Minnesota Zoo Minnesota Zoo News
- Thread starter splaat66
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I'm fairly certain that only 2 zoos in the United States will have dolphins: Brookfield and Indianapolis. Of course there are some aquariums and the trio of SeaWorld parks with dolphins, but in terms of zoos there might well only be the two.
I always thought that Minnesota should have closed their dolphin exhibit. All those deaths, including a 1 year old calf, and what seems like a not so great exhibit made me have doubts about their dolphin program. The question is, what happens to their exhibit now?
I've not been to the Minnesota Zoo and seen their dolphin program, but is it possible that the tank might be converted to display manatees? There always seem to be rescued manatees that need a home.
Brookfield zoo had two death at the zoo this year (one stillbirth and a young dolphin that bumped into another and died while i was at the zoo) and i am fine with them keeping dolphins because they have the longest on going research project with bottlenose dolphins.
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program - Sarasota Dolphin Research Program
Nice idea. I think there oughta be more manatees for people out of Florida to enjoy.
Random question but at the minnesota zoo did they go in the water with the dolphins.
jusko88
Well-Known Member
National Aquarium in Baltimore just annouced today that they will no longer be doing Dolphin shows. They will have the dolphins just on exhibit for a better experience. trainers will be on hand to feed and keep eye on them and kids will have a opportunity to feed the dolphins.
After seeing that the Minnesota Zoo dolphin exhibit is primarily a show arena (http://www.zoochat.com/584/discovery-bay-bottlenose-dolphin-show-amphitheater-151923/), I'm thinking that manatees probably aren't a great fit for this facility.
The potential future:
Show presenter: "Welcome everyone to the Minnesota Zoo Manatee Spectacular!"
Show crowd: "YEAH! Clap clap clap!"
Show presenter: "Today we'll watch spectacular feats of manatee behavior that will excite and astound you! Here is our first behavior..."
Manatees: "Bob around in water. Munch lettuce. Bob around some more. Munch more lettuce. Bob bob bobbin' along."
Show crowd: "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
There is some precedent for this at other institutions. The old California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium used to have a dolphin tank that got converted to a shark tank when their Pacific white-sided dolphins were sent to the Shedd Aquarium. The Oregon Aquarium had a tank with Keiko the orca that got converted to a shark exhibit when he left to go back to the wild.
I think this is what was done with the former dolphin exhibit at the world's biggest mall in Canada. Is this what the Oklahoma City and Brookfield Zoos did also when they ended their dolphin shows/exhibits?
gorgeousingray
Well-Known Member
Brookfield still has dolphins
I think what DavidBrown was saying is that they moved the dolphins from where the living coast is in the southwest part of the zoo to the seven seas area in the northeast part of the zoo. And Brookfield zoo still has there show.
gfree14
Member
Some new zoo news:
Both female dholes may have given birth. The pups have not emerged yet from the den in their exhibit.
One of the Amur Tigers, Whirl, has recently lost its tail. A volunteer thinks it may have happened due to an accident with a door closing too fast in it's holding area.
Both female dholes may have given birth. The pups have not emerged yet from the den in their exhibit.
One of the Amur Tigers, Whirl, has recently lost its tail. A volunteer thinks it may have happened due to an accident with a door closing too fast in it's holding area.
Whirl was a tiger at Brookfield zoo that lost its tail for as long as i remember her at the zoo.
Here is a video of her it was made 2 years ago and said she was 2 years old there are more recent videos but this is the best one:
Here is a video of her it was made 2 years ago and said she was 2 years old there are more recent videos but this is the best one:
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