Detroit Zoo Detroit Zoo News 2021

[snowleopard]

Ron Kagan, who has led the Detroit Zoo for 28 years, is retiring this summer. "During Kagan's tenure, the zoo's annual visitor counts doubled and its paid memberships tripled." All of that was done without elephants for the past 17 years, but the zoo has enhanced many of its existing exhibits and I think that without a doubt it is one of the best zoos in North America (at least Top 15). Kagan's departure will leave some big shoes to fill!

Detroit Zoo director Ron Kagan to retire this summer

 

[Alex Bensky]

The wildlife interpretive gallery could fit in two new exhibits, one in the Science on a Sphere and the art gallery opposite of it. They could possibly have two-story viewing also. The old penguinarium will be a bat conservation center. I actually think it's pretty difficult to fit in an exhibit in the Ford Education Center. The whole building in theaters, a photo gallery, classrooms, and offices. I don't know about the hippo barn, I don't know where it is. If we look at the poorly used land, there are a few options. There is a huge portion of land near the entrance of the Australian exhibit that could fit one or two new exhibits. The smaller grizzly bear exhibit could fit a small mammal from North America like a bobcat, lynx, or fox. The pudu exhibit never should've been removed. It was a good spot for another small mammal. The dinosaur trail only gets used once every other year. This could fit two or three new exhibits. Probably Asian small-clawed otters, snow leopards, and another small Asian animal. All the picnic sites are way too large and don't seem very popular. They definitely get used, but not very well. The only ones that get used a lot are the events pavilion and main picnic site. So yeah, I guess they don't need to expand at all.

I live near the zoo (downtown Royal Oak) and I go there a lot. Even on well-attended summer days I rarely see the picnic areas filled.

The idea was to turn the old Penguinarium into a bat conservation center but I have no idea if there are actually plans to do that in the foreseeable future.

An Asian-themed area near the red panda and tiger exhibits would be a good idea...we had snow leopards for a while but I don't know what happened to them. I'm all for more otters.

By the way, an early post in this thread mentioned the fallow deer in several exhibits. My apologies if this has been answered before. They had a herd of them at the Belle Isle park on an island in the river and decided to remove it and rather than kill them off the decision was to move them to the zoo and distribute them where they could. I don't know if they tried to get other zoos to take them.

In my opinion while I fully realize that zoos should not be essentially postage stamp collections of animals, I think the current director, Ron Kagan, has overdone the reduction of species. He's retiring and it will be interesting to see what the new director does.

 

[Cat-Man]

I live near the zoo (downtown Royal Oak) and I go there a lot. Even on well-attended summer days I rarely see the picnic areas filled.

The idea was to turn the old Penguinarium into a bat conservation center but I have no idea if there are actually plans to do that in the foreseeable future.

An Asian-themed area near the red panda and tiger exhibits would be a good idea...we had snow leopards for a while but I don't know what happened to them. I'm all for more otters.

By the way, an early post in this thread mentioned the fallow deer in several exhibits. My apologies if this has been answered before. They had a herd of them at the Belle Isle park on an island in the river and decided to remove it and rather than kill them off the decision was to move them to the zoo and distribute them where they could. I don't know if they tried to get other zoos to take them.

In my opinion while I fully realize that zoos should not be essentially postage stamp collections of animals, I think the current director, Ron Kagan, has overdone the reduction of species. He's retiring and it will be interesting to see what the new director does.

Hi Alex; what species have been lost from Detroit in recent years?

 

[Alex Bensky]

Hi Alex; what species have been lost from Detroit in recent years?

One in particular was Indian elephants, although the argument for moving them to a sanctuary was reasonable--they really didn't have enough room and given our winters, they had to spend a lot of time indoors. They expanded the white rhino exhibit into the former elephant space. I noticed last week that the Gila monsters are no longer in the display with beaded lizards.

The brown snake is gone...I don't know if it's been moved or died. Too bad. It was one of my favorites in part because it was seized from someone in a local suburb who was keeping it as a pet. At the time there was no antivenin in the Western Hemisphere and he said well, he was being careful. When I read that I remember thinking that people say they're being careful and yet the maternity wards are full.

