Looking back on the photos of the snow and clouded leopard enclosures as well as the mangabey and Allen's swamp monkey enclosures, there seems to be a regimented starkness to the exhibits, do these species have access to outdoor enclosures?
My scathing review from my summer road trip in 2010 when I visited and reviewed 39 zoos/aquariums in 46 days:
Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building – This has to be seen to be believed, as it is yet another brutal, archaic, outdated, nasty cement bunker with an awesome collection contained within its carpeted floors and drab walls. If you want to see a clouded leopard in a cell that is about 12 feet long and about 10 feet across with a few branches for climbing then come on down to Cleveland! A Pallas’ cat has a similar hellhole that is about 9 feet across by about 7 feet deep. Just brutal, and my wife was embarrassed as I told two different workers that the entire building should either be turned into a reptile house, an aquarium or be completely bulldozed. Both workers agreed with me! Why not put up a sign that reads: “We are sorry for the state of these exhibits, but we are raising funds for their improvement”….OR…”Please pick up a hammer and help with the demolition job”.
The species list: lowland gorilla, Hamadryas baboon, siamang, golden-bellied mangabey, Allen’s swamp monkey, black howler monkey, white-faced saki, squirrel monkey, brown-headed spider monkey, Wolf’s guenons, Geoffrey’s tamarin, golden lion tamarin, reed titi, potto, Moholi bushbaby, pygmy slow loris, red ruffed lemur, mongoose lemur, fossa, two-toed sloth, black & rufous elephant shrew, northern tree shrew, red panda, hairy armadillo, La Plata three-banded armadillo, snow leopard, clouded leopard, Pallas’ cat and black-footed cat. There is also an aquarium section with piranhas, pacu, Australian lungfish and a variety of other sea creatures.
Outdoors there are nice yards for cheetahs and aldabra tortoises, a small gorilla enclosure for the zoo’s two males, but 95% of all of the mammals in the 1970’s building have zero outdoor access. A docent explained to me that the zoo has made some improvements to the area in the past couple of years by getting rid of some baboons, chimpanzees, a few lemur species, etc, in an effort to drill new pathways in the walls so that the remaining animals could double their living space. That means fewer species but in larger cement bunkers, as all of the concrete boxes lacked enough enrichment to keep the animals from getting bored and lethargic. I have no problem with some of the enclosures, as for tree shrews, pottos and slow lorises an indoor space that is heavily furnished is fine. In the year 2010 it is quite difficult to justify keeping cats and intelligent primates in tiny fish tanks.
It is an impressive collection, but surely with a little imagination the enclosures could at least be spruced up, natural substrate on the floors and some more vegetation and some more furniture would at least the enclosures a little more habitable.
I hate to read that the public areas are carpeted in stark contrast to the animals bare concreted areas.
