Welcome to the channel's 100th Episode! To help celebrate this cooperative milestone, I had you all vote for what the episode should be - so we headed for our first look at Zoo Atlanta's NEW and IMPROVED African Savanna. Though referred to as a new attraction, it opened in 1989 as the Masai Mara, a "for its time" innovate landscape that closely resembled geological features of East Africa. But as natural looking as it was, the Elephants were missing out on a proper home. In 2019, with $50 million, the zoo gutted and reworked just about the entire area to give their loveable giants a state of the art facility.... and we're here to see how they did. Enjoy!
The giraffes, ostrich and zebra SERIOUSLY got the shaft. The elephant exhibit looks great in some angles, downright brilliant even, but then there are some clunky sightlines and those "utilitrees" are absolutely ugly. The lion exhibit needs an upgrade visually as does the rhino habitat (the space is MUCH better suited for black rhinos than it is for white rhinos). I legit think this zone was much more unique as a Masai Mara zone than yet another cookie-cutter "African Savanna".
