This is sorely needed. I just visited the zoo for the first time and it is just bad. The exhibits range from mediocre at best to appalling at worst. There is not a single enclosure which I would call great (except perhaps the north American river otter in Rainforests). In addition, there is very little rhyme or reason to the placement of animals; they seem to be strewn about at random.
@The_UltimateBea To be fair, there is the LAIR, Elephants of Asia, Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, and Sea Life Cliffs. Campo Gorilla Reserve, ROTA, the Orangutan Exhibit I find mediocre, and the rest of the exhibits vary from decent (Jaguars and particularly Okapi) to mediocre (Mountain Tapirs, Hoofstock) to downright terrible. (Giraffes, Lions)
@The_UltimateBea I’m sorry that you came off with such a negative opinion. It is definitely good that they are upgrading the zoo’s outdated enclosures, but I think your assessment is a bit harsh. The roundhouses are not great, but they are functional, as are many of the paddocks and cages around the zoo. Many of the Australian animals have decent habitats, and Wyman named several other areas that do. FWIW, I think San Diego has its fair share of ugly exhibits that could be replaced too (although a lot of them just were with Africa Rocks).
Also a note: ROTA has giant otters, not North American river otters.
@The_UltimateBea The LA Zoo is to great, and certainly not patch on either of the San Diego zoos, but this condemnation is a little harsh! The Reptile House is outstanding, I think, and there are lots of other areas that are very good: the Australian section, the Elephant thing, the Francois Langur cage, to name a few. Frustrating, certainly, and annoying in the its not as good as it could be (yet), but boring?
@sooty mangabey The elephant part was a huge letdown. Its just barren yards and ugly dividers. Australia's OK but nothing I would call great. I will concede that LAIR was top notch if a bit on the small side.
LA Zoo, “just bad?” I beg to differ. LAIR, most of ROTA, the Australia House, and the François langur exhibit are all top notch. Several other enclosures are well above average. Yes, the zoo’s quality takes a plunge from the many roundhouses and other subpar exhibits, but even other well-known zoos have their downfalls...
The way I saw it was, the themed areas were all at least decent but everything else was lacking in quality. But, I really enjoyed my visit to the zoo and would definitely go back.
That's because the themed areas were built more recently (1990's to present). The rest of the zoo's hodgepodge of roundhouses and paddocks were built when the zoo campus opened in 1966. Most of them haven't been upgraded since then, nor has most of the zoo's infrastructure like plumbing and electrical; that is the impetus for the ambitious master plan.
