Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park Zoo Looses AZA accreditation

DAK and BGT are both considered two of the 60 best zoos in America in "America's Best Zoo's: A Travel Guide for Fans & Families" therefore they should be considered.

I respect that you like Lowry Park Zoo more than MMZ, for me though I like MMZ 100 times better, and every time I go to MMZ I look forward to it, and the Amazon & Beyond is a wonderful addition to an already great zoo. I guess what I like about it the most is how all the paddocks are open and spacious, and Metrozoo has more of my favorite animals like black rhinos, gorillas, lions, and jaguars. None of which are anywhere to be seen at Lowry Park.

Here are some exhibits that you have forgotten to access:

Giraffe paddocks: Lowry Park and Miami both have the feeding which is a great opportunity for visitors. Both lower viewing areas are quite similar, and offer unobstructed views of the walking towers. Lowry Park has a small sandy paddock with a few shade structures, while Miami has an enormous short grass paddock that has trees to aid in mimicking a woodland where giraffes are found, so for giraffe exhibits, Miami wins hands down. MMZ

Elephant habitats- Lowry Park has one enormous 2 acre elephant savanna that is spectacular and my favorite part of the zoo. The elephants also have a huge pool that are awesome to see them frolicking around. Not to mention Lowry Park has young cows and a baby which is a major plus. I would say the only flaw to this exhibit is the poor viewing when the elephants are on land. Miami also has an excellent elephant paddock with excellent clear viewing which is great for photographing, and they have two paddocks that are equally grassy and have pools. (Lowry Park also has two paddocks except the back one is much smaller than the front and only has a shade structure. Miami also has two elephant paddocks although the Asian elephant exhibit is three times smaller than the African and otherwise no where near as good. I have to say Lowry Park wins this round. LOWRY PARK

Just a couple others to keep in mind ;)
 
Excellent blackrhino, i couldn't agree with you more about the giraffe exihbit, you have brought very valid and solid points, i also like the fact that MMZ mixes more species in their giraffe exihbit, and did you notice the fountain with the benches in front of the exihbit, i love it, a very nice touch.


And about the elephant enclosure, i did mention it in the last round face off, but i was little tentative to give out because of my lack of extensive knowledge of African elephant needs, so i'm truly glad you did the more accurate review of it since this is one of your key species.


I truly think we both have very valid points and a case could be made for either zoo, from my side, what i see is that you are very attracted to fundamental species, that most world class zoos, need to have in order to be rank. You are also a big fan of space, since most of your favorite animals need it the most, me on the other hand, love this aspects of a zoo as well, but what sets zoos apart for me in addition to the smaller and a little less seen creatures like rare birds, reptiles, fish and smaller creatures, are the layouts, and complexity of a zoo, since MMZ is a
bigger than lowry park, it is harder for them to create a lush and old looking zoo. Also there is the fact of the tragedy of the southern florida storms and the destruction that the zoo has seen especially when andrew hit it took every single tree, so i understand the challenge that this presents.


I think if they focus more on the little things MMZ one day will become one of the best open air zoos in the world, because of the climate.


And about including DAK and BGT in the florida's zoo list, i understand where this book was coming from when they did that, i have also seen plenty of lists where they include aquariums and zoos together, i understand the logic of all this, but in my opinion is a little unfair to zoos, because Disney, is a Giant, they could afford almost anything, that for the zoo world would be a huge sacrifice. Note they whille Disney can afford to bring any species and make the best exihbits, they don't allways deside to do so, and when it comes to them is really just a matter of choice.

Being extremely creative myself i know first hand that disney has many things in mind when creating an animal exihbit and the last one allways is animal species in a zoological sort of capacity, the wow theme park sort of capacity allways seems to prevail.


BGT has so many rollercoasters and rides, that at times it is difficult to understand if it is an animal park with rides, or an amusement park with animals, very hard to rank compare to institutions that are completely zoological parks.


Both places are in my opinion a must see for anybody that loves animals, modern zoological exihbits, and just a good day of fun, and in many aspects would really beat every single zoo in the nation, but one,
maybe the most important, the tittle of ZOO.


PS: hopefully nobody is upset that i went off topic, i understand the thread was about the zoos credentials, but i felt the need to validate the zoo as a much needed place in our world, they were posts in other sites, of people that probably have never been to this place, calling it to close down, and for it to be shut down. Not in this site, and definitely not the blackrhino, i have a lot of admiration for you, since you have defended our side of the pond many times against the so called animal activists, i'm aware of your track of opinions and i agree and support you 100%, it was only that you were somebody who i cared to expose my points to, and really did not want to waste my time with people who have no understanding of our world.
So Rhino much love to you my friend, and we will continue our discussions. I'm glad MMZ has a fan like you, i only wish there were thousand's more with your level of support.
 
English is not my first language, so please excuse my spelling, and i will do the best to try making sence, two things i need to do are spell checks and proof reading, neither i'm a big fan off, but i do not want my friends here, to think that i do not respect their language.
 
BlackRhino next time you come to Miami let me know i can meet you at the zoo and get you in for free, maybe i can even work a behind the scene deal with my friend that works there.
 
