Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Columbus Zoo News 2020

Amnesiac said:
Here's a walkthrough video of the whole area including the underwater tunnel, the Animal Encounter's Village indoor and outdoor sections, and the newly reopened Stingray Bay.
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Ok I’m just gonna be honest here. This did not turn out good at all. There is not one tree or shade for the cheetah in the cheetah yard. It’s incredibly small and is not natural looking what so ever. Same goes for the lemur exhibit. A small yard with no natural features for them to access. Meaning no trees, no shade hardly, and it’s no where near natural looking. The indoor exhibits r Horrendous and awful looking in my opinion. The tortoise exhibit is so ugly it’s not even funny. And the sea lion exhibit has got to be the worst of its time. The viewing deck where they train them is awful and the exhibit is hardly even close to natural looking. Still No doubt in my mind Fresno Chaffee Zoo and Saint Louis Zoo have build the BEST sea lion exhibits. Disagree with me if u want but this turned out to be so disappointing
 
John Marchwick said:
Ok I’m just gonna be honest here. This did not turn out good at all. There is not one tree or shade for the cheetah in the cheetah yard. It’s incredibly small and is not natural looking what so ever. Same goes for the lemur exhibit. A small yard with no natural features for them to access. Meaning no trees, no shade hardly, and it’s no where near natural looking. The indoor exhibits r Horrendous and awful looking in my opinion. The tortoise exhibit is so ugly it’s not even funny. And the sea lion exhibit has got to be the worst of its time. The viewing deck where they train them is awful and the exhibit is hardly even close to natural looking. Still No doubt in my mind Fresno Chaffee Zoo and Saint Louis Zoo have build the BEST sea lion exhibits. Disagree with me if u want but this turned out to be so disappointing
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The sea lion exhibit husbandrywise looks amazing, with a saltwater system, what looks like a wave machine, and perks like moving platforms that provide stimulation. The theming is standard Columbus fare, and the tunnel is a unique design (which unfortunately the exhibit as a whole has a couple clunky sightlines). Design-wise, the rockwork actually seems a lot better than Columbus' typical fare (since Polar Frontier Columbus has been upping their game with their rockwork), and aside from the aforementioned clunky sightlines, the exhibit as a whole seems like a welcome addition to Columbus' wide array of animal offerings. The Animal Encounters Village has a confusing array of themes (set in a neighborhood for some reason...? Basically JA Biztown for animals), and the reason the exhibits were designed to be more bare-bones is because they are rotational facilities for animal ambassadors. These aren't their permanent stays, the animals are taken out for programs. While a couple more modifications to the design would be great (I'd have to see this zoo for myself but I live anywhere BUT Ohio), as a whole this does look like a welcome addition. Does it have problems? Yes. Does it provide an engaging experience for the general public? Also yes. Once the foliage grows in exhibits always get better and better.
 
I will admit I was expecting more with the sea lion exhibit, maybe more room for them. However, I do not think it's the worst of its kind by any means. There are many outdated sea lion exhibits in the US. However, I have not seen some of the newer ones, like Saint Louis, which I feel would be better than this one. I do love the tunnel allows the sea lions to swim underneath you (does any other US zoo sea lion exhibit have this feature?) I admit the theming for the educational animals is odd, but they're only on exhibit during downtime from events so guests can see them and rotating throughout the day gives them enrichment. They have a similar theme in the reptile house as well.
 
I will admit I was expecting more with the sea lion exhibit, maybe more room for them. However, I do not think it's the worst of its kind by any means. There are many outdated sea lion exhibits in the US. However, I have not seen some of the newer ones, like Saint Louis, which I feel would be better than this one. I do love the tunnel allows the sea lions to swim underneath you (does any other US zoo sea lion exhibit have this feature?) I admit the theming for the educational animals is odd, but they're only on exhibit during downtime from events so guests can see them and rotating throughout the day gives them enrichment. They have a similar theme in the reptile house as well. I will admit the capybara exhibit is quite basic with mowed grass and two small pools. I felt I was looking at a Pittsburgh Zoo newer exhibit!
 