The three east-facing bear pits were combined into one for the grizzlies and they moved the black and brown bears elsewhere. We had a snow leopard a few years ago.

As I say, I fully realize that zoos, if the welfare of the animals is the prime consideration, cannot just be a collection of as many animals as you can cram in, but I think the director is overdoing it a bit. However, no one has actually asked me.

To meander off topic a bit, if things normalize by the summer I'll be taking a trip to another city and I'm already thinking about what to see. I happened to be in the bookstore last week so I checked the city in the travel section, and like most Zoo Chatters, I'd guess, I was irked that to find out about the zoo I had to look in the section, "Things to do with the children."

 

[Zoofan15]

Update on the African lion cub:

The female cub, Binti, was hand raised for several weeks following her cesarean birth; but incredibly, staff have managed to introduce her to her foster mother, her aunt Amirah.

They are hopeful of long term, introducing her to the rest of the pride, which includes her parents and another lioness.

Full story in link: Detroit Zoo celebrates its first lion cub born in 40 years

 

[Azamat Shackleford]

I'm just hoping we get more species again. Detroit lost way too many species, and as I've said before, each visit hasn't had the charm it used to sport. So much wasted potential that really the only thing worth going to Detroit for (if you're a regular) is to visit the Polk Penguin Conservation Center (which in turn is closed due to maintenance issues and repairs regarding leakage).

I forgot to mention that while maintaining animal welfare is important and crucial to proper animal husbandry, the major loss of species over new acquisitions is unnecessary and upsetting.

Also, I'm guessing that the brown snake went to Omaha (I found a pic of a king brown snake on Photoark that was rather recent).

 

[Alex Bensky]

I'm just hoping we get more species again. Detroit lost way too many species, and as I've said before, each visit hasn't had the charm it used to sport. So much wasted potential that really the only thing worth going to Detroit for (if you're a regular) is to visit the Polk Penguin Conservation Center (which in turn is closed due to maintenance issues and repairs regarding leakage).

I forgot to mention that while maintaining animal welfare is important and crucial to proper animal husbandry, the major loss of species over new acquisitions is unnecessary and upsetting.

Also, I'm guessing that the brown snake went to Omaha (I found a pic of a king brown snake on Photoark that was rather recent).

I went this afternoon...the website did not make it clear that all the indoor exhibits were closed. I chatted with a guy from zoo technical services and he said he thought, wasn't sure, that the brown snake was just off exhibit. I'll see if I can find out.

I got the impression from talking with the guy that the director's substantial cut in number of species wasn't meeting with universal approval among the staff. Well, there will be a new director later this year.

I did see the new lion cub, who was outside playing. Not many other animals were out although it wasn't all that cold, low forties (for you non-Americans, that's Fahrenheit...you know, real degrees).

 

[Azamat Shackleford]

I got the impression from talking with the guy that the director's substantial cut in number of species wasn't meeting with universal approval among the staff. Well, there will be a new director later this year.

I'm just glad to see that many people are in disapproval of the species cuts. What even was the purpose for the drastic cut? Some were meant to make room for other animals, but for some animals like the pudu, it was literally for no reason. I'm crossing my fingers that the new director fixes this train wreck of a mess.

 

[Gondwana]

I'm just glad to see that many people are in disapproval of the species cuts. What even was the purpose for the drastic cut? Some were meant to make room for other animals, but for some animals like the pudu, it was literally for no reason. I'm crossing my fingers that the new director fixes this train wreck of a mess.

Besides the pudu, does anyone remember which other exhibits have been removed or combined and which ones have lost species? For the outdoor exhibits, I can recall the following from the recent past:
-current warthog exhibit was formerly two exhibits (warthog and African Wild Dog).
-current aardvark was formerly two exhibits (hippo and aardvark)
-current wolf was formerly two exhibits (bison and elk)
-current anteater was formerly two exhibits (anteater and binturong). Was there another exhibit removed from the small mammal area as well?
-current brown bear was formerly three bear grottoes
-Camel and guanaco yards formerly had additional species mixed in
-Gorilla yard formerly had drills mixed

 

[Alex Bensky]

