Snowy owl will return to more durable exhibit

The snowy owl exhibit will be back up and running Friday at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park. The exhibit has been empty since a late November snowstorm caused it and two other exhibits to collapse.

When it reopens, the enclosure will be "a much stronger, much more durable exhibit," said the zoo's director, John S. Foster. "To say we made repairs is really an understatement. It's a new exhibit. It's all newer and better and shinier."

Mr. Foster will drive Thursday to Central Square to retrieve the zoo's snowy owl, Doc, who has been in the care of Kindred Kingdoms Wildlife Rehabilitation there since the snowstorm.

Doc won't just have a new exhibit to get used to when he returns — he'll have a new companion, too: a mature female snowy owl who will be introduced to the exhibit with him Thursday afternoon. She is being donated to the zoo by Richard E. West, Adams, a licensed falconer.

Mr. West was interested in finding a younger snowy owl for breeding and knew the zoo was on the lookout for a female for its exhibit, Mr. Foster said.

"She will go into retirement here," he said.

He doesn't expect the two to quarrel when they meet.

"These are pretty mellow birds. Both birds are getting put back into the exhibit and he's been out of it for some time, so there's not that territorial thing going on. They're getting released into neutral ground," Mr. West said.

Five of the zoo's exhibits were damaged in snowfall over the winter — the eagle and turkey vulture exhibits in October's early snowfall, and the fisher, bobcat and snowy owl exhibits during the storm in late November. The fisher exhibit is back up, but others still need repairs.

The animals were being kept in off-exhibit holding areas during the storms and were unharmed. Some were kept behind-the-scenes pending repairs; others were taken to wildlife rehabilitators for temporary care.

All the damaged exhibits are being rebuilt to better withstand heavy snowcover, Mr. Foster said, with wire instead of plastic mesh, better cabling support for the roofs and sturdier roof beams. The zoo looked to its lynx and mountain lion exhibits while rebuilding, since those exhibits withstood the storms.