John Ball Zoo John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids, MI)

Does anybody know what happened to this zoo's plan to build an Asian elephant exhibit? Did it die due to the expense of building a modern elephant exhibit?
 
What happened was a local neighborhood group started petitioning the city so we couldn't go into the park. THEN after that happened Fred Meijer offered us a around one hundred acres next to Fredrick Meijer gardens and that he would fund building new exhibits(think Georgia Aquarium style) but when they did all the voting they got shot down.
 
New Baby Camel

The zoo now has a baby Dromedary Camel! The camel is a boy named Henry. This made me think that the zoo never has baby animals! I just remember the Black Footed Cat kittens!
 
John Ball Zoo School, a sixth grade only elementary school on zoo grounds, has been voted one of the most innovative schools in America.
 
John Ball Zoo has announced that it has received a new male otter and a new male snow leopard. They are already in the process of introducing the new male otter to our female.
 
Shirokuma said:
New bear exhibit at John Ball Zoo | WOOD TV8

Another news story featuring the bear enclosure. I'm not that keen on it myself.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, and I toured John Ball Zoo last summer. The bear exhibit was very poor and the video on the link that you provided just goes to show how little one million dollars buys these days. The exhibit is slightly more naturalistic but it is still a major disappointment in my opinion.
 
I don't think it's necessarily a case of what a million dollars gets you as much as what you do with it. I'm not familiar with the site so I don't know what else might have been possible but I see a whole lot of mock rock which doesn't strike me as being the best use of money.
 
Shirokuma said:
I don't think it's necessarily a case of what a million dollars gets you as much as what you do with it. I'm not familiar with the site so I don't know what else might have been possible but I see a whole lot of mock rock which doesn't strike me as being the best use of money.
Click to expand...

I think the "mock rock" was already there. The money was largely spent on filling an existing moat, adding a front mesh and glass barrier. These days, that IS about all that a million dollars will buy you.....
 
snowleopard said:
I agree with you, and I toured John Ball Zoo last summer. The bear exhibit was very poor and the video on the link that you provided just goes to show how little one million dollars buys these days. The exhibit is slightly more naturalistic but it is still a major disappointment in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I cant imagine what erie zoos new polar bear exhibit will be like then. only million dollar renovation there as well. roll eyes
 
snowleopard said:
I agree with you, and I toured John Ball Zoo last summer. The bear exhibit was very poor and the video on the link that you provided just goes to show how little one million dollars buys these days. The exhibit is slightly more naturalistic but it is still a major disappointment in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Personally, I think that the bear exhibit is superb! Natural grass, waterfall, and an interactive wall. It isn't Minnesota Zoo, but for the small amount of space I think they did a good job.
 
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