Some people here have suggested that the South American section should be remodeled after the new rain forest exhibit opens in 2013, especially the jaguar exhibit. The lion exhibit is very outdated and hopefully a new lion exhibit will be a priority when the current wave of renovations is done. Out of curiosity why do you have the snow leopard exhibit in your poll? I thought that this was considered to be a pretty good exhibit, and is certainly the best (and newest) cat exhibit at the LA Zoo.
Giraffe, as in a larger and better Savannah exhibit (hopefully incorporating both black rhino and lion).
I'm going to go with Jaguar — as small as the Lion exhibit seems to be, those two seem to make the most of the space. And historically, lions always seem to end up in fairly small quarters: San Diego feels like a ludicrously tight space for two of them. Even DAK feels like an after thought.
Blackduiker My dream exhibit would be Africa! This would call for totally demolishing the current giraffe, lion, nubian ibex, gerenuk, zebra exhibits and all of North America. Replacing the space with a multi species savanna; lions, giraffes, zebras, gerenuk, ostrich, lesser kudu, African wild dogs, gazelle, etc. North America could be moved to the hillside opposite flamingo lagoon, swan lake, and the eucalyptus grove; by, by, Reindeer Romp! Africa would also see a total revamp of the following spaces transformed into a lush forest; okapi, bongo, duikers, fossa, lemurs, colobus, radiated tortoise, mandrill, etc. It's about time those roundhouses finally bit the dust. A large walk through aviary would be nice as well. I'm dreaming, but sometimes dreams do come true.
I get the feeling that your dream may come true in some form or another. African exhibits seem to be the trend these days with Columbus,San Diego,and plenty of other zoos building new exhibits for African species. I certainly hope Los Angeles jumps on the bandwagon.
A west coast located Bull Elephant herd as the centerpiece of your idea would be great. Its about time another zoo took the risk.
Seeing as how LA is already busy with their Asian Elephants, and just two years after the controversy over their bull Billy, an all-male African Elephant herd wouldn't be the wisest idea.
I really don't like how so many zoos are getting all caught up with african elephants, because it seems like asian elephants take a huge backseat to them. Some zoos who currently have/had asian elephants (Baton Rouge, San Antonio) want to start african elephant herds in the future, which I think is a mistake and they should stick with Asians. (Bozie moved but there are future african herd plans, and they are waiting for lucky to die at SA zoo for a new exhibit there). I think it is a vitality that the LA zoo gets 1-2 new young females to breed with Billy. I am also kind of sick of all these brand new africa exhibits right now. I think something different, like a big eurasia exhibit would be better. If they did do an african exhibit, I would really like it to be something cool and different from anything else that we have seen recently. On another note, here are the exhibits that I think should be redone: That whole swath of enclosures with all the ABC animals in the way back- Hippo, Rhino, Black Bear, and Tiger. I don't like these exhibits because they are placed in a area where you have to travel the whole zoo to get there, and by then its the afternoon and those animals are all sleeping, which is extremely detrimental for all the guests who come to zoos just for these kinds of animals in the first place, which is many. Also, Giraffe, Zebra, and Lion. I hate it when Zebra and Giraffe exhibits have no grass. Maybe after Ronda the rhino passes away they could make a new rhino exhibit near elephants of Asia, (in that area between Elephants of Asia, Bongo, Giraffe, and Chimpanzees, because nothings there besides staircases) and also a new tiger exhibit near there as well if there is room to have a cohesive asian theme. The only problem is rhino barns are really expensive, because they require a lot of the big things that elephants do, like rubber floors, drains, hoses, heating, foot care, brushing teeth, etc. I don't remember what the snow leopard exhibit looks like so I can't say what I think about that one. I think the zoo should also get more bear species because they only have one which is a really small number for a zoo this size, and they used to have most around 10-15 years ago. Maybe andean bears in rainforest of the americas because that part of the zoo is all big and new and fresh. The zoo could also use some regional zoning, like they have elephants of asia and that is one area of the zoo, and rainforest of americas is another area, and all the australia stuff is in one place, but everything else is scattered. Maybe they could put all the simians (other than south american monkeys) in that area where giraffes, lions, and bongos are, in between chimps, orangutans, and gorillas.
