John Ball Zoo John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids, MI)

Having just returned from a visit to the John Ball Zoo, I must say that the new lion exhibit is one of the best exhibits at the zoo.

The exhibit is set on a fairly steep hillside, and has lots of tall grass as well as shrubs and a few trees. Principal viewing is via two viewing huts at the bottom of the exhibit with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Unfortunately, the lions are still new to the exhibit (and to each other) and tend to spend most of their time at the top of the exhibit, more or less out of view from here.

There is also an elevated viewing platform on the left side of the exhibit, which is quite high (three storeys, according to okapikpr's article) and is reached by a series of stairs (there is a video feed at the bottom for those who can't/won't climb to the top). It provides a birds-eye view of the exhibit - a very unusual perspective. While care was taken with sightlines in the lower bunkers, the platform gives you more of a sense of what the exhibit setup is really like.

There is one large concrete tree near the bottom of the hill for the lions to climb on (encouraging them to act like the "Lions of Lake Manyara"), and a trickling stream and small pool near the bottom of the hill. All in all, it is a very nice setup, although the statement that it is one of the largest lion exhibits in the US is rather shocking ... it is comfortably large, but certainly not expansive.
 
I'm very pleased to hear (see?) you say that!

I was surprised when I saw on the posted videos (Youtube, etc) that the lions were up in the planters. The rear highest planter was to be hot-wired off from them.
I went to some pains to make the area just in front of the viewing glass the most attractive spot to the lions! Why didn't they read the plans????
 
Zooplantman said:
I went to some pains to make the area just in front of the viewing glass the most attractive spot to the lions! Why didn't they read the plans????
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The zoo execs, or the lions?!!!;)
In time, I am sure the lions will gravitate downwards; in talking to the keepers, there is one female who is still very unsure about the exhibit and is only locked out for short periods of time ... when she is out, she tends to stay at the top of the exhibit, but the house. Early in the morning, both females did come down to the mid-level of the exhibit - one looked to be stalking the yellow-backed duiker next door!

As an overview, the zoo is relatively small, and is set up more-or-less zoogeographically, with exhibits ranging from brand-spanking new to very old (I think the Monkey Island is from the 1940s).

The first exhibits (waterfowl pools) reminded me of some of the Los Angeles waterfowl exhibits near the front, with rocky backdrops and 'bridge-type' overlooks. Tte front entrance is at the lowest elevation in the zoo, and the first walk is uphill passed the terraced pools. A large mesh exhibit has a pair of bald eagles, after which the visitor is out into the main part of the zoo.

The aquarium building took me very much by surprise - rather than being devoted to rows of tanks with fish, it was more thematic, illustrating three temperate aquatic regions: Michigan (with a trout stream), Patagonia (with penguins, free-flying gulls, red-headed cardinals, and ducks, as well as some large fish), and the Pacific Northwest ("kelp forest" tank, octopus, and touch pool). The entrance is along the trout stream, which you view from above water outside, then get an underwater view from inside the atrium. The floow-to-ceiling glass gave a very atypical view into an "aquarium" - not only are the fish outside and the people inside, because the glass is LARGER than the stream, it gives a sense that the fish were there first and the building added second. Very cool.

The Patagonian area was nicely done, but not overly spectacular. Underwater viewing of the penguins is provided, with the glass stopping 1.5-2 feet above the water's surface. The lighting was quite low, and rockwork predominated, giving the exhibit a bit of a plastic feel (the domed ceiling is painted as a sky with clouds). The free-flight birds did make it different.

Finally, the Pacific kelp tank was quite impressive, with the viewing window rising vertically and then curving OVER the viewing areav(like a half-tunnel). There wasn't much kelp to be seen, but the fish were quite interesting, including some sharks, a wolf eel, snappers, and several other species. The exhibit ends at a tide pool area, which has a tidal surge every few minutes (very exciting for kids), as well as a touch pool area.

Just outside the aquarium is a small peanut-shaped touchtank with stingrays, sharks, and horseshoe crabs, with a $1 fee to enter.

A wallaby walk-through exhibit is perched on a steep hill around the back of the aquarium - the area for the wallabies was pitched very steeply down towards the visitor pathway, and the animals had to hop down to the visitor path to move between the two halves of the exhibit (divided by their night quarters). Visitor fencing did give them a clear path, and several times I saw wallabies in the public area, but the exhibit seemed geared much more towards people than the animals.

The North American section contains two small, old bear grotto exhibits (similar to the San Diego Zoo's current sheep exhibits), one with two brown bears, the other with a single Dall's sheep. The wolverine exhibit was a decent size for a small mammal exhibit, and was fully enclosed with mesh and two viewing windows. More enrichment and furniture is needed though! There is also an otter exhibit, with too much rockwork, but with a decent sized pool and land area for the otters.

