ET/PT

 

Did anybody watch this?  I didn't think it was that great, to be honest.  I hate it when they preface something with "there is no evidence to indicate" because it can be misleading in that people will assume that no evidence exists at all or they would have found it.  Meaning that they shouldn't worry about catching Covid from their house cat.  But the truth is they have no evidence because they just haven't found any yet, not because they're sure that none exists.  And that's a very different thing.  They shouldn't be telling people it's OK to take their pets to a dog park either.  They should be telling people that as long as their pets have been "social distancing" along with them, they don't need to worry about catching the virus from them, but they should also avoid letting their pets get too close to other people's pets if possible.  Just the same way we humans should be avoiding getting too close to other humans.  I hate when they gloss over stuff like this.

[suomi]

I didn't see the special but acording to what's been found the indications are that humans can infect their pet cats. There were two cases in Europe a month ago, one was in Belgium and the other place I can't recall.

Two cases were verified in NY and that info was released a few days ago.

[Kohola3]

Interesting video from the San Diego zoo and their genetic testing.

[Kohola3]

Holy smokes, how tall is Raul? 

The baby pumas are beyond adorable.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Holy smokes, how tall is Raul? 

The baby pumas are beyond adorable.

I know, right (on both counts)? I want to cuddle a baby puma! And a baby flamingo.

It was great to see Jose and Raul together.

[Yeah No]

This is another show that's putting on a bunch of repeats that my DVR thinks are new.  Interestingly, I never saw the one with the seals and I enjoyed it because I love seals!

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

This is another show that's putting on a bunch of repeats that my DVR thinks are new.

For some reason they are renaming old episodes "The Zoo:  Bronx Tales" and tagging them as new.  Not sure the point of that.  But I enjoy them anyway and can fast forward through the stuff I don't like. 

I do wonder why they feel it necessary to have at least one vet segment on every show now.  I think we get it, there are huge issues with maintaining a healthy group and I admit seeing an endoscopy on a rhino was interesting but I think I'd like to see more time spent on animals with which I am not familiar. 

Loved the piece on the Pryzewalski's horses although I Had seen them before.  A private breeder always brought them to the Michigan State Fair every year to educate people about them.

[Kohola3]

Oh, I seriously love Mel.  She is so enamored of the animals for whom she cares - loved how she was with the Mert the Goose and she's so cute with the anteater as well.  What a great contraption they built for Velcro to show off her tongue!

[LittleIggy]

Loved when Velcro dug the nap hole, laid down in it, then made a blanket with her tale! That was so cute. I love anteaters. That feeding contraption was brilliant.

[possibilities]

That anteater who doesn't like mornings, was super adorable curling up with the tail cover, I agree. I wonder why they named her Velcro. She didn't look sticky. I also wonder why they fed her yogurt. Do anteaters actually eat yogurt?? I mean, obviously they WILL, but... is it even remotely species appropriate?

For the okapi, I was surprised they don't have a squeeze chute to use when they want to do a standing procedure on a large animal, so they don't move too much. I thought the same thing on the Barn episode tonight, where they had a donkey who needed an exam. This show seems to have at least one sick/maybe dying animal every episode. I was also sad that she was not going to be able to continue getting to know the other okapi; they seemed sweet together, but maybe I'm projecting.

The iguanas bobbing their heads looked objectively the same each time, but had a different feel at different stages of their relationship. You could see that it was friendly or unfriendly, but I don't know what the difference was other than you could just tell.

There were a lot of keepers standing around watching them each time they were put in to the exhibit together. I understand why you might want one or two, but it seemed like the whole crew was there.

 

[Kohola3]

So glad that they were able to retrieve the foreign body from Margaretta.  Her reunion with the group was really sweet.

What a clever (and successful) idea from Susan with creating the artificial lek!  Love the fact that they not only got one baby, they got two!

[possibilities]

I felt bad for the mother bird, though, when they took her nest and her chick. She was taking such good care of it and they lured her away and when she came back, her baby was gone. They didn't show her reaction, but it bothered me.

I love sea lions. Was really scared about the foreign object situation. I liked that they explained about why surgery is not a good option for aquatic animals-- it's obvious, but I liked that they spelled it out, because I had never thought about it one way or the other before.

I did always wonder about the exhibits that were not fully enclosed, and wondered about people throwing things in that could harm the animals. I'm surprised they don't have more incidents. I was thinking a screened cover, or at least SOME kind of screen that goes higher than the railing, for safety, but they seemed to really not think it's necessary.

Baby bears were cute.

