I've had a chance to digest the Zoo's new Master Plan and I have a few thoughts and opinions. This was my childhood zoo growing up in the suburbs of Maryland, just outside of Baltimore, so I have fond memories of the Main Valley overall - Junior the Kodiak Bear (now the prairie dog exhibit), the snow leopards and Amur tigers, the Raptor garden below the Mansion House steps, and the polar bears swimming laps pre- Polar Bear Watch. I'm certainly excited this historic area will be revamped to usher in a new and exciting chapter of this Zoo. I did not want to post this in the Zoo's news thread as to not distract from the main purpose, so I thought I would create a new thread and hope to spur some conversations if anyone is interested.
1) Gateway Building: I love the idea of a Gateway Building as they're calling it. Anything to highlight the Zoo's Panamanian golden frog program, I wholeheartedly support. Baltimore is the reason these frogs are prolific in captivity and they deserve an exhibit space worthy of telling that conservation story. I hope this building includes a behind the scenes looks at the lab space as well. The former Reptile House was a true gem, so bringing back at least some dedicated, indoor reptile and amphibian house will be really cool for visitors.
2) Gibbon and Upper Main Valley: I certainly remember the gibbons swinging in the metal cages back in the day. At first, I was skeptical that there appeared to just been a random menagerie of species. Perhaps each exhibit by itself is not an impressive addition, but all paired together (prairie dogs, gibbons, Gateway Building, Crane Barn, and sea eagles), the Upper Main Valley can be a welcoming environment with some really dynamic and fun animals for guests. The Stellar sea eagle exhibit is something that I'm sure will be really cool to see and paired with whatever birds they decide to exhibit in Crane Barn, I think the entrance can be a strong introduction to the Zoo.
3) Event Node and Americas Section: This is where I think it gets a bit weird and confusing. I love the idea of using the Old Elephant House as a historic exhibit/ event space. I think it's a good use of that space and a new plaza with the filled in former polar bear exhibit will be a nice addition. However, once leaving that area you are forced into the Americas zone which seems to go against their own plan to have a Zoo Central as the zone for which all exhibit areas merge. A bigger, better grizzly bear exhibit seems like a nice addition, but three bear exhibits for the same species? If the Zoo is banking on having polar bears in the future, then I think this exhibit concept makes sense - grizzlies in the new exhibit, polar bears in their former space. But what's the most realistic scenario regarding the return of polar bears? That remains to be seen. The wolverine exhibit I think will be really cool, but that begs the question: Can a pair of wolverines really co-anchor the North America/Northern Passage section with grizzlies? Especially considering the bears will be off exhibit for a number of months in the winter. I'm skeptical. I would think cougars would be a more dynamic species to highlight for a North America/ Northern Passage theme along with wolverine, porcupine, skunk ect. The skunk and porcupine trail is a cute idea, but I've rarely seen a porcupine at a zoo so much as even twitch a muscle, so don't think it'll be utilized often when guests are around. Perhaps whatever animals they hope to bring in for the few unlisted habitat spaces on the master plan will be some more active animals (they have a picture of a mountain goat, but unclear if they intend to exhibit them or any other hoof stock species). I think there is a potential that this section will continue to be void of active animals for a considerable part of the year.
4) Maryland Wilderness: I support anything to get more exhibits in the back half of this section. I'm not sure why they wouldn't build a snowy owl exhibit for the Northern Passage section, but glad both the owl and eagle will get a nice pair of exhibits past the cave in the more quieter section of the Zoo (perhaps that was the reasoning for the owl since they're more shy). The red wolf addition is exciting as well and there is plenty of space for smaller exhibits to create a more well rounded section not devoid of animals.
5) African Journey: At this point, all of Africa has pretty much been renovated so the proposed changes here are just some nice additions. The Staff/Event building is desperately needed to get folks out of their outdated trailers. The potential for some small exhibits in the Giraffe House would be nice. A chimp trail would be really neat to see, especially paired with any 'feeder exhibit' space farther along the board walk. A more dynamic and welcoming path around Lemur Lane would also be an improvement. A larger okapi exhibit would also be a nice addition. Africa Barn was originally intended as an okapi breeding space for half of the hoof stock section, so finally brining those animals to that side of the Zoo would free up space for what appears to be a mixed hoof stock building next to the Giraffe House if they decide to spend the resources on that proposal. Finally, having the board walk parallel the train bridge would give guests the view of the Sitatunga exhibit waterfall as it was always meant to be! The waterfall was constructed specifically for the viewing pleasure of seated guests at a proposed restaurant that never came to fruition.
