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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Discussion in 'United States' started by snowleopard, 23 May 2008.

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  1. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Cleveland Metroparks Zoo improves slowly, but steadily - Cleveland Lifestyles – Living, Food, Health & Fitness News from The Plain Dealer

    The Cleveland Zoo certainly doesn't seem like a great establishment after reading that link, as there are details of many infrastructure infractions and financial problems concerning the zoo's primate, big cat and bear areas. The funding hopefully won't be a problem for the $25 million, 5-acre elephant exhibit that is scheduled for 2011, even though I've read many articles about elephants in captivity that are sad and distressing. The zoo's director is quoted as saying that the exhibits that have been built in the past were ten years behind the times, and so I already wonder if that will be the case with the pachyderms.

    On the plus side, the large rainforest building is described in the 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" as "one of the largest and best indoor exhibits we've ever seen". The wolf woods and children's areas are also highly regarded, and there are 6 of the world's 8 species of bear at this zoo. The only problem is that they are found in antiquated grottoes.

    Has anyone been there in the past year or two? I was a little shocked to read that the zoo receives a healthy 1.2 million visitors annually, a figure that I suppose is steady but not spectacular.
     
  2. okapikpr

    okapikpr Well-Known Member

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    1.2 million visitors is quite spectacular...Steve Taylor hints while the visitation is steady they really haven't seen an increase in visitors with new exhibits in the last 10 years. The zoo is financially healthy, the park department that manages the zoo prefers to not take on any debt. Most zoos take on bond money that is borrow from the public and repaid over the years to finance their capital construction...however look at places like the Minnesota Zoo that did just that for their aquarium that never quite increased the attendance figures like they had antipicated.

    As for exhibits being 10 years behind when they are built...Steve Taylor was refering to the same rainforest building that got such a high review. I have been to the Cleveland Zoo twice over the last 10 years and would disagree with Nyhuis and agree with Taylor.

    The "infrastructure problems" stated in the article comprise of two exhibit areas...maybe 25% of the zoo's collection at the most. The San Diego and National zoos have a higher percentage of exhibits with "infrastructure problems". Just as I mentioned above with the finances, Cleveland's Metroparks board is just slow with the finances and would rather build in the black that have debt. The zoo has a beautiful masterplan that will make this place much better. I post a review and take you for a stroll in the zoo.
     
  3. okapikpr

    okapikpr Well-Known Member

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    The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is located in a valley surrounded by very steep slopes. The entrance is rather busy for the ticket booths and the rainforest building are between two parking lots. The Rainforest admission is seperate from the zoo admission and can also be combined.

    The Rainforest
    This is a very large two story tropical complex. It is often mis-perceived as a large enclosed rainforest much like Omaha's Lied Jungle or Bronx's JungleWorld. However it is not. Upon entering the building you are faced with a towering slender waterfall that drops from the several feet. This is the only "large enclosed" portion of the building. You step to your right a follow a trail with heavy vegetation on both sides. Further along the path you begin to encounter butterflies amongst the foilage and come to a large tree with stairs inside the trunk (there is also an elevator nearby for the handicap) that takes you to the second level. At the second level you will most likely pass by the unmarked doors that lead to the animal galleries and continue downstairs back to the waterfall. Or you could follow through the doors into a "research station". The station is full of graphics, artifacts, and televisions that play rainforest videos. Two windows of the station stare into the large central orangutan exhibit and an exhibit of some tropical animal (in the past it has been binturong, komodo dragons, or glts.

    Upon leaving the station you are emersed into the south american stretch of the gallery with coendou, giant anteater, tapir, macaws, capybara, and sloths. Everything is open, there are only short barriers and small hahas to seperate visitor from animal. There are no live trees, everything appears faux concrete (there may have been mulch on the ground too, but I was rather distracted by the concrete) much like Brookfield's Tropic World (hence the 10 years behind quote of Steve Taylor's). Some live vegetation are in planters away from the animals. And this is the only place I have ever seen coendou sleep upside down by their tails...and I even worked with Coendou for two years at another zoo! Back to the tour....The second stretch of the gallery consists of fishing cats and ocelots in several exhibits. The final stretch includes a second story viewing of langurs, a large small-clawed otter exhibit, a bare concrete two-story orangutan exhibit with one large faux tree that towers the enclosure, and a small exhibit that used to house tarsiers now mouse deer. You will then exit through a set of doors next to the ones you enter the gallery with.

