Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium 2020 News

A second elephant seal to exhibit, that is a nice addition to Pittsburgh. This exhibit has an underwater tunnel for visitors, I imagine it is a great exhibit for the only elephant seals on display in the U.S. When I visited in 2012 it was a home for nurse sharks.
 
iluvwhales said:
Zoo is running into issues with the city over the terms of its lease, having to do with their not being AZA-accredited
Pittsburgh zoo has been in violation of its lease for 5 years
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I really don’t understand why Pittsburgh made this decision as they probably knew consequences like this would happen. And for such a relatively small reason. Probably nothing of note will happen here but it gives AR groups something to fight them on. Plus if the reasoning for leaving the AZA was to maintain their free contact with their elephants, why do they practice protected contact at their conservation park? That part baffles me.
 
Of course they knew the fallout and it wasn't a small reason. It was a much larger principle they stood up for. Frankly, 90% of " elephant keepers/handlers" have no business around them. Working with elephants is an art form and few people get it. It takes head strong individuals, like Dr. Baker, to keep that alive. It also starts with elephants but where does it end? Reptiles? Bird of Prey? The petting zoo? Getting out of that organization meant more than just what kind program they had and I admire them for putting their foot down.
 
PSO said:
Of course they knew the fallout and it wasn't a small reason. It was a much larger principle they stood up for.
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We’ll just have to agree to disagree. The AZA does some things well and some things poorly. Safety when it comes to dangerous animals is one of the better things they do and the decision to move to protected contact only helps protect staff and the animals and doesn’t detract from the care the animals get imo.

PSO said:
It takes head strong individuals, like Dr. Baker, to keep that alive. It also starts with elephants but where does it end? Reptiles? Bird of Prey? The petting zoo? Getting out of that organization meant more than just what kind program they had and I admire them for putting their foot down.
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This isn’t really one of those slippery slope situations though. The AZA is constantly improving safety and if that includes changing protocols for potentially dangerous animals I am all for it as long as I can still do my job. I don’t know how the AZA can change the petting zoo for the better but I’m not going to be stubborn and say “my way or the highway” just because the times change like it seems Pittsburgh has.

PSO said:
Frankly, 90% of " elephant keepers/handlers" have no business around them. Working with elephants is an art form and few people get it.
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Although I have only worked with elephants in protected contact, I find it completely outrageous you could generalize elephant keepers in that way. Elephant keepers especially are some of the best trained and most knowledgeable keepers a zoo employs. Not to mention the amount of time it takes to build a relationship with those animals.

Either way Pittsburgh is going to face consequences that will hurt the entire institution because they refused to change. This will hang over their heads and be used against them.
 
I only make my statements based on personal experience. Unfortunately common sense has seemed to become uncommon and is why "improving" safety measures have been on the rise across all species. Too me, I knew the dangers of working with large dangerous animals and adapted myself to each individual so I saw another day. Common sense not protocol has kept me upright.
I've been around long enough to see where a more hands off approach is not in the best interest of animal husbandry. And particularly with elephants, it's down right dangerous. And I'm not a rigid free contact individual either but the complete hand off approach is not putting the animals welfare first in my opinion. I'll agree to disagree but my experiences have proven to me Pittsburgh did absolutely the right thing and it took a lot guys that other facilities just dont have
 
PSO said:
Getting out of that organization meant more than just what kind program they had and I admire them for putting their foot down.
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PSO said:
I'll agree to disagree but my experiences have proven to me Pittsburgh did absolutely the right thing and it took a lot guys that other facilities just dont have
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Putting aside whether they made the right call from a husbandry or ethical standpoint (a not-infrequent discussion on this site already)... do you think it was really the right thing for the zoo as a whole? Pittsburgh lost its ability to breed some of its endangered animals. It lost its sea turtle rehab program. It lost a grant for a new playground. And now it turns out that it has been in violation of its lease for the past five years and is on shaky legal standing with the city... not to mention the likely decline in public trust of the zoo because it's not being held accountable by a high-standard accrediting body. Even if there was an argument to be made by the zoo that the AZA overstepped its bounds with the protocols, it appears to me that "putting their foot down" gave them few gains and lost them quite a lot.
 
