Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Cincinnati Zoo News 2022

Moebelle said:
Plans for the Bear Hill and more from the master plan have been released!

Upcoming Zoo Projects

North American Habitat

The Cincinnati Zoo’s Bear Hill habitat was ahead of its time when built in 1937, with a barless design and technique of using “gunite” to simulate rockwork. But the area hasn’t aged well and needs a refresh – both to provide best of care for our animals and a better visitor experience. Factoring in the current habitat’s age and space limitations on its hilly site required a lot of consideration from animal care and facilities teams, but we have landed on a terrific solution: create open spaces to showcase North American species. The new plan includes converting the lower grotto into a saltwater system for Sea Otters.

A larger, multi-species habitat would go into the combined middle grottos, and at the top of the hill we will highlight species who can take advantage of vertical spaces, such as birds. The refreshed space will give visitors an exciting and more intimate view of the habitats and animals.

Rhino Reserve

As one of the oldest habitats at the Cincinnati Zoo, the Veldt has been through a myriad of renovations through the years. The habitat has been tweaked, pulled, and pushed in many directions to the point where it has lost any cohesive message about the animals living there. To provide More Home to Roam for all the animals in our existing Veldt area, we will redesign the habitats currently occupied by Flamingoes, Okapi, Bongos, Zebras, and Black Rhinos into multiple yards with expansive vistas across species, much like our Africa habitat.

Visitors will enjoy an immersive experience, with a winding pathway that leads into the heart of the habitat to a central viewing area into each species. Plans include expanded moats, new holding areas, and visitor viewing decks. Importantly, we will also expand space for our critically endangered Black Rhinos to encourage breeding. This species is solitary except when breeding or rearing young, so “alone time” space is crucial for them to thrive.

Rhino Reserve will put our Zoo on the leading edge of rhino care, research, and management for the purpose of saving the species from extinction:

Next Gen Rhinoceros Management & Facilities
World-class Breeding Program
Enriching Indoor & Outdoor Environments
Naturalistic, Park-like Habitat
Optimal Visitor Experiences
Environmentally Sustainable Design

Giraffe's Tower / Elephant House

As one of the most recognized buildings at the Zoo, the Elephant House has been the centerpiece of animal habitats since the day it was built in 1905. Its current occupants are elephants, but after our herd moves to its new digs in Elephant Trek, we are planning something wonderful for the space. By combining the yards around the Elephant House and expanding towards Entry Village, this new, larger habitat would open up vistas to one of the Zoo’s most sacred pieces of architecture, and accommodate a much larger giraffe herd in the bargain.

Imagine entering the Zoo and the first thing you see is a herd of 15-20 giraffes sweeping across a wide open plain! Additionally, we plan to create an elevated visitor experience that is literally built around a tree, with a giraffe feeding station, leisurely resting spot, and group event space.

Carousel

The carousel is moving up to Swan Lake, where it will go from 32 to 64 seats surrounded by a vintage-style open air structure and boardwalk.
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I also just noticed it appears the flamingos from Africa will be joining the giraffes.
 
I sure hope the middle exhibit won't hold bears. Its got fairly tiny holding areas and would kind of defeat the projects purpose. Also a mixed species with black bears would likely necessitate more space. I feel like if it was going to be black bears, that is something from a PR standpoint they would want to lead with (This is Cincinnati though, so wouldn't be the first time they made an exhibit too small in recent years). Sea otters are a great addition though.

The giraffe area looks great as well though I hope they are mixed with some other species. As well I fail to understand why the zoo won't just move either the zebras or black rhinos to the current giraffe area once they relocate. I mean the new Rhino Reserve is going to still have fairly small exhibits for most species and small holdings as well. But we will see. The plans all seem fluid.
 
The impression I'm under is that the zoo will now have three Africa habitats: the main Africa exhibit, the new giraffe exhibit, and the new Veldt. It just seems a bit "mish-moshed" to me. Also, what will happen to the other Veldt animals? Can they really give them all more space in that footprint? If they move the warty hogs, someone can for sure have more space, but that's my only guess. I also hope visitors can see the rhinos indoors because so few large terrestrial mammals have indoor viewing (gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, elephants, giraffes)

I would incorporate okapis at the new giraffe habitat to showcase the species being closely related, move the zebras to Africa, and mix the rhinos and bongos to represent the Aberdare Range in Kenya where both eastern bongos and black rhinos live.

A North America exhibit, particularly the addition of sea otters, is something I think this northern zoo is sorely missing. Otherwise, they just have Wolf Woods to fill that niche.

I'm not sure where the carousel will be in relation to Swan Lake, particularly if they are expanding the soon-to-be giraffe exhibit into the entrance plaza.

To top it all off, I'm surprised that Cincinnati is trying to be a powerhouse in all the "big grays" (elephants, rhinos, and hippos) on 75 acres AND still do right by the rest of the collection.
 
Interesting to see a space labeled "primate holding" by the giraffe yard. I know they wanted baboons for the Africa complex, but used their intended area for the cheetah yard. It doesn't look quite big enough for baboons as currently drafted. I wonder what they area thinking. Vervets? Patas? Maybe move colobus in? No idea, but I'd love to see more than just giraffes in the proposed complex. I think there's probably room for something mid-sized in an adjacent exhibit. A predator species such as hyenas or leopards or maybe just a permanent space for warthogs might be decent options without taking too much from the intended giraffe area. Leopards would be ideal with the treetop theme in a vertically-themed exhibit.

