Thank you for posting this map! I don't hate this, but I don't think it's much of an improvement and that the few benefits would be worth the money to implement this. But I'm not too worried because there are a half-dozen projects that the zoo considers higher priorities, so this plan is unlikely to ever happen. What I like about this, is the expanded Bison exhibit with the new trail and new small animal exhibits for species like the Swift Fox (their current exhibit is too small. And I hope that they add the Pronghorn to the Bison exhibit because that would make much more sense ecologically than putting them in a ravine with Elk. I also like that they're demolishing the current nocturnal barn and replacing it with something better that is intended to have a better bat exhibit. A lot of Oklahoma Trails will remain essentially the same - the two bear exhibits, the aviary, the big rivers building, and the coyotes. The Bald Eagles would move into the space where the Wild Turkeys are currently, and the White-tailed Deer exhibit would be cut in half to bringing back one of the wolf subspecies, which I think is a mundane exhibit animal for this particular zoo. The current Whooping Crane exhibit would be lost and the cranes would be given a smaller exhibit space near the Bison. The American Elk and what's left of the White-tailed Deer exhibit would be connected, but the deer might go away; I have mixed feelings about this because it might look better on one hand, but it seems like a convoluted exhibit. The big thing that I don't like about this design is the attempt to make what is currently a loop trail and try to retrofit it into a single-direction trail. It has the potential to destroy a lot of the Centennial Grove and it's going to reduce visibility for some of the exhibits like the Grizzly Bear exhibit (the latter of which might be on purpose since that section of the boardwalk seems to have an elevated human safety risk). I'm not sure what the substrate of the trail is, but it would almost have to be a new and larger boardwalk because it's moving back and forth across a pretty substantial ravine that contains the Centennial Grove. I love the Centennial Grove, it is a stand of approximately 100 Post Oaks and Bur Oaks that are well over a century old and were alive when Oklahoma was designated a state and they were preserved as landmark to honor the state's centennial in 2007, the year that Oklahoma Trails opened. The existing boardwalk preserved those trees, but this new trail will criss-cross the area and it looks like it will take out as much as a third of the trees. I'm also worried that other trees might be removed to improve visibility for some of the exhibits (for example, the Grizzly Bear exhibit cannot be viewed from the aviary without cutting down a section of trees). Call me a tree hugger, but I'm sensitive to the zoo's history and trees that have survived decades of development and redevelopment at the zoo. This design looks like a lot of money for very little benefit and no net-gain in animal exhibits.