    Back down the stairs will take you to the entrance of another gallery (and the waterfall) that contains the majority of the zoo's reptile collection. This gallery winds through and takes you past several reptile exhibits, a large glassed Egyptian Fruit Bat, a leaf-cutter ant colony, insects, large microscopes to peek at microscopic life. The path then leads passed an open exhibit that originally held water monitors, now holds crestred porcupines, and a large heavily aquatic crocodilan exhibit that once held American Crocodiles, now Gharials. And of course the paths lead through the gift shop then on out the building passed the waterfall.

    Main Zoo Area
    This area is basically of african theme. Upon entering the zoo to your left is the pachyderm house, this area will be the new Elephant Crossing exhibit that will be much better and have three yards totaling 3 acres. Originaly plans also included hippos and bongo, but I'm sure they were left out to give the elephants more space. The zoo will find a different place to put these species in their collection, for they both have a long history at the zoo. Cleveland was the first American zoo with bongo!

    Straight ahead is a restuarant that overlooks the flamingo exhibit and one of their three mixed-species savannahs. Passed the flamingos going straight will lead you past a lion exhibit then onto the lake in the center of the zoo. From the entrance going right will pass the restaurant towards the leopard exhibit, monkey island, the other two savannahs (one of which holds a good sized herd of Masai Giraffe), and the Black Rhinoceros/Cheetah exhibit. Beyond this path is the new veterinary hospital.

    Australian Adventure
    Just north of the Pachyderm House is the fairly new Australian Adventure and in my opinion, one of the few great Australian exhibits in American zoos. A central plaza has a small eatery, restrooms, a gumhouse (koalas, goodfellow's tree kangaroos, and echidnas), lorikeet aviary, walkway towards the cassowary and various wallaby exhibits, and the gate to the kangaroo walkabout that leads to the "children's zoo" area. The children's zoo portion is towered by a large fake tree that has a winding path up to the top and a slide down. There is also a ranchhouse and a barnyard.

    Primate, Cat, and Aquatics Building
    A long walk up wooden stairs and boardwalk brings you to the top of the valley to the zoo's highest point. This is an old animal house that originally housed the zoo's extensive carnivore and primate collections takes up this large portion of the zoo. In fact the zoo boasted for several years as the largest primate collection in North America...however they dont seem to make that claim anymore. After the nearby Cleveland Aquarium closed in 1985, room was made and renovated to take on a large amount of fish and other aquatic life. This building is full of your typical 1960s sterile rockwork and glassed enclosure, however they are quite larger than one would expect. There is also a off-shoot gallery specifically with oriental carnivores.

    Northern Trek
    At the far end of the zoo property are the zoo's northern tier animal species. It is another long walk from the waterfowl lake at the zoo's center along a ridge above giraffe savannah and following a small river called "big creek" under the fulton road bridge that spans the valley (and is now under construction) to the northern trek area. The bridge was demolished a few years ago (try and find it on google, it took more than one try to blow it up) and is now being rebuilt above the zoo.

    The northern trek area is a circular path that follows along the awesome Wolf Wilderness exhibit that showcases Grey Wolves and Beavers, Polar Bears, Pinnipeds. There is also a smaller circular path inside the large path that circles the bear grottos (similar to the one woodland park used to have) that also house tigers along with several species of bear. There are also Bactrian Camels and White-lipped Deer in large pens in Northern Trek.

    The zoo is very spread out and has lots of space for continued development. This zoo also doesnt seem quite as crowded as other zoos because of all the space. The zoo can easily be traveled in 3-4 hours.
     
