Browsing ZooChat hat has taught me two things: folks are invested in seeing their home zoos improve, and they love to theorize about those improvements 
So, what are a few species/exhibit additions you think would be practical for your zoo to pursue? I say practical so that we don’t veer into fantasy territory, aka “the NIMBYs disappeared overnight so obviously my local zoo should add 10 acres and elephants to attract guests”.
My home zoo is Fresno Chaffee Zoo, a medium-sized zoo in California that's pretty far-removed from the Bay Area and SoCal zoo clusters (San Francisco, Oakland, Living Desert, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc.). Upcoming and fully funded plans include returning sloth bears and a 150,000 gallon hippo exhibit, so no point in advocating for what's already in the pipeline.
African Wild Dogs
Wild dogs are a slightly selfish pick, as they’re my favorite canid, but they’ve been mentioned in prior master plans and I think they’re a good fit. Fresno Zoo’s recent 13 acre expansion is centered wholly on Africa and the zoo currently houses lions, cheetah, and serval, so squeezing in a non-feline predator would be a solid choice. The zoo has had prior success breeding highly endangered canines, red wolves, so successfully breeding wild dogs would be another feather in their cap.
Western Lowland Gorillas
The zoo hasn’t held gorillas since the early 90’s, but bringing them back to the zoo has been discussed in the past. They’re huge crowd pleasers and could act as an anchor for other African forest fauna (bongo, red river hog, the zoo’s current colobuses). Sacramento Zoo, the nearest sizable zoo, is solely focused on its chimpanzees in its most recent master plan, so Fresno choosing to exhibit its current Sumatran orangutans and a troop of new gorillas would let both locations shine.
Penguins (African, Humboldt, or Magellanic)
I’ve noticed some zoo nerds are sick to death of penguins, along with the dreaded meerkat, but let’s face it: the public loves them (me included). AZA facilities in CA’s interior are devoid of penguins, and many families make the pilgrimage to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco due to their well-marketed African penguins. While adding another SAFE species like African penguins is appealing, a South American species would bolster the zoo's more limited selection of South American taxa.
Tapirs (Baird’s or Lowland)
I’ll make the same case for tapir as I do for Humboldt penguins - the zoo could use more South American taxa. They previously exhibited Malayan tapir until 2017 and the new Kingdoms of Asia complex under construction doesn’t include them. Baird’s and Lowland tapirs aren’t zoo superstars, but they’re still large, interesting mammals, and mixing either species with the zoo’s capybaras and some crested screamers could be a dynamic addition. Fresno Zoo is a long-term contributor to the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative, and reflecting that in some capacity would be nice too!
So, what are a few species/exhibit additions you think would be practical for your zoo to pursue? I say practical so that we don’t veer into fantasy territory, aka “the NIMBYs disappeared overnight so obviously my local zoo should add 10 acres and elephants to attract guests”.
My home zoo is Fresno Chaffee Zoo, a medium-sized zoo in California that's pretty far-removed from the Bay Area and SoCal zoo clusters (San Francisco, Oakland, Living Desert, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc.). Upcoming and fully funded plans include returning sloth bears and a 150,000 gallon hippo exhibit, so no point in advocating for what's already in the pipeline.
African Wild Dogs
Wild dogs are a slightly selfish pick, as they’re my favorite canid, but they’ve been mentioned in prior master plans and I think they’re a good fit. Fresno Zoo’s recent 13 acre expansion is centered wholly on Africa and the zoo currently houses lions, cheetah, and serval, so squeezing in a non-feline predator would be a solid choice. The zoo has had prior success breeding highly endangered canines, red wolves, so successfully breeding wild dogs would be another feather in their cap.
Western Lowland Gorillas
The zoo hasn’t held gorillas since the early 90’s, but bringing them back to the zoo has been discussed in the past. They’re huge crowd pleasers and could act as an anchor for other African forest fauna (bongo, red river hog, the zoo’s current colobuses). Sacramento Zoo, the nearest sizable zoo, is solely focused on its chimpanzees in its most recent master plan, so Fresno choosing to exhibit its current Sumatran orangutans and a troop of new gorillas would let both locations shine.
Penguins (African, Humboldt, or Magellanic)
I’ve noticed some zoo nerds are sick to death of penguins, along with the dreaded meerkat, but let’s face it: the public loves them (me included). AZA facilities in CA’s interior are devoid of penguins, and many families make the pilgrimage to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco due to their well-marketed African penguins. While adding another SAFE species like African penguins is appealing, a South American species would bolster the zoo's more limited selection of South American taxa.
Tapirs (Baird’s or Lowland)
I’ll make the same case for tapir as I do for Humboldt penguins - the zoo could use more South American taxa. They previously exhibited Malayan tapir until 2017 and the new Kingdoms of Asia complex under construction doesn’t include them. Baird’s and Lowland tapirs aren’t zoo superstars, but they’re still large, interesting mammals, and mixing either species with the zoo’s capybaras and some crested screamers could be a dynamic addition. Fresno Zoo is a long-term contributor to the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative, and reflecting that in some capacity would be nice too!
, but I'll try to give my thoughts. 
