Toledo Zoo Changes I would make to the Toledo Zoo 2025

[Toledo Zoo Guide]

This is a list of changes I would make to the Toledo Zoo, a few of these are from the Zoos existing masterplan and a few, well most are just things I want to happen. You can agree with the changes I would make or you can disagree, but any changes you would make I am always interested to hear.

New Tiger Attraction

This is part of the zoo’s current masterplan and it will be located where the zoos panda sculptures are currently located.
This will be a new home for the zoos Amur Tigers and Snow Leopards. In my version of the plan I would add outdoor exhibits for Clouded Leopards and Ocelots.
As for the indoor portion of the attraction I would set it up in a similar way to the Cincinnati Zoo’s Night hunters, but in contrast I would make the exhibits larger and there would be fewer.

Arctic Encounter expansion

This is a change I would make to the zoo by expanding the Polar Bear exhibit to give the bears more space.
The zoo currently has a lot event spaces and I would turn the current Malawi event center into a second Polar bear habitat. The current one would represent the bears winter environment and the second one would show the bear’s summer habitat, similar to the Detroit Zoo’s Arctic Ring of Life.
The new entrance to Africa would be at the end of this exhibit and the current entrance would be walled off to better close off the Arctic Encounter.

Kodiak Ridge takes over Tiger Terrace

This is another original change of mine making the rest of Tiger Terrace become part of the newer Kodiak ridge. The current tasmanian devil exhibits look cheap and out of place in Tiger Terrace, and while they do serve their purpose I would rather have them in an off exhibit area of the zoo.
I would expand the current bear fencing to add more space for the Kodiak and Grizzly bears. I would add more rock work to make it feel more in line with the other exhibits. I would also add another pool because while the current one is nice I would want a bigger one for the bears.
The exhibit that now contains Patagonian Mara’s I would replace with prairie dogs and reopen the underground tunnel that goes under the exhibit and change the former penguin underwater viewing into a prairie dog den. And after exiting the tunnel you would come out to see the new bear expansion.
I would also make the larger tiger exhibit into a second bear exhibit again giving the bears more space. The smaller cougar exhibit would be given to bobcats as it is too small for big cats and the Dingo exhibit I would give to the cougars. The cougars would also get the snow leopard exhibit as they would already be moving to the new carnivore exhibit across the zoo. The change I would make to the snow leopard exhibit would be combine and expand it to give the cougars more room.

Reptile House Renovation

Now this one is a mashup of what I would zoo and what the zoo is already doing. The indoor renovations taking place as of now I would keep the same as planned. The changes I would make outside is where I differ slightly from the plan. I would turn the outdoor turtle exhibits into a tropical greenhouse similar to the Cincinnati Zoo’s Manatee springs giving room to more tropical reptiles. And with the rest of the space I would add an outdoor exhibit for Baru in the summer time.

Tembo Trail changes

Not much I would do here other than change some of the species on exhibit. I would replace the Indian Rhinos with Black Rhinos and turn the Takin exhibit into a second rhino exhibit. The Tasmanian Devil exhibit would be given back to Slender Snouted crocodiles. The American otters would be changed back to the spotted necked otters that used to live at the zoo.
I don’t know what I would do about Kodiak Ridge being in Tembo Trail. I’ve thought about many things that they could but none make enough sense in my head so I will leave this up to other people to decide and theorize about.

New Aviary Greenhouse

Okay back to the actual masterplan, I’m sure you’ve had enough of my ideas for now but don’t worry I still have more. The masterplan has an expansion planned for the Aviary to add a greenhouse for birds.
If they can do this right I think it can be a good renovation to the aviary as long as they do it right.

New Great Ape Forest

The Kingdom of the Apes holds a special place in my heart and while it is not beloved in the zoo community I will be sticking with it. The outdoor gorilla exhibit is average as of now, but I will do away with current outdoor exhibit and turn it into a Great Ape Forest.
I would combine the space that takes up the Galapagos garden and Gorilla meadow and turn it into a large forest for the Gorillas and Orangutans on a rotation.

And that is the end of the list of changes I would make to the Toledo Zoo. Anything you would do differently? I hope you enjoyed and maybe one of these things will happen in the future.

Thank you for reading, Toledo Zoo Guide

 

[The Horse Boy]

Not much I would do here other than change some of the species on exhibit. I would replace the Indian Rhinos with Black Rhinos and turn the Takin exhibit into a second rhino exhibit.

What about the elephant exhibit and the hippoquarium? Would you be all right with just the facilities as they are or move them to another area of the zoo?

 

[Toledo Zoo Guide]

What about the elephant exhibit and the hippoquarium? Would you be all right with just the facilities as they are or move them to another area of the zoo?

The Hippoquarium is still an above average hippo exhibit and should be for many years to come as long as they keep it to two individuals.
And when it comes to the elephants I just don’t believe in the zoo’s current plan to turn the current parking lot into future animal exhibits, you would just need a major redo to that side of the park and have to change that whole layout.
So the current elephant exhibit is for now good enough until the zoo finds different land or I get a new idea.
If someone can make the current layout more feasible to me and has a better design then I’m more than happy to hear it because I just don’t have an answer for this future problem.

Thank you for your question.

 

[The Horse Boy]

And when it comes to the elephants I just don’t believe in the zoo’s current plan to turn the current parking lot into future animal exhibits, you would just need a major redo to that side of the park and have to change that whole layout.
So the current elephant exhibit is for now good enough until the zoo finds different land or I get a new idea.
If someone can make the current layout more feasible to me and has a better design then I’m more than happy to hear it because I just don’t have an answer for this future problem.

I think Tembo Trail might be too popular to uproot to the ex parking lot. If so, perhaps to regain a fully African theme, they could expand the elephant outdoor facility into where the Indian rhino and takin currently reside making it total to an above 2 acre complex as I measured all that on google earth. If that happens they could simply build a new asian exhibit for rhinos tigers amur/snow leopards takin, and possibly even orangutans and Gibbons in the old parking lot. If Toldeo does intend to build a new elephant and hippo exhibit at the parking lot, then could move the tigers and leopards to tembo Trail and convert the current elephant facility into additional rhino space. Either way, Toledo phasing out elephants appears to be extremely unlikely as they own Renee and Kirkja, and keep the latter for the long haul should Krikja survive and be able to breed.

 

[Toledo Zoo Guide]

That is a much better idea, but they do seem dedicated to the plan of moving the tigers to where the current employee parking lot is. So maybe they could make that whole part of the zoo Asia, but then what do you do with the Kingdom of the Apes?