I'm honestly surprised that Bronx and the other NYC zoos haven't closed down.
~Thylo
~Thylo
US zoos closed due to COVID-19 and duration
- Thread starter Great Argus
- Start date
I am as well, given hotspot located Woodland Park, LA, and National have closed.
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
Welp. 26 minutes ago the Lincoln Park Zoo publicly announced they're closed through April 10th. Only essential animal care staff will remain. Rip to my income :')
The Little Rock Zoo announced starting today all indoor exhibits, the café, gift shop, and basically all buildings will be closed, except the rest rooms and the playground, which will be sanitized on a much more aggressive schedule. Also, all programs and events involving the zoo are cancelled or postponed. Both on and off site. However, all outdoor exhibits remain open and several additional hand sanitizing stations have been added throughout the zoo.
I just looked it up and no word yet from them, the big one I’m awaiting to see is if San Diego Zoo Global will be one to follow. They have the buttery jungle preview dinner night next Friday which I’m attending and could be cancelled, although no known cases have been reported there I can see them deciding to close due to the large volume of tourists and visitors they receive daily at both parks.
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
As of right now Brookfield is monitoring but the Shedd hasn't issued any statements yet
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I have been watching SDZ as well, their area is relatively unaffected yet, but given their high traffic they may opt to close. However as they are nearly entirely open air, that does work in their favor.
I'm guessing MBA will close soon, they are fully indoors. And as anyone who has visited knows, most places in the aquarium tend to be close quarters.
The other group I'm watching is Dallas/DWA/Fort Worth. Particularly the DWA for being enclosed. I'm expecting DAK to close any day.
The Governor of California has ordered that gatherings of more than 250 not go ahead. Obviously there’s a debate to be had about whether being in a zoo constitutes a ‘gathering’, but I expect the vast number of California zoos will err on the side of caution and close.
AmbikaFan
Well-Known Member
All of these closures are yet another indication that this is more serious than we've been led to believe. Until now, it's been indoor gatherings of 50 or more people that have been declared high-risk, with Trump famously planning to continue his large planned indoor rallies. Now, the word through government agencies must be that there is considerable risk in non-concentrated outdoor gatherings as well. This is considerable escalation in the seriousness of COVID-19.
It was down to 100 last I saw. It will indeed be interesting to see whether the zoos are forced to close.
Indeed I am worried for the smaller facilities, hopefully they can all pull through. For little guys like Sequoia Park, Folsom, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, etc, this could be a nasty blow. They rely on being open.
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
So to recap as of 9:37 PM CDT. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Closed through March 31st
Closed through March 31st
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Seattle Aquarium
- Toledo Zoo & Aquarium
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- New England Aquarium
- National Zoo
- Los Angeles Zoo
- Akron Zoo
- San Francisco Zoo
- Little Rock Zoo
- Sacramento Zoo
- Cincinnati Zoo
- San Francisco Zoo
- Philadelphia Zoo (informed by a friend employed there)
- Milwaukee County Zoo (as per a Tweet 5 hours ago)
- San Diego Zoo & San Diego Safari Park
- Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Georgia Aquarium
- Zoo Atlanta
- Brookfield Zoo
- Oregon Zoo
- Oakland Zoo
- Henry Vilas Zoo
- Santa Barbara Zoo
- Aquarium of the Bay
- Columbus Zoo
- Stone Zoo & Franklin Park Zoo
- North Carolina Zoo
- Detroit Zoo
Already outdated... Monterey Bay Aquarium closed at 5pm today and is closed at least through March 27th.
More updates...
Point Defiance closes Saturday and will be closed through March 31.
Omaha is monitoring
Zoo Tampa is monitoring
Houston is monitoring
Quoted from Bronx's website --
"SHOULD I VISIT? The health and well-being of our guests, staff and the animals in our care is our priority. When visiting, we encourage you to use the restrooms located across the park for frequent handwashing stops. For your convenience, we have additional hand sanitizer stations at exhibits.
At this time, operations have not been affected at our four zoos or aquarium and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advises that the risk to New Yorkers of contracting Covid-19 is still low and is not recommending pre-emptive closure or program cancellations at this time.
WCS is a science-based organization and we are working closely with government agencies and monitoring any development that could impact our staff and guests and we will continue to follow recommendations and guidelines from the CDC, New York City and State, and Department of Health."
I'm surprised to be honest.
Point Defiance closes Saturday and will be closed through March 31.
Omaha is monitoring
Zoo Tampa is monitoring
Houston is monitoring
Quoted from Bronx's website --
"SHOULD I VISIT? The health and well-being of our guests, staff and the animals in our care is our priority. When visiting, we encourage you to use the restrooms located across the park for frequent handwashing stops. For your convenience, we have additional hand sanitizer stations at exhibits.
At this time, operations have not been affected at our four zoos or aquarium and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advises that the risk to New Yorkers of contracting Covid-19 is still low and is not recommending pre-emptive closure or program cancellations at this time.
WCS is a science-based organization and we are working closely with government agencies and monitoring any development that could impact our staff and guests and we will continue to follow recommendations and guidelines from the CDC, New York City and State, and Department of Health."
I'm surprised to be honest.
Well if any zoo knows what they're talking about when it comes to the virus, it's Bronx... Still, I can't help by find this bizarre given just about every other major attraction in NYC (including Broadway now) has closed down.
~Thylo
Beardsley Zoo has issued a similar message about the zoo remaining open during this time.
~Thylo
~Thylo
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
10:15 PM CDT update. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Closed through March 27th
Closed through March 27th
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Virginia Zoo (as of a tweet 3 hours ago)
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Seattle Aquarium
- Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
- Toledo Zoo & Aquarium
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- New England Aquarium
- National Zoo
- Los Angeles Zoo
- Akron Zoo
- San Francisco Zoo
- Little Rock Zoo
- Oregon Zoo (as of a tweet 7 hours ago)
- Sacramento Zoo
- Cincinnati Zoo
- San Francisco Zoo
- Milwaukee County Zoo
- San Diego Zoo & San Diego Safari Park
- Georgia Aquarium
- Zoo Atlanta
- Brookfield Zoo
- Oakland Zoo
- Henry Vilas Zoo
- Santa Barbara Zoo
- Aquarium of the Bay
- Columbus Zoo
- Stone Zoo & Franklin Park Zoo
- North Carolina Zoo
- Detroit Zoo
- Henry Doorly Zoo
- Zoo Tampa
- Houston Zoo
- Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx, Central Park, Prospect Park, Queens, NY Aquarium)
- Philadelphia Zoo
We will likely see announcement from SDZ about closure tomorrow morning, San Diego County issued closures and restrictions this evening. Also probably will see something from SeaWorld San Diego.
Denver is monitoring, as is Phoenix
Denver is monitoring, as is Phoenix
SeaWorld SD is operating as normal for now, but all shows are canceled.
Birch Aquarium is closed til further notice.
No word from SDZ yet, probably will be a release in the morning. If SeaWorld can stay open for now I imagine the zoo will be too, with certain restrictions.
Birch Aquarium is closed til further notice.
No word from SDZ yet, probably will be a release in the morning. If SeaWorld can stay open for now I imagine the zoo will be too, with certain restrictions.