The theming here is absolutely immaculate! Omaha impresses yet again.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium News 2024
- Thread starter MGolka
- Start date
Omaha is a zoo that pumps out hit after hit after hit. It's amazing to think of all the construction done in the past dozen years (Scott Aquarium revamp, African Grasslands, Alaskan Waterpark, Children's Adventure Trails, Asian Highlands, Sea Lion Shores, overhauls of Simmons Aviary, Gorillas and Orangutans), and the high-quality exhibits have been phenomenal additions to the zoo. There's not a single dud in the bunch.
You'd think they'd toss out an Orangutan Spaceship (Indianapolis), a cramped Hippo Cove (Cincinnati), or something below par, but it's all fantastic. I guess that the next project there is to come up with a new Master Plan, but how can they top what's been accomplished since 2012?
On a side note, the zoo has a Zooventure Passport, which allows visitors to get passport stamps at 6 stations, as well as animal trading cards. These sound like a collectable item for zoo nerds!
You'd think they'd toss out an Orangutan Spaceship (Indianapolis), a cramped Hippo Cove (Cincinnati), or something below par, but it's all fantastic. I guess that the next project there is to come up with a new Master Plan, but how can they top what's been accomplished since 2012?
On a side note, the zoo has a Zooventure Passport, which allows visitors to get passport stamps at 6 stations, as well as animal trading cards. These sound like a collectable item for zoo nerds!
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On my visit on Sunday, it looked like these were a massive hit as tons of families were taking part in this. A lot like World Showcase at EPCOT. I'm sure I will make my nieces and nephews do this when they come to visit.
Forge
Well-Known Member
I’ve had discussions with friends about this often, because I love Omaha and only want to see it get better and better from here. There are a few things I think that Omaha could do to get even better.
When I look at their collection the main thing I see missing is bears. With a zoo of this caliber it seems really odd that the only bear they have is the Sloth Bear in Asian Highlands. I would be curious to see if they could fit Polar Bears between the Children’s Adventure Trails and Sea Lion Shores. They have some empty space there that could be enough, given they only do the bears and not anything else. With the proximity to the Alaskan Waterpark and Sea Lions, I feel like it would really round out that corner of the zoo.
I also think that the Stingray Beach is a waste of space when you have such a good aquarium at the opposite end of the zoo. I don’t know what I would want them to use that space for, but I wonder if they could add something like African Wild Dog or Hippo over in that area, extending African Grasslands just a little bit more for what I think are the only glaring omissions from that area.
In those two places I think the zoo would Also have enough space to bring in some sort of area with kangaroos, as I think they’re kind of lacking on Australian species outside the Desert Dome. I’d much rather an Omaha level Kangaroo Walkabout than a cookie cutter stingray touch tank.
Aside from that, I think that Expedition: Madagascar is due for an update. It’s one of the only parts of the zoo that really feels dated to me. I think the Mutual of Omaha: Wild Kingdom pavilion also could use an update, because even as a “zoo museum” it’s pretty lacking and the enclosures are on par with stuff I’ve seen at local nature centers throughout the country.
That being said, I think that’s the extent of stuff they could do without just upgrading what they already have. The zoo is locked in between neighborhoods and highways, so there really isn’t a prayer for expanding unless they somehow got the zoning rights to bulldoze neighborhoods and displace Omaha residents, which is not worth something like an “Omaha Steaks Outback Adventure” or whatever expansion would be in the cards.
In the demolished space from where the Cat House used to be, how big of an exhibit/exhibit area could fit there? I visited when they still have the Cat House, but I was young and do not recall all of the details regarding its size.
They could move over the bongos, okapi, and duiker and turn it into a Congo exhibit. Throw in some bonobos and some other smaller species and I think it would be a great fit.
They could move over the bongos, okapi, and duiker and turn it into a Congo exhibit. Throw in some bonobos and some other smaller species and I think it would be a great fit.
The space left over that could be developable is 2 to 2.5 acres. About of third of that would not be level terrain.
I agree it's pretty incredible Omaha hasn't had a single misstep in recent memory. Everything from major new exhibit complexes to renovated existing exhibits to new guest amenities has been met with universal acclaim, deservingly so. They've even steadily improved many of the more flawed indoor areas by expanding several enclosures in Lied Jungle, swapping out some of the larger inhabitants in the Desert Dome with more appropriate species, and adding additional off-show outdoor enclosures for the lemurs in Expedition Madagascar. There are still some issues that need to be addressed however. Giving the tapirs and pygmy hippos outdoor access should be a priority. Expedition Madagascar is also surprisingly dated for only being around 14 years old and could definitely use a renovation. I'd also prefer if they stopped keeping so many wing-clipped parrots on sticks. Otherwise, 95% of the zoo ranges from good to exceptional which is amazing for a collection of this caliber.
Even so, there is still room for further expansion. At one point there were plans for an Alaskan exhibit to complement the Glacier Bay Landing plaza with polar bears, grizzlies, lynx and sea otters, although that seems to be on hold for the time being. There's a nice-sized piece of land available behind the plaza where this could be built. Before that however, I fully expect a replacement for the demolished cat complex will be the next big development. The old master plan had an African forest exhibit planned for this area which would've included okapi, bongo and red river hog. I'd be perfectly happy if they resurrected that idea, maybe swapping out bongo with pygmy hippo since they were already given an impressive exhibit in African Grasslands.
Even so, there is still room for further expansion. At one point there were plans for an Alaskan exhibit to complement the Glacier Bay Landing plaza with polar bears, grizzlies, lynx and sea otters, although that seems to be on hold for the time being. There's a nice-sized piece of land available behind the plaza where this could be built. Before that however, I fully expect a replacement for the demolished cat complex will be the next big development. The old master plan had an African forest exhibit planned for this area which would've included okapi, bongo and red river hog. I'd be perfectly happy if they resurrected that idea, maybe swapping out bongo with pygmy hippo since they were already given an impressive exhibit in African Grasslands.
I don't understand this at all. Those enclosures don't look bad in the pictures I've seen, although I suppose the animals would benefit from smaller pools in favor of more land area. What's more, the building is holding fewer primates now than it was a few years ago, and I don't think that has anything to do with improving welfare.
Alrighty then, just got back a bit ago from an early preview in advance of the newly renovated Hubbard Orangutan Forest and I posted a bunch of photos into the gallery!
Initial thoughts: Absolutely awesome environment in the lower portion of the exhibit, theming of the absolute highest quality that would rival a Disney park. The upper part is fine, but mainly the exact same as before, but with a baffling design decision that may get tweaked sooner than later.
I will start with the upper portion, which as noted in the previous paragraph, is actually almost the exact same as before, just with some window dressing. Aside from the boardwalk redo and elevator building overhaul, the exhibits themselves are pretty much the same. In the concept art, it made it look like the main upper exhibit would actually encompass the waterfall below it, adding even more height to the exhibit, but alas, was not meant to be.
The concept art also made it look like the viewing windows on the boardwalk would allow unobstructed viewing into the netted exhibits, but oh boy that is not the case! I'm not sure what the heck happened here from a design standpoint, but the viewing windows are actually almost 10 feet from the netting of the exhibit! See this photo below.
As it is also covered in dots to prevent birds from flying into the panes of acrylic or even to attempt to give some privacy to the orangutans, it makes for absolutely terrible views into the exhibts themselves. It is much easier to see the exhibit off to the sides of the viewing windows as the glare combined with the dot pattern makes photography worthless. In fact, I'm sure the only part of the day that the glare won't be bad here would be first thing in the morning. See this photo below for how this looks at around 5:45 pm, and won't be better when the sun is directly overhead for most of the day. Honestly, the photo turned out better than what my eyes were seeing.
Going into the elevator to descend to the lower habitats is where the adventure begins. Even the walls of the elevator shaft were redone with fancy rockwork giving you a taste of the extensive interior work that was done. As you step out of the elevator into the lower lobby, you see instantly this is on another level from before.
If you want to see the exhibit as intended, you enter through the elevator doors instead of the exit near the left side of the Siamang habitat. When you do, you step into darkened corridors lined with faux vegetation on the walls and ceilings, and fancy temple rockwork and tree trunks with various orangutans molded into them. The level of detail here is insane, and honestly could have filled 100 photos in the gallery with all the small things. I didn't post as many corridor shots in the gallery just so all of you can experience most of this on your own, but the opening area just gives off that vibe of anticipation.
Another really cool feature is near one corner of the indoor orangutan exhibit are some projections that are mapped to the floor on both the zoo visitor and orangutan side of the glass that lets both groups try to catch projected bugs on the floor as they zip from leaf cover to leaf cover.
The visitor corridor next to the glass viewing is so dark and vegetated/themed that to the orangutans, would have to look like the jungle. With the indirect natural light flowing into this habitat, it has an effect on photography much like Shedd Aquarium's Amazon Rising, or most of the Dallas World Aquarium.
As for the exhibit itself, where it was more of an open room with a somewhat rock backdrop and some faux trees, now feels tighter at the ground level with the cave mockrock formation, but holy smokes the amount of climbing opportunities is (almost) through the roof! Seriously, there are ropes/hoses everywhere, and they go literally up to the ceiling. The female orangutan in here was climbing along the roof for a very good chunk of the time I was in here. I feel like the tighter quarters at the bottom of the exhibit almost force the orangutans to higher levels. The pair in here were VERY active, granted they have only been in this space for about 3 weeks, so they are still somewhat exploring their new home. I also challenge someone to capture the full interior in one photograph, because the odd shape of the habitat does not lend itself to be captured in its entirety. Especially accounting for the full verticality of it.
There are some clever viewing areas in here, one space under the central temple has training areas on both sides and the frontal glass gets you up close to a pool with a gentle waterfall that drips off the cavelike face of the rock wall. Another viewing area near a large faux tree gets littler zoo enthusiasts to feel like they are climbing alongside the apes up a short rock path to a netted area, with a net on the other side for the exhibit's inhabitants so they both can play in the net.
The rest of the interior has excellent screens with educational materials featuring names and quirks of the zoo's current orangutans, but also an excellent map of the Indonesian Islands I posted to the gallery. It features touchscreens on various flora, fauna, climate, and habitats of all the islands and is an awesome way to showcase the diversity of this group of islands. The end of the corridor features a display on the exotic looking plant life found on the islands.
The last room features a glimpse into the indoor holding for the Siamang, complete with lots of swinging ropes and a netted area for them to swing about or lounge on. The outdoor portion of the Siamang habitat has to jump quite up there in terms of best netted gibbon enclosure in the country. Yes there are heavily vegetated islands that are great, but in terms of netted enclosures, this one is quite long, very vertical, and has a ton of animal enriching and eye pleasing features. Unlike the upper viewing windows, these ones peer directly into the netted area. There is also a window near the start of the indoor portion that peers down the side of this exhibit near the waterfall.
One thing to note, the old original Owen Orangutan House that had two day rooms and three smaller exhibits has been completely removed to make way for the entirety of the Siamang exhibit space. This includes the old Burmese Python/Gray's Monitor exhibit, and the two smaller corner exhibits, near the end held small birds and the other was an exhibit turned educational palm oil display.
The lower plaza also got a couple more planter beds that will eventually provide some much needed shade down here, and the Gorilla Grille got rebranded as the Orangutan Oasis. There is a small gift cart down in this area as well.
While there are some less than ideal things about the refurbishment, overall it is a massive win and the indoor portion is fantastic from a theming/environment. From entering with its sweet flowery smelling corridor much like the Polynesian Hotel's lobby at Disney World, to the constant sounds of the jungle pouring through the halls, I could spend all day in there looking at one exhibit. Adding a third massive outdoor habitat for Siamang was icing on the cake.
Also, they had us exit out the north side of the zoo along the new path installed from the orangutan lower plaza to near the Children's Trails, so you all get a bonus pic for the zoos now most prime real estate. The old Cat Complex ground. I will leave you with this picture and let all of you start to imagine what the future could hold here.
Initial thoughts: Absolutely awesome environment in the lower portion of the exhibit, theming of the absolute highest quality that would rival a Disney park. The upper part is fine, but mainly the exact same as before, but with a baffling design decision that may get tweaked sooner than later.
I will start with the upper portion, which as noted in the previous paragraph, is actually almost the exact same as before, just with some window dressing. Aside from the boardwalk redo and elevator building overhaul, the exhibits themselves are pretty much the same. In the concept art, it made it look like the main upper exhibit would actually encompass the waterfall below it, adding even more height to the exhibit, but alas, was not meant to be.
The concept art also made it look like the viewing windows on the boardwalk would allow unobstructed viewing into the netted exhibits, but oh boy that is not the case! I'm not sure what the heck happened here from a design standpoint, but the viewing windows are actually almost 10 feet from the netting of the exhibit! See this photo below.
As it is also covered in dots to prevent birds from flying into the panes of acrylic or even to attempt to give some privacy to the orangutans, it makes for absolutely terrible views into the exhibts themselves. It is much easier to see the exhibit off to the sides of the viewing windows as the glare combined with the dot pattern makes photography worthless. In fact, I'm sure the only part of the day that the glare won't be bad here would be first thing in the morning. See this photo below for how this looks at around 5:45 pm, and won't be better when the sun is directly overhead for most of the day. Honestly, the photo turned out better than what my eyes were seeing.
Going into the elevator to descend to the lower habitats is where the adventure begins. Even the walls of the elevator shaft were redone with fancy rockwork giving you a taste of the extensive interior work that was done. As you step out of the elevator into the lower lobby, you see instantly this is on another level from before.