Besides the pudu, does anyone remember which other exhibits have been removed or combined and which ones have lost species? For the outdoor exhibits, I can recall the following from the recent past:
-current warthog exhibit was formerly two exhibits (warthog and African Wild Dog).
-current aardvark was formerly two exhibits (hippo and aardvark)
-current wolf was formerly two exhibits (bison and elk)
-current anteater was formerly two exhibits (anteater and binturong). Was there another exhibit removed from the small mammal area as well?
-current brown bear was formerly three bear grottoes
-Camel and guanaco yards formerly had additional species mixed in
-Gorilla yard formerly had drills mixed

Kagan has done many fine things for the zoo, to be sure. The grounds have been kept up well. If I had thirty million bucks to spend I wouldn't have used it for this lavish a penguin display but it is something, or will be when they re-open it, which was supposed to be last June. Some of the smaller projects, such as the Tiger forest, the lion exhibit expansion, and the wolves, have been fine additions.

And again, I understand that if you just jam as many species in as you can, it's not good for the animals. But I hope the new guy (or gal) will agree that you should have as many species as you can reasonably and safely accommodate.

 

[Azamat Shackleford]

The giant anteater area also had an adjacent coati exhibit which is now no more. The macaws and curassow in the aviary are gone as well, and the lesser kudu, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, barn owls, and lion-tailed macaques are also moved out or gone. Meerkats are gone as well (replaced with a sloth and fruit bats). Bush dogs are planned to be phased out I’ve heard as well (already are? I don’t know).

And yes, cramming a truckload of animals in an area isn’t ideal, but the big species loss was way too excessive and uncalled for. Is Kagan even aware about the outcry regarding it?

 

[Gondwana]

The giant anteater area also had an adjacent coati exhibit which is now no more. The macaws and curassow in the aviary are gone as well, and the lesser kudu, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, barn owls, and lion-tailed macaques are also moved out or gone. Meerkats are gone as well (replaced with a sloth and fruit bats). Bush dogs are planned to be phased out I’ve heard as well (already are? I don’t know).

And yes, cramming a truckload of animals in an area isn’t ideal, but the big species loss was way too excessive and uncalled for. Is Kagan even aware about the outcry regarding it?

Thanks for adding those other changes to the list. To be fair, there have been a few other additions as well -- wildebeest and pronghorn come to mind -- but there are definitely fewer species on exhibit now and some of the larger outdoor exhibits seem under-utilized. In terms of collection, the limited number of cats (2 species) and primates (4 species) is what stands out the most to me. Should be interesting to see what the future brings.

 

[Alex Bensky]

The giant anteater area also had an adjacent coati exhibit which is now no more. The macaws and curassow in the aviary are gone as well, and the lesser kudu, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, barn owls, and lion-tailed macaques are also moved out or gone. Meerkats are gone as well (replaced with a sloth and fruit bats). Bush dogs are planned to be phased out I’ve heard as well (already are? I don’t know).

And yes, cramming a truckload of animals in an area isn’t ideal, but the big species loss was way too excessive and uncalled for. Is Kagan even aware about the outcry regarding it?

I don't know if he's aware of it or, if aware, cares much. In any event, he's leaving so maybe we can offer polite suggestions to his successor. Meanwhile, I go a lot--I'm a member and I live very close by. I could walk it but I usually drive except for Zoo Brew, since I'm not going to have the equivalent of two or three pints of beer and then try to drive.

And just from listening to other visitors...not just zoo buffs such as our friends here...I do hear that there's just not as much to see as there used to be. I wonder if this affects attendance.

 

[Azamat Shackleford]

Yeah, I know other people who prefer making the extra drive down to Toledo even rather than visit Detroit. I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic for the new zoo director; I'd hate to see Detroit fully lose the nostalgic charm it once had. I'm not going to bring up the fact that Kagan himself has possible ties with animal rights organizations...

HSUS and Other Radicals Conspire Behind Closed Doors at Detroit Zoo - HumaneWatch

(insert "can't have s**t in Detroit" meme here)

 

[Alex Bensky]

I like the Toledo Zoo a lot and I often recommend it to people with younger kids. Some years ago I was waiting in line to open up the Buffalo Zoo and a guy in line saw my Tiger cap and asked if I was from Detroit. He mentioned he'd been there the previous year and one thing he'd noticed was a lot of people with families bringing wagons, as the zoo is so big geographically. Toledo's is much smaller. It's a good zoo but not as much walking.

