Each year, 140 million people visit AZA accredited zoos. They all come for the same reason. To connect with wildlife… and each other. So, we have made it our goal… our responsibility… to foster their wellbeing… and to create meaningful spaces… that nurture, educate, and inspire. We believe that design can make a difference. We believe in innovation and sustainability. We believe in zoos. We are CLR.
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It’s Official!
We are proud to announce that Kelsey Weber is officially a registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects. Kelsey, who joined CLR’s team in 2016, is also a LEED Green Associate and has been actively involved with projects at CLR from conceptual development all the way through to construction. She enjoys working with her fellow CLR team members to create and test ideas that promote animal activity and inspire zoo visitors. Kelsey draws from her studio art background at every phase of a project from visualizing schematic concepts, to working out construction details. You can learn more about Kelsey on her “people page.”
Zoo Knoxville Opens New Herpetarium
The new Clayton Family Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Campus follows Asian Trek as the second major project derived from the Zoo Knoxville Master Plan. As part of a new Adventure Education approach, the project will merge two key education experiences and spaces – an indoor, science-based lab classroom for hands-on study and a dipnet wildlife pond – both linked together with a series of boardwalks and decks. Other outdoor experiences will include conservation bogs and marshes, various turtle and tortoise habitats and a new otter exhibit. The building’s location is strategically placed with prime frontage to the main entry plaza giving visitors a key animal experience as they come through the ticketing gate while strengthening the clustering of all-season attractions at the zoo entrance. The 2.5-acre experience will be anchored by a combination of conservatory sky-lit habitats and beautiful museum-quality gallery exhibits. Features will include hands-on areas for research and discovery, views into a behind-the-scenes biosecure conservation room and turtle incubation areas as well as a Turtle and Tortoise Greenhouse experience where guests can observe and interact with the Herpetology staff managing this important collection of animals.
Zoo Knoxville held a soft opening for its members on April 9, 2021. As of April 12, 2021, the ARC is open to the public! You can view images from the soft opening here at knoxnews.com.
Oregon Zoo Chimps Explore new Primate Forest
Original press release Chimps Explore Their New Digs by Oregon Zoo, October 29, 2020 | Archived Version
New chimp habitat expands on improvements first helped along by Jane Goodall
Primate Forest opens to the public later this year, but in the meantime Portland’s chimp troop will have a high-profile settling-in period. Last week, Chloe, Delilah, Leah and Jackson got their first look at the indoor “day room,” and yesterday they explored one of two new outdoor yards. Both areas are visible from the main visitor pathway, and zoogoers may catch glimpses of the chimps — and hear some excited vocalizing — as everyone settles in.
“Leah was the first one into the new space,” said keeper Colleen Reed. “She went straight to the top of one of the climbing structures. Everyone seemed very confident and relaxed. We heard lots of happy vocalizations, and they appeared to feel right at home.”
Delilah even gave care staff a chimp’s-eye look at the new space. She quickly took charge of a GoPro keepers had placed inside the new outdoor yard as enrichment, and chronicled much of the yesterday’s events.
“It’s especially gratifying to see Chloe interacting with the new space,” Reed added. “She has such a long history here, and has been loved by so many people over the years.”
Before coming to the Oregon Zoo in 1975, Chloe had been kept as a pet. She had only been around humans, and had to learn chimp behavior to be accepted by the others. Around that time, the zoo’s pioneering work with chimpanzees drew the attention of famed conservationist Jane Goodall, who visited Portland regularly, getting to know Chloe, Leah, Delilah and the others.
This fall, as the chimp’s moved into their new Primate Forest home, keepers reflected on Portland’s decades-long connection to Dr. Goodall, and looked ahead to a new era of care for chimpanzees and other primates.
“Back in 1970s and ’80s, Dr. Goodall helped the zoo find funding for a big outdoor area to house all the chimps here,” Reed said. “And the new Primate Forest habitat is a natural outgrowth of those early developments. It’s so great to see Chloe and the others enjoying that space.”