These are just my thoughts based on what I've digested over the last few weeks. I think this plan is totally manageable for the Zoo and not overly ambitious, considering past efforts barely got off the ground (such as WildEarth). It'll be exciting to see what they can accomplish and how much support they receive. Guests seem to be quite excited for the proposed changes based on what I overheard on my last visit, so fingers crossed for this place!
Tbh, had my fingers crossed for tigers, but alas, not in this plan.
Maryland Zoo Announces New Master Plan | The Maryland Zoo
1) Gateway Building: I love the idea of a Gateway Building as they're calling it. Anything to highlight the Zoo's Panamanian golden frog program, I wholeheartedly support. Baltimore is the reason these frogs are prolific in captivity and they deserve an exhibit space worthy of telling that conservation story. I hope this building includes a behind the scenes looks at the lab space as well. The former Reptile House was a true gem, so bringing back at least some dedicated, indoor reptile and amphibian house will be really cool for visitors.
2) Gibbon and Upper Main Valley: I certainly remember the gibbons swinging in the metal cages back in the day. At first, I was skeptical that there appeared to just been a random menagerie of species. Perhaps each exhibit by itself is not an impressive addition, but all paired together (prairie dogs, gibbons, Gateway Building, Crane Barn, and sea eagles), the Upper Main Valley can be a welcoming environment with some really dynamic and fun animals for guests. The Stellar sea eagle exhibit is something that I'm sure will be really cool to see and paired with whatever birds they decide to exhibit in Crane Barn, I think the entrance can be a strong introduction to the Zoo.
3) Event Node and Americas Section: This is where I think it gets a bit weird and confusing. I love the idea of using the Old Elephant House as a historic exhibit/ event space. I think it's a good use of that space and a new plaza with the filled in former polar bear exhibit will be a nice addition. However, once leaving that area you are forced into the Americas zone which seems to go against their own plan to have a Zoo Central as the zone for which all exhibit areas merge. A bigger, better grizzly bear exhibit seems like a nice addition, but three bear exhibits for the same species? If the Zoo is banking on having polar bears in the future, then I think this exhibit concept makes sense - grizzlies in the new exhibit, polar bears in their former space. But what's the most realistic scenario regarding the return of polar bears? That remains to be seen. The wolverine exhibit I think will be really cool, but that begs the question: Can a pair of wolverines really co-anchor the North America/Northern Passage section with grizzlies? Especially considering the bears will be off exhibit for a number of months in the winter. I'm skeptical. I would think cougars would be a more dynamic species to highlight for a North America/ Northern Passage theme along with wolverine, porcupine, skunk ect. The skunk and porcupine trail is a cute idea, but I've rarely seen a porcupine at a zoo so much as even twitch a muscle, so don't think it'll be utilized often when guests are around. Perhaps whatever animals they hope to bring in for the few unlisted habitat spaces on the master plan will be some more active animals (they have a picture of a mountain goat, but unclear if they intend to exhibit them or any other hoof stock species). I think there is a potential that this section will continue to be void of active animals for a considerable part of the year.
4) Maryland Wilderness: I support anything to get more exhibits in the back half of this section. I'm not sure why they wouldn't build a snowy owl exhibit for the Northern Passage section, but glad both the owl and eagle will get a nice pair of exhibits past the cave in the more quieter section of the Zoo (perhaps that was the reasoning for the owl since they're more shy). The red wolf addition is exciting as well and there is plenty of space for smaller exhibits to create a more well rounded section not devoid of animals.
5) African Journey: At this point, all of Africa has pretty much been renovated so the proposed changes here are just some nice additions. The Staff/Event building is desperately needed to get folks out of their outdated trailers. The potential for some small exhibits in the Giraffe House would be nice. A chimp trail would be really neat to see, especially paired with any 'feeder exhibit' space farther along the board walk. A more dynamic and welcoming path around Lemur Lane would also be an improvement. A larger okapi exhibit would also be a nice addition. Africa Barn was originally intended as an okapi breeding space for half of the hoof stock section, so finally brining those animals to that side of the Zoo would free up space for what appears to be a mixed hoof stock building next to the Giraffe House if they decide to spend the resources on that proposal. Finally, having the board walk parallel the train bridge would give guests the view of the Sitatunga exhibit waterfall as it was always meant to be! The waterfall was constructed specifically for the viewing pleasure of seated guests at a proposed restaurant that never came to fruition.
These are just my thoughts based on what I've digested over the last few weeks. I think this plan is totally manageable for the Zoo and not overly ambitious, considering past efforts barely got off the ground (such as WildEarth). It'll be exciting to see what they can accomplish and how much support they receive. Guests seem to be quite excited for the proposed changes based on what I overheard on my last visit, so fingers crossed for this place!
Tbh, had my fingers crossed for tigers, but alas, not in this plan.
Maryland Zoo Announces New Master Plan | The Maryland Zoo
