The reason why they both have bad sea lion exhibits is because they both are very small zoos (this zoo is under 5 acres) and the do not have the space or money to build new exhibits. Plus The Peoria Zoo built Africa! and a new takin exhibit last year and they spent all their money on those exhibits.
It's the second oldest exhibit at the zoo, and its completely outdated. It's the smallest sea lion pool I have ever seen, and one of the worst exhibits at the zoo. I know the pool is 6 ft. deep, and the sea lion has an off exhibit salt water pool. They use to have two sea lions, but one of them passed away. A worker at the zoo said they weren't interested in getting another sea lion at this time, so hopefully that means they are phasing this exhibit out.
Thanks for the information TropicWorld54 and wilson.
In discussions on other U.S. zoos here people have noticed that there are several zoos either building new pinniped exhibits (St. Louis, Fresno, LA, Smithsonian National, Salt Lake City, etc.) or closing old exhibits after the inhabitants pass and not replacing them (as it looks like Peoria and Miller Park are doing).
It seems like sea lions and bears are species that have been stuck in outdated enclosures perhaps more than most other species, so it seems like a good trend from an animal welfare perspective. I'm sure that people will miss this species though when it is gone.
Miller Park Zoo was inspected in June and after a year-long probationary situation it is now once again fully AZA-accredited for 4 more years. Among many issues was this California sea lion pool, but now that the remaining animal has been sent away things have apparently improved. A new shade structure was extended over part of the enclosure and two harbor seals have been added to what is still not a very large exhibit.
