September 1, 2020. Empty for a couple years now, though the covering on the window is new. This was most recently porcupine and before that raccoon and before that margay.
After today's visit I feel for them. It was the lightest crowd I have ever seen - I was the first one in at 7:30am opening and even when I left at 10am there were no more than twenty cars in the lot. The gift shop person said it has been light since they reopened (which was a month and a half ago I think). (I bought a couple things at the gift shop just to help them out). She also said they cancelled the summer Saturday nights ahead of schedule due to lack of attendance. Historically this is their busiest time and it is often not possible to even find a parking place. They get no tax dollars so it must be a real struggle.
This is in sharp contrast to my visit yesterday to the newly reopened Reid Park Zoo. Attendance was strong (as strong as it can be with the limited ticket sales). The visitors were genuinely excited, helped of course by the presence of a baby elephant. There was new construction with promises of more to come. The fact they now receive a sales tax makes all this possible. After visiting both local zoos on consecutive days I really got the impression that Reid Park Zoo is on the rise and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is in decline. Let us hope this is just a temporary setback.
There is finally work being done on this exhibit, but I do not know what the new inhabitant will be (or when it will go on display). See my progress photo here: exhibit renovation - ZooChat
