Thanks for all your photos. I'm quite surprised that there wasn't a long list of changes to this area, as it has been closed for a while. Many of the original enclosures were hardly changed at all, but it's nice to see the new stuff and the signage is colourful.
@snowleopard I am currently writing a comprehensive review in the ZT 2022 thread. But yes, it is odd that they did not list exactly what they were doing, and the actual apathy of the renovations are saddening.
@SwampDonkey I'm looking forward to your comments! For me, Miami is far and away the #1 zoo in Florida, with Jacksonville clearly #2 in my opinion, and these new changes to Tampa aren't anything to threaten the position of those top two zoos. (I'm not a huge fan of DAK, but that would be another contender for some zoo nerds)
However, I know that @pachyderm pro wouldn't agree as he included Tampa in his 'must-see American zoo thread' and he omitted Jacksonville entirely!
@snowleopard Yeah, it has been too long for me to really judge Jax or Miami. The last time I was in Jax was 2004 and the last time I was in Miami zoo was....1995. So, a while!
I do want to clarify, while Jacksonville could be argued to be the objectively better zoo, Tampa has a much more diverse collection of rarities and a more distinct style. Jacksonville seems rather typical without much that's particularly distinctive or noteworthy, which is why I didn't include it. Tampa is a much more unique experience thanks to the shoebills, behind the scenes tram ride, and the incredibly diverse collection of native wildlife, although it would probably rank near the bottom of my must-see list.
With that said, this new panther and bear complex is a huge blunder and is a definite step backwards for the zoo. I genuinely don't know what they were thinking when designing these exhibits, as the panther habitats are honestly terrible and the bear exhibit looks worse then it did pre-renovation. There was an opportunity to do something really cool here, but wow they really screwed up on this one.
@pachyderm pro perfectly said! You really hit the nail on the head with this:
With that said, this new panther and bear complex is a huge blunder and is a definite step backwards for the zoo. I genuinely don't know what they were thinking when designing these exhibits, as the panther habitats are honestly terrible and the bear exhibit looks worse then it did pre-renovation. There was an opportunity to do something really cool here, but wow they really screwed up on this one.
