Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum News

I saw no bears anywhere in the park.
And I did enjoy the hummingbird aviary a lot as well. I was also the only person in it at the time so the birds came quite close.
 
The last time I was there (Dec. 2009) a new black bear had just gone on exhibit within the previous week or so. When I asked about the bears that were previously in that exhibit, a docent told me that they were still at the ASDM but not on exhibit due to their age. Ituri, do you have reason to believe that the bear that was added last year is now gone?
 
Nope, just haven't heard anything since the post above where Arizona Docent shared the plans for putting one back on exhibit
 
I haven't been there since summer, but there was a bear then and I am pretty sure it is still there. Like most (if not all) black bears in accredited zoos, it is a rescue bear that was causing problems with people and would have been killed if not placed in captivity.
 
I was there a couple weeks ago and there is definitely one black bear on exhibit. Kind of cinamon brown color - a bit lighter than the two they put into retirement.

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet or not, but the area in the center of the museum that used to have the roundhouse raptor cages has been leveled and replaced with a small herb garden or something like that (something boring like that is what I really want to say). Too bad they do not have the money to put another animal exhibit there.

I just found out that the booklet series "Images Of America" now has one on the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. I need to order one ASAP.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Arizona-Sonora-Desert-Museum-Images-America/dp/0738586714/ref=lh_ni_t]Amazon.com: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Images of America Series) (9780738586717): Peggy Pickering Larson, William Ascarza: Books[/ame]
 
@AD: Thanks for the link to the book. I've got 9 books in the "Images of America" series and so I'll have to order the one about ASDM to make it an even 10!
 
Marine Aquatic Gallery

The ASDM is moving forward on building $500,000 marine aquatic gallery at the museum representing the Sea of Cortes. It will be located in the same building as the gift shop incorporating the current fish and amphibian gallery. The amphibians will be relocated to the reptile/arthropod gallery. Plans are still in formation but include a touch-tank, seahorses, garden eels, and stingrays.

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) – Plans for a downtown aquarium dried up about ten years ago. But Tuesday the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum got a green light to build a half-million dollar gallery supported by private donors. Since the museum is on county land, it needed supervisors' approval, which it received.
"We've been talking about this project for over two years so today is kind of the real beginning for us," said Stephane Poulin, curator for Herpetology, Ichthyology, and Invertebrate Zoology at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Poulin said that the Gulf of California Gallery should open about a year from now around the museum's 60th anniversary.
"We rather consider it a gallery. A gallery is a section. An aquarium as a whole covers several galleries, several wings," Poulin said.
Plenty of details are still being worked out. But the gallery should have about 15 tanks with freshwater exhibits in the first few to show some of the fish of the Colorado River and other rivers in Arizona. The remaining tanks will likely hold saltwater for garden eels and sea horses. A touch-tank could hold rays.
"The touch-tank is something that is always very popular. People like to get their hands wet and touch these weird creatures that live in the ocean," Poulin said.
Those creatures live in water but are part of our desert.
"The museum's trying to give the complete story of the Sonoran Desert. So, if you're not adding the water to it, the marine part of the Gulf of California, you're missing a big part of the story," said Poulin.
What the museum will ultimately have depends on what it can get and when. Poulin said that the museum will be careful to use certified suppliers. While the number of visitors has declined during the slow economy, the museum aims for the gallery to give visitors a new reason to return.
Click to expand...
Museum moves forward with aquarium gallery

More info here:
Desert Museum aquarium project seen as tourism, economic boost

RAW VIDEO: New aquarium coming to Desert Museum | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona
 
First I have heard of this (although I have heard rumors of them wanting to do some kind of sea feature for years - ever since the separate Tucson Aquarium plan fell through). Will be a nice touch, but nothing major. Sixteen relatively small fish tanks is nothing and the room they are going in is not very big.

Meanwhile, other parts of the Museum that need attention languish. They tore down the raptor aviaries and replaced them with an herb garden. Does anyone know how to spell B-O-R-I-N-G? The exhibition hall next to Life On The Rocks has been empty and "under construction" for over a dozen years and counting. The "temporary" road leading to it (which cuts the originally planned coyote exhibit in half) is still there with orange construction fencing for the same dozen plus years. Small Cat Canyon has been reduced from four feline species to two. One of the two prairie dog enclosures now has metal sculptures and the other one went from an open natural habitat to a glass and mesh top exhibit.

The reason they do not have a lot of local visitors and over-rely on tourists is because there is no public transportation. Start a shuttle van service from downtown and watch the visitor numbers skyrocket.
 
Arizona Docent said:
The reason they do not have a lot of local visitors and over-rely on tourists is because there is no public transportation. Start a shuttle van service from downtown and watch the visitor numbers skyrocket.
Click to expand...

You should be doing marketing consulting for them.

My last visit was in 2004. Is there still any movement in building a new jaguar exhibit or has this been mostly derailed by the economy? From your description it doesn't sound like many capital projects are getting done, except for this new marine development. From your description of the raptor situation it looks like their animal collection is actually getting undone.
 
The alleged jaguar exhibit is a complete joke. I moved to Tucson in 1993 (the year after they tore down their really bad former jaguar cage). For the entire time I have lived here I have been hearing rumors about them wanting to build a jaguar exhibit. Nothing has ever been done. About three years ago, their annual member magazine was devoted exclusively to borderland jaguars, with lots of photos from camera traps. The magazine stated they planned to build a jaguar exhibit in the future. Nothing has ever come of it and frankly I doubt anything ever will. I mean if it took ten years to build Life On The Rocks (for snakes and small mammals) and over 12 years and they still have not filled an empty exhibition hall that is not even going to have live animals, then I doubt a major construction job like a jaguar exhibit is in the works. I will believe it when I see it, but honestly I doubt I will in my lifetime.
 
Did you know there have been rumors of an aquarium at the desert museum since the 1960s? I'm sure Jaguars are still part of the plan, just have to be patient.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I get the feeling that ASDM really is deserving of better management?
Click to expand...

A longtime curator (I think that was his role) at the Museum just took over as director. So maybe he will make things start happening? Maybe the mini aquarium is a sign he is already making things happen?
 
You guys talk like raising money for new exhibits is easy, especially for a facility that has no public financial support, no "superstar" animals, and is away from town.
 
We are not unfairly criticising, just observing historically embedded info on a lack of development. I would say the lack of public transport adds to the problems of an otherwise wonderful institution in this part of the US.

It is good a local man from within the ranks has just taken over .... though! I really do hope with his local knowledge he can swing alot around in ASDM's favour.
 
reduakari said:
Great timeline, but a few of the most significant exhibits at ASDM were not mentioned:

The Cave (late 70s)--still the most realistic cave experience ever created in any zoo or museum. Signalled the beginning of the Larson Company, the for-profit rockwork venture founded by the former director of ASDM, that went on to do zoo work around the world.

Walk-through Aviary (early 80s?)

Hummingbird Aviary (late 80s?)

Desert Trail (groundbreaking, AZA Award-winning sequence featuring javelinas, coyotes, lizards in a brilliant immersion exhibit)--1996?

Coati exhibit (expansion of Riparian zone)--1998?


Brilliant place--one of my very favorites
Click to expand...

The Hummingbird Aviary opened in 1988 and was renovated in 1992.
The Walk-In Aviary was built in 1959! and expanded in 1979.
The Desert Loop Trail opened in 1995.

Haven't yet found exact dates for the Earth Science Center (cave) or the coati exhibit in the Riparian Corridor.
 
1977 - Earth Sciences Center (Wet & Dry Caves)
1981 - Earth Sciences Center Phase II
1999 - Coati Exhibit
 
I just got an email link from them to participate in a member survey. One question (for which you could vote on a scale) was do you find the Desert Museum easy to get to? Of course I gave it the lowest ranking possible. If a lot of people respond as I did, I wonder if they will look into some kind of public transport - such as a regular shuttle van from downtown?

But the question that really excites me is one asking you to check off any of the following former animal exhibits that you would like to see back. I checked off all of them. If I remember correctly, they were: jaguar, jaguarundi, pronghorn, raptor roundhouses, vampire bat, badger.

Sadly margay was not on the list (probably due to Felid TAG phase out), but I would be very happy to see jaguarundi return. Of course a new jaguar exhibit we have discussed earlier, but maybe if it gets a strong response from this survey we will see a major effort. I mean look at their nearest similar institution - The Living Desert. As soon as they got a new director who was interested in jaguars, they opened a sonoran jaguar exhibit within a year.
 
According to an email blast I just got, they have a new visitor guide. Bummer - I was there five days ago and did not see it. I may have to make a return trip sometime this week just to pick one up. Here is a copy and paste of what they said:

On your next visit be sure to pick up a copy of our new, complimentary Visitor Guide! It’s colorful, packed with information, and features a new updated grounds map. The Guide is a winner for both first-time and long-time visitors and members!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top