Zoo Miami Zoo Miami 2008-2010

C

CZJimmy

Well-Known Member
Hello

Could anyone who has visited please give a review of it. I have seen their website and it appears to be a very attractive zoo (and the map is brilliant!). What're the best exhibits? What're the enclosures like for the apes, elephants and other megafauna?

On a side note, in case any one hasn't read it yet, the oldest know captive Orang-Utan died recently at Miami Zoo, aged 55.

Thanks in advance!
 
Miami have a pair of black necked storks and are the only American zoo to do so.

They are also one of only zoos to house storm's storks. They were given one male from San Diego, and I presume that they're waiting for a female.
 
I visited the Miami Metrozoo in 2002. It's one of the nicer American zoos whose specialisation on species (both animals and plants) originating from (sub)tropical can only be welcomed in regard to the local hot & humid climate. As You can see from said HP, the zoo has quite a bunch of interesting species likes gerenuks, King cheetah (as a show animal; don't know whether he's still alive though), very successfully breeding Komodo dragons (almost a "common" species now in US zoos), black duikers, gaur, etc. Some of the exhibits are nice to look at (bantengs under a huge Banyan tree); others could be improved (f.e. pygmy hippos). I liked the idea of the zoo to combine both plants and animals from the same habitat in the exhibit, even though several aspects (plant poisonous to animal, neozoa problematic etc.) pose limits here. For the lazy ones, a monorail goes through the zoo. The zoo staff is exceptionally friendly & helpful, the short animal shows in the arena quite nicely made, the always changing exhibitions at the main building a' "Scoop for Poop" etc. (back when I was there it was "Dinosaurs") interesting to look at. Due to hurricane damages, there is usually always something new built in the zoo.

All in all a zoo worth a second visit.
 
That would be Hurricane Andrew. It destroyed their aviary, threw trailer trucks through fences, and made a huge mess. Many of the staff lost their homes. I was at a conference with some of the keepers a few weeks after the storm. They were still pretty shell-shocked. As I recall not many animals died, but it took a long time to get things back together.
 
NZ Jeremy said:
I've heard a hurricane almost closed the zoo in the 80's..?
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While most of the zoo is grottoes/enclosures carved out of the coral marl, with little landscaping in with the animals, the Wings Of Asia aviary was one of the very best large walk-through aviaries I'd ever seen. You could easily forget you were in a structure! But Hurricane Andrew demolished it. Its replacement is also enormous but (I suppose in order to withstand hurricanes) structurally heavy. Still, it is big enough for birds to soar overhead and for cranes to walk up to you.

The "next big thing" will be the 5 or 6 acre Tropical America exhibit (giant otters, leopards, hummingbirds, howlers, anaconda, capybara, marmosets, tapir...I think) which might open the end of this year. All outdoors.
MIAMI METROZOO’S NEWEST EXHIBIT TROPICAL AMERICA
 
The Tropical America section of the zoo is reportedly going to encompass 27 acres and cost $35 million. Thanks for the link Zooplantman, as the exhibit sounds amazing! Using the same architectural company as Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo guarantees a quality set of enclosures.
 
snowleopard said:
The Tropical America section of the zoo is reportedly going to encompass 27 acres and cost $35 million. Thanks for the link Zooplantman, as the exhibit sounds amazing! Using the same architectural company as Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo guarantees a quality set of enclosures.
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The 27 acres figure is a bit, ah, liberal. The actual exhibit area is a fraction of that. Perhaps 15+ acres is simply the surrounding undeveloped corner of the zoo, and there is a large "Plaza" for a new restaurant, shop and demo area.
 
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@zooplantman: thanks for the update. You're right about the exhibit figures, and yet it is immensely frustrating that zoos continue to announce enormous numbers for enclosures when the "human element" actually can take up more space than is previously allocated for the captive animals! I wish they would detail how much space is for animals, and how much is delegated to bathrooms, cafes, boardwalks and gift stores.

Anyway, hopefully the $35 million is well spent.
 
snowleopard said:
@zooplantman: thanks for the update. You're right about the exhibit figures, and yet it is immensely frustrating that zoos continue to announce enormous numbers for enclosures when the "human element" actually can take up more space than is previously allocated for the captive animals! I wish they would detail how much space is for animals, and how much is delegated to bathrooms, cafes, boardwalks and gift stores.

Anyway, hopefully the $35 million is well spent.
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I dunno, snowleopard, we have to accept that zoos are and always have been about the human element. That's what makes them a zoo rather than a preserve. To say a new exhibit is of a certain size (including that the visitors shall use) seems OK to me. Altho in this case, Miami, it makes little sense to use the larger acreage figure. Its simply wrong (unless of course I am wrong!)

My regret is a different one, it is a shame to think of the wonderful exhibits that zoo staffs with zoo designers create and then, once they are priced out, start cutting and cutting until the project...still over initial budget...seems hardly worth building! Sadly, zoos are almost never self-supporting and government support is disappearing. Once there were philanthropists who felt it a civic duty to support a local zoo. But their numbers are shrinking (although the number of billionaires is growing!)
They have no better idea than to become Disney and hope to build visitation. Which means jugglers are more important than animals! And still the keepers and other maintainers of the zoos are so badly paid.
 
Speaking of philanthropists, the penguin exhibit and construction of a new west entry at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo was funded by an anonymous donation of $6 million, the largest private donation in the zoo's history. It was announced on Boxing Day, 2006.
 
@Zooplantman

Are you suggesting that designers and staff continually have to cut expenditures in animal habitats because a larger allocation of the budget is transferred to the human element? Or are features cut because funding dries up?

