Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2014

The first time I visited London Zoo it was a school holiday week and the zoo was packed. But the exhibit that got the most attention and which visitors were most engaged with was the invertebrate building.

Invertebrates are grossly underrepresented in zoos and it is a shame to see one of the very few invertebrate buildings close. I must admit, however, I was shocked to read it costs a million a year to maintain.
 
I'm absolutely agree with Thylo: It's a huge shame!

I was visiting the National Zoo about 10 years ago and was amazed about the invertebrate building. It was one of its kind imo.

Also, I wonder about the costs. One million USD per year?! Well, that makes the decision understandable. On the other hand, I allways thought that the Smithonian (still a Foundation, correct?) has enough money. Is there any additional support from the (federal) gouvernement too? (I mean, it should be, when it claimed the name "National").

Hope, there won't be anymore cuts and closures.
 
zoomaniac said:
I'm absolutely agree with Thylo: It's a huge shame!

I was visiting the National Zoo about 10 years ago and was amazed about the invertebrate building. It was one of its kind imo.

Also, I wonder about the costs. One million USD per year?! Well, that makes the decision understandable. On the other hand, I allways thought that the Smithonian (still a Foundation, correct?) has enough money. Is there any additional support from the (federal) gouvernement too? (I mean, it should be, when it claimed the name "National").

Hope, there won't be anymore cuts and closures.
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The National Zoo is technically part of the Federal Government ! So they have plenty of other things to waste money on :p

Team Tapir223
 
TeamTapir223 said:
The National Zoo is technically part of the Federal Government ! So they have plenty of other things to waste money on :p

Team Tapir223
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I understand your point but I certainly wouldn't call the invert. exhibit a waste of money;)

As AD said, people always enjoy invert. exhibits. When I was at Smithsonian a lot of people were moving about and spending more than a few seconds at each enclosure and my young cousins found it to be their favorite exhibit at the entire zoo!

When I visited Cincinnati, I found that the invert. exhibit there was one of the more crowded buildings at all times and people really enjoyed themselves. Even Bronx's small butterfly house gets a lot of visitors to it!

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I understand your point but I certainly wouldn't call the invert. exhibit a waste of money;)

As AD said, people always enjoy invert. exhibits. When I was at Smithsonian a lot of people were moving about and spending more than a few seconds at each enclosure and my young cousins found it to be their favorite exhibit at the entire zoo!

When I visited Cincinnati, I found that the invert. exhibit there was one of the more crowded buildings at all times and people really enjoyed themselves. Even Bronx's small butterfly house gets a lot of visitors to it!

~Thylo:cool:
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Thylo I think you missed our sarcasm ! We were not referring to the invert exhibit as a waste,we were talking about the government wasting money on things like welfare or putting troops back in Iraq.We could go on and on with examples but I think you get the point.

Team Tapir223
 
TeamTapir223 said:
Thylo I think you missed our sarcasm ! We were not referring to the invert exhibit as a waste,we were talking about the government wasting money on things like welfare or putting troops back in Iraq.We could go on and on with examples but I think you get the point.

Team Tapir223
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Oh no, I understood your point and sarcasm, I was making it clearer for those that might not have.

~Thylo:cool:
 
At the risk of running with a side topic, being funded by the Federal Government is definitely a mixed blessing. The plus is that they can be guaranteed at least a minimal budget to run the zoo regardless of visitor numbers or the economy. The minus is that their funding can change as the winds of politics changed. Here is a (somewhat infuriating) example from their sister facility the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Several years ago, when George W was president and Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, the museum was going to run a large photo display of nature images taken at Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They of course showed the beauty of the area, which was a problem for the Republicans because they were trying to open up the refuge to oil development and were selling it as basically a barren wasteland. So one of the senators who had a say in budget matters told the museum director he would cut their funding unless they moved the display to the basement and made no mention that the photos were taken at ANWR. Sadly, the director caved and that is exactly what they did.
 
It certainly has been a summer of red panda births in US zoos. Now when they are old enough can some of them come to the Smithsonian National Zoo? I miss seeing red pandas there.
 
I have a couple photos of the bison exhibit, now with grass. I'll try to upload them soon. General impression: Too small!
 
The lion cubs have names, well most of them. Shera's daughter is Amahle, which means beautiful one. Her son who had a limp is Chisulo, which means strength of steel. Her other two sons will be named by the director soon. Naba's girls are Desta, which means joy and Eva.

Lion Updates - National Zoo
 
blospz said:
It certainly has been a summer of red panda births in US zoos. Now when they are old enough can some of them come to the Smithsonian National Zoo? I miss seeing red pandas there.
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I'm pretty sure there are still Red Pandas on display at the zoo.

~Thylo:cool:
 
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