New at the Zoo: Madagascar

May 16th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune

Michael Nance has learned a thing or two about Madagascar.

Who lives there? “That lion,” says the 3-year-old, who was visiting Utah’s Hogle Zoo with his mother on Friday morning. “And that giraffe!”

Salt Lake City - A Fossa, which looks like some type of cat, monkey or mink, is closely related to Mongooses and civets and is the new main attraction of Madagascar! at Utah's Hogle Zoo. The new exhibit opens to the public on Saturday, May 16, 2009. Photo by Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune 5/15/2009 (Francisco Kjolseth)

Actually, Madagascar isn’t home to any lions or giraffes. Nor does it have any wise-cracking zebras or sultry hippos, as depicted in Dreamworks’ 2005 hit animated comedy about a quartet of New York zoo animals that gets marooned on the island nation off Africa’s east coast.

But the toddler’s misconception is common — even among much older zoo visitors. And that’s part of the reason why the east Salt Lake City animal park is introducing its newest exhibit, simply called “Madagascar,” today.

“A lot of kids think it’s just a movie,” says zoo keeper Nate Strong, who wrote the proposal to bring a little piece of Madagascar to Utah. “They don’t realize it’s an island with all kinds of diverse animals.”

That would include the star of Hogle’s new show, the carnivorous foosa. The island’s biggest mammalian predator looks a bit like a cat, but it’s more closely related to the mongoose. And it’s an amazing species, says Strong, who will act as keeper of the long-tailed animals, on loan from the San Diego Zoo, at least until this fall.

Izzy the Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec cleans his face and its spiny coat used to deter predators and is one of the featured animals of Madagascar! the new exhibit at Utah's Hogle Zoo opening to the public on Saturday. (Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune)

“They’re curious and they’re smart,” Strong says. “They’re amazing leapers and great climbers. I’ve seen them climb trees, head first, straight down.”

The exhibit — in the same building where Hogle’s popular Ghost of the Bayou was staged last year — also includes hissing cockroaches, radiated tortoises, tenrecs and boa constrictors.

Yawning to reveal a healthy set of teeth, a fossa, which looks like it may be ralated to cats, monkeys or mink, is actually closely related to mongooses and civets and is the new main attraction of Madagascar exhibit at Utah's Hogle Zoo. (Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune)

Just down the way, in the zoo’s primate building, visitors can also meet and greet three species of lemurs — no, they don’t dance to electronic ragga pop tunes — all of which are also endemic to the Red Island.

Zoo spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite said that the lemurs are losing ground in Madagascar, both because they’re a favorite meal for the foosas and because their habitats have been stolen by Malagasy farmers and commercial coffee growers.

Rebekah Egbert, with the education team at the Hogle Zoo, holds a hissing cockroach, one of the featured creatures of Madagascar, the new exhibit opening to the public Saturday. (Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune)

“The island is the size of Texas, but the remaining natural habitat is about the size of New Jersey,” she said.

Stephen the Radiated Tortoise will be on hand for educational purposes at Madagascar, the new exhibit opening to the public Saturday. (Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune)