New Blue Crane

New Blue Crane Exhibit, possible start of new Africa section like the Master Plan shows.

The strategy behind the whole African savanna is from the projected financial benefit of having giraffes at the zoo. It'll apparently raise attendance quite a lot and help the zoo sell more gift items. I can't say those numbers considered the cost of having a barn for giraffes who will be off exhibit for 7 months of the year. I don't think it will raise off-season attendance at all. The plus is that hopefully the African lions will get a better exhibit.

As for this crane exhibit, the zoo has been wanting to put cranes here for some time. It was renovated with save the rain money, a pretty good strategic move on the zoo's part I would say. Sustainable practices + new entry landscaping. Blue Cranes turn out to be pretty hold-hardy too.

I would have too say in the CNY area a giraffe would be a great investment even if it is only displayed 5 or 6 months at a time. In reality the Syracuse area only has 3 or 4 months of bad weather despite what many outsiders think. And the zoo has had a chance too see how he public will react to giraffes as a smaller zoo called the Wild Animal Park in a nearby town has done quite well in their first couple of months displaying a giraffe. Also with the zoo each year becoming a bigger destination with more and more guests visiting, it is only natural to expand the zoo overall, as the giraffes would only be one part of a larger expansion to bring attendance to the 500,000 range

Giraffes are locked in during temperatures below 40 degrees F. According to most climate information I can find on Syracuse, that would be half of November, January February and most of March that they will be indoors 24/7. Four months is still a long time to be locked indoors.

I appreciate the financial strategy of earning revenue for the zoo, and I enjoy the regional zoo center RGZ is envisioning. Cusezoofan, you seems like you know the area pretty well, and have a great sense of what the new vision for the zoo would mean to the area. My thinking is that having giraffes for the purpose of raising more money is begging for an attack of "zoos just exhibit animals to raise money for itself." Arguably, the zoo is going to use that money for education and conservation, but its not the most ideal sustainable action.

I feel a sense of caution mostly because I have not seen a figure on the size of the barn, and the barn drawn in the master plan looks like it was drawn without any thinking of how much space you would need to accommodate a giraffe herd through the winter. If this is the route the zoo is going, it should try to develop a barn with a lot of space and good indoor viewing. That would make this investment much stronger, and more sustainable, but its a big one, much more than $5 million.

First As far as the weather goes, Yes about 4 months in Syracuse is below 40, with the few days here and there of over 40, we even had one winter a few years ago where it was generally above 40 everyday and little snow to speak.
Second, I know that other Northern Zoos have Giraffe exhibits that do just fine such as Franklin Park and Roger Williams, and Franklin Park doesn't have an indoor viewing area either. I could see the zoo adding a good barn like the Elephant Preserve has in order to accommodate the guests and giraffes in the winter.
Third, the plans currently seen are more or less preliminary, they are seen as findings that were looked at over a year as to what the zoo could feasibly build and renovate, but are in no way a definite end result. Even the blueprints say Giraffe or Rhino. I don't believe it would simply be a money gathering strategy to bring Giraffes but rather a way to increase attendance and to bring new animals to the area and for guests. I believe strongly that they will design a way to bring Giraffes to the zoo and they will build a suitable house for them for the winters. Many people assume Syracuse is a cold tundra like land, when in reality the worst winters are rare and there are several nice days to be had.