New Arrivals

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s newest arrival is 4 years old, weighs 250 pounds and is 6 feet tall when he stands on hind legs.

Bjorn is an Andean bear who was born at the Queens Zoo in 2016 and has lived at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the St. Louis Zoo. Zoo Director Ted Fox said the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is thrilled to welcome Bjorn to reside in its Andean Bear Exhibit, which has been unused since the second of its elderly Andean bear brothers passed away in July 2020. Bjorn is young, agile and energetic.

Read the news release about him HERE!

Six young Chilean flamingos joined our seven older birds at the zoo on March 25, 2021, thanks to our zoo volunteers who raised the money to increase our flamingo flock – called a flamboyance. The zoo acquired the new birds from the Fort Worth Zoo in hopes of boosting the chance for flamingo chicks in the future. They are all age 2 or under, so they still have their gray juvenile feathers on their necks and heads.

See the MyZoo Magazine cover story about the volunteer-led Fund for Flamingo Flamboyance to bring these birds to Syracuse HERE.

Amur tiger Zeya came to us in October 2020 from Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, where she was born on November 25, 2017. She is to be introduced to our male Amur tiger, Thimbu, as part of the Species Survival Plan for this critically endangered species. Introductions are commencing in hopes for tiger cubs in our future!

A new female Giant Pacific Octopus, Tellaro, went on exhibit on World Octopus Day – October 8 – 2020. She came to us from Canada after our old GPO, Ollie, passed away of old age in the spring. Tellaro is named for a tiny seaside town in Italy that has a special legend about an octopus that saved the town from invasion by pirates.

Learn more about the legend at www.thatsliguria.com/en/tellaro-the-town-of-the-giant-octopus.

Baby patas monkey Iniko was born at the zoo on June 8, 2020, and unfortunately her mother, Becca, did not survive the birth. Iniko is the first baby patas monkey in North America to be hand-reared, in the care of our General Curator, Dan Meates and his wife, Zookeeper Leisje Meates, with help from our animal care team. Her name means “Born during troubled times” to reflect her birth in a pandemic and the loss of her mother.

Learn more about Iniko’s story at justgiving.com/campaign/Iniko-appeal.

Four Turkmenian markhor females came to us from the Columbus Zoo to expand our herd of these endangered mountain goats native to Central Asia. They are known as the Golden Girls and their names are, of course, Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia.

Humboldt penguin chick Cuatro hatched at the zoo on May 22, 2020, to parents Hugo and Malia and went on exhibit at Penguin Coast in August. She is the youngest chick in the colony of 31 birds and can be easily spotted as the only penguin with juvenile plumage – her chest is all white and she will not gain the wide black band across it until her first molt takes place sometime in 2021.

Cuatro catching her first snowflakes, December 2020

Snow leopard cub Marcy was born May 18, 2020, to our female snow leopard, Daania, and her mate, Senge, as part of the Species Survival Plan for critically endangered snow leopards. Marcy’s name was selected via a public naming vote, and she is an apt namesake for New York State’s highest mountain. At 3 weeks old she was diagnosed with Swimmer Syndrome, a condition affecting her hind legs that would have prevented her from walking if not treated successfully.

See the MyZoo Magazine story of how our animal care team helped Marcy overcome this challenge HERE

Amur tiger Thimbu arrived at the zoo in late December 2019 and went on exhibit in January 2020. Thimbu was one of quadruplet cubs born at the Denver Zoo in 2010. He came to us at age 9 to be paired with a female (see Zeya, above) as part of the Species Survival Plan for Amur tigers, which are critically endangered in their native Far East Russia.

See the MyZoo Magazine story about Thimbu’s trip to Syracuse from Colorado HERE.