And yes, I chat with zoogoers in Detroit and some of them say they prefer the trip to Toledo, just more to see, and again, these are not people who think that you just jam in as many animals as you can.

I'm not opposed to some of the things Kagan has done. No animal needed to be removed, as far as I know, for the tiger exhibit expansion, and they've done a nice job with it. A zoo employee with whom I spoke last week said they're expecting a female fairly soon. I haven't heard anything about it otherwise.

But we had four bear species, now down to one. Several animals in the pits south of what I still call the Pavilion have been removed, and so forth Others above have listed more species dropped.

My situation as a zoogoer is not common. I live very close, I have no family, and I have a very flexible schedule so I can go over as I did last week, notice the lack of species (and some weren't out anyway) and I still enjoyed a pleasant walk around the zoo. As it happens all the indoor buildings were closed which was too bad in part because I'm trying to get more interested in amphibians.

But if I were a family that had a schedule, and getting to the zoo was not something I could do casually and at the drop of a hat, I would find such visits often disappointing.

 

[Azamat Shackleford]

I also forgot to mention that Detroit has gotten rid of their emus.

 

[birdsandbats]

When I visited Detroit for the first (and so far only) time in the summer of 2019, I noticed that the collection seemed to be significantly smaller than what the zoo should have. If that's because the zoo director has been getting rid of species just because than that is very unfortunate. Toledo is one of the best zoos I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, I think Toledo is much more worth visiting than Detroit is.

 

[StoppableSan]

Thanks for adding those other changes to the list. To be fair, there have been a few other additions as well -- wildebeest and pronghorn come to mind -- but there are definitely fewer species on exhibit now and some of the larger outdoor exhibits seem under-utilized. In terms of collection, the limited number of cats (2 species) and primates (4 species) is what stands out the most to me. Should be interesting to see what the future brings.

From what I heard based on this thread, the African Waterhole exhibit would be converted to house lions, and the current lion exhibit would become a new facility for snow leopards. Is this still the plan?

 

[TZDugong]

I really, really like Detroit, but yeah the collection has been downsized a lot - even since my visit around 2 years ago. I don't think it's always a terrible thing, especially when those areas are turned into really good exhibits (as is often the case at Detroit), but there are definitely areas that feel empty. The Camel and Wolverine/Anteater exhibits in particular feel a bit empty and a couple nice species would improve the zoo.

 

[Alex Bensky]

I like the Toledo Zoo a lot and I often recommend it to people with younger kids. Some years ago I was waiting in line to open up the Buffalo Zoo and a guy in line saw my Tiger cap and asked if I was from Detroit. He mentioned he'd been there the previous year and one thing he'd noticed was a lot of people with families bringing wagons, as the zoo is so big geographically. Toledo's is much smaller. It's a good zoo but not as much walking.

And yes, I chat with zoogoers in Detroit and some of them say they prefer the trip to Toledo, just more to see, and again, these are not people who think that you just jam in as many animals as you can.

I'm not opposed to some of the things Kagan has done. No animal needed to be removed, as far as I know, for the tiger exhibit expansion, and they've done a nice job with it. A zoo employee with whom I spoke last week said they're expecting a female fairly soon. I haven't heard anything about it otherwise.

But we had four bear species, now down to one. Several animals in the pits south of what I still call the Pavilion have been removed, and so forth Others above have listed more species dropped.

My situation as a zoogoer is not common. I live very close, I have no family, and I have a very flexible schedule so I can go over as I did last week, notice the lack of species (and some weren't out anyway) and I still enjoyed a pleasant walk around the zoo. As it happens all the indoor buildings were closed which was too bad in part because I'm trying to get more interested in amphibians.

But if I were a family that had a schedule, and getting to the zoo was not something I could do casually and at the drop of a hat, I would find such visits often disappointing.

I was mistaken. We had four bear species in the pits on the west side of the zoo that were among the original structures. We have two bear species; the polar bears are in the Arctic Ring of Life display.