I love Lowry Park and Florida Zoos

Back to the original topic of Lowry Park Zoo's quality, it is one of my all-time favorite zoos. Since the last time I went, I see they have added even more to the newer Africa section, including cheetahs (my favorite). But in zoo terms, Florida has probably the best overall and you who live there are lucky in that respect.

Busch Gardens is one of my favorites also, even though it is a theme park. Florida Aquarium is also excellent, making Tampa a top choice destination. Add Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, and it's enough to have made me go there four times in about a decade. (I realize the Big Cat Rescue director has become somewhat radical and anti-zoo, but they still have a fantastic cat collection).

Palm Beach Zoo is good too, better than I expected. I have not been to Jacksonville or Miami, but both sound outstanding. Floridians have nothing to complain about. Plus, you're getting the new AZA national elephant center (although I assume it will be closed to the public). Disney Animal Kingdom is a bit disappointing to me, for two reasons: (1) You cannot see the savanna when you're not on the ride (a HUGE blunder on their part) and (2) an executive cornered my cousin and I midday because we were using tripods and demanded to know if we had a press pass and gave us a 10 minute interrogation. I wrote a letter to Disney afterwards and they had a customer service person call me and refund my money. I doubt I will ever step foot in any Disney park again.

Surprisingly, the Orlando area has one of the worst zoos (Central Florida Zoo). But overall, Florida is zoo heaven and Lowry Park is a real winner.
 
Yeah, Disney doesn't let tripods into any of their theme parks.

And as far as the suspended accreditation, it has nothing to do with their exhibits or facilites and everything to do with their acquisition/disposition policies and other elements of their management.
 
Miniaturezoo954 said:
BlackRhino next time you come to Miami let me know i can meet you at the zoo and get you in for free, maybe i can even work a behind the scene deal with my friend that works there.
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Wow that would be amazing! and thank you for being so kind. Do you by any chance know Ron Magill?
 
Tripods? why on earth would you want tripods into your park, they are destructive machines, made for one purpose the destruction of the human race, jk.

Hopefully everything settles down at lowry park, i'm completely sure as what their master plan was, and if they still plan on seeing it thru. I will visit the park today one last time, and try to find out some info about this, it seems to me that if they could built the multi level parking lot, it would create a huge advante in two areas, available space for another theme area, and a much larger capacity for parking, the last time i went it was really full capacity and cars were blocking eachother, add to this that the parking entrance area is not very atractive.


I was surpriced by their bird collection, especially the amount of hornbill species, and exotic game birds, is there any information that hints they getting some of their birds in an unproper way? when you mean acquisition, do you refer to the way they get their animals?
 
Acquisition is another word for acquire. Lex Salisbury loves birds, a reason why Lowry Park has such a diverse collection. I highly doubt any of these birds were acquired through illegal shipments or via the black market. Its really amazing how much diversity one can find through the private sector. There are several private breeders that maintain large collections of rare birds and some do participate in captive breeding programs with zoos. And this doesnt just apply to birds, but reptiles, amphibians, fish, and hoofstock.
 
Oh yes, Ron has been a very important part of MMZ for a very long time, and i will go as far as saying that i have total confidence that if he would have had it his way, the Zoo would be much better, sadly when dealing with miami dade county and its politics it is very difficult to get anything done the proper way. And back to your question i do not know him in a personal capacity, but i have meet several times in social events, he is a great speaker and a heck of a funraiser when it comes to anything Metrozoo does.

So do not hesitate, whenever you come next to miami let me know, and i get you in, and depending on the date, if my buddy is there, you could take the tour, is really entertaining, since you get to see a lot of the behind the scenes facilities, and a few animal feedings, the tigers is something special.

I think that with time after the master plan is finished the zoo will look much better, nothing will probably be done the same way that it is scheduled to go, but if it comes close that is good enough for me.

we have construction schedule to begin in the late summer again, and all the way thru 2021, but taking into consideration all the x factors, it will be realistic to think that with as much as they want to do, it will be more like 2025, so far they are in schedule, but amazon and beyond was 8 months late from the original plan, so they decided to move up the florida exihbit construction, and since they have cut down the amount of space and species for this exihbit it should not take as long as originally planned.
 
Thank you for that information Okapi, it is nice to see he likes birds, i really love them as well. There is so much variety, so many exihbits that can be made around birds.
 
Sorry, I was not intending to give anyone the impression that Lowry Park was acquiring animals illegally. If you read the articles posted earlier in this thread it will give you an idea of what was going on. It all stems around Lex's side project, Safari Wild.
 
okapikpr said:
There are several private breeders that maintain large collections of rare birds and some do participate in captive breeding programs with zoos. And this doesnt just apply to birds, but reptiles, amphibians, fish, and hoofstock.
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In the book "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched" about Moorpark College's Teaching Zoo, the students go on a fieldtrip to the Playboy Mansion because Hugh Hefner's curator of animals breeds some very rare hornbill species! (Really, this is not a joke).
 
