Niabi Zoo

07/11/2025

07/11/2025

Otters @ Work!

Well, sort of....looks like Louise is grooming and using that nice fluffy mulch as a back scratcher and Tina is juggling with a small pebble. Enjoy your day little gals.

Video courtesy of Leanne P

07/11/2025

Feathered Friend Friday; featuring Nelson, Red tailed hawk

Nelson is a super star when it comes to enthusiastically investigating any and all types of enrichement. He is brave and smart and knows exactly whats going on. He know by using his keen senses that he will obtain his mouse meal. Just watch as he puzzles everything out. He will always keep us on our toes in trying to offer him new, challenging enrichment options. Challenge accepted Nelson!

Video courtesy of Leanne P

07/10/2025

Secret life of Zoo Invertebrates; So much activity going on all around us, with our small invertebrate friends. This past few weeks we see the Milkweed Communities bustling with activity, along with some other bug friends in our pollinator gardens...AND our first Monarch siting of the season!!

Images include; Petunia caterpillar and Monarch Butterfly courtesy of Jan W
Others include; Grapevine beetle and Milkweed beetle

07/10/2025

Crocodile Monitors are considered the longest lizards in the world They may reach lengths of 10 feet (304cm) in length or more. Their tail counts as more than half their body length.

This species of monitor are known to be skilled climbers and will spend the majority of their time in the trees of their forested habitats. They will take advantage of nearby water and totally submerge to cool off.

They are considered carnivores but for their size they choose smaller animals to consume such as rodents, birds, eggs and on occasion carrion and fish.

When you are meandering through our Biodiversity Hall, be sure to stop over and admire our two lady Croc Monitors....they are gorgeous!!

Images courtesy of Sammi T

07/10/2025

Last Chance to sign up! 😲
Join us at Niabi Zoo for a special breakfast and an exclusive tour featuring the world's most critically endangered cat and canid: the Amur Leopard and the Red Wolf. Learn about our conservation efforts and see these rare animals up close. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to witness conservation in action!
https://bit.ly/44P87a8

07/10/2025

Innovations in Husbandry!

Each year our Aldabra Tortoises' move inside for the Winter season and then return in the Spring season. As they grow and mature it was fast becoming apparent that we needed to innovate and find a solution to move them with assistance from a moveable platform. This would allow them to walk on and off of the platform, without us humans using our backs to physically move them as a group. We came up with a plan, measured Charlotte and Wilbur's shells to ensure just enough room for them on the platform and presented our ideas to our partners at Estes. They were able to meet our hopes and dreams of using a moveable tortoise platform that allowed us to remove the poles so the tortoises could move on and off under their own steam. We are delighted that this Spring 2025 we used our brand new device for the first time and it went great!

Thank you to the Estes team for creating an amazing tool that allowed us to continue innovating here at the zoo.

Charlotte is now a petite 220 # and Wilbur is an honorable 385 #.

07/09/2025

AMUR LEOPARDS are OUT and about in their newly renovated habitat as of this morning. HOORAY! ALL the cats are back out for everyone to enjoy visiting.

**Reminder we will have doors open to their indoor dens so they can go in and out as they choose while they get acquainted with all the new sights and sounds again. They also have temperature guidelines that require us to open the dens at the 80F degree mark for their comfort and choice.

We cannot express how over the moon we are to be so close to the finish line of total planned recovery from the 2024 Snowpocolypse.

Bald Eagle Habitat completion...here we come!!

See you all soon.