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Detroit Zoological Park: A Zoo for All Seasons (1973) - YouTube
Half-hour documentary from 1973 about the Detroit Zoo and its two facilities on Isle Royale. Some points of interest:
  • The zoo apparently exhibited brown hyenas during this era which are today totally gone from the US.
  • The above is I believe also the case for the European bison also seen in the video
  • What I think is now the Belle Isle Nature Zoo used to be a very themed attraction that was mostly home to petting-zoo animals but among other things also had a very poor-looking cheetah habitat.
  • Several species of bear from around the world, including Kodiak, as many as 6 individual polar, and sun bear were all kept in the same enclosure.
  • What appear to be African penguins used to live alongside the more southernly species in the Penguinarium.
  • The reptile house used to have a sea turtle tank.
  • Orangutans and gibbons used to be kept in tiny enclosures as part of the ape collection in addition to the gorillas and chimps the zoo still exhibits.
 
Thanks @evilmonkey239 for posting that video and I watched the whole thing. It was neat to see the inside of the Belle Isle Aquarium, lots of penguins in the old Penguinarium, all of those bears together and the sea turtle tank. The video is a glimpse into an old-fashioned zoo era, with elephants swaying in tiny cement boxes, a half-dozen polar bears all together in a grotto, and the less said about the primate cages the better! However, the video is fascinating to watch from the perspective of a zoo historian and I enjoyed seeing it. Now the Detroit Zoo has some truly superb exhibits and is a great favourite of mine, even though I've only visited twice (2008 and 2018).

It's a zoo that recognizes its past. I own the 50th anniversary history book and the 75th anniversary history book and I'm hopeful that in 2028 the Detroit Zoo produces a lavish centenary history book. :)
 
evilmonkey239 said:
Detroit Zoological Park: A Zoo for All Seasons (1973) - YouTube
Half-hour documentary from 1973 about the Detroit Zoo and its two facilities on Isle Royale. Some points of interest:
  • The zoo apparently exhibited brown hyenas during this era which are today totally gone from the US.
  • The above is I believe also the case for the European bison also seen in the video
  • What I think is now the Belle Isle Nature Zoo used to be a very themed attraction that was mostly home to petting-zoo animals but among other things also had a very poor-looking cheetah habitat.
  • Several species of bear from around the world, including Kodiak, as many as 6 individual polar, and sun bear were all kept in the same enclosure.
  • What appear to be African penguins used to live alongside the more southernly species in the Penguinarium.
  • The reptile house used to have a sea turtle tank.
  • Orangutans and gibbons used to be kept in tiny enclosures as part of the ape collection in addition to the gorillas and chimps the zoo still exhibits.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing that gem. It's neat to see how standards have changed. Also, did anyone else think it was interesting how decidedly non gender neutral much of the narration was? A reflection of the time.
 
evilmonkey239 said:
Detroit Zoological Park: A Zoo for All Seasons (1973) - YouTube
Half-hour documentary from 1973 about the Detroit Zoo and its two facilities on Isle Royale. Some points of interest:
  • The zoo apparently exhibited brown hyenas during this era which are today totally gone from the US.
  • The above is I believe also the case for the European bison also seen in the video
  • What I think is now the Belle Isle Nature Zoo used to be a very themed attraction that was mostly home to petting-zoo animals but among other things also had a very poor-looking cheetah habitat.
  • Several species of bear from around the world, including Kodiak, as many as 6 individual polar, and sun bear were all kept in the same enclosure.
  • What appear to be African penguins used to live alongside the more southernly species in the Penguinarium.
  • The reptile house used to have a sea turtle tank.
  • Orangutans and gibbons used to be kept in tiny enclosures as part of the ape collection in addition to the gorillas and chimps the zoo still exhibits.
Click to expand...
The Belle Isle zoo was a children's zoo, with storybook themes and some petting allowed. They closed it and set up a sort of African-themed smaller zoo, you want around with a raised walkway, but they didn't seem committed to it and not much came of it. I think the ruins are still there.

South of the current red panda exhibit, now open ground, was a great ape house with small cages and I don't recall any outdoor access. It was part of the building where they had the chimp shows. I don't recall when it was closed.
 
MIZOOenthusiast070128 said:
When I saw the masterplan it showed the lions being in the area around the back of the grizzly bear dens with a new exhibit for them, but I talked to someone a few days ago and the lions may be put in the watering hole exhibit. The watering hole exhibit currently has two elands and an ostrich along with a few smaller animals like a saddle-billed stork and a sulcata tortoise, and these animals would likely be moved into the giraffe and zebra areas. The giraffe and zebra areas may be expanded, there is room for some expansion in that area, but that's speculation. I'm not sure what would happen with the flock pf pink-backed pelicans though, that usually reside in the watering hole exhibit, but are currently in the old Chilean flamingo exhibit.
Click to expand...

Can you link to the master plan? I've been unable to find it.
 
First Lion Cub Born in 40 Years

Detroit Zoo celebrates its first lion born in 40 years

The lion is named Binti, meaning “daughter” in Swahili, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) said. She is the first lion born at the Detroit Zoo since 1980. Her mother, 4-year-old lioness Asha, underwent a cesarean section after she was observed going into labor naturally but then failed to give birth. Unfortunately, three other cubs were stillborn, zoo officials said.

Asha and her sister, Amirah, came to the Detroit Zoo from the Buffalo Zoo in May 2019 as part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Program (SSP).

Binti’s father, Simba, once lived with the royal family of Qatar and found sanctuary at the Detroit Zoo in 2013 when his owners voluntarily relinquished him.
 
At one time the Detroit Zoo fed the lions with children who didn't behave at the zoo. Or so I was told when I was about eight years old. I don't know if this is still what they do.
 
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