  4. MARK

    MARK Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the write up Okapikpr, Its always interesting to know what other zoos are like which are far from where we live, Cheers
     
  5. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    Excellent write-up, okapikpr!

    The Rain Forest Building is just as described, and therefore a disappointment. It is dark and while it appears from the outside to be glass, the glass is opaque.

    As okapikpr says, Australian Adventure and Wolf Wilderness are completely satisfying exhibits.
     
  6. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    @okapikpr: thanks for the review! Yet another disappointing "rainforest" exhibit in a North American zoo, and it's interesting that it can be seen and paid for separately from the rest of the zoo.
     
  7. okapikpr

    okapikpr Well-Known Member

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    The Rainforest used to have a seperate map and guidebook from the zoo. They no longer make a seperate map, but they may continue producing the guidebook.
     
  8. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Exhibit

    The "Wolf Wilderness" exhibit.
     
  9. Ungulate

    Ungulate Well-Known Member

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    Again, during my Ohio zoo tour last fall (see Columbus thread for my thoughts there) I stopped in to see Cleveland. Like Columbus, I had last visited in the late 1990's - the main difference was that the zoo remained virtually the same in the intervening years. After reading okapikpr's excellent review, I thought I would add my two cents (and I apologize in advance for the overlap between the two accounts!)

    As many others have commented, the RainForest is a disappointment. On the upper level, none of the exhibits are large (especially the former tapir - now giant anteater - enclosure), and there is concrete, gunnite, fake trees, and sand. Yuck. The best part of the building is easy to pass by - it is the "bird-friendly" space at the end of the South American section; lots of plants, a waterfall, and various birds. The concept of the langur exhibit is neat - being two + storeys tall with viewing at the top and bottom - but I found the execution lacking. The gallery of herptile exhibits on the lower floor are decent, but the large central exhibit (porcupines, chevrotains, and turtles) is barren. The "highlight" is supposed to be the "thunderstorms" which happen every 10-15 minutes with sound and lighting effects, and rain falling into the water moat which surrounds the exhibit.

    The zoo map which is passed out at the entrance covers the entire zoo, but also has a special map of the RainForest building (both levels).

    In the main zoo, the Australian Outback is the newest exhibit. Noteworthy is the incredible macropod collection - I lost count of the species they had, but it was near ten! There is a small "walkthrough" section, but most of the kangaroos are in separate enclosures which was a bit disappointing. I also found the exhibit to be "top heavy" - most of the good stuff is up at the front, and it peters out and loses focus towards the end.

    The African Savannah section is worth seeing; the biggest surprise for me was the large flock of Waldrapp ibis in the bontebok enclosure! The rhino exhibit no longer houses a cheetah/rhino mix, and focusses on black rhinos. Monkey island is a nice mix of klipspringer, hyrax and colobus ... it has been renovated several times, but it still is a mound of gunnite surrounded by water.

    Northern Trek is a bit "Old School" (except for the fantastic Wolf Woods ... sans beavers at the moment, it looked like). It is a LONG hike from the giraffes across to the exhibits, which feel rather plunked down where they were rather than being planned into the zoo. The bear and pinniped enclosures are showing their age, but the hoofstock yards are pretty decent.

    Finally, there is the Cat, Primates, and Aquatic building (an odd combination to begin with!), totally separated from the "lower zoo" by a massive hill. They now have a complimentary shuttle to get you there and back! As okapikpr wrote, the building is VERY old-school ... walking through it is a bit like walking through history! The viewing areas are carpetted, and the viewing areas are lined up perfectly down the corridors. Most animals only have indoor enclosures, and these are fairly box-like, with evidence of enrichment being done. The highlight for me was the striped possum.
     
  10. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    I'll definitely skip the Cleveland Zoo this summer, as it pales in comparison to nearby Columbus and Cincinnati. The reviews posted of these zoos have been extremely helpful in terms of my planning for the road trip, and it's sad that while Columbus has built at least 10 new exhibits in the past decade Cleveland has remained fairly stagnant. As for the future, Columbus could well become a "mega-zoo" with its proposed 70-acre African Savannah...while Cleveland will still be struggling along towards mediocrity.
     
