Dan from Cleveland, OH

wyldjaguar

wyldjaguar

Well-Known Member
Greetings and Salutations from America's North Coast...
"Long-time visitor, first-time member" - am happy to be officially be a part of the ZooChat family. Consider myself a severe zoo groupie with unique interests on both exhibit architecture and zoo history. If memory serves me correctly (hopefully, I'm not forgetting anywhere), have thusfar been a visitor to the following twenty-nine major institutions:

Zoos - Akron, Animal Kingdom (DisneyWorld/Orlando), Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Erie, Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, Maryland Zoo (Baltimore, MD), National Zoo (Washington, DC), Pittsburgh, Southern Nevada (Las Vegas), San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Taronga (Sydney, Australia), Toledo, ZooAmerica (Hershey, PA), and Zooz/Safari Niagara (Canada)
Aquariums - Cleveland Aquarium (closed), Greater Cleveland Aquarium, National Aquarium (Baltimore, MD), Newport Aquarium (Cincinnati/Newport, KY), Niagara Aquarium (New York), Sea World Ohio (closed), Sea World San Diego, Sydney Aquarium (Sydney, Australia)
Aviaries - National Aviary (Pittsburgh, PA)

Have been a 20+ year member of the Cleveland Zoological Society (currently "Zookeeper's Circle" level), as well as member of the Friends of the National Zoo. Try not to be a "homer," but believe my hometown zoo is one of the five-best in the U.S. and looking forward to what the new master plan may bring.
Hope to see everyone online...
Cheers,
Dan from Cleveland, OH
 
Welcome to Zoochat Dan. Ohio seems like a great zoo state. We look forward to hearing how things develop at the Cleveland Zoo.
 
Welcome to ZooChat! If you truly believe that Cleveland is one of the top 5 zoos in the U.S. then you are most definitely a "homer" (as you put it). Maybe top 35 is more like it.:) I quite enjoyed my visit in 2010 but Northern Trek is dated, the African Savanna is merely adequate, and the infamous Primate, Cat & Aquatics building is dreadful.
 
Gee, thanks for making me defend my home zoo less than 24-hours after my joining! In some cases, 'dated' does not always mean 'deficient' - every zoo has aspects it would like to change/update. But they also have their new $25-milllion African Elephant Crossing, expansive Australia Adventure, themed Wolf Wilderness, and The RainForest was one of the first exhibits of it's kind in the U.S. The newer Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine is often consulted/utilized by other zoos in the Midwest; staff are doing groundbreaking research into the diets and cardiac health of gorillas, have had great success in black rhino reproduction, and, well, we can agree to disagree. Despite my 'homer' mentality, depending on criteria, I think I could argue for at least a top-ten ranking... :)
Cheers!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top