If you want to see the exhibit as intended, you enter through the elevator doors instead of the exit near the left side of the Siamang habitat. When you do, you step into darkened corridors lined with faux vegetation on the walls and ceilings, and fancy temple rockwork and tree trunks with various orangutans molded into them. The level of detail here is insane, and honestly could have filled 100 photos in the gallery with all the small things. I didn't post as many corridor shots in the gallery just so all of you can experience most of this on your own, but the opening area just gives off that vibe of anticipation.
Another really cool feature is near one corner of the indoor orangutan exhibit are some projections that are mapped to the floor on both the zoo visitor and orangutan side of the glass that lets both groups try to catch projected bugs on the floor as they zip from leaf cover to leaf cover.
The visitor corridor next to the glass viewing is so dark and vegetated/themed that to the orangutans, would have to look like the jungle. With the indirect natural light flowing into this habitat, it has an effect on photography much like Shedd Aquarium's Amazon Rising, or most of the Dallas World Aquarium.
As for the exhibit itself, where it was more of an open room with a somewhat rock backdrop and some faux trees, now feels tighter at the ground level with the cave mockrock formation, but holy smokes the amount of climbing opportunities is (almost) through the roof! Seriously, there are ropes/hoses everywhere, and they go literally up to the ceiling. The female orangutan in here was climbing along the roof for a very good chunk of the time I was in here. I feel like the tighter quarters at the bottom of the exhibit almost force the orangutans to higher levels. The pair in here were VERY active, granted they have only been in this space for about 3 weeks, so they are still somewhat exploring their new home. I also challenge someone to capture the full interior in one photograph, because the odd shape of the habitat does not lend itself to be captured in its entirety. Especially accounting for the full verticality of it.
There are some clever viewing areas in here, one space under the central temple has training areas on both sides and the frontal glass gets you up close to a pool with a gentle waterfall that drips off the cavelike face of the rock wall. Another viewing area near a large faux tree gets littler zoo enthusiasts to feel like they are climbing alongside the apes up a short rock path to a netted area, with a net on the other side for the exhibit's inhabitants so they both can play in the net.
The rest of the interior has excellent screens with educational materials featuring names and quirks of the zoo's current orangutans, but also an excellent map of the Indonesian Islands I posted to the gallery. It features touchscreens on various flora, fauna, climate, and habitats of all the islands and is an awesome way to showcase the diversity of this group of islands. The end of the corridor features a display on the exotic looking plant life found on the islands.
The last room features a glimpse into the indoor holding for the Siamang, complete with lots of swinging ropes and a netted area for them to swing about or lounge on. The outdoor portion of the Siamang habitat has to jump quite up there in terms of best netted gibbon enclosure in the country. Yes there are heavily vegetated islands that are great, but in terms of netted enclosures, this one is quite long, very vertical, and has a ton of animal enriching and eye pleasing features. Unlike the upper viewing windows, these ones peer directly into the netted area. There is also a window near the start of the indoor portion that peers down the side of this exhibit near the waterfall.
One thing to note, the old original Owen Orangutan House that had two day rooms and three smaller exhibits has been completely removed to make way for the entirety of the Siamang exhibit space. This includes the old Burmese Python/Gray's Monitor exhibit, and the two smaller corner exhibits, near the end held small birds and the other was an exhibit turned educational palm oil display.
The lower plaza also got a couple more planter beds that will eventually provide some much needed shade down here, and the Gorilla Grille got rebranded as the Orangutan Oasis. There is a small gift cart down in this area as well.
While there are some less than ideal things about the refurbishment, overall it is a massive win and the indoor portion is fantastic from a theming/environment. From entering with its sweet flowery smelling corridor much like the Polynesian Hotel's lobby at Disney World, to the constant sounds of the jungle pouring through the halls, I could spend all day in there looking at one exhibit. Adding a third massive outdoor habitat for Siamang was icing on the cake.
Also, they had us exit out the north side of the zoo along the new path installed from the orangutan lower plaza to near the Children's Trails, so you all get a bonus pic for the zoos now most prime real estate. The old Cat Complex ground. I will leave you with this picture and let all of you start to imagine what the future could hold here.
Attachments
Another Piece of April 2024 News Worth Mentioning:
On April 11th, it was announced that the zoo acquired a (1.0) Catalina Island rattlesnake from the Los Angeles Zoo in California.
https://lazoo.org/wp-content/upload...sion-Animal-Transaction-Report-April-2024.pdf
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On June 13th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) Reeve's muntjac named Cash was born on May 26th which is now on exhibit.
