What is your personal zoo visit highlight?
This is really difficult, honestly, as it's been such a super productive year for me and I almost hate to boil it down to one moment.
I visited ten new collections this year, doubling my life total, eight of them during my trip to the United Kingdom and two new stateside collections - Indianapolis Zoo and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Each of these visits had dozens of highlights of their own, and I especially felt lucky to experience seeing baby elephants at multiple institutions, something I'd always wanted to see, and twice getting to see babies in full herd settings (Chester and Omaha.) I also am probably one of the first Americans to visit London's The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians. Still hoping to finish a trip thread for this.
But maybe the most unique experience was seeing the Brown Hyena family at Hamerton, all four individuals, sharing a meal. They are a beautiful species and I would have felt sufficiently lucky to sight one at all, but being treated to several minutes of seeing the family group was very unexpected. Moments like this are part of what zoos are about as I have a new appreciation for this species from seeing them in the flesh.
Another highlight was spotting the elusive Chinese Goral at Omaha and solving the little Zoochat mystery if the species was still held there and present.
Both of the above experiences I also shared with other zoochatters, and I really want to highlight that the kindness of other zoochatters was a big highlight this year. So many UK zoochatters provided me information for my trip, and
@Lafone and
@oflory were both very kind an made possible experiences that may not have otherwise happened, and
@Crowthorne also provided helpful advice. i also received a lot of help from
@MGolka at Omaha as well as some great historical notes. I had a local who helped me out at Indy who probably would be a zoochatter, too.
Being at a facility with good friends can always add to the experience. Me and my brother-in-law spent a while at Yorkshire Wildlife Park trying to find a lone swamp wallaby in a huge mob of Bennett's wallabies. Me and one of my best friends getting up close with several primates at London and looking for the sloth at Rainforest Life at the Clore. Looking for the cotton top tamarin bathroom with a longtime friend from Indy and a close friend from home, the same of whom I got to feed several cool species with there, too.
What is your favourite piece of zoo news of the year?
The release of Brookfield's Master Plan. The zoo is closer to my heart than it sounds in recent postings and the hope it might someday be one of the greatest zoos in the country again is a dream I desperately hope becomes a reality. There are so many exciting species to potentially join the collection that even if half of it doesn't happen, the effort alone should still result in major improvements.
I also found it maddening and amusing that very shortly after my visit, Chester Zoo reopened their tuatara exhibit. They were the first bucket list species for my visit and I was supremely disappointed to find before my trip that they were off display. I'm calling it a "favorite" because it really is quite funny.
Bronx reopening World of Darkness after I'd already started planning a trip felt like a stroke of crazy luck in the other direction. I love nocturnal houses and I can't wait to see it.
What was your most disappointing zoo news of the year?
There's been quite a few animal deaths this year that affected me. The loss of Patti the hippopotamus and Ringo the harbor seal at Milwaukee were two of my favorite animals at the facility. I fed Patti a few years ago at an event and talked to a keeper about her being geriatric and what kind of care that required. There were also some major deaths at Chester a little after my visit, too, but I feel like the wrong person to talk about them.
I was also a little sad to see Brookfield ship out Banana the pygmy hippopotamus and Zoey Claire the black-footed cat, two of my favorite animals there. I know the renovations to the pachyderm building will be worth it and Zoey Claire is going to help the breeding program, but still a little sad. The incoming master plan will soon put a lot of the zoo in flux that will feel bittersweet.
I'm also going to mention I'm bummed Brookfield will not be bringing back it's aardvark house in the Master Plan. This was a point of passion for me for a long, long time. I love the master plan and I'm really happy, but do wish that one dream had gone in. I'm hopeful they find a way to work the species in somewhere else.
The loss of Memphis' red slender loris and Minnesota's last Hawaiian monk seal being moved mostly off-exhibit are two formerly high priority rarities I will probably never see. Sad news but not unexpected in either case.
While not "zoo news", I was disappointed to not make Monkey World on my UK trip as originally planned, as the slow loris is one of my highest bucket list species.
Is there anything zoo-based in your plans for 2025?
Yes. I am very excited about the opening of Tropical Forests at Brookfield in May and have already asked a few friends about heading there with me. It feels like a bigger event because it's been so long since there's been a major development there. I'm also hoping to see Milwaukee's new penguin exhibit and hopefully the opening of the new rhino exhibit as well. I will hopefully be revisiting all three of my local Chicago institutions as well as Milwaukee.
As for broader travel plans. I shared this in "
2025 Zoo Bucket List":
My number one most likely focus next year is the Bronx Zoo, and very likely/hopefully tagging on the other WCS facilities and if things work out, possibly another northeast facility or two as well. This is a multipurpose trip involving meeting some friends, one of whom is also a big animal lover who hasn't visited even a halfway decent zoo in many years.
A few other priorities are Louisville, Henry Vilas and Peoria, all of which were intended for this and last year and got pushed off. My interest in each has lightened up a little but I'd still like to check them off. Louisville will likely be early in the year as I'd like to see the elephants before they depart.
Toledo, Columbus and revisiting Saint Louis or Indy are also possibilities that have been discussed, all of which might involve additional facilities based on how things unfold.
There are some other possible crazy plans that I'd be a little embarrassed to float and fail. A friend of mine is planning some international trips that I may accompany at least one.
I definitely expect to visit at least two new collections next year.
