The Philadelphia Zoo Gets Some Adorable New Animals

Meet Patty, a western lowland gorilla that’s one of the new animals at the Philadelphia Zoo (photo courtesy Philadelphia Zoo)

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The Philadelphia Zoo Gets Some Adorable New Animals

It’s now officially Unofficial Summer in Philadelphia. And that means it’s time for crowds to return in droves to the Philadelphia Zoo, which, lest we forget, is America’s first zoo.

Just in time for the new batch of visitors, the Philadelphia Zoo welcomes a new batch of animals. Chief among them is Patty, an 11-year-old female western lowland gorilla. Patty comes to us from a zoo in Chicago. And the plan here is for Patty to mate with Motuba, the Philadelphia Zoo’s silverback gorilla, to beget more gorillas. Western lowland gorillas are considered a critically endangered species, the last step before extinction.

Among other new animals at the Philadelphia Zoo for 2024: a snow leopard named Marcy; two pumas, Elbroch and Olympia; and Eros, a white-handed gibbon. If you enjoy seeing animals swing around in the trees, you’ll want to know that white-handed gibbons are considered the best aerialists of the primates. In all, the Philadelphia zoo houses about 1,900 animals, many of them rare and endangered.

If it’s been a while since you’ve been to the Philadelphia Zoo, I should tell you that the zoo is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that non-members need to make timed reservations. Admission ranges from $19 to $28. But, as a longtime member, I recommend that you get a zoo membership, which includes free parking (which is huge) and you can show up whenever you want, no reservations required.

In Case You Suddenly See a Motorcade…

That would be for President Joe Biden, who is in Philly yet again. If it feels like he’s been coming to the area a lot, that’s because he has been. And this time, he’s joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Local Talent

What’s one thing you’re probably not expecting if you go to a Pearl Jam concert? I’d put having Bradley “Pride of Jenkintown” Cooper come out to do a duet with Eddie Vedder pretty high up on the list.

By the Numbers

$635 million: Cost of a new terminal that will (hopefully) rescue the Port of Wilmington. The current port can’t accommodate the huge ships that it needs to accommodate to be competitive in this era.

72: Years since Philadelphia made a huge mistake, as former mayoral candidate Allan Domb explains to us here.

100: Years that Montco’s June Fete carnival and pony show has been in existence. But now, two weeks after I posited that the era of carnivals might have come to an end, officials won’t allow the carnival to happen. They’re citing “safety and security issues.”

And From the California-Screaming Sports Desk …

Well, lookee here: The Athletic finally gave the Phils their due. Maybe they shouldn’t have. Last night they were in San Francisco for the second game in their series with the Giants, who had the monster of a man that is Erik Miller on the mound — but only for the first inning. He came out for Taylor Rogers in the second in what had been planned as a bullpen game. We had Zack Wheeler pitching for us, and he looked strong. There followed a whole lot of nothing, though in the sixth, J.T. Realmuto doubled to set a record for a Phils catcher.

First time a Phillies catcher has hit in 17 straight games.
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— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) May 29, 2024

Alas, he was out at third on a fielder’s choice by Bryce Harper. Wheeler finished the sixth with nine strikeouts, and Orion Kerkering and José Alvarado held it scoreless through the seventh and eighth, respectively, but so did Tyler Rogers and Sean Hjelle for the Giants. The Phils got nothing in the ninth and brought on Jeff Hoffman, who gave up singles to Thairo Estrada and Matt Chapman before getting a fly-out, a pop out and a strikeout. Whew, gutsy! And more free baseball!

Hjelle stayed in, and Brandon Mash started at second and got to third on a Clemens ground-out. Alec Bohm also grounded out, and Kyle Schwarber was deliberately walked to bring up J.T., who … grounded out. Could Matt Strahm get us another chance? He deliberately walked Heliot Ramos with Tyler Fitzgerald on second, and a fly-out took Fitzgerald to third, whereupon another fly ball, by Luis Matos, scored him. Dammit to hell.

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— ً (@DotByHurts) May 29, 2024

We’ve got one more against the Giants, today starting at 3:45.

Any Doop News?

Yep, the Union will play Toronto tonight at 7:30 in Subaru Park. And goalie Andre Blake, who’s been out injured for five games now? He had knee surgery and will be out for another four to six weeks.

And in Other Sports News?

Just that this is why we can’t quit Twitter.

You know it’s officially summer when the annual Ben Simmons offseason photos come out after he misses 3/4 of the season https://t.co/usfN9Yjo59

— John (@iam_johnw) May 28, 2024

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.