US zoos closed due to COVID-19 and duration

pachyderm pro said:
It wouldn't surprise me to see many major exhibits delayed as a result. I'm sure construction is being temporarily halted during closures, so many exhibits scheduled for this summer could probably not open until the fall at the earliest.
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I'm wondering how long it will delay the new Children's zoo at San Diego...
 
About construction delays, on the other hand having a zoo closed to the public would logistically make it much easier to build a major new exhibit. This assumes, of course, the zoo has enough money saved up.
 
Arizona Docent said:
About construction delays, on the other hand having a zoo closed to the public would logistically make it much easier to build a major new exhibit. This assumes, of course, the zoo has enough money saved up.
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Many zoos wouldn't be able to, since it's non-essential.
 
Quoted from San Diego Zoo's current status on their website - "In keeping with mandates from the State of California and the County of San Diego, both the Zoo and Safari Park have also canceled tours and group events for the next eight weeks, up to May 16."
 
I have a couple updates to start off the day:
  • Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is now closed through 04/30
  • Shedd Aquarium is now closed through 04/20
I imagine that more zoos scheduled to reopen at the end of this month will postpone their reopenings in the coming days.
 
Buckle in for this to be going for a lot longer than we initially thought. Don’t count on making any further zoo visits this year.
 
Trump recently stated that this will likely go on until sometime in July or August at the earliest. That wouldn't be surprising but hopefully if cases in the United States begin to go down, the zoos over here will begin to reopen as well.
 
You haven’t noticed that all the commentary (from experts, not talking heads) has gone from talking about ‘weeks’ to ‘three to six months’ to ‘up to a year’ and now ‘up to 18 months’?

The reason is that they believe we’ve missed the window to actually constrain the virus, and that social distancing is now only capable of slowing its spread. Any easing off in social distancing will only cause infections to spike again. Essentially the choice is between significant disruption and manageable infection numbers until we have a vaccine, or a pattern of easing restrictions until there’s a new spike, then shutting everything down again. Nobody’s sure how long each phase of that pattern might last.

I imagine they will attempt to strike some sort of balance that a) eases the restrictions enough to let some sort of daily life resume, but b) establishes ongoing distancing measures that will become habit-forming. I think it would be very hard to achieve widespread compliance with a pattern of snapping back and forth between relaxed and very stringent measures.

I dearly hope you’re right, but we need to steel ourselves for the idea that this is the new normal for a very long time.
 
Extending that thought out a little. Big zoos with significant fundraising sources - a large city, perhaps, or (less reliably) an established donor network - will be ok. By cutting staff back sharply to core keepers, vets and maintenance staff, and deferring things like construction and non-essential maintenance they can probably function sustainably, if frugally, on those income sources.

It’s hard to imagine even the largest and best-funded private sector zoos surviving, as well as public zoos in smaller or less wealthy cities.
 
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An additional handful of closures
  • Lion Country Safari is closed until further notice
  • Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is closed until further notice
  • ZooMontana is closed until further notice
  • Hutchinson Zoo is closed until further notice
  • Topeka Zoo is closed until further notice
  • OdySea Aquarium is closed until further notice, along with other Arizona Boardwalk attraction Butterfly Wonderland
  • Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is closed until further notice
  • Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo is closed until further notice
These facilities are known to currently remain open in some capacity:
  • Alaska Zoo
  • Bearizona
  • Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium
  • Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
  • Heritage Park Zoo
  • Out of Africa Wildlife Park
  • SEA LIFE Orlando
  • St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
  • Zoo Idaho
  • Willowbrook Wildlife Center
  • Metro Richmond Zoo
  • Cougar Mountain Zoo
  • Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary
 
CGSwans said:
Extending that thought out a little. Big zoos with significant fundraising sources - a large city, perhaps, or (less reliably) an established donor network - will be ok. By cutting staff back sharply to core keepers, vets and maintenance staff, and deferring things like construction and non-essential maintenance they can probably function sustainably, if frugally, on those income sources.

It’s hard to imagine even the largest and best-funded private sector zoos surviving, as well as public zoos in smaller or less wealthy cities.
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Elmwood Park has already started sending out e-mails asking for donations, and has it posted on the website home page. Philly's e-mail today thanked people for renewing their memberships early to contribute funds.
 
Imperator Furiosa said:
These facilities are known to currently remain open in some capacity:
  • Alaska Zoo
  • Bearizona
  • Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium
  • Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
  • Heritage Park Zoo
  • Out of Africa Wildlife Park
  • SEA LIFE Orlando
  • St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
  • Zoo Idaho
  • Willowbrook Wildlife Center
  • Metro Richmond Zoo
  • Cougar Mountain Zoo
  • Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary
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Hmmm, and which state has the most (four) on this list? Hint: it's the greatest state in the country and home to a cat loving former docent. ;)

One zoo in the state that is not open is Phoenix Zoo and I got an email from them today essentially begging for money (but in a much less crass way than I worded it here). Both of the zoos in my city of Tucson are closed. For now (this could change any day), restaurants within the city limits can no longer offer table service (only takeout) whereas restaurants outside the city limits are still offering table service.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Hmmm, and which state has the most (four) on this list? Hint: it's the greatest state in the country and home to a cat loving former docent. ;)

One zoo in the state that is not open is Phoenix Zoo and I got an email from them today essentially begging for money (but in a much less crass way than I worded it here). Both of the zoos in my city of Tucson are closed. For now (this could change any day), restaurants within the city limits can no longer offer table service (only takeout) whereas restaurants outside the city limits are still offering table service.
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That's quite different from pretty much the entire east coast, where most stores, all gyms, hair salons, spas, basically everything else are closed. All restaurants, bars, etc. are closed except for pick-up/delivery.
 
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