US zoos closed due to COVID-19 and duration
- Thread starter Great Argus
- Start date
At least four US zoos are re-opening this weekend:
- Hogle Zoo (Utah)
- Red River Zoo (North Dakota)
- Bright's Zoo (Tennessee)
- Indian Creek Park Zoo (Michigan)
- Hogle Zoo (Utah)
- Red River Zoo (North Dakota)
- Bright's Zoo (Tennessee)
- Indian Creek Park Zoo (Michigan)
perceptron
Member
San Antonio Zoo is also reopening this weekend as a drive through zoo
TXzooguy
Member
when you refer to the founding fathers in your argument you have already begun to lose.
TXzooguy
Member
That's interesting..I have been to San Antonio several times and I can see how they will do that..but I wonder if it is just a "cash grab" in this time of financial difficulty. Their hippo exhibit, for example, is quite large but is not visible by car...looking at the route it seems as if they're trying to let people see the "big" animals but their zoo was heavily built by the WPA (it has some great WPA architecture) and that doesn't lead itself to vehicle traffic. I also wonder how they will keep cars moving to prevent big exhaust buildups. I'd love to hear if any of my fellow Texans take them up on the offer.
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After visiting I can confirm that Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is open, but only 2 exhibits and 3 species are visible. Also, you are extremely likely to get attacked by an angry goose.
drill
Well-Known Member
are people from other srtates allowed to come here?
The legality or feasibility of interstate travel depends on your home state, destination state, and every state you'd have to travel through; no reason to believe the zoos themselves would only be admitting in-state residents.
Please do not travel from state to state purely to go to the zoo. This is not the time for leisure trips.
Are they just open as usual or are there restrictions in place?
Hogle Zoo has many restrictions in place for now; they are detailed here (Zoo’s Open | Utah's Hogle Zoo). They include restricting the number of guests, mandatory face coverings, limiting visits to 2 hours via timed tickets, a one-way path, and a relocated entrance; additionally, indoor exhibits remain closed.
Bright's Zoo will also be restricting the number of guests to 500 at a time (the zoo is 60 acres).
Red River Zoo will be encouraging social distancing and face coverings, but not requiring them.
Indian Creek Park Zoo will require face coverings in the gift shop.
Wow, the wordings on some of those Hogle restrictions really leaves it up to interpretation. That's really not a good thing, it's going to cause a lot of problems I think.
I thought most of them were pretty straightforward, actually; the one that it is most ambiguous is the fact that it both says "face coverings are required" and that "face coverings are strongly encouraged". It's therefore unclear if they will refuse entry to those who show up without one.
Someone on the Hogle Zoo thread has also pointed out that it's unclear if and how visitors will be ejected if they surpass their allotted 2 hours.
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Yes, those are two things I noticed.
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
60 acres of public paths and spaces, or does that include animal enclosures? - people cant social distance in a tiger enclosure, only on the paths that view it...
I don't know how many acres are for visitor use; the number was listed and I gave it as a rough measure of how large the facility was compared to the visitor limit.
Hopefully zoos are keeping people six feet away from their big cats - otherwise something is wrong.
Obviously. Employees are more likely to get the virus from having visitors, and the potential for more sick employees means a greater chance of animals getting it as well.
I don't doubt they're weighing the risk, but if a zoo is getting into financial trouble, it's a risk they may choose to take with precautions.