Beginning in 1991 the Audubon Institute began accepting its first bids on initial construction on the Freeport-McMoran-Audubon Species Survival Center & Wilderness Park, and the establishment was built in the 1990's but it never became the grand zoo that it had the potential to be. Whatever happened to the original plan for this place? Was funding a major concern? A private donation of $5 million was in place and $30 million was the target but what exactly happened?
I have obtained an Audubon Institute magazine from Autumn 1991 that includes a full-colour, 2-page map of the "future zoo". Many of the species had two designated enclosures and the plans were rather spectacular.
Species list on the map: Asian elephant, Asian rhino, Indian rhino, pygmy hippo, tapir, sloth bear, sun bear, spectacled bear, Louisiana black bear, Sumatran tiger, Florida panther, cheetah, leopard, "small cats", maned wolf, red wolf, Komodo dragon, rhinoceros iguana, false gharial, Chinese alligator, Cuban alligator, gaur, banteng, anoa, barasingha, fossa, giant otter, falanouc (that would have been a treasure to see) and various cranes, storks, waterfowl and unnamed hoofstock.
I have obtained an Audubon Institute magazine from Autumn 1991 that includes a full-colour, 2-page map of the "future zoo". Many of the species had two designated enclosures and the plans were rather spectacular.
Species list on the map: Asian elephant, Asian rhino, Indian rhino, pygmy hippo, tapir, sloth bear, sun bear, spectacled bear, Louisiana black bear, Sumatran tiger, Florida panther, cheetah, leopard, "small cats", maned wolf, red wolf, Komodo dragon, rhinoceros iguana, false gharial, Chinese alligator, Cuban alligator, gaur, banteng, anoa, barasingha, fossa, giant otter, falanouc (that would have been a treasure to see) and various cranes, storks, waterfowl and unnamed hoofstock.