Mountain lions and snow leopards are held in adjacent hillside cages which are build onto a very steep series of ledges; there is very little depth to the enclosures, but lots of height. Unfortunately, since viewing is at the bottom, the cats are often hard to see as they sit in the crags at the top of the enclosures. There is some vegetation, but very little soft substrate.

From the cats, you then walk along a boardwalk, overlooking monkey island on one side (will return to that later) and the South American pampas on the other. This latter exhibit is a very long, narrow exhibit with guanaco and crested screamers (and sometimes capybara), with lots of angular rockwork forming the back wall. At the far end is a small pool. The end of the exhibit is marked with a chasm into which a waterfall pours. This separates the guanaco area from a small island with a pair of sakis. Behind and above the two exhibits is the "L"-shaped maned wolf enclosure, which has the same (ugly) rectangular rockwork and doesn't appear to be that animal-friendly (the long side of the "L" runs parallel to the guanaco exhibit). There are glass windows looking up into the wold exhibit, as well as onto the saki "island", but the steep pitch of the short leg of the "L" (at the bottom of which is the window) makes seeing the wolves virtually impossible, and is made even more difficult by the fact that they seem to prefer the long side of the exhibit.

Glass viewing (very scuffed/dirty) looks into grottoes for South American tapir (formerly lions) and Amur tiger ... the exhibits are a bit unusual in that the viewing is at ground level into the grottoes, but they are far too small, especially for the tapir, since the upper half has been hotwired off, presumably for safety.

The African area, at the farthest end of the zoo, is definitely the best outdoor exhibit region of the zoo, with chimpanzees, the new lion exhibit, and a hoofstock exhibit. The chimp exhibit is rather cookie-cutter of the newer style exhibit, with the main viewing across a moat as well as a viewing window at one end. However the vegetation is quite dense and there seem to be numerous choices available for the chimps (there is also indoor viewing to a dayroom area). After the chimps come the lions, followed by the "veldt", which is grossly misnamed. The plans are to exhibit bongo in the exhibit, but currently it holds one yellow-backed duiker and a pair of hornbills (there is a vulture hiding somewhere, and potentially guineafowl too). Viewing is across a water moat, and (in part due to the lack of pressure on the plant life) the grass is quite lush and there are several trees and shrubs. It is not a special exhibit, but it was simple and very effective. At one side (nearest to the tiger grotto) is a tiny warthog exhibit which seems very out of character with the rest of Africa. The warthogs almost appear to live in a little volcano ... the exhibit is surrounded by a dry moat, with steep craggy rocks forming the sides and lip of the exhibit. The moat is inaccessible to all but the most adventurous (crazy) warthog, with the result that the usable warthog space is about half of the exhibit footprint. In comparison to the other three exhibits, this one felt tiny and barren (I would hate to try to introduce two new animals in the exhibit).

From Africa, you head back downhill to the small mammal/tropical/reptile house, which is actually underneath the boardwalk overlooking the guanaco exhibit. There is a nicely planted (but small) outdoor Komodo dragon exhibit just before the entrance, with glass viewing on two sides. Just inside the building is a two-storey exhibit with a small group of howler monkeys, which is the largest enclosure in the building, and the only exhibit to have a skylight. You then enter a standard exhibit gallery, with box-like exhibits on either side holding black-footed cats, cockroaches, porcupines, bats, tamarins, and then reptiles of various sorts. An old exhibit, but with obvious effort by the staff to meet the needs of the animals via exhibit furnishing.

Outside the tropical hall is monkey island - one of the oldest exhibits at the zoo, and one in desperate need of renovation (apparently this is one of the next big projects). The island has two main rock "towers" connected by ropes and a few logs, joining to the tropical building at one end (presumably the spider monkeys' indoor quarters are adjacent to the howler monkey off-exhibit area). It was inhabited by 5-10 black spider monkeys.

The only other areas I have not covered are the Childrens Zoo (old, with a few grotto exhibits with parrots and a porcupine, a rocky barnyard, as well as some small aviaries with magpies) and the new frog exhibit, which has the feel of a temporary display with small tanks behind simple walls. Several TINY cages line the path which links the wallabies to the kids' zoo - half were empty, and I felt sorry for the animals housed in the others.

The zoo is obviously aware of its deficiencies and has made some excellent strides in its recent exhibits. Apart from redoing monkey island, there is talk of a new bear exhibit near the front (to replace the waterfowl pools).
 
