I stumbled upon this picture and realized this was located in a now-open and barren spot next to the White Rhino and Wild Dog exhibits. I was there in Jan 2022 thinking to myself "man, they should really use this empty lot for a new exhibit or 2".
It was removed?! It seems like an amazing exhibit with a huge amount of space. Unless it collapsed I don't see a single reason to remove this glorious enclosure
@Astrotom3000 Someone else (@SwampDonkey?) will know more but iirc the mesh and beams supporting the aviary all needed replacing and the zoo did not have the means to do so. I was lucky enough to see this aviary for myself in 2013 and it's weird to think of this space as a green lawn now. The new Shoebill aviary was the zoo's attempt at replacing this I think. The green space left behind I think has been rumored to be slated for a few projects over the years, including Lions.
@Mr Gharial Yep, looks like it was drained and removed in 2017 based on what I've seen on Google Earth's historical imagery. They then filled it in and and left the site undeveloped. Here is a picture I just uploaded (could not get the same angle as this picture since that is where the Wild Dog viewing shelter is now, but it's as close as I got).
@Astrotom3000@Mr Gharial , yes, it was removed due to poor construction. I am given to understand that the whole mesh and support were going to have to be replaced, and at the time the zoo did not have the finances to pursue that, having recently opened Safari Africa as it was.
The sky ride was also removed around the same time, but I don't know exactly why, probably similar issues or cost to maintain. Interestingly, when the skyride was built no one thought about the main aviary being in the way, they started it up and the gondola chairs hit the mesh. They ended up having to lower that part of the main aviary mesh, which is why (if you look at it now) the north west top part of the aviary has what looks like a large section dented in rather than being a uniform mesh dome.
It is a sore spot for the zoo, it really completed that entire area. That is the vicinity of the camel ride as well, which was beside the wetlands aviary.
It has been rumored for a number of projects. I believe they had been planning lions as the main target - but I have not seen any plans recently. I believe the red river hogs are also gone now, so who knows what they are going to do in Africa. Long term plans for that section of the zoo have lions and gorillas. I would not be surprised to see warthogs come back. The single Okapi is quite aged, so whether that remains as an okapi enclosure will be interesting.
