Cali Zoo - Iconic Animals

Iconic Animals

• Stap, an Asiatic brown bear that was born in the Liepzik Zoo in Russia. When he was only some months old he was sold to a Russian circus in which he didn't learn, so he was punished in a small cage until he was donated to the Cali Zoo. When he arrived, he met Griselda, a female grizzly bear who died after 3 years of company. Actually, Stap was at the zoo training system and his diet was composed of chicken, fruits, and a special bread made at the zoo.

• Carlitos, a Galapagos giant tortoise who lived at the cali zoo since its beginning up until the 29th of December, 2007 from a fractured jaw caused by a rock. Carlitos was exchanged for 2 lions in Ecuador by Rodrigo de la Puente, an Ecuadorian man who helped construct the zoo. Carlitos was one of the main star animals at the zoo because it was friendly towards children and gave rides on it's back.

• Inco and Sedona, mountain tapirs that live in the zoo. and that were brought from the Los Angeles zoo, these are very special animals because only four zoos exhibit them, and the Cali Zoo is the only one in its home range.

• Lluvia and Carolina, giant otters. Carolina was the first of the 22 otters that the zoo has had. Lluvia was her breeding partner and since they met for first time they have had 19 babies which 11 survived until adulthood. Five of them these were sent to Europe and the US and some of them have bred. Carolina died of old age in May 2011 and Lluvia is no longer on public display, but other otters are exhibited instead.

• Rino and Rina, a pair of white rhinoceroses brought from South Africa in the 1970s and on display until their deaths (in 1993 and 1998 respectively). They never bred. The zoo has no rhinos.