Zoo/Aquarium Hot Takes

Echobeast said:
Its pretty underrated at least on this forum imo but it is consistently ranked high on polls and blogs that aren't run by zoo enthusiasts such as USA Today.
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That is true, and it always makes me really glad to see it getting recognition at least through USA Today. I’ve still yet to see their Electric Safari during the holidays which I’ve heard is very highly rated as well, so I look foreword to seeing that someday too!
 
Neil chace said:
You don't find flamingoes interesting? Or bald eagles? Or owls? Or cranes? Or macaws? Or toucans?
I get it if you find the average small passerine boring, even if I'm interested in them, but a lot of the "ABC" Birds are flighted, do you find these birds boring as well?
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Most flamingos and bald eagles dont fly in zoos.
 
ZPA said:
-I think elephants should've stayed at the Philadelphia Zoo
-Bronx Zoo and Detroit Zoo are overrated
-I speedrun through reptile houses unless they have crocodilians
-Birds are only interesting if they're flightless

I think that's enough to get stuff thrown at me.
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Or rather - Detroit Zoo is overrated now because most of the ZooChatters who like haven't seen the current state of the zoo!
 
Neil chace said:
You don't find flamingoes interesting? Or bald eagles? Or owls? Or cranes? Or macaws? Or toucans?
I get it if you find the average small passerine boring, even if I'm interested in them, but a lot of the "ABC" Birds are flighted, do you find these birds boring as well?
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To extend on this point... how can one find Maleos and Peruvian Pelicans boring :eek::p
 
aardvark250 said:
Most flamingos and bald eagles dont fly in zoos.
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Yes, but the species do fly so they cannot be called "flightless birds". And it would be absurd for someone to suggest they are interested in flamingoes if they are pinioned and just on a pond, but would not be interested in the same species if it was located in an Aviary where it could fly.
 
I just checked Detroit's species list and it seems pretty solid. I can see people getting not amused by it due to Kagan and his closeness to PETA. Otherwise I can't see Detroit as overrated as such as San Diego.
 
birdsandbats said:
Or rather - Detroit Zoo is overrated now because most of the ZooChatters who like haven't seen the current state of the zoo!
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I saw Detroit in 2019 a day or two after you, I do not view it as overrated and would say it is far superior to most zoos in the U.S.
 
I visited Detroit in 2019 as well and while I liked it I struggled to understand why others thought it was so good. The NACC was by far my favorite part of the zoo and is seemingly the only part of the zoo that hasn't rapidly deteriorated. Otherwise, I generally thought the huge enclosures were a waste of species (especially Arctic Ring of Like), and now they are removing species like M&Ms quickly disappearing out of a newly opened bag. They are even removing species from some of the zoo's most well-designed exhibits, like the seals. Maybe the zoo is still good, but if this keeps up then maybe it won't be long before John Ball or Binder Park become the best zoo in Michigan.
 
How many species have they lost exactly? The exhibits were definitely the strongest part of the zoo, although they had a nice species list when I visited.
 
NSU42 said:
I saw Detroit in 2019 a day or two after you, I do not view it as overrated and would say it is far superior to most zoos in the U.S.
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I would love to know the reason why, I viewed it as overrated (but by no means bad) even before I knew about the collection crisis.
 
Julio C Castro said:
As I mentioned in a post before, San Diego is implementing that plan right now with new memberships and yet to see how that affects current membership numbers. It’s perhaps the biggest player in the game regarding zoos in the states, I don’t know why exactly blackout dates exist for their less expensive/residential membership tiers. I’m not going to stop visiting my local SoCal zoos for that reason but I can’t also say that it won’t stop others from not going. Who knows truly and only time will tell honestly.
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San Diego is already an outlier, though. They aren't part of the reciprocal program, and you have to live within the immediate area to even get a membership in the first place. They are one of very few places with a name big enough to not really be hurt by losing members.
 
TZDugong said:
How many species have they lost exactly? The exhibits were definitely the strongest part of the zoo, although they had a nice species list when I visited.
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I don't know an exact number, but they have lost more species over the past 10-20 years than received. They have lost, tapirs, takins, pudu, coatimundi, binturong, black bears, Syrian brown bears, African wild dogs, and many others. There are also a couple species that have arrived, only to leave a few years later (Meerkats, emus, fennec foxes).

I get that animal welfare is important, but do two elands, an ostrich, one or two saddle-billed storks, and a few white storks need a huge exhibit that is almost 2 acres in size (rough google earth measurement)? The zebras and wildebeest have an exhibit that is just a little bit bigger than that, and it only holds 4 animals (2 zebras and 2 wildebeest).

There's honestly a bit of wasted potential with a lot of areas in the zoo, especially the large picnic areas that nobody ever uses.
 
@Bisonblake nailed it well.