Once again speaking on what I know, none of the breeding programs were hindered and in fact more were added since they left. The sea turtle program was never lost, I know they still work with New England Aquarium and several other facilities, just not the NC aquariums. I guess the 5k the lost for the playground would be true but it's a mere drop in the bucket in the long run if they really wanted to persue building one. Regarding the public, the zoo never saw a drop in attendance and in fact has had a steady increase with the addition of new exhibits and activities. With close to a million visitors a year the city would be financially shooting themselves in the goot if they ever thought about shutting the facility down. The Pittsburgh Gazette has not been too kind to the zoo in recent years, and has a slanted view when these articles come out. It might look from a public perspective that the zoo hasn't gained much since its separation from AZA but really made a statement and hasn't put the zoo peril. Looking at some of their upcoming exhibits I'd say they will be fine and allow them to continue educating and entertaining the public with some extraordinary species
 
PSO said:
Once again speaking on what I know, none of the breeding programs were hindered and in fact more were added since they left.
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A few animals owned by other zoos were recalled, an SSP coordinator lost her position, and the zoo stopped participating in some of the more stringent programs. There are mechanisms that can allow non-accredited zoos to participate, but I'm not clear on the guidelines on those and they don't appear to have prevented the decision from having an impact on breeding programs.

PSO said:
The sea turtle program was never lost, I know they still work with New England Aquarium and several other facilities, just not the NC aquariums. I guess the 5k the lost for the playground would be true but it's a mere drop in the bucket in the long run if they really wanted to persue building one.
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It appears that the sea turtle program was not lost, so I will concede on that. I also didn't realize the grant was only worth five grand. I will point out, however, that we don't know what other contribution losses the zoo has suffered due to dropping accreditation. Maybe it's none, but considering that one program was axed and another was in danger of it, it's plausible that other losses have gone unreported.

PSO said:
The Pittsburgh Gazette has not been too kind to the zoo in recent years, and has a slanted view when these articles come out. It might look from a public perspective that the zoo hasn't gained much since its separation from AZA but really made a statement and hasn't put the zoo peril.
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What the Post-Gazette has published about them is critical, although it's hard for me to say by looking at it whether that criticism is slanted or not. The issue here is that no other news outlet has really been covering it, this most recent development being an exception; without having other sources, all I can do is take P-PG's articles with a grain of salt.

The zoo has fared better than I expected them to, and on the surface doesn't appear to have suffered *too* much from dropping out; that being said, the benefits of doing so still aren't clear to me and at best it looks like a logistical and PR headache for them. Is the fact that they were alone in opposing the AZA on this a sign of fear/complacency on the part of other zoos, or does it cast doubt on Pittsburgh's stance over a controversial issue? I mean that question legitimately, not rhetorically; I honestly don't know what the professional community at large thinks about this.
 
I highly respect your thoughts and statements. One other thing I can say is the zoo absolutely knew what they were getting into. It was not done lightly. Professionally it was admired and they were getting backing in the community but other facilities were reluctant to pull the ultimate trigger. Several facilities did duel accreditation if AZA decided to push any further about the topic. Ultimately, except for few exceptions, most other facilities continue to work with Pittsburgh despite their accreditation status
 
PSO said:
I highly respect your thoughts and statements. One other thing I can say is the zoo absolutely knew what they were getting into. It was not done lightly. Professionally it was admired and they were getting backing in the community but other facilities were reluctant to pull the ultimate trigger. Several facilities did duel accreditation if AZA decided to push any further about the topic. Ultimately, except for few exceptions, most other facilities continue to work with Pittsburgh despite their accreditation status
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I assume this is indictave that AZA overstepped the marks
 
Indeed and not all the facilities involved had elephants either
 
At least Pennsylvania is banning the sale of Red-eared Sliders, let's hope that other states follow through with this.
 
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