Miniaturezoo954 said:
I was surpriced by their bird collection, especially the amount of hornbill species, and exotic game birds, is there any information that hints they getting some of their birds in an unproper way? when you mean acquisition, do you refer to the way they get their animals?
Click to expand...

Hi Miniaturezoo, could you also kindly give me an idea of what kind of hornbill species or game birds Tampa currently displays. This way I could be prepared for the up coming trip to Florida. I am particularly interested in their Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbills. It is listed in the ISIS. Of course you know how reliable ISIS is.
 
Yangz i would love to, but i'm located in Miami, and when i recently visited the zoo i did not take a specific list of species, so i really do not want to give you bad information just based on what i might remember, there might be other members that know the specifics of their hornbill collection better than i do, one thing i can tell you is i saw 5 to 6 different hornbill species. For a medium size zoo like this one, to me that was impressive as the rest of their bird collection, my local zoo, being a lot bigger until recently had a very limited bird collection.
I will be visiting San Diego Zoo in just weeks now, and i hear from some members here, that this is the hornbill capital of the world, and bird paradise as well.
 
yangz said:
Hi Miniaturezoo, could you also kindly give me an idea of what kind of hornbill species or game birds Tampa currently displays. This way I could be prepared for the up coming trip to Florida. I am particularly interested in their Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbills. It is listed in the ISIS. Of course you know how reliable ISIS is.
Click to expand...

I was there 4 mnths ago and this is what I remember:

The Sulawesi Taritic Hornbills are ,not surprisingly, found in the Sulawesi Aviary but when I went they were in the back of the aviary and I could not get a good shot of them.

The rhino hornbill and great Indian hornbills are found in the big aviary directly across from the entrance

Trumpeter, red bill and von der deckens hornbill are found with blue duikers in an enclosure near the entrance to skyride. I believe you are actually in the line to the skyride in order to see them.

Silver cheeked hornbill are found in the enclosure with the shoebill storks as well as vulturine guineafowl, saddle bill stork, hammerkop and duiker

S. Ground hornbill are found with the lesser kudu, gerenuk and several duiker species.

I hope this is helpful.
 
loxodonta said:
I was there 4 mnths ago and this is what I remember:

The Sulawesi Taritic Hornbills are ,not surprisingly, found in the Sulawesi Aviary but when I went they were in the back of the aviary and I could not get a good shot of them.

The rhino hornbill and great Indian hornbills are found in the big aviary directly across from the entrance

Trumpeter, red bill and von der deckens hornbill are found with blue duikers in an enclosure near the entrance to skyride. I believe you are actually in the line to the skyride in order to see them.

Silver cheeked hornbill are found in the enclosure with the shoebill storks as well as vulturine guineafowl, saddle bill stork, hammerkop and duiker

S. Ground hornbill are found with the lesser kudu, gerenuk and several duiker species.

I hope this is helpful.
Click to expand...

Thank you loxodonta. Do you know if Tarictic hornbills are in a cage in the back of the exhibit? or they are just shy and would like to be away from the public? I have a 200mm lens, plus 2x conventer, which could extend to 400mm. Do you think this would be enough to get a good picture of the bird? I will be happy just to get a glimpse of them since this would be my first to see the genus of this hornbill species.

What species of duiker is in the shoebill stork exhibit or the lesser kudu exhibit? I understand Tampa is pretty big on duikers too. Besides blue duikers, ISIS also has bay duiker (1,2) and common duiker (1,0) on their list.
 
Miniaturezoo954 said:
Yangz i would love to, but i'm located in Miami, and when i recently visited the zoo i did not take a specific list of species, so i really do not want to give you bad information just based on what i might remember, there might be other members that know the specifics of their hornbill collection better than i do, one thing i can tell you is i saw 5 to 6 different hornbill species. For a medium size zoo like this one, to me that was impressive as the rest of their bird collection, my local zoo, being a lot bigger until recently had a very limited bird collection.
I will be visiting San Diego Zoo in just weeks now, and i hear from some members here, that this is the hornbill capital of the world, and bird paradise as well.
Click to expand...

Thank you Miniaturezoo. I will be visiting Miami zoo during the same trip. Does Miami Metrozoo has a pretty good collection of Asian bird species? This will be one of my focus during my visit besides their ungulates. I planned 2 days visit for Miami Metrozoo and hope that would be enough to see almost everything there.

I have been planning the San Diego trip for a long time and hope the trip will happen in the next two years. Don't they have the only yellow casqued hornbills in the country? Hope you have a good trip to San Diego.
 
Thank you Yangz, it seems you really like photography, and Miami Metrozoo will be a real gem when it comes to that, since most of the enclosures bring extremely close to the animals with nothing in the middle, i'm sure you already knew that, as far as their Asian bird collection they currently hold 89 species at the Wings of Asia aviary, and i hear is one of the best asia aviaries in the country.
In the new Amazon and beyond area, you will find many bird species, but they lack a large aviary like the WOA. In the new Master plan they have included a future African aviary, larger than WOA, so we will have to wait for that, in all fairness their avian collection currently is already very impressive.
I hope you have an excellent time.
 
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