Only one snake after seeing all those eggs was a surprise. The mating and courtship looked really sweet and respectful. Nobody got chased, or grabbed, nobody got beat up, they just kind of sussed each other out, waiting til everyone agreed, and there was all that full body "foreplay"-- I'm probably projecting, and don't really understand what was going on, but we've seen other species on this show who to me looked so violent and stressed out, and those two snakes looked to my anthropomorphizing eyes much nicer.

 

[LittleIggy]

@possibilities I felt the same way about the mother bird. I’m sure the staff know what they are doing, but I would have liked to have heard a better explanation for hand-rearing the chicks than the adult males might harm them. In that case, couldn’t mum and the chick be put in a different enclosure so she could safely rear her chick!

[LittleIggy]

Poor Rimba. ☹️ He was so gorgeous. I bet that gutted his keepers. I know I cried.

The porcupines were cute. Quite a prickly romance! 😏Hope they have lots of porcupettes.

 

[possibilities]

I was crushed by what happened with Rimba. I am starting to dread watching this show because it seems like every week there's at least one tragedy.

The porcupines and turtles are delightful, though.

[Kohola3]

I love the close ups of the animals, the tigers are just so incredibly beautiful.  I cried a bucket when Rimba died, as soon as the vets spotted something odd on the ultrasound I knew it was bad.

I, too, hope that we can stop with the tragic ends every week.  I need this diversion to keep me sane.  At least with the reruns I know I can fast forward through the bad parts.

[LittleIggy]

I watched “The Zoo” and cried, then watched the “Homeland Vets” I had DVR’d and cried! 😭

[RoxiP]

I think it is realistic to show that no matter how hard they try that sometimes things just happen in the lives of the animals at the zoo.  The keepers work so hard and they have such strong relationships with their animals - it must be dreadful to lose one like Rimba.  I hope they find the female tiger a new mate soon.

[RoxiP]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

I think it is realistic to show that no matter how hard they try that sometimes things just happen in the lives of the animals at the zoo.  The keepers work so hard and they have such strong relationships with their animals - it must be dreadful to lose one like Rimba.  I hope they find the female tiger a new mate soon.

Do you watch The Aquarium?  They had the sweetest story this week about the birth of a new beluga whale.

[Kohola3]

58 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

Do you watch The Aquarium?  They had the sweetest story this week about the birth of a new beluga whale.

It was wonderful to watch but I have a big problem with captive marine mammals, particularly whales.  Keeping them in small tanks leads to a very short lifespan compared to existence in the wild.  The justification I have heard is that they are being "studied" but what kind of information can you really gather?  It's like putting a human in a phone booth and saying their habits are being recorded.  That's not the way we live.

I realize that zoos are basically the same but other mammals generally have a longer life span in captivity.  Not whales.

[possibilities]

I'd like to see more of what the animals' lives are like during the average day, not only at crisis points. Maybe that's not exciting enough, but I feel like they could find ways to make it interesting. I don't know.

I don't mind some crisis moments. I just want it to be balanced out a bit more.

[Kohola3]

100 snakes!  Ugh.  I can't even fathom what the inside of that house looked like and I don't think I want to try so I can sleep tonight.

I love Lisa.  She is so wonderful with all of the little ones she hand raises.  Those baby pronghorns were beyond adorable.

[LittleIggy]

I loved the pronghorn siblings reunion. So cute! I love the way they go SPROING! 😁

[possibilities]

It was really sad about the virus not having any treatments. They were gorgeous animals. I wish it had turned out better. 75% is a big loss. They didn't seem sick, they all looked so good. Did they euthanize them right away, or did they let them enjoy their lives as long as they lasted? It looked from the empty shelves like they euthanized them. That made me really sad.

 

 

 

[meep.meep]

Don't know how long they waited to euthanize, but it must have been a huge drain on the staff to take care of them all.  They went from 30 venomous snakes to almost 200 overnight.  They couldn't hire extra people so that meant that busy people all had to work even more.

I found it ironic that while the zoos seem to find it difficult to breed reptiles and herps, this snake hoarder person had the mad skillz.

[RoxiP]

18 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Don't know how long they waited to euthanize, but it must have been a huge drain on the staff to take care of them all.  They went from 30 venomous snakes to almost 200 overnight.  They couldn't hire extra people so that meant that busy people all had to work even more.

I found it ironic that while the zoos seem to find it difficult to breed reptiles and herps, this snake hoarder person had the mad skillz.

I don't think living in a plastic box constitutes enjoying their lives (although I'm also uncertain as to whether snakes have enough cognitive ability to comprehend whether their lives are enjoyable or not - obviously I am not a snake person!).