Once again it's time to place your bets on who will win recognition by AZA for best new exhibits. A crowded and much more interesting field this year compared to recent years: In the new "Budget more than $5million" category - Akron Zoo's Grizzly Ridge Aquarium of the Bay's River Otters: Watershed Ambassadors Aquarium of the Pacific's The Southern California Steelhead Story Assiniboine Park's Journey to Churchill Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's Heart of Africa Indianapolis Zoo's Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center Jacksonville Zoo's Land of the Tiger Kansas City Zoo's Helsberg Penguin Plaza New England Aquarium Giant Ocean Tank North Carolina Zoo's The Rocky Coast Polar Bear Expansion San Diego Zoo Global's Tiger Trail SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin Smithsonian National Zoo's Elephant Community Center Texas State Aquarium's Nearshore Gallery And remember, the nomination rules state: Only exhibits that were opened in calendar years 2013 and 2014 can be considered for the 2015 awards. Exhibits that opened to the public in 2015 must wait until 2016 to submit an application.
And in the "budget less than $5million" category: Great Plains Zoo's Snow Monkey Exhibit North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island's Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (STAR) Center
And finally, in case you don't recall every exhibit that ever won before: https://www.aza.org/exhibit-award/
Of the 14 nominees in the over $5 million category I will single out these 4 as strong candidates: Columbus Zoo's Heart of Africa is huge. Akron Zoo's Grizzly Ridge is a major addition to that small zoo. Jacksonville Zoo's Land of the Tiger has many different Asian species. Assiniboine Park Zoo's Journey to Churchill is a massive undertaking for a relatively anonymous zoo. Please do not vote for the Red Ape Church in Indianapolis.
Over the last couple years I have lost a lot of respect for the AZA, based on talks with directors of smaller (non AZA) zoos and on my experience volunteering at an AZA facility. Now that I see they have given an award to that monstrosity in Indianapolis, my respect for the AZA has gone from little to absolute zero.
To clarify: the budget categories refer to the institution's annual operating budge NOT to the cost of the particular exhibit
Quick question, what is the difference between Top Honors, Signification Achievement, and Innovation?
Each year Top Honors is the #1 prize while Significant Achievement is the runners-up prize. In the early days there would always be a single exhibit awarded with Top Honors but lately there is often a tie between 2-3 zoos. The Innovation Award is an odd one, especially as the Red Ape Church has been a rather infamous new complex. Some folks have criticized the process and even the very idea of handing out annual "exhibit awards" but if one glances back at past winners then it is apparent that there has been a lot of top-quality exhibits that have received recognition from the AZA. This year's trio of Top Honors (Assiniboine Park, San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Columbus) appear to all be exceptional zoo exhibits deserving of acclaim.
The Innovation Award is new. It recognizes, as was explained at the ceremony, new approaches worth note. In a way it doesn't categorize the result as either good or bad, simply as charting new territory (in this case, in exhibit design) The "Budgets Under $5million...." is also new and enables smaller institutions to be recognized for their efforts without having to outshine the wealthy large ones. Something else that changed just a few years ago is that every competing exhibit is visited by a member of the award committee so the award is no longer decided only by printed submittals.
Very interesting, good categories and names of awards. Wish that more exhibits would have 'walk-through' film on youtube so we can form impression ourselves.