I understand some animals pass on due to old age/health complications (the wild horses, Jock the hippopotamus) or that it'd be for the own animal's good (ex. the drill was sent to Zoo Atlanta to live with other individuals of its kind), but I don't see what's wrong with replacing them with other individuals of the same species (ex. the wild horses, not the drill) rather than giving them the boot. Anyway, I'll list what I can remember (I'm going to say like, 2010-onwards):

-Siamese crocodile
-Bare-faced curassow
-Green-winged macaw
-Lesser Antillean iguana (?) (I have not seen this animal at the reptile house, it formerly lived in the now nonexistent South American walkthrough area a Amphibiville)
-Red-rumped agouti
-Whatever freshwater stingrays lived in Amphibiville
-Lesser kudu
-Southern pudu
-Sichuan takin (IIRC this was because they weren't getting along with their exhibit-mates and there was no other room for them)
-Collared peccary
-Przewalski's wild horse (old age)
-Their whole saltwater aquarium they used to have
-Brazilian tapir (old age I'm guessing)
-Binturong
-South American coati
-Bush dog (old age)
-Grey seal
-Harp seal (old age)
-Drill (was moved to live with the only other captive drills in the country in Zoo Atlanta)
-Lion-tailed macaque
-African wild dog (old age)
-Black-and-white ruffed lemur
-Grey crowned crane
-King brown snake (only one known in the country, and even perhaps the continent)
-American black bear
-Syrian brown bear (though I feel Polly was just a generic brown bear)
-Slender-snouted crocodile (albeit they were short-term)
-Meerkat (see slender-snouted crocodile)
-Fennec fox (see meerkat)
-Laughing kookaburra (see fennec fox)
-Emu
-Southern screamer
-Capybara
-Barn owl
-African crested porcupine (?)
-Among more birds, reptiles, etc. There's definitely more that I may have forgotten or haven't listed.

I do not know the status of the sandhill cranes and the pelicans, I saw neither on my last visit. North American elk are definitely in the process of being phased out (only one individual remaining) who I always see hanging out with the white-lipped x Bactrian stag hybrid, who also is being phased out.

Detroit I felt was at its glory when I was like too young to fully speak (2002-2003ish), and found home videos of klipspringer, scimitar-horned oryx, whatever gazelle lived with the oryx, nilgai, bontebok, tufted deer, Asian elephants (obviously), Pondicherry vulture (phase-out), etc. I learned of the formerly-kept lar gibbons here, and the diana monkeys somewhere online.
 
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Azamat Shackleford said:
@Bisonblake nailed it well.

I understand some animals pass on due to old age/health complications (the wild horses, Jock the hippopotamus) or that it'd be for the own animal's good (ex. the drill was sent to Zoo Atlanta to live with other individuals of its kind), but I don't see what's wrong with replacing them with other individuals of the same species (ex. the wild horses, not the drill) rather than giving them the boot. Anyway, I'll list what I can remember (I'm going to say like, 2010-onwards):

-Siamese crocodile
-Bare-faced curassow
-Green-winged macaw
-Lesser Antillean iguana (?) (I have not seen this animal at the reptile house, it formerly lived in the now nonexistent South American walkthrough area a Amphibiville)
-Red-rumped agouti
-Whatever freshwater stingrays lived in Amphibiville
-Lesser kudu
-Southern pudu
-Sichuan takin (IIRC this was because they weren't getting along with their exhibit-mates and there was no other room for them)
-Collared peccary
-Przewalski's wild horse (old age)
-Their whole saltwater aquarium they used to have
-Brazilian tapir (old age I'm guessing)
-Binturong
-South American coati
-Bush dog (old age)
-Grey seal
-Harp seal (old age)
-Drill (was moved to live with the only other captive drills in the country in Zoo Atlanta)
-Lion-tailed macaque
-African wild dog (old age)
-Black-and-white ruffed lemur
-Grey crowned crane
-King brown snake (only one known in the country, and even perhaps the continent)
-American black bear
-Syrian brown bear (though I feel Polly was just a generic brown bear)
-Slender-snouted crocodile (albeit they were short-term)
-Meerkat (see slender-snouted crocodile)
-Fennec fox (see meerkat)
-Laughing kookaburra (see fennec fox)
-Emu
-Southern screamer
-Capybara
-Barn owl
-African crested porcupine (?)
-Among more birds, reptiles, etc. There's definitely more that I may have forgotten or haven't listed.

I do not know the status of the sandhill cranes and the pelicans, I saw neither on my last visit. North American elk are definitely in the process of being phased out (only one individual remaining) who I always see hanging out with the white-lipped x Bactrian stag hybrid, who also is being phased out.

Detroit I felt was at its glory when I was like a toddler, and found home videos of klipspringer, scimitar-horned oryx, whatever gazelle lived with the oryx, nilgai, bontebok, tufted deer, Asian elephants (obviously), Pondicherry vulture (phase-out), etc. I learned of the formerly-kept lar gibbons here, and the diana monkeys somewhere online.
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Doesn’t their website still listed laughing kookaburra?
 
For those who’ve been to the Detroit Zoo the first time, albeit recently would see the zoo as fine, but for long-time goers (including I which I’ve literally been almost my whole life), we’ve seen enough of its former glory days crumbling down. I will still support the Detroit Zoo just as I do with many other facilities (though I prefer Toledo), I will remain very disappointed with many of Kagan’s decisions.
 
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