Regarding governmental support, I assume that the real problem is annual financial commitment to operating costs and not support for major new exhibits. The public is rarely aware of the contribution to annual operating budgets, but major announcements of million dollar government commitments to major exhibits make for flashy publicity. In order to make up for the dent in government support for operating costs Zoos have to be more profitable and self sufficient which requires an increased allocation for human elements, be it in a spatial or financial sense.
The problem as I see it is if this results in the end with animal needs that are not being looked after in the positive manner that they otherwise would. How you would correct this though is not an easy problem to unravel and solve.


Also, aren't you involved in the design of "Tropical America" ;)?
 
Two features that I really like about "Tropical America" are that it presents a more complete and realistic view of biodiversity, and is separated into three different ecosystems/ecoregions; the Cloud Forest, Mata Atlantica, and Amazonia. The former two are important biodiversity hotspots!
It is really refreshing to see a Zoo that before "Wings of Asia" had a collection basically limited to the great apes, tapirs, zebras, elephants, rhinoceros, cats, bears, and Cetartiodactyla branch out into displaying invertebrates, fish, small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians together with plants.

See everyone I'm not always a cynic :D!

BTW I do understand that part of the reason Miami Metrozoo had such a collection was because they lost a lot of their smaller animals with Hurricane Andrew
 
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Taccachantrieri said:
@Zooplantman

Are you suggesting that designers and staff continually have to cut expenditures in animal habitats because a larger allocation of the budget is transferred to the human element? Or are features cut because funding dries up?

.....


Also, aren't you involved in the design of "Tropical America" ;)?
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No I was saying that early iterations of exhibit plans (for animal areas, human areas, keeper areas, etc) are often priced, in the end, way over the original budget and so the zoo starts looking at what can be cut. Often one of several planned enclosures/species is eliminated, an enclosure may be shrunk, etc. Rockwork may get replaced by fences, Sometimes, as with Rhythm of the Tropics, entire buildings were eliminated due to projected cost over runs. The human zone is rarely reduced because they still need to get the people past the viewing area. And gift shops, etc. are rarely cut since they claim to bring in revenue. Planning and then designing a major exhibit takes years. By the time its put out to bid, construction costs may have shot way up and you have to go back and see what you can still afford.

and yes, I designed the "Rhythm of the Tropics" landscape for the most part. I have not seen what their budget cutting ended up with, though. :eek:
 
Miami Metrozoo is an awesome zoo. Despite being wiped off the map in 1992, it has taken nearly 15 years to get back to where they were before Hurricane Andrew came. I remember visiting back in 1993 just after the storm. Back before the storm they were in the construction phase of finishing the African lobe and beginning funding for a tropical america area. They sure have come a long way since them, so this new Tropical America area will finally connect the zoo together (being that the African lobe dead ends at the far end of the zoo with a monorail station). It will be interesting that there will be an indoor animal area, finally some air conditioning - i think that's a real good public amenity needed in the new area's design. As for favorite exhibits:

Asian River Life - a multi-level exhibited of small animals from southeast asia including small-clawed otters, water monitor, clouded leopard, muntjac, and komodo dragons. Miami was home to the largest successful clutch of dragon hatchlings in captivity (27 I believe).

Bengal Tiger exhibit - houses the holding areas in a large temple.

Hoofstock exhibits - many planned out in a panorama design with one exhibit right behind the other, showing animals "together" in two seperate pens.
 
Can anyone been to Miami Zoo give me a detailed list of animals in each exhibit? I am planning to go there later this year. Gives me an idea of what I am up against for a one day trip.
 
Miami Metro Zoo - Interactive Zoo Map

Yangz check out this map, it will give you a good idea of the animal collection - basically a hoofstock zoo. The zoo is very spread out and divided into three "lobes" Africa, Asia, and Australia. The fourth area will be the new Neotropical exhibits to open hopefully this November, but it was once slated to finish the African lobe exhibits before Hurricane Andrew. The collection of the lobes have somewhat fallen out of theme, however the zoo is using a new masterplan that will completely change the look of the zoo. It takes a long day to visit this zoo.

Some notable species
Asian Lobe
Cuban Crocodile, Indian Rhinoceros, Black-necked Stork, Persian Onager, Goitered Gazelle, Nilgai, Spotted Hyena, Gaur, Arabian Oryx

The Asian Lobe also contains two exhibits: Wings of Asia and Asian River Life that house several small animals. I dont have a detail list of the Wings of Asian collection, but I remember them housing Painted Stork, Malayan Great Argus Pheasant, Green Peafowl, and a large hornbill sp. Since the original opening of the Wings of Asian in the 1980s, Miami has long been known for its Asian avian collection. Asian River Life has Clouded Leopard, Burmese Brown Tortoise, Indian Muntjac, Asian Small-clawed Otter, Water Monitor, Blood Python, and Komodo Dragon.

Also check out this page of the zoo's website.
Animals and Attractions

African Lobe
Pygmy Hippopotamus, Nyala, Giant Eland, Andean Condor, Grevy's Zebra, Gerenuk, Okapi, Eastern Black Rhinoceros, Wattled Crane, Black Duiker, Red River Hog

Australia Lobe
Koala, Matschie's Tree Kangaroo, New Guinea Singing Dog

The exhibits are very photographer friendly
 
yangz said:
Can anyone been to Miami Zoo give me a detailed list of animals in each exhibit? I am planning to go there later this year. Gives me an idea of what I am up against for a one day trip.
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And for heaven's sake do NOT go there on a sunny summer day. It is the hottest, most uncomfortable zoo I've ever been to on the wrong day (not a whole lot of shade....but Sedgwick County Zoo isn't exactly the land of big trees either ;) )
 
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