Zoo News

The Siberian musk deer fawn is now out in the musk deer habitat daily. The fawn was born on June 13 and has been bonding with her mother, Anastasia, in their inside habitat. The female fawn currently weighs approx. six pounds. At birth, she weighed approx. 1 ½ pounds. 

The Akron Zoo has welcomed two babies, a penguin chick and musk deer fawn, this summer and is looking to the public to help select their names. The “Oh Deer! Waddle We Name Them?” naming contest, sponsored by Akron Children’s Hospital, starts on Tuesday, July 24 and runs through Wednesday, Aug. 8 at noon. People can choose one of five names for each animal and the name with the most votes will be selected for each baby. Voting is available at akronzoo.org/naming-contest.

For the first time, a Siberian musk deer has been born at the Akron Zoo. The female fawn was born on June 13, and currently is off exhibit with her mother, Anastasia. Father, Vlad, is on exhibit daily. The fawn is expected to make her public debut in the next couple weeks.

A Humboldt penguin chick hatched at the Akron Zoo on June 1. The male chick is currently inside his burrow with parents, Pez and Gabriella, and is expected to be on exhibit later this summer. 

Before venturing out into the penguin habitat, the chick needs to eat on his own and to pass a swim test. The zoo plans to share updates on the chick regularly on social media as the chick grows and prepares to make his public debut. Currently, the chick weighs 3 ¾ pounds. At birth, the chick weighed around a quarter of a pound. 

The Akron Zoo recently welcomed a new species, Siberian musk deer, now on exhibit. The two musk deer arrived from the Bronx Zoo in New York. The male deer, named Vlad, is three years old and was born on June 10, 2015. The female, Anastasia, is also three years old and was born on June 26, 2015.

The Akron Zoo is adding new animals to its popular exhibit, Curious Creatures. Throughout the month of June, guests will begin to see new animals on exhibit, such as tree monitors, flamboyant flower beetles, spotted turtles, pinkfall trigger fish, spotted jellyfish and more. 

The Akron Zoo has welcomed a male snow leopard, who is now on exhibit. Tai Lung arrived from the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa in March. He is eight years old and was born on May 26, 2009. 

The Akron Zoo debuted the first aerobic composter, Big Hanna, to be used at any zoo or aquarium in the world on Monday, April 23. The unit, built in Sweden, is a collaboration with ReWorks, the Ohio EPA and the Akron Zoo. The purpose is to advance the zoo’s aspiration to be a zero waste facility. 

The Akron Zoo is sad to announce the death of Rue, their female red wolf. Rue was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in 2014, and her health has been monitored closely by animal care staff. In December 2017, Rue began to show symptoms of IBD. The zoo’s veterinary team began an aggressive therapeutic plan to address her symptoms, but Rue did not respond positively. Rue’s health significantly declined over the past two months, and the decision was made to humanely euthanize her on Feb. 17.

The Akron Zoo set a new annual attendance record in 2017, with 416,942 guests visiting throughout the year. The previous record, set in 2016, was 398,878 visitors.