Is there any other nation on earth that has more mega-budget zoos than the U.S.A.? The staggering amount of money being spent on animal exhibits in American zoos has led to a discussion in relation to the generally thrifty, privately-owned and cash-strapped British zoos on a photo thread. Here in Canada there is not a lot of money available for funding of local zoos (except for perhaps Toronto and maybe Calgary), and the same applies in countless countries around the world. However, in the United States there are many zoos that have either private sponsors, neighbouring philanthropists, bonding accountability, taxpayer input and a wealth of financial resources to create world-class exhibits.
There are tens of millions of dollars spent on zoos in America, and it has become normal for major zoos to spend $40-60 million on a new exhibit complex. That sort of cash is simply unheard of in most nations, and so why is it that American zoos have public backing in the form of taxing the public? How can other zoos across the rest of the world even begin to compete with the mega-complexes that represent the zoological industry of the United States? That statement is not meant to suggest that the U.S.A. has the best zoos in the world, but one can definitely design and create fantastic animal exhibits for tens of millions of dollars. How do other nations get away with operating zoos for a tenth of the price? Are American zoos squandering vast sums of money? Many questions to debate...
I copied and pasted this excerpt (by myself) from a discussion on a photo from the financially-strapped Welsh Mountain Zoo:
No wonder there is a general consensus (by most British ZooChatters) that Chester Zoo is the #1 zoo in all of the United Kingdom. It comes down to money for world-class exhibitry, and I've been following the various threads on "Heart of Africa" with some interest because Chester comes across as a big-budget, mega-complex zoo in comparison to many of the "duct tape and super glue" collections that dot the British zoological landscape. (even "zoogiraffe" agreed with me on that one)
This is only a partial list of the probably 100 or more projects that have cost in the tens of millions of dollars in American zoos:
In the United States recently there has been an incredible amount of expenditure: $45 million spent on Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo (somewhat infamously); $45 million spent just on elephants at the National Zoo (opens in 2011); the Houston Zoo is spending around $50 million on an African complex; the Los Angeles Zoo has spent probably $200 million in the past decade on a variety of exhibits; Miami Metrozoo just opened Amazon & Beyond last December and that cost $50 million; Russia's Grizzly Coast at the Minnesota Zoo cost about $30 million; Denver is spending $50 million on Asian Tropics; the Oregon Zoo has a $125 million bond for elephants, polar bears and chimpanzees; Fort Worth Zoo spent $60 million on Texas Wild!; the Woodland Park Zoo just spent $24 million on penguins, an indoor playground called Zoomazium and a new entry; the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest is rumored to have cost close to $50 million in 1999 dollars, and of course Disney's Animal Kingdom cost in excess of 1 billion to construct.
There are tens of millions of dollars spent on zoos in America, and it has become normal for major zoos to spend $40-60 million on a new exhibit complex. That sort of cash is simply unheard of in most nations, and so why is it that American zoos have public backing in the form of taxing the public? How can other zoos across the rest of the world even begin to compete with the mega-complexes that represent the zoological industry of the United States? That statement is not meant to suggest that the U.S.A. has the best zoos in the world, but one can definitely design and create fantastic animal exhibits for tens of millions of dollars. How do other nations get away with operating zoos for a tenth of the price? Are American zoos squandering vast sums of money? Many questions to debate...
I copied and pasted this excerpt (by myself) from a discussion on a photo from the financially-strapped Welsh Mountain Zoo:
No wonder there is a general consensus (by most British ZooChatters) that Chester Zoo is the #1 zoo in all of the United Kingdom. It comes down to money for world-class exhibitry, and I've been following the various threads on "Heart of Africa" with some interest because Chester comes across as a big-budget, mega-complex zoo in comparison to many of the "duct tape and super glue" collections that dot the British zoological landscape. (even "zoogiraffe" agreed with me on that one)
This is only a partial list of the probably 100 or more projects that have cost in the tens of millions of dollars in American zoos:
In the United States recently there has been an incredible amount of expenditure: $45 million spent on Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo (somewhat infamously); $45 million spent just on elephants at the National Zoo (opens in 2011); the Houston Zoo is spending around $50 million on an African complex; the Los Angeles Zoo has spent probably $200 million in the past decade on a variety of exhibits; Miami Metrozoo just opened Amazon & Beyond last December and that cost $50 million; Russia's Grizzly Coast at the Minnesota Zoo cost about $30 million; Denver is spending $50 million on Asian Tropics; the Oregon Zoo has a $125 million bond for elephants, polar bears and chimpanzees; Fort Worth Zoo spent $60 million on Texas Wild!; the Woodland Park Zoo just spent $24 million on penguins, an indoor playground called Zoomazium and a new entry; the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest is rumored to have cost close to $50 million in 1999 dollars, and of course Disney's Animal Kingdom cost in excess of 1 billion to construct.
