It's fascinating that in an era where many zoos around the world are having thick layers of mulch and natural substrate on the floors of indoor ape exhibits, Indianapolis Zoo has opened a brand-new complex of steel and cement. The stairs and rungs on the wall make it look like a high school gymnasium.
@snowleopard I visited the zoo for the first time in 2010. I thought it was a nice, mostly simple, easy to visit zoo that didn't really have any pressing issues in it's 64 acres beyond the bear habitats and a few unusual reptile terrariums. Since then, 6 out of 9 of their major animal projects have either been huge misses or just bland in my opinion. The zoo has developed backwards by either doing too little (Flights of Fancy, Alligators and Crocodiles) or hurt themselves by trying to be too different (apes). I wish they'd realize there are ways to build unique, quality exhibits without attracting divisive crowds - much like they did in the 90's. At this point, the zoo would improve if they reversed nearly all of their projects in the last 15 years.
@Moebelle I saw this comment about a week before I revisited the zoo and made a mental note to come back to it later. The sentiment is fair, but saying that the zoo would improve if they reversed nearly all of their projects in the last 15 years is a massive over-exaggeration. Let's look at the past 15 years:
Flights of the Fancy - Could be better, certainly a bit bland, but not bad either.
International Orangutan Center - One of the most polarizing zoo exhibits in recent history.
Macaws - A basic accommodation, but one of the better set-ups I've seen with a fun presentation.
Macaques - A creative and well executed renovation of an old polar bear grotto.
Snakes - An extension of the Desert Dome that saw much needed growth in the reptile collection.
Tembo Camp - Nice expansion of the elephant complex with a great interactive feature.
Alligators and Crocodiles - Basic and unshowy, but perfectly fine.
Kangaroo Crossing - Also very simple, but a pleasant area nonetheless
New Entrance - Quite impressive and a massive improvement over the previous one.
International Chimpanzee Complex - Intently mixed feelings...
To say some recent projects have been rather basic and uninspired is totally fair, but they certainly don't make the zoo any worse. Many of these like the crocodilian exhibits and the snake extension were built in undeveloped portions of the park, so it's not like they were replacing superior exhibit areas. The only real missfire was the odd "Misstery Park" sloth exhibit that was ultimately short-lived. That was probably the most pointless zoo exhibit I've ever seen and am glad to see it gone. The ape exhibits are truly bizarre of course, but have moments where they work. Other stuff like the elephant expansion, new entrance and the macaques have been successful upgrades. My general point is I don't see how the addition of any of these exhibits has actively made the zoo worse.