  11. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    I like Cleveland so much more than Columbus. If you're in Pittsburgh and heading to Columbus and/or Cincinnati, its hard to avoid Cleveland. Just a thought :D
     
  12. BlackRhino

    BlackRhino Well-Known Member

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    Cleveland Zoo

    To Snowleopard:

    I am a member to the Cleveland Zoo because I live in Cleveland in the summertime. In the summer I go weekly. It is a really nice zoo if you like African mammals. My favorite at the Cleveland Zoo is the Black Rhino exhibit. They have four Black Rhinos in a nice enclosure with varied terrain and a nice pool. I personally know the Black Rhino keeper here so I have gotten to go in the rhino-holding area. It is very decent because they have a barn completely devoted to the Black Rhinos. They just recently had a calf here in 2007. On the other exhibits, the bear grottoes are atrocious as well as the Snow Leopard exhibit. The Snow Leopard cage inside is so small and all the Snow Leopard does in the cage is pace and sleep. The Snow Leopards also have an outdoor cage which is also pretty bad except for the nice climbing structures. The nice thing about the Snow Leopard exhibit though is the tunnel between the indoor cage and the outdoor cage. Here they can hide and groom in privacy. The elephant exhibit is about to undergo renovations. The current elephant exhibits is like your average elephant exhibit that you would see like at the national zoo or oregon zoo. The inside pachyderm building seems very cramped and is made of 100% concrete and iron. It looks very similar to a jail cell. Surprisingly the elephants here are not that stereotypical and exhibit mostly natural behaviors. The rain-forest is very nice, but the Orangutan habitat is misleading. At first site it looks like the Orangutans are in a lushly planted exhibit until you see that that is all on the other side of the glass of the Orangutan. The actual Orangutan enclosure is almost 100% molded concrete shaped into climbing structures for the Orangutans. The Orangutans do however have very nice areas to climb and swing. They can climb up nearly 40 feet on their artificial tree.
     
  13. BlackRhino

    BlackRhino Well-Known Member

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    Cleveland Zoo

    To Snowleopard:

    You really should not have skipped Cleveland Metroparks Zoo though because it is worth seeing. It is better than Cincinnati.
     
  14. Pachy

    Pachy Member

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    Cleveland v. Cincy

    Better than Cincy? I am a clevmetzoo member and visit often, however the Cincinnati Zoo is much better. Honestly the Toledo Zoo is great as well. Ohio is lucky to have so many great zoos.
     
  15. okapikpr

    okapikpr Well-Known Member

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  16. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    I was there earlier this week and demolition in preparation for Elephant Crossing is well under way. They are using as much of the old building as they can. At the zoo entry is a huge model of the exhibit, altho the plans okapikpr posted are more up to date.
     
  17. BlackRhino

    BlackRhino Well-Known Member

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  18. Ungulate

    Ungulate Well-Known Member

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    ... anymore. I was surprised by the drop in diversity in the exhibit over the past 10 years when I visited in Sept 2007; no more tapirs (the last ones left in 2003), a single pacarana (a species on the verge of disappearing from North America ... now gone from Cleveland as well), and an overall decrease in the number of animals. Unfortunately, I think the exhibits are rather restrictive in the species that can be housed (size-wise) which will likely cause increasing problems in the future.
     
  19. okapikpr

    okapikpr Well-Known Member

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    What is housed in the old tapir enclosure of the Rainforest?
     
  20. Ungulate

    Ungulate Well-Known Member

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    The anteater is now housed in the central (former tapir) enclosure. The map also mentions capybaras, but I don't recall if I saw any in with the anteater. In September 2007, the exhibits to the right of the path (former anteater exhibit) held prehensile-tailed porcupines, common two-toed sloths, and the aforementioned pacarana.