Ungulate said:
The zoo execs, or the lions?!!!;)
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The lions :D

The John Ball Zoo has been trying to grow for some years now. When they asked the voters to allow them to spread further into John Ball Park, they were rebuffed. When a MAJOR donor offered them land elsewhere and the hope of building a new larger zoo, their bid for bond money was rebuffed by voters. And so they turned their attention to re-inventing the zoo they had, without public financial support. That is not easy in today's climate.

I think that what is unique about the lion exhibit is not its acreage, but rather how cheap it was to build. Today, a zoo wanting to build a new exhibit will be thinking US$15million and above perhaps to US$30million. Gate receipts won't do it. Not ever. Rentals for special events, more gift shops, ice cream stands, etc., etc. end up paying for the operational maintenance of the zoo, its collection and staff (zoo keepers used to be very poorly paid, now they are simply not paid well ;) ) Donors are also being hit on by in situ conservation organizations, disease-charities, hunger-charities, and political parties. There is no longer an "old guard" elite who feels duty-bound to support local culture.

So older zoos will be very slow to re-invent themselves.
(Forgive me, folks, this rant was really a response to things posted in perhaps half a dozen threads here.)
 
I'd say more than half a dozen, probably several dozen. And while it takes so long for a zoo to re-invent its self, some want to make sure they do it right and make it financially sound. Opening a new exhibit every 3-5 years (and having temporary exhibits in between) is a financially safe way for a zoo to raise captial funds and encourage repeat attendance over several years. When these building campaigns begin, zoos like John Ball look directly at what they believe are the worst exhibits (sometimes they are rotting more on the inside). From my research, zoo improvements tend to start with Great Apes, then large cats, elephants, and finally bears.

The John Ball Zoo's masterplan (developed by Jones and Jones) is showing a similar trend. With recent new exhibits built for the chimpanzees and lions. Next on its plate will be the monkey island, followed by a good-sized grizzly bear exhibit. The zoo also has plans to build similar polar bear and amur tiger exhibits, along with a new zoo entry to support the hopeful increase traffic into the zoo. This small zoo's future has been delayed for many years, like zooplantman mentioned, due to its recent failed capital campaigns.

The monkey island renovation will open next year, and construction will soon start on the grizzly bear exhibit. Most of the money has been raised for new grizzly home.

Here's the link to the zoo's masterplan.
accessKent | John Ball Zoological Garden
 
@Ungulate: I applaud you for another extremely detailed review. The zoo's "Monkey Island" is one of hundreds that have been constructed over the years, and it's intriguing that the exhibit doesn't seem to have changed in decades. The same goes for the bear grottos, as those are found at just about every zoo worldwide. Just once in my life I'd love to visit a zoo and not have to look down at carnivores in open pits. I wonder what the attendance numbers are for the John Ball Zoo?

@Zooplantman: you bring up some quality points in terms of zoo funding. Some zoological collections have millions poured into new exhibits, but many face a somewhat uncertain future in terms of improving the enclosures. Progress is awfully slow for many zoos, with a decade going by with only one or two new exhibits opening. Others are like the Oregon Zoo, with 6 new exhibits opening within 2 years, and possibly a $120 million bond being approved in the fall. In Oregon the zoo now averages 1.5 million visitors per year, and the community approval for its star attraction is sky-high.
 
A small note, okapikpr: as I understand it, the zoo hasn't yet decided on how the bear exhibit will be designed (in-house, local architect, national firm), let alone preparing for construction. So that puts the exhibit at least 2-3 years away at the soonest.

Your list of what order animal exhibits get built in is interesting. It pretty much matches results of visitor polls about their favorite animals (poor poor neglected birds and reptiles)
 
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The Portland community's financial support for their zoo is a rather rare occurance in most American zoos.
 
I don't think anyone will be sad to see the old monkey island become just a memory ... it was a very old exhibit in definite need of a renovation. The new island looks to have a larger land area, and significantly more enrichment opportunities for the spider monkeys (more poles and ropes, as well as natural substrate and vegetation!)
 
Also include in the developments is the new commissary which we finished a week ago!! We will be using it by the first of the new year!! I am really excited because otherwise are kitchen was the size of a trailer home and very crowed. It was a pain to clean because it was so crowded, hopefully this Will make it easier.
 
It will be interesting how the exhibits come to be because our director bert vescaloni retired and a guy named Andy is in charge. Here our some other noteworthy things:
We have gotten the recommendation for the tiger exhibit to be a breeding facility
Our maned wolves amboro and his girlfriend are being sent to oklahoma city zoo and are getting to males to live in the exhibit instead
We have gotten a male warthog to breed with our female
We currently have a cougar in quarantine
One of our female cougars has bent sent on SSP recommendation

So we have been very busy lately.
 
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