New Arrivals

We’ve Made History - Asian Elephant Mali Delivers Miracle Twins!

When we first announced the pregnancy of Asian elephant Mali, we assumed our herd of six Asian elephants would become seven. That’s not quite what happened… because we not only welcomed the seventh member of our Asian elephant herd – but our eighth. Mali had twins! For the past two weeks, the elephant care team has been monitoring the twins around the clock to ensure both are thriving. Elephant twins comprise less than 1% of elephant births worldwide. To date, there has never been a recorded case of surviving elephant twins in the United States. The few successful twin births have only taken place in their range countries in Asia and Africa and nowhere else in the world.

Click here to read the full press release!

Posted 18 months ago

by Ryan Wood

Opal and Inti Join the Colony at Penguin Coast

When you visit Penguin Coast, keep an eye out for our two newest additions to the Humboldt penguin colony, our 2021 chicks Opal and Inti.

Female chick Opal hatched on February 4 and male chick Inti hatched on March 19. The zoo held online voting to choose the names for both chicks.

After being raised by their penguin parents – or, in Opal’s case, foster parents – the chicks received indoor swimming practice supervised by our penguin care team and learned to be hand-fed by zookeepers who keep close track of the eating habits of every bird in the 27-member colony.

Opal and Inti joined the colony on exhibit this summer and love swimming and diving in the big pool at Penguin Coast. They both have juvenile markings, so look for the birds with all-white chests. (They won’t gain the black arcing stripe across their chests until their first molt next year.) You can tell them apart because male penguins wear their ID bracelet on their right wing, females on the left. Opal and Inti’s bands are yellow.

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Welcome, Bjorn the Andean bear!

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!

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Flamboyant Flamingos Join Zoo Flock

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.

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

The Golden Girls Arrive at Rosamond Gifford Zoo

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.

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

New Female Amur Tiger Arrives at Rosamond Gifford Zoo

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!

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Rosamond Gifford Zoo Welcomes New Giant Pacific Octopus

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.

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Amur Tiger Arrives at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo

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.

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Humboldt Penguin Chick Hatches May 22, 2020

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

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood

Snow Leopard Cub Introduced at Rosamond Gifford Zoo

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

Posted 3 years ago

by Ryan Wood