I posted two other photos showing close-up images of the details on this map. The zoo is only in the beginning phase of planning, but from what I've heard there is a hope that at the very least the tiger complex can be completed and open by the summer of 2013.
Three fantastic pieces of unexpected news from the Asian Tropical Forest plans:
1- There will be not 1 but actually 2 tiger exhibits, along with some kind of conservation center.
2- The blueprint lists a small-clawed otter exhibit and a walk-through aviary.
3- Check out the shaded areas that say "existing animal space" and by looking at the proposed final exhibit it seems as if the future habitats for Sumatran tigers, sun bears and sloth bears will be triple if not quadruple the size of the current exhibits. Impressive!
Once this exhibit complex what will be left in this zoo that needs fixing?
From our discussion over elephants at Woodland Park Zoo on another thread it sounds like there is a mounting opposition to the elephant exhibit, but from your description it sounds like management is in denial that they have a problem. Do you see elephants being the next focus after the tiger/bear fixes? From my visit in summer 2010 it looked like the zoo was pretty much up to speed on everything, other than an elephant exhibit that may be too small.
@DavidBrown: I just posted a 27-page document with many juicy details about the upcoming exhibit complex Asian Tropical Forest in the Woodland Park Zoo thread.
ZooChatter "Geomorph" once stated a couple of years ago that Woodland Park was basically a flawless zoo, apart from the trio of 1950's-era grottoes that will soon be history. While it is indeed regarded as a truly great zoo the elephant exhibit is outdated; the hippo pool has no heated water and no underwater viewing; the giraffes are often confined to their tiny yard surrounded by chain-link fencing - although they are amazing to see in the savanna paddock; the Temperate Forest zone is often called "boring" by visitors; and one of the biggest pet peeves of my wife and I is that the Northern Trail area (otherwise outstanding) is essentially a dead end and there are traffic flow problems coming back up the hill. For about a decade now there have been rumors of an Asian Highlands zone that would connect to the Northern Trail to form a continuous loop back towards the main pathway, but that for now is only a dream. I visit the zoo about 6 times a year and so I see the minor flaws that others might not, but for the most part Woodland Park is definitely a strong contender to be one of the 10 best zoos in North America.
From various emails to the zoo I was told that if funding was in place then the zoo would construct the Asian Tropical Forest in one shot and open it all at once as a large-scale addition to the zoo. However, if funding does not become available then the exhibits would open in stages. The tigers are up first, and then I'm estimating that a year or two later one of the Asian bear species would receive an upgraded habitat and then another year down the road the final piece of the puzzle would be complete. Judging from early plans the idea to possibly demolish the 1949 Feline House (now the Adaptations building) has been shelved but new species have been added to the plans such as small-clawed otters and Asian birds.
@snowleopard: Thanks for the very informative response to my question. I can see that the hippo and elephant enclosures are getting outdated. I'm somewhat surprised that the management doesn't seem to be more proactive about its elephant program and working t upgrade the facility. This seems like a major blind spot for a zoo with a much deserved reputation for being forward thinking. Elephant critics are rather nasty and unrelenting and managed to box up the elephant complex down here in LA for several years. Perhaps the zoo management has taken the political temperature of the community and figure they have nothing to worry about. This will be interesting to follow over time.
Why are the giraffes cooped up in the small yard most of the time? Is this where the giraffe feeding takes place? I remember seeing them in the smaller pen and wondering what was going on.
Hippo exhibits are tough to modernize I would think. LA was going to build a bright new shiny one with underwater viewing when they built the new ele complex, but that got nixed when the ele exhibit costs exploded. The LA Zoo's current hippo exhibit is a stop gap. In reading the Oregon Zoo's future plans it looks like they are preparing their visitors for the possibility that they might send away the hippos rather than spend the resources to modernize.
The zoo's giraffes are kept in their small yard in poor weather conditions, and when it rains they are never out on the slippery slopes of the African Savanna. Since Seattle receives around 40 inches of annual rainfall you can imagine how many times I go to the zoo and see the giraffes in their subpar enclosure. The giraffe feeding station only takes place in the summer months and it is across from the giraffe barn and next to the patas monkey exhibit.
Oregon Zoo earlier this year had a survey on their website where people were encouraged to answer a lot of questions about the future of the zoo. One possibility is for the zoo to choose between river hippos or black rhinos as even though the zoo currently has both in adjacent exhibits one of those species will be removed and the other will have a habitat that will double in size and be modern and spacious. My answer on the survey was that if the zoo has the funding for an underwater, spectacular hippo exhibit then that would be my vote, but if not then I would choose black rhinos as hippos are often just grey blobs in water if there is no underwater viewing. With $120 million already locked up in financial support for the future Oregon Zoo has a bright future, including a new and long overdue Asian elephant habitat.
I visited the zoo yesterday for the 8th time this year (4.5 hours roundtrip each time) and the Asian Tropical Forest plans have been updated and posted for the public to glance through. Unfortunately the zoo was extremely busy and I wasn't able to get a photo of the plans due to the immense Halloween crowds.
The recent timeline in Woodland Park Zoo's history:
2006 - Zoomazium ($10 million indoor play area and nature exchange)
2008 - Flamingo Exhibit
2009 - Humboldt Penguin Exhibit
2010 - West Entrance + Meerkat Exhibit
2013 - Asian Tropical Forest (small-clawed otters and main east-west connecting pathway through the new complex)
2014 - Asian Tropical Forest (Sumatran tigers, sun bears, sloth bears, aviary, Village Centre, Cultural Play Area for children, a smaller secondary play area) - both phases are going to cost a combined $21 million
The plans are much more specific in terms of the placement of barriers, and there are tiny arrows all over the map describing the flow of visitors and the placement of the animal habitats. The two play areas (one called a Cultural Play Area) appear to be new, and there is going to be a central village zone where people can congregate. I picture in my mind something like the African Village that serves as an introduction to the current African Savanna, but I have no idea what the final product will look like. I'm sure that the zoo will be tinkering with the details for the next year, before settling on a final design.
