Cities in need of zoos

Wisp O' Mist said:
I'll forever maintain that a zoo somewhere in Wyoming would be a great idea. I put forth Cheyenne! It's the state capital, the largest city, and it's where the majority of the state's (Admittedly sparse) population lives.

If not Cheyenne, then Casper would be a viable alternative.
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Same with Vermont and New Hampshire. Something better than a native animal farm or a science center would be nice, I feel.
 
Hello.

Many Brazilian cities lack zoos, but I am quite happy about their zoolessness. Why Because it is almost guaranteed the hypothetical residents of the zoos in these municipalities would be living in small cells, since a modern zoo, according to most government officials in Brazil, is a park filled with cages which have recently been doused with fresh paint. If you take a look at the upcoming bird park in Miguel Pereira, Rio de Janeiro, you will understand what I mean.
 
Enzo said:
Hello.

Many Brazilian cities lack zoos, but I am quite happy about their zoolessness. Why Because it is almost guaranteed the hypothetical residents of the zoos in these municipalities would be living in small cells, since a modern zoo, according to most government officials in Brazil, is a park filled with cages which have recently been doused with fresh paint. If you take a look at the upcoming bird park in Miguel Pereira, Rio de Janeiro, you will understand what I mean.
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What is wrong with the upcoming bird park?
 
I ditto Jana. When I looked up “miguel pereira parque das aves” this is what I found and other than the wild west area which makes the park feel too recreational, it’s really inoffensive.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, Orlando, Traverse City,
Davenport, and Las Vegas could all be good locations.
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Orlando does already have the Central Florida Zoo and the adjacent theme parks to satisfy the majority of zoo-goers. But I will agree with the other locations as being suitable for a future facility or two; especially if the Davenport you mention is the one in Florida*.

[Edit] *it doesn’t appear to be the case, so disregard.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Orlando
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Zoological facilities in and around Orlando: Disney's Animal Kingdom, The Seas at Epcot, SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove, SEA LIFE Orlando, and the Orlando Science Center.

Plus the previously mentioned Central Florida Zoo in nearby Sanford, and Natural Encounters Inc down in Winter Haven.

If anything, Orlando is kind of spoiled when it comes to zoos and aquariums, lol.
 
PossumRoach said:
I ditto Jana. When I looked up “miguel pereira parque das aves” this is what I found and other than the wild west area which makes the park feel too recreational, it’s really inoffensive.
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Hello. The theming is pretty over-the-top, the marketing is crowd-drawing (the park is meant to be Brazil's first release area for birds, but the billboards promoting it always have pictures of the most colorful (and exotic) species of avifauna). If you compare how it is being built to an actual modern zoo, like Parque das Aves (Foz do Iguaçu), you will release the enclosures at Miguel Pereira's bird park looks a lot more like the exhibits in the less up-to-date Brazilian zoos.
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As an example, this kind of rockwork sends shivers down my spine... I know it sounds silly, but everytime I see a new zoo being built in this style, I cringe.
 
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Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, is about equidistant between Philadelphia and Baltimore, with the closest accredited zoo being ZooAmerica in Hershey (though there are a ton of small petting zoos, a wolf sanctuary, and a massive pet store with a huge array of herps and aquarium fare including a saltwater touch tank). Given that it's a fast-growing area and a tourism hub, I think it could maintain a small to medium-sized zoo.
 
Sorry I couldn’t do onto see the site.when I go on your page it shows all of your other projects except the Santa Cruz one
 
USZOOfan42 said:
Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, Orlando, Traverse City,
Davenport, and Las Vegas could all be good locations.
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I can see Las Vegas with an AZA accredited zoo later on.I think it’s perfectly fine if LV has a zoo as the Coachella valley area has the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens
 
The attempts at zoos in Vegas have generally been pretty brutal failures, given the climate and the lack of concentrated interest as the city wasn't as fast-growing before. The last one closed in 2013 under the weight of a plethora of animal welfare complaints and the entire staff resigning. I don't see how they couldn't do a completely indoor facility, like Shark Reef Aquarium, which would theoretically at least eliminate the first issue. The second is slowly eliminating itself as the LV metro area grows and more and more families move into the area. But it would have to be done by a nonprofit that actually gave a damn and was aiming for AZA backing - the for-profit institutions in the area have been horrendous save for Shark Reef. There are rumors of a nonprofit aiming for another attempt, and its website (Las Vegas Zoological Society) claims a 2025 opening target...despite the fact that the same website also cites COVID delays and says they're in the "planning stages". Doubt it's been updated in years.

I myself am more of an aquarium guy, so I would love to see aquaria crop up in every state that's missing one so far, as well as a few different major cities. With the continual advancements in closed-system technology, bigger and bigger aquariums can open in arid regions like Scottsdale, AZ with hardly any water waste, so something in Montana (a growing state with some larger population centers) seems like the next interesting target. I will say, the center of my own metro area (Los Angeles) really doesn't have an aquarium of its own in the city proper, even though we have a smattering of smaller institutions in the county as well as the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. LB is more and more trying to assert its own identity as a destination separate from LA, and I don't blame them. The closest thing to an aquarium actually in Los Angeles is the California ScienCenter's Ecosystems exhibit, which is impressive albeit easy to go through in less than an hour. I'd love to see a new facility on the level of Georgia or Shedd open up that's actually within the country's second-largest city, but perhaps that's a smidge selfish of me to hope/ask for. ;)
 
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The whole hot weather canard has been a staple "argument" against a real zoo in Las Vegas for like.....ever.
To utterly crush that nonsense I present to you...The Phoenix Zoo . Phoenix that commonly
and usually has 10 degrees (F) on Vegas every day during the summer.
One of the biggest problems is that the agency that was conceived partially for and mandated
to create a zoo (the Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Authority) has never had one whit of interest in creating a real zoo. The current online effort has no media presence in Vegas whatsoever and seems destined to go nowhere.
 
Daktari JG said:
The whole hot weather canard has been a staple "argument" against a real zoo in Las Vegas for like.....ever.
To utterly crush that nonsense I present to you...The Phoenix Zoo . Phoenix that commonly
and usually has 10 degrees (F) on Vegas every day during the summer.
One of the biggest problems is that the agency that was conceived partially for and mandated
to create a zoo (the Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Authority) has never had one whit of interest in creating a real zoo. The current online effort has no media presence in Vegas whatsoever and seems destined to go nowhere.
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Oh I agree - it's more that in order to mitigate the hot weather, you have to actually care, and the previous zoo there didn't at all. That's indisputably a large part of its demise. I've heard the exact opposite about the Phoenix Zoo, they sound quite diligent. Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium is also a solid outdoor institution in AZ. I just would advocate for a more indoor facility in general so that there's no need to manage that stuff. A fully indoor zoo with really unique exhibits (like a lot of the ones at Henry Doorly) also would just be truly interesting as an experiment to me.
 
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