Calgary Zoo Arctic Shores cancelled / Penguin Plunge goes ahead

This is a massive disappointment for all zoo fans, as the project had been rumored to be in the works for about 5 years now. With a proposed $200 million budget, and even with the dropping out of having beluga whales in the collection, it could have possibly been an even better polar bear/seal complex than the Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life. At least the Calgary Zoo is going to go ahead with an Antarctic penguin exhibit, but I suppose that the dinosaur, prehistoric park section of the zoo will not be bulldozed after all.
 
They'd better at least give the Prehistoric Park a fresh coat of paint
 
Excited About Antarctic Landing!

In my zeal to explore some of the complexities of the issues surrounding Arctic Shores on other threads I fear that I may have overstated some of my objections to exhibiting polar bears at the Calgary Zoo without adequately expressing my support:(.
I could never figure out a good way to say that I would prefer exhibits of smaller animals over polar bears, but at the same time would have been been quite happy with an exceptional polar bear exhibit that improved standards for their husbandry and welfare. I was actually pretty excited at the thought of an extravagant polar bear exhibit that could have attracted world wide attention.
After all, when I was younger I dreamed and envisioned of Arctic Shores exhibits with both polar bears and beluga whales. As I wrote in another thread "Did Tacca chantrieri Help Create Arctic Shores?", I even sent the Zoo detailed exhibition ideas quite a few years ago.

Even though this news isn't quite ideal I am very excited about the Conservatory (which I will discuss soon in another thread) and Antarctic Landing plans :D! Personally, I have been looking forward to penguins coming to the Calgary Zoo more so than polar bears and seals. I am sure that Calgarians will be quite excited too!

There's an interesting video showing the Antarctic Landing plans on this link
Calgary Sun Video

Dr. Clement Lanthier, the president and CEO of the Calgary Zoo, wants to bring exhibits to the Zoo that foster deeper connections to animals. Antarctic Landing looks well suited to meet these objectives with open air visitor walkways with glass floors and sides! I actually look forward to smelling those odoriferous penguins one day :p!
 
Some Antarctic Landing Facts

Antarctic landing will probably cost between 20 and 25 million dollars, so there's plenty of monetary resources to produce an exemplary exhibit.

I imagine that construction on Antarctic Landing will begin in late 2009, at the latest, after the Conservatory is finished. There will probably be a push to finish these penguin exhibits before the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

I will try to post more facts once they become available.
 
It is sad to here that they cancelled most of the project, but still the penquins would be cool to see still!
 
The video link shows the zoo's president (Dr. Clement Lanthier) discussing the upcoming penguin exhibit, as the previous video on this thread only showed some sort of search and rescue operation instead of anything from the Calgary Zoo. The $20-25 million penguin habitat is impressive as it will have the birds swimming beneath the feet of visitors, which I have seen expertly created at the Indianapolis Zoo. Also, having zoo patrons being in the same environment as the stinky birds will be immensely interesting, something that the Indianapolis Zoo does not do but instead the St. Louis Zoo does. It is something that I'd like many more zoos to do, instead of covering up the noise and smell of the birds with glass. However, maintaining an Antarctic environment behind enclosed glass tanks is much easier than with open air enclosures.

Calgary Sun Video Gallery: Penguins coming to town
 
I think this exhibit will look extreamly good when its done!
 
Am I seriously out of step or does anyone else think that $24.5 million is just a bit too much to spend on penguins???
 
Didn't the Melbourne Aquarium recently spend something like $28 million on a penguin exhibit and a few visitor amenities? The money that is tossed around on zoo exhibits becomes more overwhelming each and every year. The Woodland Park Zoo's new Humboldt penguin exhibit is large and extremely impressive, and I thought that $6.5 million was a lot for that one, but it pales in comparison (cost-wise) to several other penguin enclosures recently constructed.
 
Steve Robinson said:
Am I seriously out of step or does anyone else think that $24.5 million is just a bit too much to spend on penguins???
Click to expand...

Seems like too much to me. But I can't believe the article says it is only one fifth of the amount they would have needed for their original plans (for an arctic exhibit of polar bears, etc). Still, the idea of exhibiting four different species of penguins is intriguing. Has this been done anywhere else?
 
snowleopard said:
Didn't the Melbourne Aquarium recently spend something like $28 million on a penguin exhibit and a few visitor amenities?
Click to expand...

They did! Although our dollars are a bit smaller than yours!

It intrigues me that any zoo can justify spending that sort of money on such an exhibit. Particularly when, here in Australia, our regulators are paranoid about the viability of zoos.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Still, the idea of exhibiting four different species of penguins is intriguing. Has this been done anywhere else?
Click to expand...
I believe there have been a number of zoos in UK and Europe that have exhibited/do exhibit four or more penguin species at once - king, gentoo, chinstrap and rockhopper spring to mind, without even considering the Spheniscus spp (Humboldt's, jackass, etc)
 
I don't think that that is a large sum of money to build a state of the art facility, especially since they will be exhibiting 4 species from the Antarctic and those more tropical species. However I think they could be more cost wise and reduce it, we will see what the future will hold.
 
I have high hopes for this penguin exhibit- in no small part because it has been designed by the Portico Group. This is the first time that the Calgary Zoo has hired a landscape architecture/architecture firm with significant experience and a good portfolio in zoological design.

As far as the high costs are concerned they do not surprise me too much. Most of that money will go towards the building structure, visitor walkways with underwater viewings, filtration systems for the water, temperature regulators, mock rock, and extensive air filtration systems that help prevent fungal infections.
 
Does anyone know what species we can expect, and if so, where they are coming from? Also, what are of the zoo will this complex be located?
I would love to see some rock-hoppers or macaroni
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top