Franklin Park Zoo Franklin Park Zoo News 2016

ZooElephantMan

ZooElephantMan

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
A few things have happened recently

1. Nigerian Dwarf Goat was born (lots of newspapers and other people are making a huge deal about it idk why, since I don't think its that big of a deal)

2. Kiki won the preZOOdential elections

3. ZNE is trying to raise $65,000 for the A Wild Affair event at the Stone Zoo
 
Beau was on exhibit today! So exciting! He has giraffe wasting syndrome, which usually is a deadly disease, but unlike most other giraffes who come in contact with it who usually live for a few more years before dying young, Beau has survived with the disease for 11 years. This is why its so exciting Beau was on exhibit today.

Also, I found the news that he was on exhibit today from the zoos Facebook but I knew everything else already.

In addition heres a short documentary about how they were working with Beau when he first got the disease:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7uWGlHrzgw

Beau has been called the longest living Giraffe after diagnosis
 
Maybe. Who knows? Something went wrong. I dislike when they intervene. Given that she was weak, should have let her go. No sense in raising an animal with weak genetics..
 
I wonder if this somehow has to do with Beau's Giraffe Wasting Disease. How often do Giraffe's like Beau even have the chance to reproduce anyway?
 
This $7.2 million POS opens Sep. 1st. A glorified "playground" with red pandas, muntjac, prairie dogs and an asian-heavy bird aviary with N.A. turtles. The people that run Zoo New England are idiots. The staff are passionate and great, just the ones in the Zoo Office are incompetent a$$-hats. A new Welcome Center is on the boards. Seems this Zoo along with others can't remove their heads from their a$$e$ and follow the advice of "advisors" and others that get paid handsomely. I don't know why they need a new entrance, can't make it any more appealing than the historical structure that is there. If anything, they should make larger parking areas other than that stone dust lot and lots that hold <100 cars. But hey, they added a family of reticulated giraffe statues at the Zebra Entrance. At least people can see giraffes year-round. :p
 
Nature's Neighborhoods. $7.2 million dollars of ? I'm still deciding. Notable animals: Red Panda & Prairie Dogs. There's some birds and ducks, but whatever. The most expensive exhibit here is the Bird Cage. At least, looks-wise. It is still small, and a walk-through. White-naped Crane pair, is all I recognize. It's a glorified duck pond, otherwise. The Prairie Dog exhibit is basic. Sure, pop-ups, but basic. Small, even. Red Panda is, small. The turtle ponds promote theft if they're close enough to the fence. Not that I'm saying people will steal them or should, but the fence is low. The real stars of this exhibit aren't Zoo Animals, but fun things for kids. A slide, stump jump, bamboo climber and that's about it. There's a grass maze (laughable) that is 20' long? Whoever was the landscape contractor probably made a pretty penny, soaking them for labor. It is very underwhelming. Great for kids, as they loved it. Heard a lot of groaning about lack of animals, live ones. There's plenty of statues, though. No pavillions, NARO, Sloth's and others. Maybe less than two dozen animals? I don't know how many Prairie Dogs there are. Only real highlight, is a female Poitou Donkey that is new to the Zoo. Other than that, it looks professional, unlike most of their recent exhibits. At least, new ones. No deer fencing and such. There's lot of expensive pvc fencing blocking off employee areas. It's not the greatest. Prefer the old CZ. More animals, less play junk. There's a 10,000 sf playground 100' away. Nature deficit disorder, heard that a lot. How else to get kids interested without animals? I don't know. The planners, advisors and others soaked them pretty deep. Probably where the money was spent. I guess when people complain now about lack of animals, the staff can direct them to all the statues. Seems the way it is going, anyway. Can't wait for the Greeting. Lipstick on a pig, someone said. I agree. Seems these leaders and the board are happy, at least on the surface. The firms and "Zoo advisors" got paid. As did contractors. Wonder how the donors and state feel getting soaked for ornamental grasses and a slide? Time will tell.
 
Too many kid play things, all concentrated in one area is a problem. We don't need 2 playgrounds. I would be much more fine with NN if there wasn't another alternative playground already. Also, if all the playground / carousel / NN / kid stuff was spaced out as opposed to all on one side of the zoo very concentrated, that would be better too. The greeting next is a bad idea, that is a valuable $6 million+ that can be used in other areas. More parking is a bigger priority, as well as more animals in more professional looking exhibits who can be out year round or indoor viewing. The zoo has too few things spread too far apart. The whole middle of the zoo is a wasteland during the winter. Need more cold tolerant animals, or add animals to current exhibits who can still be out in the cold. As zoo plans change a lot and often for ZNE, I hope something changes and they push off the greeting for some other time, and prioritize a megafauna type animal project for the immediate future that will get more guests excited.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
As zoo plans change a lot and often for ZNE, I hope something changes and they push off the greeting for some other time, and prioritize a megafauna type animal project for the immediate future that will get more guests excited.
Click to expand...

Are there any potential megafauna exhibits that are in a master plan or that have been mentioned in ZNE materials?

What megafauna projects would be likely in Boston? Rhinos? Orangutans?
 
The zoo has not released its full masterplan, because they don't want to commit to anything and have the guests feel betrayed when it doesn't happen, but a general schedule of 3 phases of what was possibly supposed to happen was NN, greeting, waterhole.

I think rhinos are most likely. Back in 2000 or so when Giraffe Savannah was being built they were gonna have white rhinos and giraffes and zebras all together, but budget was short so they cut rhinos from the exhibit last minute. They could build a new rhino barn and put the rhinos in GS with the giraffes and zebras. The exhibit is 2 acres, plus the fences are already strong enough for rhinos because of poor planning. The best would be if they could let the visitors see the rhinos in the barn for in the winter, and also if there could be rhino encounters where the guests feed the rhinos just like at what some other zoos are doing. It would also be good, because it would help fill out the middle of the zoo, so even though rhinos obviously can't be out all year, they can be out way more frequently than giraffes, which is a large improvement, coupled with a likely full year viewing in the barn.
 
Thanks for the comments in regards to "Nature's Neighborhoods" and it is intriguing that no one has mentioned muntjac even though that species is listed on the zoo's website. Maybe inside the bird aviary or red panda exhibit?

I've always disliked the Franklin Park Zoo map, with its main road right down the middle and pathways off of that stretch. I can recall visiting in 2012 and thinking that the top half of the zoo had hardly any animals and there is some truth to that. The Bird World complex and Aussie zones are there, and now with a scattering of animals in the new children's zoo. However, the bottom half of the zoo is where all the popular animals are, with acres of space for expansion if the facility can ever pull itself out of its financial rut.
 
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