Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Metroparks Zoo News 2020

CMZ's first koala joey in a decade:

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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
 
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Here's an image from the Facebook page Mistakes on the Lake (haha) regarding the historic flooding seen in Cleveland. The view - if you aren't familiar - is the browse barn and Steffee Center, with the iconic Rainforest dome peeking over the trees at the top.

It's a stark reminder of the difficulties associated with continued expansion at the zoo. It is and always has been built on a floodplain of the Big Creek and occasionally the creek likes to remind everyone of that fact.

I recall the legend of the old Reptile Collection, which was housed in the basement of the original central building of the zoo. It existed in the same spot where this photo was taken if I'm remembering correctly.

In January 1959, the Big Creek flooded and inundated the entirety of the building, wiping out the entire collection - some 150 exotic reptiles - in the basement. The only survivors (the legend goes) were two turtles that held their breath long enough to be rescued. As a result, there wasn't a substantial reptile collection at the zoo until the Rainforest was constructed. It also (partly) explains the moats built for the bear grottos in WIlderness Trek.

I heard the story, not from the CMZ (although they acknowledge the incident on their website) but the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. They benefitted from the tragedy by acquiring all the deceased reptiles. You can see many of the victims on display in the museum's galleries today.

That's a firsthand account from the late Larry Isard, the museum's taxidermist for decades.
 

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Tiramtortlephant said:
View attachment 457012

Here's an image from the Facebook page Mistakes on the Lake (haha) regarding the historic flooding seen in Cleveland. The view - if you aren't familiar - is the browse barn and Steffee Center, with the iconic Rainforest dome peeking over the trees at the top.

It's a stark reminder of the difficulties associated with continued expansion at the zoo. It is and always has been built on a floodplain of the Big Creek and occasionally the creek likes to remind everyone of that fact.

I recall the legend of the old Reptile Collection, which was housed in the basement of the original central building of the zoo. It existed in the same spot where this photo was taken if I'm remembering correctly.

In January 1959, the Big Creek flooded and inundated the entirety of the building, wiping out the entire collection - some 150 exotic reptiles - in the basement. The only survivors (the legend goes) were two turtles that held their breath long enough to be rescued. As a result, there wasn't a substantial reptile collection at the zoo until the Rainforest was constructed. It also (partly) explains the moats built for the bear grottos in WIlderness Trek.

I heard the story, not from the CMZ (although they acknowledge the incident on their website) but the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. They benefitted from the tragedy by acquiring all the deceased reptiles. You can see many of the victims on display in the museum's galleries today.

That's a firsthand account from the late Larry Isard, the museum's taxidermist for decades.
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The zoo has publicly discussed it in the past. The zoo floods periodically. Here are a couple of links on zoo history:

https://resourcelibrary.clemetzoo.com/Historical/1

https://resourcelibrary.clemetzoo.com/Download/PDF?fileName=CMZ_History.pdf
 
It does show the difficulty developing that part of the zoo for sure and it is a good reminder of the geographic challenges of the CMZ.
 
mwalle09 said:
It does show the difficulty developing that part of the zoo for sure and it is a good reminder of the geographic challenges of the CMZ.
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I understand the Cuyahoga River is not that far off from Big Creek and the latter feeds into the river, right?

Could it be a de facto nature reserve of riverine or creek floodplain habitat? And?Or: Might not deforestation, the amount of build up areas around the zoo, lack of treeline and lack of floodwater basin storage be a factor in the flooding issue at all?
 
mwalle09 said:
Top 10 Exhibits/Areas at CMZ
3. Asian Highlands

Top 5 Things that need improvement:
4. Lion Exhibit,
2. Path between Wilderness Trek and African Savanna.
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Apologies, a little late to reply, but just saw the post! (Yeah, I've been gone a while...)
Re: Asian Highlands - I do love the theming of the areas and space the exhibit has given the leopards, but admit I'm not a fan of "the wooden board-look." To point, I love the fact they have enrichment, but wish the items could've been themed to look more natural. Flipside, I feel the same about the wooden platforms created for the bears, too. I was a little underwhelmed at the area created for red pandas and wish they could've reconfigured the takin area, but I understand budget and space limitations. I'm not 'hating' and do like the area, I just wish they could've taken a few things to the next level...

Re: Lion/Path Between - I know there was talk about expanding the lion exhibit by the food court (I had posted a pic of an old master plan, um, plan), but was always a big fan of creating something in front of the hay barn along that lower path. Yes, I know it's a floodplain, but always thought the CMZ could create some type of African kopje-themed exhibit for larger carnivores similar to what Ft. Wayne has in their African area. They could expand the lion area, shift the cheetahs from PCA, and perhaps add cape dogs and hyena.
 
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