Primate Forest features climbing structures, complex spaces for family groups, and enhanced opportunities for enrichment and keeper interaction. Gone are the Eisenhower-era indoor portions of the old chimp habitat, considered state-of-the-art when the zoo first moved to its current site in 1959, but not so great by today’s standards.
The day room features natural flooring and a pair of 26-foot-tall, floor-to-ceiling climbing structures. A simulated termite mound encourages natural foraging behavior, and five roof hatches allow keepers to scatter food from above.
Many of the new features at Primate Forest — such as a stream, waterfall, large boulders, logs and more — were made possible through the Oregon Zoo Foundation’s $8.5 million Heart of the Oregon Zoo campaign, which is currently raising funds to support the zoo’s efforts in advancing animal welfare, conservation and education. To learn more or to make a gift, call 503-505-5494 or email do-more@oregonzoo.org.
Primate Forest is one of eight major projects funded by a community-supported zoo bond measure passed in 2008. The final three projects — new habitats for primates and polar bears and an improved space for rhinos — are being managed as a single construction project to increase efficiency.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo Previews Kingdoms of Asia
Fresno Chaffee Zoo unveiled an animated sneak peek at their latest project thanks to Measure Z. Kingdoms of Asia will feature the return of sloth bears to the Zoo as well as species that are new to the Zoo, Asian small-clawed otters and tomistoma. This project broke ground in September 2020 and will feature phased openings in 2021-2022.
Rhinos Return to Riverbanks
Excerpted from an original article by Noah Felt, Real Time reporter with The State, August 19, 2020 | Archived Version | Image credit: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
There are two new residents at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, a pair of female southern white rhinoceros. Visitors can now see Kande and Winnifred, as a rhino exhibit returns to the Columbia habitat for the first time since 1989.
They will soon be joined by Bill — a 15-year-old male from Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York — as the rhinos make a new home in the former elephant exhibit at Riverbanks. The rhinos join more than 2,000 other animals that live at Riverbanks Zoo.
Eight-year-old Kande, from Jacksonville Zoo, and 2-year-old Winnifred, from Tampa’s Busch Gardens, arrived at the Columbia zoo in late June. They explored the new rhino yard after getting to know each other, away from the eye of visitors.
“They are very curious and have been acclimating well to their new space!” zoo officials said on Facebook.
But the rhinos are starting to go public.
“Learning a new environment is a delicate process for animals as well as their zookeepers, and we always move at the animal’s pace,” Riverbanks director of animal care and welfare John Davis said in a press release. “For the next several days, our visitors might occasionally see Kande and Winnifred on the rhino yard for brief periods until the two have fully acclimated to their new surroundings.”
When Bill arrives in the fall, he, Kande and Winnifred are expected to form a family group that was constructed as a part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Southern White Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan.
The International Rhino Foundation said about 18,000 individual rhinos remain in the wild, and most are found in the grasslands of southern Africa. The main threat to the animals is illegal hunting because of the high demand for rhino horn for commercial and medicinal use. Northern white rhinos are now extinct in the wild because of poaching, zoo officials said.
“We are excited to give our members and guests the opportunity to once again connect and interact with these magnificent creatures that, without us, face an uncertain future,” Riverbanks president and CEO Thomas Stringfellow said in a press release. “By simply visiting the zoo, our members and guests can create meaningful connections with our animals which inspire actions that have a lasting impact on conservation.”
White rhinos can weigh up to 6,000 pounds and reach 6 feet tall, but can run upwards of 30 miles per hour, according to the release. Officials said they are the most social of the five species of rhinoceros and the second largest land mammal behind the elephant.
Riverbanks visitors will notice some changes that have been made to the former elephant habitat to accommodate the new residents. The exhibit now features a large, elevated pavilion where visitors can experience the rhinos up-close.
Those visitors must wear masks or face coverings at indoor and outdoor locations at the zoo because of Columbia’s recently passed ordinance, requiring everyone within the city limits over the age of 10 to cover their face in public during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.