Also on June 13th, the zoo announced that the lower trail of the Lied Jungle building once again closed due to a storm the day before.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
On April 11th, it was announced that the zoo acquired a (1.0) Catalina Island rattlesnake from the Los Angeles Zoo in California.
https://lazoo.org/wp-content/upload...sion-Animal-Transaction-Report-April-2024.pdf
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On June 13th, the zoo announced that a (1.0) Reeve's muntjac named Cash was born on May 26th which is now on exhibit.
Also on June 13th, the zoo announced that the lower trail of the Lied Jungle building once again closed due to a storm the day before.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
PurpleCroc33
New Member
Probably African wild dogs can be added after the Bongos get moved to the Equatorial Africa area if that gets built eventually, since there was a old plan of having the African wolf dogs where the stable antelope are located at the moment while the stable antelope were where the Bongos are at right now on the map.
Also if I remember right there was going to be a lion grassland area too near by the African wild dogs which never became a thing, that I hope when Equatorial Africa gets built that will free up space to make those old plans to become a reality.
PurpleCroc33
New Member
Maybe the old okapi area can be turned into the new Pygmy hippo enclosure since if the okapi gets moved to the equatorial africa location that leaves a empty spot outside by the lied jungle. Though its been years since I’ve been to the Omaha Zoo so I’m not fully sure if that okapi enclosure is there anymore. Which would leave a little more room inside to possibly give extra room to the tapirs if they remodel the place.
A couple observations from my visit yesterday:
It appears that Malayan Tapir may not be in the South American ‘island’ exhibit anymore. The sign has been removed. They still have their main exhibit shared with Francois Langur.
The Agile Gibbon and Buff Cheeked Gibbon do still split time with the Angolan Colobus in Gorilla Valley. I saw them there in the late afternoon for those of you trying to see the Agile Gibbon on future visits. A sign has been added to this exhibit for Black Handed Spider Monkeys. These may be excess monkeys from other spots in the zoo.
It appears that Malayan Tapir may not be in the South American ‘island’ exhibit anymore. The sign has been removed. They still have their main exhibit shared with Francois Langur.
The Agile Gibbon and Buff Cheeked Gibbon do still split time with the Angolan Colobus in Gorilla Valley. I saw them there in the late afternoon for those of you trying to see the Agile Gibbon on future visits. A sign has been added to this exhibit for Black Handed Spider Monkeys. These may be excess monkeys from other spots in the zoo.
Have they moved gibbons out of the Lied Jungle, or is this an additional gibbon exhibit to that?
No Gibbons have been moved out of the Lied Jungle. The Agile Gibbons had been in the old Orangutan Forest for a long while, but moved to Gorilla Valley while the refurbishment was going on, so it is an additional exhibit.
To be honest the new Hubbard orang exhibit looks horrible...an awkward blend of theming that looks like a hybrid of cave life and Hollywood`s Chinese Theatre. More worrying is the fact that it seems that the apes are still accessible to the public through wire mesh on the upper level as far as I can see. Last time I was there a group of youths were feeding the orangs chewing gum and it needed me to stop them whilst the entire assembled crowd gazed on in horror at their actions. I reported this situation to the then CEO Dennis Pate, but it seems now that the zoo wasnt very concerned about it. I may be quite wrong of course because Im judging the construction from the images shown.
Forge
Well-Known Member
Having just been there to see it in person, the theming is a lot more impressive than the photos could lead you to believe. The only part that I actually have issue with is… well… the enclosures. The new Siamang outdoor is good enough, for sure, but their indoor is terrible. I like the indoor orangutan enclosure but for the outdoors, they did not really change anything. I’m honestly pretty disappointed that they kept the mesh nets rather than doing some sort of tall O-Line structure utilizing the height changes in the area. I’d hold your reservations on the look of the area until you see it in person because I think it’s some of the strongest theming I’ve seen in an Indonesian area of a zoo.
But at least two pictures show really grotesque concrete structures. Orangs dont live in caves. Sometimes I think these things are overdone in an attempt to make it all naturalistic ,when it is actually an ugly mis-representation of that element. But for sure,I should really reserve judgement until I see it in person.
Brayden Delashmutt
Well-Known Member
Honestly? I'm just gonna say it. Like the gorilla upgrades, most of this was just a waste of money since the already somewhat subpar orang exhibit has been barely changed at all. Not even natural substrate indoors!
Brayden Delashmutt
Well-Known Member
Personally I think that grizzlies would be a much better fit than Polar Bears. Omaha gets very hot in the summers and I always felt like it wasn't a good climate for Polar Bears. I think a Pacific Northwest section with grizzlies, and several other species could work in the abandoned gaur yard/area next to glacier bay landing.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Masterplan