The peccaries are in the enclosure in the foreground while the ocelot(s) are in the background exhibit (the one with mesh across the front). That enclosure used to house pumas instead of ocelots.
The peccaries are in the enclosure in the foreground while the ocelot(s) are in the background exhibit (the one with mesh across the front). That enclosure used to house pumas instead of ocelots.
@snowleopard: what is your opinion of the ocelot exhibit here? When I saw it there was still a mountain lion in it. To me this is exhibit is completely appalling. It is a barren concrete ledge. I appreciate the "immersion" that is attempted, but the cat exhibit itself seems like something out of a crummy roadside zoo from the 1950s. The whole desert dome is riddled with exhibits like this (hyrax, wallabies, hummingbirds, etc.). To me this makes the whole Desert Dome a very subpar exhibit, but I would like to know your opinion (and anyone else who wants to chime in).
@snowleopard: what is your opinion of the ocelot exhibit here? When I saw it there was still a mountain lion in it. To me this is exhibit is completely appalling. It is a barren concrete ledge. I appreciate the "immersion" that is attempted, but the cat exhibit itself seems like something out of a crummy roadside zoo from the 1950s. The whole desert dome is riddled with exhibits like this (hyrax, wallabies, hummingbirds, etc.). To me this makes the whole Desert Dome a very subpar exhibit, but I would like to know your opinion (and anyone else who wants to chime in).
I have made similar comments in the past, but would agree with the description "appalling" for many of these tiny, minimally-furnished exhibits, here and in the Lied Jungle. In some cases, the barriers are skillfully hidden, so from a technical perspective are interesting and "immersive," but there was by and large little attention paid to animal welfare and enrichment in the past. The newish Director clearly sees this and is making some changes (ocelots replacing pumas; porcupines replacing clouded leopards, raccoons removed from a small alligator pool where many had their tails shortened by their reptilian exhibit-mates!). But it will be many years before the large cats and bears in Omaha are housed in anything close to meeting current standards, and in the meanwhile many other species will continue to be held in tiny boxes with lots of fancy "naturalistic" window dressing surrounding them.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo creates quite a conflict between zoo goers, perhaps more so than any other zoo in North America. ZooChatter Tim Brown recently announced that Omaha is one of the top 5 zoos on the planet, and he has been to 500 of them! I personally think that Omaha is the 3rd best zoo that I've ever seen (after San Diego and Bronx) but there are definitely flaws galore throughout the park. I've said it before, but the zoo aims high and goes all-out when creating exhibits and therefore the end result can be both spectacular and mundane.
- Cat Complex is the largest cat center on the continent, but most of the exhibits are terrible and the concrete 1970's architecture is readily apparent to all visitors.
- Bear Canyon is just over 20 years old but it looks like it was built in the 1960's.
- Lied Jungle is amazing for visitors, but the Malayan tapir exhibit is brutally small and there are a few other spatial issues as well. I'd still agree with most people in that this is America's best rainforest complex as overall the quality is still high.
- Desert Dome: On my solitary visit in 2008 I was blown away, but in hindsight and via many messages from fellow ZooChatters I found out that the hyrax were confined to tiny ledges, the bird aviaries were puny and offered little off-exhibit accommodations, the cat enclosures were way too small (puma - now ocelot included) and it is the weakest of the "Mega 3" areas.
- Kingdoms of the Night is mainly outstanding and the largest nocturnal house on the planet.
- Scott Aquarium is also top-notch and I'm surprised that it will already be receiving an overhaul in the next two years as it is less than 20 years old
- Butterfly & Insect Pavilion is excellent
- Orangutan exhibit is one of the top 5 in America for those hard-to-showcase apes
- Gorilla exhibit is hit-and-miss
- Bird Aviary is second largest on the planet but in need of an update
- Hooftstock exhibits are all average, although seeing penguins in with giraffes was a shock to me on my visit
Overall, the future is mightily impressive with vast millions of dollars at the disposal of the zoo. A large-scale African Savanna, complete with huge elephant habitat, is just one of numerous projects outlined in the 2010 Master Plan and if I'm not mistaken the zoo is looking at $170 million in alterations. The worst areas (Cat Complex, Bear Canyon) are due to be demolished/renovated, and everything up to and including an Arctic complex has been discussed at some point in the past decade. Perhaps no other zoo has such a rosy future, and even the zoo's detractors admit that there is a spectacular collection hidden amongst the massive exhibits. There isn't even a reptile/amphibian house and yet I've been told that Omaha is one of the top 5 zoos on the continent for those animals. What major animals doesn't the zoo have besides elephants? It seems as if everything that is built attempts to be the biggest and best of its kind and 2 million visitors pour through the gates even though Omaha, Nebraska, is most definitely not a tourist hot-spot.
Is there a harder zoo in the US to judge than Omaha. I love it, I go several times a year. It has some great aspects, mainly the three exhibits at the front. The collection is pretty outstanding. The Cat Complex and Bear Canyon asre obviously disappointing, no one denies that. It is hard to find a problem with Kingdoms of the Night, but it is so dark, you cannot hardly see anything.
And then there is the Lied Jungle and Desert Dome. These are among the most impressive exhibits I've ever seen. While I think the Desert Dome is much better than the Jungle, both are great. The Jungle has poor exhibits for both pygmy hippos and Malayan tapirs. The Debrazza's monkey exhibit is pretty small, as is the clouded leopard (now Indian porcupine!) exhibit is also too small. The collection in there includes some interesting primates, as well a a decent collection of birds. The Desert has some breathtaking exhibits (hyraxes, peccaries, rock wallabies), but also some poor exhibits, (cats, hyraxes, rock wallabies). One of the best parts of the Desert is the outstanding reptile exhibits. They have two very realistic caves with tons of beautiful terrariums for a vast array of reptiles. The only better reptile house I've seen was at St. Louis. Plus, they have many more interesting or uncommon species than in the Jungle. The free-roaming birds, peccaries, and meerkats all have great exhibits. So overall, I'd give it a positive rating, but would hope that they would continue to improve the less than desirable exhibits.
Omaha is a great zoo. The only zoo I've been to that is in the same class is Saint Louis, which is roughly as good. I don't think you can say you've been to the great zoos of the world without having been to Omaha.
@ KCZooFan- that 2-phase savanna exhibit looks absolutely fantastic... I really hope they execute it perfectly, because I would love to visit that part of the zoo once it opened. Thanks for putting that link up.
Like others have said, this is a hard zoo to judge. From a visitor perspective, I haven't enjoyed any exhibit more than Lied Jungle, plus Kingdoms of the Night and Desert Dome are among the most entertaining exhibits I've seen. The aquarium is great for a zoo, the collection is really good, and there are some other solid to good exhibits.
However, the 2 of the 3 primary indoor complexes do have some severe space issues for the animals. Plus the animals never get to go outdoors. This makes it hard for me to rate them, but I still place them as my 2nd favorite zoo in the country after SD and ahead of the Bronx.
Of course the Bronx has the outdoor issue as well and they do have some serious space issues in JungleWorld and Madagascar that aren't talked about as much.
As far as the criticism of the cat complex, as I have said many times, I think it is rather unfair to rip them for their indoor holding areas because you can see them while giving other zoos a pass because you don't see them. The outdoor exhibits are mediocre at best for the most part and they're free to critique imo, but if you're going to rip the indoor complex, do so for other zoos that often keep cats inside off-exhibit.
