Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Metroparks Zoo News 2018
- Thread starter TigerValley98
- Start date
Shame they cut down the bamboo in the back. Essentially a redeeming factor to a poor exhibit.
Surrounded by concrete walls, tiny in surface area (although that improved thanks to the netting) and just plain dull. I'm not saying Cleveland should make the next Congo Gorilla Forest, but an exhibit along the lines of Sedgwick County or North Carolina would be nice.
This is an improvement. Remember that this is interim. The gorillas are likely here for three more years at least. They are more than likely moving to the main zoo within five years. Why spend a lot of money on an exhibit that will likely be torn down. This work had to be done to contain the females in the outdoor exhibit.
I went to the opening of Asian Highlands. I love the exhibit. Grin ‘n Bear Eats is now Highlands Cafe. It serves Asian food. There is a tent gift show too. They also announced the Asian Lantern Festival.
The gorilla outdoor exhibit looks better than it did. Some of those large ugly boulders are gone. There is no longer a moat between the two viewing areas.
The Welcome Pavilion is a nice touch to the entrance.
There is likely a unexpected change coming to the zoo later this summer. You may be surprised or you may not be. More news to come.
The gorilla outdoor exhibit looks better than it did. Some of those large ugly boulders are gone. There is no longer a moat between the two viewing areas.
The Welcome Pavilion is a nice touch to the entrance.
There is likely a unexpected change coming to the zoo later this summer. You may be surprised or you may not be. More news to come.
I'm intrigued by an unexpected change. I hope it is for the better.
The zoo’s landscape will change. This has been mentioned before, but I do not think anyone here imagined this change would come so soon. The change is not at PCA, but I believe it is connected.
PCA connection I was referring to resides at PCA for the moment.
Will be very interesting to see - at some point when the news comes out - which species is due out from here!
The species for relocation is known, but it’s relocation will have more of effect on the region of the zoo than earlier expected. I do not know much of what is going on in this area, but it has to be connected to what is going on next door. I do not know the future status of the species here, but time will tell. When I hear anything I will post.
The more they do, the more I am impressed at how well they are tackling several of their weak points. It's always been a large and sort of cumbersome zoo to get around and I think they have done a very good job over the past decade of making it more user friendly. The Welcome Plaza and the smaller exhibit changes are testament to that. Once again I'll say, I think they are building towards something big in the next 5 years.
He's infertile. If I'm remembering correctly, he was brought as a companion/"role model" for the younger bull they intended to have on site for breeding.
But even if he wasn't, the females are all too old for breeding. Shenga and Kallie are the youngest and even they are in their mid-thirties now. It'll be a while before Cleveland gets an elephant breeding program.
Are they planning on a breeding program.
At one point I believe that was a long term goal of their's. I went to the CMZ yesterday and enjoyed a great day there. I like Asian Highlands, Tiger Valley is right that the concession area is a nice touch to a well done exhibit. It was a bit crowded so I was not able to spend a great deal of time in the building but I like that most of the area gives the animals a space to move around and be seen. The area just to the West of the new exhibit is close off now, I wonder if that will be developed into either more Asian animal exhibits or something else. A thought I had as I was walking by the seals was that they repaved the path for construction equipment or from the damage caused by the construction equipment, could they move the terminal for the tram up the hill more from under the Fulton Bridge? Not sure if the whole path is wide enough but might be worth a look. Another thought I had while at the PCA was if they are moving the Cheetahs next year, what sort of potential does that building and area have now? I have been down on the PCA for years but now with a lot of space, they might have the makings of renovating it into a very compelling building.
Asian Highlands Review
Pros:
Pros:
- The visitor areas are nicely themed and there are well placed graphics.
- Borrowing from the idea of Philadelphia Zoo's 360 Zoo Trails, the snow leopards have access to walk above the moon doorways into the main viewing area. This high spot to view their surroundings is perfect for the big cats. One of the snow leopards was fascinated by the red crowned crane next door.
- The snow leopards have a view of the forest behind them. This can keep them intrigued with the wild critters that may be moving about.
- Platforms provide more vertical space for the inhabitants and allow the snow leopards to get into their exhibits from their holding building.
- Sameera had access to the snow leopard cub yard giving her more space to roam.
- Shading material has been added to parts of the top of the exhibit to eliminate heat for the inhabitants.
- The wood from the platforms and walkways was recycled from trees they had to cut down to make space for the exhibit.
- Air controlled caves and logs are placed in front of windows for visitors to view animals when they rest on warm days.
- Volunteers are monitoring the activity of the animals and reporting back to the keepers to help enrich the animals and make them less stressed with the new surroundings.
- I always think its an inconvenience to go to the PCA building, either walking or waiting for the tram. Then you get up there to ugly, outdated exhibits. This new area makes it easier to see these beautiful animals and their surroundings are nicer too.
- The wooden platforms and walkways distract from a natural look for the exhibits.
- The exhibits should hopefully approve with age when the trees grow in the exhibit. Right now, the exhibits look a bit bare/basic. I would have loved if the vertical space in the snow leopard exhibits included more of the hillside or a rocky cliff feature.
- They say all exhibits provide more space for the inhabitants, but I feel like the red pandas lost space. They definitely lost more vertical space from their former exhibit. The width of the exhibit almost looks the same, or maybe a bit less than what they had before.
- Right now the takin yard has an ugly black tarp around part of its barrier. Apparently one of the takins tried to knock down one of the poles so they put up the tarp to lessen their view of visitors. Within time, the tarp will be taken down. I almost wish that the takins had more climbing structures as well.