What's new at the Long Island Game Farm and Riverhead aquarium for summer 2024

You’ve likely heard of a catfish. But what about a fishing cat?

Now you can see one of those wildcats, which fish for their food, in a new exhibit at the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead.

And that cat – named what else but Fisher – isn’t the only animal newcomer on Long Island this summer. The Long Island Game Farm is hosting two capybaras, which resemble giant guinea pigs. Other new residents there include two camels and three hissing cockroaches.

Here are all the details on where to see – or even pet and play with – the newbies:

Long Island Aquarium

Fisher the fishing cat gives the aquarium a land animal that has an aquatic element, says Darlene Puntillo, aquarium marketing director. His primary diet is fish, and the aquarium has a pool for him with a little waterfall and fish for him to hunt, although he’ll also be fed, she says.

Fishing cats are typically about twice the size of a domestic cat. “They’re not as large as a lion or tiger, but definitely bigger than a house cat,” Puntillo says. Their paws have some webbing.

Fisher is 7 years old and comes from a facility in Texas that trains veterinarians, so he is used to living in a controlled habitat, Puntillo says. He should be the only fishing cat in New York State, she says. “The closest one is in Washington, D.C., at the National Zoo,” she says.

Fisher made his Long Island debut July 1. "He's walking around and exploring, and he's adorable. He's really fitting in well," Puntillo says. 

Fisher  lives in the renovated former snow monkey habitat. The aquarium had four snow monkeys 15 years ago. “Time marches on and unfortunately we did lose three of them as they got older,” Puntillo says. Snow monkeys are social, so the aquarium found the remaining one a home this spring with others at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, where he was born, Puntillo says. 

This fall, the aquarium is scheduled to receive a bald eagle named Sylvia, which will live outdoors in the former gator habitat. The aquarium used to have to ship the alligators south every winter because it is too cold for them here. “That was just not good for anyone,” Puntillo says. So the aquarium decided not to bring them back this summer, she says.

Long Island Game Farm

The game farm has two capybaras named Lily and Dilly. “That’s what they came with, so we’re kind of sticking to it,” Melinda Novak, game farm president, says of the names. The female duo came from a Long Island family that originally had them as pets, she says.

Capybaras have become popular animals because people see them on TikTok or Instagram and think they look like big lovable guinea pigs, says Novak. “They’re very gentle,” she says. “They’re very friendly.”

Capybaras live on plants and vegetables, Novak says, but have the unusual habit of also eating their own feces. “It’s nutritious for them, strangely enough,” Novak says.

Viewing the capybaras, which are the world's largest rodent, is included with farm admission. “Sometimes they jump in their pool and swim around; when it’s hot they’ll lie in the shade,” Novak says.

Visitors could also choose to pay an additional $40 per person for a Capybara Encounter for up to eight people (smaller groups may be combined into one group of not more than eight), Novak says. Tickets should be purchased in advance on the website. During the approximately 20-minute session, people can pet Lily and Dilly and take photos with them. “That’s what everybody wants now is the selfie,” Novak says. “They want to show everyone.”

In addition to the capybaras, which the game farm has never had before, two other species are returning to the game farm after years of absence: camels and hissing cockroaches.

“We’ve had camels on and off for many years,” Novak says. The new additions are ages 3 and 6 and named Bear and Chuck respectively, she says. They came from a facility in Missouri that breeds camels for zoos, she says. Two camel meet-and-greets will be offered daily included with the price of admission – one from 10:30 to 11 a.m. and the other from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Visitors will be given carrots they can feed the camels; they will not be able to ride them, Novak says.

The camels will live in the enclosure that used to house the game farm’s giraffe. “We’re not ready to bring giraffes back into the park. That’s going to be a long-range plan for us,” Novak says. (The game farm was in the process of planning for a giraffe encounter experience when Bobo the Giraffe died at the park last fall. A USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Report says the 3-year-old giraffe died “after a period of increased rain and decreased temperature” and eating foods that didn’t contain enough energy for him to thrive; Long Island Game Farm officials say the giraffe was malnourished due to a resistance to medication from parasites and did not die due to starvation.)

As for the new hissing cockroaches, the game farm will be bringing them out at various times during the day. “The kids are willing to hold them, but the dads are like, ‘Heck no,’” says Novak. She says the grownups suffer from a learned fear of insects that the kids don’t have.

The cockroaches only come out periodically because in their enclosure they like to hide under a log, Novak says. That makes them hard to see. “When we want to bring them out, we turn the log over,” she says. Typically, they don’t hiss, she says, because they only do that to scare enemies away. Even if they do hiss, she says, it’s more of a whisper.

While visiting the farm this summer, check out the Aim High Canine Show, with stunt dogs that dance and show off their skills using flying discs. Shows run at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. July 18 to 23 and Aug. 6 to 12 and are included with admission.   

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.