@Wyman the tunnel design is good. That’s not what I have a problem with. The on land perimeter for the sea lion exhibit looks terrible and doesn’t theme well. As far as the animal ambassadors go even if their only r on exhibit downtime they could still do better for them. They could have easily added in trees, shade but they didn’t. The perimeters of the exhibit r horrendous. And when I mean worst of its time I meant the worst newest sea lion exhibit. Because it’s not the best one I’ve seen. I was expecting better than what they had build. This is not worth seeing in my opinion
 
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John Marchwick said:
@Wyman the tunnel design is good. That’s not what I have a problem with. The on land perimeter for the sea lion exhibit looks terrible and doesn’t theme well. And even if their only r on exhibit downtime they could still do better for them. They could have easily added in trees, shade but they didn’t. The perimeters of the exhibit r horrendous. And when I mean worst of its time I meant the worst newest sea lion exhibit. Because it’s not the best one I’ve seen. I was expecting better than what they had build. This is not worth seeing in my opinion
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I'd honestly have to see it for myself to be an objective judge. The best exhibit for sea lions that I've seen was at the North Carolina Zoo. A tad small but still extremely well-designed with amazing rockwork, good underwater views and absolutely active pinnipeds.
 
@blospz I know the aquarium of the pacific has something like that along with the saint Louis zoo. And Detroit zoo has something like that with its seals but not sea lions only because they don’t have any. The sea lions at Columbus could absolutely use more room. Also why did Columbus get most of theirs from that marine park in China? There’s seals and sea lions that they could’ve rescued from the wild or they could required from other zoos in the us. However I don’t understand that logic meaning Columbus why they got them China. And especially when we’re in a global pandemic is kinda weird to me but ok
 
Haven't been there to see it, but judging from pics and videos, talk about total yin yang. The pinnipeds look great with the theming actually working nicely for them and the underwater tunnel looking excellent, especially in how it lets them swim underneath you which I haven't seen before. The outdoor exhibits look fine to me too. Animal Encounters Village, on the other hand, looks pretty awful, especially for an AZA facility and such an acclaimed zoo. The duck all by himself in one of the Zoochat pictures and the stereotyping Geoffroys Cat in the linked video are lowlights. The worst of it reminds me of Downtown Aquarium Houston's white tiger exhibit. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come after Jack Hanna's retirement.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Does anyone know what the thought process was behind the Animal Encounters Village concept? Why do the displays look like suburban lawns, city parks, and household rooms?
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Exactly!!! Thank u!!! It took the $40 million and 3 years to build that?! I’m rly disappointed with how this turned out. Got to be one of the WORST exhibits for Columbus
 
I was going to visit here and The Wilds next year with my mom. Should I still go? The parts of Adventure Cove that look awful to me are giving me horrible vibes. I've been here before this opened and all of it was incredible, but now I'm gonna have to confront my first bad non-roadside exhibit.
 
AlmightyKingPrawn said:
I was going to visit here and The Wilds next year with my mom. Should I still go? The parts of Adventure Cove that look awful to me are giving me horrible vibes. I've been here before this opened and all of it was incredible, but now I'm gonna have to confront my first bad non-roadside exhibit.
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It's just one good exhibit in an otherwise great zoo? Why would it scare you off? And who knows, maybe it looks better in person.
 
birdsandbats said:
It's just one good exhibit in an otherwise great zoo? Why would it scare you off? And who knows, maybe it looks better in person.
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Good point. Maybe it'll improve by next year, who knows. And the other people in the thread are right, they don't live here permanently.
 
Amnesiac said:
Here's a walkthrough video of the whole area including the underwater tunnel, the Animal Encounter's Village indoor and outdoor sections, and the newly reopened Stingray Bay.
Click to expand...
Yikes, this is not good at all in my opinion.

The Sea Lion exhibit looks fine husbandry-wise, a fairly good size and I do like the wave machine idea. I’m puzzled by the rest of it though; why is the backdrop of the exhibit hideous fake houses? For that matter, why does the underwater tunnel not have curved glass? Can’t say I like the mock-rock much either.

The new animal village area is a disaster. This has already been pointed out but seriously, why do the exhibits look like suburban parks or the inside of a house? Who thought that was a good idea? The exhibits look small as well.

For an exhibit that cost $40 million built by a zoo of Columbus’s reputation, this is a major disappointment and a huge miss-step.
 
The seal/sea lion exhibit is fine, nothing to brag about but it looks like a fine exhibit, accept for the background. But I cannot say the same about the animal ambassador village. It looks TERRIBLE, the exhibits look like the reptile house at the Cheyenne mountain zoo. I did not expect THIS from the Columbus zoo. The wasted 40,000,00 dollars on a decent pinniped enclosure and the atrocious monstrosity that is the animal ambassador village.
 
Different perspective here! Do not jump all over me! I hear comparisons to Cheyenne Mountain and I think that they are trying a similar thing where animals are exhibited in not so traditional ways. This is not inherently a bad thing!

