Smithsonian National Zoo Washington, D.C. Zoo

According to the zoo's website, the zoo has confirmed that Mei Xiang is not pregnant. They confirmed that on August 13th, so many of you might know about this news.
 
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The "Asia Trail" (2005) set of habitats are outstanding, the bird house and massive walk-through aviary are also excellent, and there are many good exhibits spread throughout the zoo. Having said that, there is still a lot of work to be done and I'm sure that "Elephant Trails" will be a million times better than the current elephant enclosures. I've posted here on ZooChat before how the zoo has announced that it intends to be the best in the world by 2016. We all know that won't happen, but at least they are splashing the cash to improve conditions for the animals.
 
The plan is to build new multi-species exhibits, renovate existing exhibits and build an aerial tramway. Not the most specific plan I've read.
 
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=149701&type=Daily

The more I read about the plans (which aren't that specific at the moment but do include 7 new animal exhibits ) the more I am being swayed to believe that this zoo could really take off and become one of the world's best. I've mentioned numerous times how outstanding 2005's "Asia Trail" is, and 2011's "Elephant Trails" looks quite impressive according to the blueprints. Now there is going to be a BILLION dollars pumped into the zoo? Wow. I think that a billion dollars should guarantee a rich assortment of world class habitats for the 2-3 million people who visit annually.
 
One small catch: where's the billion dollars going to come from? The "approval" is just the first hurdle. It's good to dream big, though...after all it is the "national" zoo. Today it certainly fails to live up to what that title implies, as they readily admit.
 
The way the US federal government is handing out cash lately...just say the zoo is in financial trouble and is crucial to our economy...and you have an instant financial bailout package worth at least a billion dollars!
 
That brings up a question I've had. Is the National Zoo completely reliant on FEDERAL funding or does the city of DC foot part of the bill?
 
Ituri said:
That brings up a question I've had. Is the National Zoo completely reliant on FEDERAL funding or does the city of DC foot part of the bill?
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As a facility of the Smithsonian Institute, the National Zoo solely receives funding from the federal government. This is also why the admission is free, just like all the other Smithsonian museums.
 
@okapikpr = King of the site plans! Cheers for posting the links, and of course Asia Trail is arguably one of the best zoo exhibits in North America. The seal/sea lion/pelican plans look to be impressive, and there is already a couple of large pools for the pinnipeds at the zoo. All that needs to be done is to spruce the area up a bit, to the tune of a few million dollars.
 
Was there a date set for the new Asian elephant exhibit to be finished, also would anyone know how far along the project has come yet?
 
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