Frogs, toads, pigeons find new zoo homes

McClatchy Newspapers

FRESNO, Calif. — A few dozen Texans displaced by Hurricane Ike have found new homes in Fresno Chaffee Zoo in California.

About three dozen amphibians — mostly frogs and toads — and three exotic pigeons are in quarantine in the zoo’s veterinary clinic awaiting placement next month in the zoo. They arrived a little over a week ago.

Among the new zoo residents are three Nicobar pigeons, species of dart-poison frogs and toad species. The zoo will receive 15 amphibian species, including 10 amphibian species the zoo does not now keep.

Hurricane Ike flooded the Moody Gardens Zoo in Galveston. Most of the serious damage was done in the zoo’s Rainforest Pyramid.

Hamachek said the zoo transported about 870 animals around Texas and Louisiana, and as far away as the Cincinnati area and Fresno. The rainforest exhibit could be closed for between three and nine months.

The three Nicobar pigeons will most likely remain in Fresno permanently, said Andy Snider, director of animal care and conservation and Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

He said the zoo was already in the process of acquiring Nicobar pigeons from the Galveston zoo when the request for help came.