US zoos closed due to COVID-19 and duration

Great Argus

Great Argus

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
The purpose of this thread is to watch how many zoos are affected and to what extent. Feel free to update, note this is for US zoos only.

Closed as of tomorrow, March 12:

Woodland Park - through March 31

Monitoring and may close depending whether the local situation gets worse:

Point Defiance
San Francisco
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Zoo Miami
Zoo Atlanta
Oregon
Oakland
LA
National
 
I haven't seen any indications of NZP closing, nor has anything been mentioned in the weekly member newsletter which came out yesterday. There are indeed other cities that are at more human risk right now, but let's try to remember that this is not thought to be zoonotic and animals are not thought to be at risk. As I mentioned elsewhere, there is of course possible cross-contamination between primates and infected humans, but this would seem to be a risk that routine precaution can reduce significantly.
 
The Seattle Aquarium will also be closed until March 31.
 
Things are developing rapidly. Today the USA cut off inbound travel from Europe (for a month) and some cities are banning large gatherings and the NBA (pro basketball) postponed their season. The next democratic primary presidential debate is this Sunday in Phoenix (Arizona) and they announced there will be no live audience. So I imagine more zoos will close especially in hotspot states like Washington and California. My local Reid Park Zoo (Tucson, Arizona) currently has a nightly lantern festival through the end of March (for Chinese New Year). I was wondering if they would cancel it but I just checked the website and Facebook and no mention of cancelling it.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Things are developing rapidly. Today the USA cut off inbound travel from Europe (for a month) and some cities are banning large gatherings and the NBA (pro basketball) postponed their season. The next democratic primary presidential debate is this Sunday in Phoenix (Arizona) and they announced there will be no live audience. So I imagine more zoos will close especially in hotspot states like Washington and California. My local Reid Park Zoo (Tucson, Arizona) currently has a nightly lantern festival through the end of March (for Chinese New Year). I was wondering if they would cancel it but I just checked the website and Facebook and no mention of cancelling it.
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Indeed, things are moving fast. It seems for now most zoos away from the hotspots are open and just keeping an eye out. However, I was surprised to find no additional information regarding the situation from the Bronx or its affiliated zoos. Given they are in one of the most affected states I expected to at least find the common "boosted cleaning and working with the local health authorities" statement many zoos have issued.
 
From a twitter post about 20 minutes ago, the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium will be temporarily closed until April 1st. San Diego Zoo Global made a statement similar to what @Great Argus was saying, monitoring the situation closely to see what the public health officials say about it while maintaining both parks open.
 
Julio C Castro said:
From a twitter post about 20 minutes ago, the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium will be temporarily closed until April 1st. San Diego Zoo Global made a statement similar to what @Great Argus was saying, monitoring the situation closely to see what the public health officials say about it while maintaining both parks open.
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I figured San Diego would issue a statement here soon. Far as I know their area is not much affected currently, but glad to see they are taking precautions.

@Julio C Castro Has LA zoo mentioned anything farther? I saw there are several new cases in LA county...
 
Great Argus said:
I figured San Diego would issue a statement here soon. Far as I know their area is not much affected currently, but glad to see they are taking precautions.

@Julio C Castro Has LA zoo mentioned anything farther? I saw there are several new cases in LA county...
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Not so far but since they’re run by LA County, I’ve seen a notice at the top of their website regarding guidelines from Public Health. No closure yet indicated but would make sense since LA is very populated with seeing many people from around the world and has seen some cases of COVID-19.
 
Just got an e-mail from the New England Aquarium saying that they'll be closed until COVID-19 spread is confidently under control. Figured they might do so.
 
Although the zoo is still open, I just got an email informing me that all volunteer shifts, teen or otherwise, at the Sacramento Zoo have been canceled for this month. It's slightly annoying because I truly enjoy my shifts, but I totally understand why they're doing it and I support the zoo in doing what it need to.
 
Akron: The Conservation Carousel and indoor facilities - the bat and lemur buildings and Komodo Kingdom - will be closed. However, since the Akron Zoo is a park, all outdoor areas will remain open consistent with the directive from Gov. DeWine. The Akron Zoo is closely monitoring the developments of the coronavirus situation closely. We are following updates from the CDC, Summit County Public Health and Ohio Department of Public Health.
 
Update:

Closed:

Woodland Park - through March 31
Seattle Aquarium - through March 31
Toledo - through April 1st
LA - Closing tomorrow and remaining closed til farther notice
New England Aquarium - closed til farther notice

Monitoring and may close depending whether the local situation gets worse:

Point Defiance
San Francisco
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Zoo Miami
Zoo Atlanta
Oregon
Oakland
National
San Diego & the Safari Park
Akron - open but indoor exhibits and carousel closed
Sacramento - open but volunteer shifts cancelled
 
Some additional updates:

SF has closed the Rainforest Building and Insect Zoo; also all keeper talks are cancelled.

Santa Barbara is monitoring.

Sacramento has cancelled several events and most keeper talks.

Aquarium of the Bay is monitoring.

Stone and Franklin Park Zoos are monitoring.

Cincinnati is monitoring and has suspended several events and programs.

Columbus is monitoring.

North Carolina is monitoring.

Aware but not currently much action: Fresno Chaffee, DWA, Dallas, Buffalo, DAK
 
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