The current exhibit is on left and the new one (under construction) is on right. Based on the framework, its size and layout will be identical to the first. This is hugely disappointing to me. The older exhibit was designed for a (black) leopard. After that it held a pair of clouded leopards. It is very tall, good for climbing cats, but with a small floor plan. Since jaguars are not as good at climbing as leopards (yes I know they can climb), the exhibit seems inappropriate for them. Even for leopards the ground size is too small IMO (for clouded leopards it is about perfect). Since the zoo seems to now be committed to housing jaguars here, I cannot fathom why they would build a second inadequate exhibit to match the design of the first one.
This is hugely disappointing news and I agree with "Arizona Docent". The existing Jaguar exhibit is already very poor and in fact this section of the zoo sees visitors walking through lush surroundings and seeing a long list of metal cages. It appears as if one more chunk of ugly metal will be added to the mix.
I am returning to the zoo tomorrow afternoon for their March extended hours (open until 7pm). It will be interesting to see how this turned out (though my expectations are not that high).
