funnystuff2495
Member
I visited the Greensboro Science Center yesterday and have some notes, updates, and..*ahem*..observations, I would like to share. I'm not going to do a species list for this visit, partially because one of their exhibits is about to close (which may result in animals being shuffled around), and partially because of a big issue I noticed on my visit. I will note changes in the species lineup that stuck out, but I'm not going to do a full analysis
So I want to address a major issue with this facility that became really apparent on my recent visit; their signage. Like wow, I thought the Virginia Living Museum was bad in this regard, but that facility's worse "crimes" was just signage missing for some of their coral reef displays and them not removing the signage for birds they no longer have in the aviary. But I was still able to get a very accurate species list out of it.
- The Discovery House was still fully stocked (unlike the herpatarium, which had animals move out prior to the closing date). The only change I noticed was the addition of the Emerald Tree Boa.
- The new ambassador holding facility that replaced the herpatarium is coming along nicely. Pens are up and some are furnished with climbing structures.
- The former Nile Crocodile exhibit was fully boarded up. I assume this is also meeting the bulldozer to make room for the new biodome?
- The center is growing mollusks in the water in the Rhinoceros Iguana/Diamondback Terrapin exhibit. Species include Lettered Olive, Eastern Oyster, Quahog, Florida Crown Conch, Banded Tulip Snail, Blue Mussel, and Ribbed Mussel. They are also joined by Lake Victoria Cichlids and Gulf Killifish.
- The Giant Isopods in the aquarium have been replaced with Four-eyed Fish (the exhibit itself was redone to accommodate them; this is the 2nd time I've seen that tank get overhauled as before the isopods, it held fiddler crabs).
- Masked Lapwings appear to be gone.
- Thanks to beautiful weather, pretty much everything in the zoo was out. I got to see all 3 of their pygmy hippos, all 4 of their red pandas, and even the Fossa, for example.
The GSC has that in spades AND a few signs that are just flat out wrong. The aquarium in particular is really bad in this regard. Their signage was always a bit out of alignment, but it seems to be getting worse each time I visit. Multiple mixed-species, such as the Pacific Jewels, Rainbow Reef, and Living Coral exhibits, have multiple species signed but not present, along with multiple species present and missing from the signage. It seems like many fish were shuffled around between different tanks and added/removed, and the signage was never updated to match.
The Amazon Rising exhibit is particularly bad in this regard, with the signage being very out of sync to what's actually in the tanks. The fish lineup has NOT been updated even though multiple species have been swapped in and out. They still have Red-headed Amazon River Turtle signed despite that species having not been present in years. But hey, at least they removed the signage labeling a Metynnis/Myloplus species as "geophagus heckelii" (yes, they basically confused a piranha for a cichlid) despite the pictured animal still being present, so it now has nothing identifying it like most of its roommates. The only accurate updates that exhibit got was adding the sloth and removing the caiman lizard.
And that, of course, isn't mentioning the fact that all of the aquarium signage use electronic touch screen displays. Which have a tendency to malfunction.
And then I was blessed with this beautiful display.
And that wasn't the only issue I noticed (keyword: noticed). Their black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) are now signed as A. nigerrima, a species that doesn't even exist in NA zoos. They had the correct species name signed before they redid the graphics.
Just...how? How has the GSC allowed it to get this bad? I love this facility and have it ranked in the top 1/3 of the 34 zoos and aquariums I have visited. This was my 6th visit here since 2015. I spend the entire day there when I go and still enjoy my time there, so it pains me to see them repeatedly botch what I consider to be a vital (and somewhat underrated) component of the guest experience and collection presentation. True, you're average visitor isn't going to notice these errors, but as an enthusiast, these things stick out.
I am sorry if this got overly long/ranty and if I seem like I am hijacking the thread, but I had to get this out of my system and I was hesitant to make it it's own thread since this also involved visit updates. I actually got slightly frustrated when I was noting their species lineup. IMO, the problems are pervasive enough that I refuse to do a species list for this facility until they get this sorted out. I unfortunately do not have the time currently to shift through the 500+ photos I took that day trying to ID every fish species I saw.
I just visited yesterday and noticed there was still a masked lapwing (unsigned) inside the Kookaburra enclosure.
"
