It seems that with a few exceptions, the WCS zoos, especially the Bronx Zoo, are in a place of stagnation. I may be wrong but compared to other parks in NA and Europe, I'm seeing very little new stuff. It may be that they're still feeling the budget cuts.
Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium.
Maybe, but they also got new species such as the Bronx's Little Penguin colony. So this supports the fact. It could be yes or no.
Thank you jayjds2. This can leads to another question or a possible thread, are there more zoos that are privately (corporate) owned than zoos owned by a municipality/cities (or country)? I am wondering about the status of some zoos, like Los Angeles zoo, London zoo, Berlin Tierpark, etc? I know for San Diego's parks that are owned by San Diego Global.
Eh, London Zoo is owned by ZSL (Zoological Society of London, which also owns Whipsnade). LA Zoo is owned by the city itself. And I couldn't find the result for Berlin.
Please don't hijack threads. @tigris115: the last time I visited most of the WCS zoos was earlier this year (April, to be precise), and I have to agree with you. With a few exceptions (like the Madagascar House at the Bronx Zoo), there is indeed a certain stagnation to be observed, with Central Park Zoo as the most obvious example. Most of the primate attractions (like the Congo Gorilla Forest) are now several decades old, and while they're still good, other zoos have surpassed them in several aspects.
Central Park Zoo opened a new million dollar snow leopard exhibit a couple years ago, but I have not heard any significant news from WCS facilities since then. (Not that I follow them, so there may be news I am not aware of).
The WCS is a huge organisation with it's conservation efforts spanning the globe. To say it is stagnating may be not to recognise its priorities. I have only visited two of their properties, both in March this year. Central Park Zoo is of course tiny and any major development within would severely disrupt the entire zoo and visitor experience. Therefore I can understand if management is reluctant to look at any significant rebuilding until necessary. My personal opinion was that the exhibits were first class and would have been welcomed in most zoos. The other institution I visited was the New York Aquarium and we were privileged to be shown over the property by the Director. As most would know the Aquarium was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy and is still being rebuilt following that event (the delays not caused by the WCS but by the bureaucracy responsible for funding the recovery). In addition we were walked through an immense new development under construction that I have to say was very impressive. I got the impression that it is currently the aquarium's "turn" and that once this new development is finished attention will return to other WCS properties.
You actually indicate an important aspect in your defense of the WCS-maybe the zoos do not longer have the priority they used to have. While some of the exhibits at the Central Park Zoo are decent to good, others are most definitely not "first class" (among others, the tentacle snake tank, bats kept together with a caiman, outdated signs at the indoor aviary etc.). I don't see much merit in a petting zoo where the petting of animals such as cows, pot-bellied pigs, goats etc. is prohibited. And I wonder whether those pigs are ever allowed to leave their rubbery flooring to enjoy wallowing and rummaging around in natural soil. Trips behind the scenes add significantly to the experience. However, even that didn't change my perspective while at the Bronx Zoo (although I saved me a lot of money and walking-thanks for that).
WCS was led for decades by Dr. William Conway and a group of Curators who knew each other well and had all come up through the ranks more or less together. Many of the Bronx Zoo's great exhibits (Himalayan Highlands, Gelada baboon, Congo) came about due to this leadership group. Since Conway retired (1999), the organization has seen three presidents with different priorities, not always great exhibits. Today, as MRJ indicates, the design energy is going towards the massive reinvention of the New York Aquarium. That effort began long before Hurricane Sandy, but the hurricane made the challenge much bigger. Complications with City approvals and funding have slowed the project down over the years but it is going full ahead now. A new generation of Curators continues to expand upon WCS' conservation and breeding work. I expect that once the aquarium is completed, attention will turn back to the zoos. WCS tends to ruminate on new major exhibits longer than most zoos do.
For the zoo's themselves, I would say yes. For years after the 2009 budget cuts all the collections, bar Bronx, have pretty much stayed the same apart from adding the odd new species here or there (still an exciting move in some cases). Bronx on the other hand went through a much worse period where they were forced to close several exhibits and phase out multitudes of animals. Since then they've added a few very odd species back- such as slow loris, kiwi, and the penguins- but the zoo has mostly stayed the same. In the past few years they have made some improvements such as renovating much of the second floor of World of Birds, renovating the Children's Zoo, and adding the monitors/giant tortoise exhibit to the Zoo Center. However, it only takes looking at the fact that several individual enclosures can be under renovation for years with no work being done or the stretches of empty buildings and enclosures or the number of projects and plans announced for several of the collections that have faded into nothingness to recognize there's an issue. Apart from the budget cuts leading to a lack in funding, we must also remember that WCS money gets split up between their global conservation projects and all five collections. Personally I think some sort of larger project for Bronx and individual plans for the other zoos will be announced within the next few years once the aquarium is repaired and the new shark complex is opened. They won't be the big megaprojects many other zoos like San Diego or Chester are doing, but they'll be another step in the right direction. ~Thylo
That is only true on the surface as these are really different funds with different funding sources. I believe it is rather like saying "remember that the Smith family money gets split between the senior Smiths and their three grown children's families." They each have their own jobs: they do not pool their money. The City and State budget cuts would have little effect on WCS international Also let's add that WCS built a massive new complex at the Bronx Zoo for conservation conferences and the exhibit design dept.: The Center For Global Conservation
One of the large (in many senses - space, budget, animal size) exhibit decisions that WCS will confront in the not-too-distant future is what they do with their elephant program at the Bronx Zoo. Previous management announced that they would no longer have elephants once the current elderly Asian elephants die off - will that really be the end of elephants in WCS zoos, or might they build a new elephant exhibit in Wild Asia or somewhere else in the zoo?
That's a very good question. Not sure if anyone really knows (that would share anyhow) but I would guess they probably won't end it, if for nothing else because of the huge conservation efforts they put towards elephants and due to how popular they are. Yes they can still help conserve elephants and teach people about them without having any (they only have 1/3 of the species anyhow) but having them there to show people, especially after events like their annual Run for the Wild (which has centered around elephants for two years), really makes an impact. @zooplantman, fair point. There still seems to be a very obvious budgetary issue within the collections that's appears to be worse than many other zoos, especially larger ones, have. Any suggestions for why this is the case beyond that the organization focuses more on conservation? ~Thylo