As for the bear hill changes, maybe the top "bird" exhibit could be used to house the eagles currently occupying the old macaque exhibit by the reptile house next to the Galapagos tortoise yard. They could then expand the tortoise yard, or even better, build an outdoor crocodilian exhibit for the Chinese gators or something new.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
Interesting to see a space labeled "primate holding" by the giraffe yard. I know they wanted baboons for the Africa complex, but used their intended area for the cheetah yard. It doesn't look quite big enough for baboons as currently drafted. I wonder what they area thinking. Vervets? Patas? Maybe move colobus in? No idea, but I'd love to see more than just giraffes in the proposed complex. I think there's probably room for something mid-sized in an adjacent exhibit. A predator species such as hyenas or leopards or maybe just a permanent space for warthogs might be decent options without taking too much from the intended giraffe area. Leopards would be ideal with the treetop theme in a vertically-themed exhibit.

As for the bear hill changes, maybe the top "bird" exhibit could be used to house the eagles currently occupying the old macaque exhibit by the reptile house next to the Galapagos tortoise yard. They could then expand the tortoise yard, or even better, build an outdoor crocodilian exhibit for the Chinese gators or something new.
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Where do you see Primate Holding? I see 'Private Feeding'.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It’s even more strange considering the King penguin and African penguin are an overlap with Newport Aquarium (who additionally hold Gentoo, Macaroni and Chinstrap). Both facilities would benefit from maintaining a point of difference.

Auckland’s aquarium holds Subantarctic species (King and Gentoo) and Auckland Zoo holds Little blue penguin. It was agreed from a tourism perspective to avoid competition and in turn benefits both. Auckland Zoo is the main tourism destination of the two, but are happy with this arrangement as the Little blue penguins can be housed outside without the expense of a temperature controlled exhibit.
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Actually, the only facility that would benefit would be the Newport Aquarium. The Cincinnati Zoo is one of the main tourist attractions in the Greater Cincinnati Area while the Newport Aquarium is way less popular. Over time the Newport Aquarium has lost many of its stars from Mighty Mike to the Asian Small-Clawed Otters which has not gone well with guests. There are also multiple reports of the Aquarium not treating staff right which has also not gone well with the general public. Overtime the Newport Aquarium has themed itself for younger children rather than everyone like the zoo has.

Joseph G said:
I do find it funny that both are aware enough to not offer the same penguin encounters. Cincinnati only offers encounters with Little Blues and Newport only offers encounters with Africans.

Also worth noting that Newport does not exhibit their African colony.
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Actually the Cincinnati Zoo offers encounters with all of their species of penguin, not just the Little Blue.
Behind-the-Scenes Experiences - Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden®
 
StoppableSan said:
So... what does this mean for the inclusion of *a* bear species/the current Giraffe Ridge?
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There is currently an idea in the works for Giraffe Ridge but all I can say is that it is not hippos unfortunately.
iluvwhales said:
The impression I'm under is that the zoo will now have three Africa habitats: the main Africa exhibit, the new giraffe exhibit, and the new Veldt. It just seems a bit "mish-moshed" to me. Also, what will happen to the other Veldt animals? Can they really give them all more space in that footprint? If they move the warty hogs, someone can for sure have more space, but that's my only guess. I also hope visitors can see the rhinos indoors because so few large terrestrial mammals have indoor viewing (gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, elephants, giraffes)

I would incorporate okapis at the new giraffe habitat to showcase the species being closely related, move the zebras to Africa, and mix the rhinos and bongos to represent the Aberdare Range in Kenya where both eastern bongos and black rhinos live.

A North America exhibit, particularly the addition of sea otters, is something I think this northern zoo is sorely missing. Otherwise, they just have Wolf Woods to fill that niche.

I'm not sure where the carousel will be in relation to Swan Lake, particularly if they are expanding the soon-to-be giraffe exhibit into the entrance plaza.

To top it all off, I'm surprised that Cincinnati is trying to be a powerhouse in all the "big grays" (elephants, rhinos, and hippos) on 75 acres AND still do right by the rest of the collection.
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The Cincinnati Zoo plans to phase out the Visayan Warty Pigs as well as the Yellow-Backed Duiker.
 
Mai Thai said:
There is currently an idea in the works for Giraffe Ridge but all I can say is that it is not hippos unfortunately.
The Cincinnati Zoo plans to phase out the Visayan Warty Pigs as well as the Yellow-Backed Duiker.
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Well, that's not great news.

Maybe the idea for Giraffe Ridge will be something inspiring, but judging by your use of the word "unfortunately", I'm not expecting to be overly impressed.
 
Mai Thai said:
There is currently an idea in the works for Giraffe Ridge but all I can say is that it is not hippos unfortunately.
The Cincinnati Zoo plans to phase out the Visayan Warty Pigs as well as the Yellow-Backed Duiker.
Click to expand...

Where do they presently have duikers?
 
Mai Thai said:
There is currently an idea in the works for Giraffe Ridge but all I can say is that it is not hippos unfortunately.
The Cincinnati Zoo plans to phase out the Visayan Warty Pigs as well as the Yellow-Backed Duiker.
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White Rhinoceros would be nice. Is Zoo still keeping Indian Rhino in the future?
 
Cincinnati Zoo was recently ranked #3 on IDA's 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants 2021. Elephant Trek won't open until 2024, so there could be some criticizing of Elephant Reserve until then.
 
The zoo posted a photo of an ultrasound for National siblings Day. No announcement yet, so we don’t know the species, but it’s likely a large mammal since they released a photo. Hippo, Rhino, and okapi could all be expecting by this point, but I’m no doctor so for all I know it could be another tamandua.
 
Polar bear fan said:
The zoo posted a photo of an ultrasound for National siblings Day. No announcement yet, so we don’t know the species, but it’s likely a large mammal since they released a photo. Hippo, Rhino, and okapi could all be expecting by this point, but I’m no doctor so for all I know it could be another tamandua.
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Last time they did this it was a gorilla. Not confirming anything, just pointing out their past.
 
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