None of these animals are in what anyone would call natural enclosures. I also don’t think the zoo was trying to do that at all. The designs are telling a story. Now I haven’t visited but when a zoo has a non traditional exhibit, there is normally signage explaining the design. If I were to guess the zoo is trying to build a connection between the animals and guests (mostly kids) by placing them in a familiar environment. Animals for the most part do not care if the exhibit they are in is “natural”. In fact a lot of “natural” enclosures are made of concrete and mock rock with plastic trees and pools. Enrichment is often everyday items repurposed for the animals. Nothing really wrong with that. I will say that there is value to representing an animal in its natural environment. But welfare wise, I’d rather the animals have a varied and changing environment that is enriching than the same looking trees and rocks everywhere. Similar to CMZ, people here on ZooChat are going to look at this exhibit differently than the average guests will. Being around zoo guests everyday, I have a feeling this will be some people’s favorite in the zoo.

You have to take into account that these are animal ambassadors used by their educators and trainers. These are animals that are normally not on exhibit. Traditional housing of these animals is usually utilitarian stalls that can be modified to fit different species. You can see an example of what I’m talking about on “The Zoo” at the Bronx Zoo. Most zoos do not put these animals on display and guests only see them for presentations or outreach. Taking this into consideration, these exhibits are not their full time homes. People have mentioned that they rotate the animals. The amount of enriching opportunities for the animals is enormous with all the different smells, furniture, etc. you can’t get much better in terms of opportunities than this.

Husbandry wise, these exhibits look fine to me. Not huge but similar in size to the stalls zoos normally house animal ambassadors in. Space requirements can be misleading here as these animals total amount of usable space is probably more than most animals if you take into account rotation and time outside as ambassadors around the zoo or off grounds on outreach.

I can tell a lot of time and effort went into the design of this exhibit and I really can’t wait until I have an opportunity to see it in person.
 
Echobeast said:
Different perspective here! Do not jump all over me! I hear comparisons to Cheyenne Mountain and I think that they are trying a similar thing where animals are exhibited in not so traditional ways. This is not inherently a bad thing!

None of these animals are in what anyone would call natural enclosures. I also don’t think the zoo was trying to do that at all. The designs are telling a story. Now I haven’t visited but when a zoo has a non traditional exhibit, there is normally signage explaining the design. If I were to guess the zoo is trying to build a connection between the animals and guests (mostly kids) by placing them in a familiar environment. Animals for the most part do not care if the exhibit they are in is “natural”. In fact a lot of “natural” enclosures are made of concrete and mock rock with plastic trees and pools. Enrichment is often everyday items repurposed for the animals. Nothing really wrong with that. I will say that there is value to representing an animal in its natural environment. But welfare wise, I’d rather the animals have a varied and changing environment that is enriching than the same looking trees and rocks everywhere. Similar to CMZ, people here on ZooChat are going to look at this exhibit differently than the average guests will. Being around zoo guests everyday, I have a feeling this will be some people’s favorite in the zoo.

You have to take into account that these are animal ambassadors used by their educators and trainers. These are animals that are normally not on exhibit. Traditional housing of these animals is usually utilitarian stalls that can be modified to fit different species. You can see an example of what I’m talking about on “The Zoo” at the Bronx Zoo. Most zoos do not put these animals on display and guests only see them for presentations or outreach. Taking this into consideration, these exhibits are not their full time homes. People have mentioned that they rotate the animals. The amount of enriching opportunities for the animals is enormous with all the different smells, furniture, etc. you can’t get much better in terms of opportunities than this.

Husbandry wise, these exhibits look fine to me. Not huge but similar in size to the stalls zoos normally house animal ambassadors in. Space requirements can be misleading here as these animals total amount of usable space is probably more than most animals if you take into account rotation and time outside as ambassadors around the zoo or off grounds on outreach.

I can tell a lot of time and effort went into the design of this exhibit and I really can’t wait until I have an opportunity to see it in person.
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I will say upon rewatching I noticed a lack of hides and shelters which was probably what was causing the Geoffroy’s cats and skunk to pace. Given the design of the exhibit this would have to be done with portable hides that can be moved around easily. Probably something the keeper staff will have to work on as time goes on.
 
John Marchwick said:
@blospz I know the aquarium of the pacific has something like that along with the saint Louis zoo. And Detroit zoo has something like that with its seals but not sea lions only because they don’t have any. The sea lions at Columbus could absolutely use more room. Also why did Columbus get most of theirs from that marine park in China? There’s seals and sea lions that they could’ve rescued from the wild or they could required from other zoos in the us. However I don’t understand that logic meaning Columbus why they got them China. And especially when we’re in a global pandemic is kinda weird to me but ok
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I am not sure about the story why they chose these sea lions from China, but I do not know they were in the US before the pandemic. They have been living at a facility in Florida for a year before they came to Columbus.
 
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