Lake Sturgeon

Posted on September 12, 2022May 5, 2025 by tgwadmin

Lake Sturgeon

(Acipenser fulvescens)

Called the “Dinosaurs of the Great Lakes,” the lake sturgeon is the oldest and largest native species of fish in the Great Lakes. Because of this, sturgeon are kind of like swimming fossils. Lake sturgeon are bottom-feeders with sensitive spade-like snouts and armor-like plates for protection. Fingerling sturgeon are raised at the Zoo, and some are released into the Genesee River each year as part of a reintroduction program led by the USGS and NYSDEC. Fingerlings reside in a tank in the Creatures from the River’s Edge Building; 2 larger sturgeon reside in the Genesee Trail pond.

Animal Facts

Lake sturgeon have inhabited the Great Lakes for more than 10,000 years.

Like sharks, sturgeon lack scales and are cartilaginous, which means they do not have bones. However, sturgeons do have scutes, which are hard plates that act as armor to provide them protection.

Full grown lake sturgeon can weigh as much as 200 pounds and grow to be up to seven-feet long.

Caviar, a delicacy for humans, is simply eggs from sturgeon.

The fossil record of sturgeon shows that they have remained relatively unchanged for more than 100 million years.

Diet

These carnivores eat snails, mollusks, worms, crayfish and larvae.

Status in The Wild

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status

Lake sturgeon inhabit the waters of the Great Lakes region, especially the Huron-Erie Corridor.

Lake sturgeon were once so abundant in the Great Lakes region that they were caught and discarded by fishermen. Today they are rarely seen and are considered a threatened and endangered species. Over harvested for their eggs, oil and meat, the lake sturgeon’s numbers have also dropped because its spawning grounds are being destroyed and polluted. The lake sturgeon’s extremely slow reproductive cycle also makes it susceptible to decline. In 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation stocked the Genesee River with 1,900 juvenile lake sturgeon in an effort to restore the species to its natural habitat.

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Canada Lynx

Posted on September 7, 2022December 23, 2024 by tgwadmin

Canada Lynx

(Lynx canadensis)

The Seneca Park Zoo is home to two Canada lynx: Bianca, a female born in 2013 who arrived here in 2014, and Albert, a male who joined us in 2024 from the Woodland Park Zoo. Bianca is also the mother of Stanley, a male lynx born on June 2, 2022, who now resides at the Trevor School Zoo. The name ‘lynx’ comes from the Greek word “to shine,” likely referencing the reflective ability of this cat’s striking eyes.

Animal Facts

The paws of Canada lynx are webbed, heavily furred and work like snowshoes, distributing the lynx’s weight and helping it move in the snow.

The name ‘lynx’ comes from the Greek word “to shine.” This may be in reference to the reflective ability of the cat’s eyes.

Females and young sometimes hunt for hares cooperatively by spreading out in a line and moving through relatively open areas. Prey scared up by one animal is often caught by others in the line. This method can be successful and is a learning opportunity for the young.

Lynx are mostly crepuscular, but hunt any time of day or night, nocturnal activity is next most frequent, then diurnal

The lynx’s survival in the U.S. is primarily jeopardized by habitat destruction and fragmentation. Attempts to reintroduce lynx from Canada into New York’s Adirondack Mountains failed, mainly because the cats were hit by cars and trucks

Diet

Snowshoe hares are a primary food source. Populations of the two are known to fluctuate in linked cycles with periods of about 10 years. They may also eat rodents, birds and fish. If they can find a deer, or other large ungulate that is very weak or sick, lynx will kill and eat it. They also feed on carcasses left by human hunters.

Status in The Wild

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status

Major populations of Canada lynx are found throughout Canada and Alaska, western Montana, and in nearby parts of Idaho and Washington.

Small populations are found in New England, Utah and possibly Oregon, Wyoming and Colorado. Lynx usually live in alpine coniferous or mixed boreal/deciduous forest. They can also be found in more open forests, rocky areas, or tundra. Males occupy distinct territories; home territories of females may overlap.

Lynx are listed in CITES Appendix II. In March 2000, they were listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened in the lower 48 states. The state of Michigan lists the Canada lynx as endangered.In Canada and Alaska, trapping is regulated through closed seasons, quotas, limited entry, and long-term trapping concessions.

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Hellbender

Posted on September 7, 2022March 3, 2025 by tgwadmin

Hellbender

(Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)

Hellbenders are the largest salamanders found in North America. They are indigenous to cold, swift-moving, oxygenated streams and important environmental indicators of water health. There are two hellbenders that reside in the C.R.E. Center at the Zoo.

Animal Facts

Hellbenders are nocturnal, meaning they hunt at night, and spend their daylight hours hidden beneath rocks and logs at the bottoms of streams.

Hellbenders are New York State’s largest aquatic salamander.

Hellbenders have lived 29 years in captivity and analysis suggests they can live up to 30 years in the wild.

Can swim but they prefer to walk along the bottom of riverbeds

They do have lungs but they “breathe” through their skin, and the wrinkly skin along their sides gives more area for breathing.

Diet

Hellbenders feed primarily on crayfish, but they also may eat fish, frogs and a variety of invertebrates. They do eat smaller hellbenders.

Status in The Wild

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status

The eastern hellbender’s range once extended from southwestern and south central New York, west to southern Illinois, and south to extreme northeastern Mississippi and the northern parts of Alabama and Georgia.

Today, healthy populations of hellbenders are limited to a relatively few stream systems in areas that have remained isolated from development and urbanization, mainly in the rugged mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

This species is probably in significant decline (but probably at a rate of less than 30% over three generations, assuming a generation length to be approximately ten years) because of widespread habitat loss through much of its range, thus making the species close to qualifying for Vulnerable.

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Bald Eagle

Canada Lynx

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Hellbender

Lake Sturgeon

Largemouth Bass

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Snowy Owl

Spotted Turtle (Ambassador Animal)

Three-toed Box Turtle (Ambassador Animal)

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Gray Wolf

Posted on September 6, 2022October 17, 2022 by tgwadmin

Gray Wolf

(Canis lupus)

The Zoo is home to two gray wolves, Timber and Willow. Born in April 2014 at New York State Zoo in Watertown, NY, the brother and sister pair came to the Zoo from Buffalo Zoo in March 2016. Wolves are intelligent, social predators. Their complex social structure divides responsibilities, allowing packs to better raise young, patrol territory, and secure prey. By controlling prey populations, wolves balance the ecosystem and promote biodiversity.

Animal Facts

Very social animals with complex communication, including body language and sounds; tail, ear, body and head positions are important, as are facial expressions.

They howl to assemble the pack for a hunt, to locate pack members, to warn other packs, and sometimes for no apparent reason at all!

Wolves typically mate for life, although if one of the pair dies, they will accept another mate.

They can run at speeds up to 40mph

Often times other carnivores eat from kills wolves have made

Diet

Carnivorous. Gray wolves eat large animals such as deer and elk; occasionally smaller animals, and carrion.

Status in The Wild

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status

Gray Wolves inhabit a variety of habitats including: deserts, plains, forests, and tundra. Their range is throughout the Northern Hemisphere, generally in areas with fewer humans.

Because of the diversity in climate, topography, vegetation, human settlement and development of wolf range, wolf populations in various parts of the original range vary from extinct to relatively pristine.