Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo A new look for the Henry Doorly zoo

The zoo is as you know in the middle of a consultation about a total refurb of the zoo, or certainly most of it, with animals in a more zoo-geograhic setting.
Plans include areas divided into African Grasslands, Asian Highlands, Andean Foothills, Equatorial Africa or Coastal Shores.
As well as expanded parking.
New species to be brought in will include camels, hippos, wolves, a Chilean flamingo and an anteater. Also new would be a Komodo dragon exhibit.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100604/NEWS01/706049853/0

 

Thanks for posting the link kiang. The $174 million master plan is certainly ambitious, and the demolition of the Cat Complex, Bear Canyon and petting zoo will essentially remove the 3 oldest and weakest sections of what many consider to be one of the absolute best zoos in North America. I love the idea of the zoo reshaping itself along geographical themes, and it never ceases to amaze me at how much money is spent by the big-name American zoos.

 

Here's the plan:

http://www.ketv.com/download/2010/0604/23793626.pdf

 

Thanks reduakari. This afternoon I ended up spending far too much time studying the masterplan, and if the final product ends up looking like what is proposed then Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo will cement itself as one of the world's truly great zoos. It already has some superb, gargantuan exhibit complexes and an impressive animal collection, and as long as the financing comes through then the sky's the limit. Watch out San Diego!

 

It's probably not fair, but a zoo in Omaha is never going to be able to compete, in terms of status and public acclaim, with zoos in southern California or New York.

 

I started a thread awhile back asking what people thought would be the best zoo by 2015. I voted for SD, which I believe slightly beat out the Bronx for first place. Well it may not be by 2015, but I think Omaha has a great chance to become the best zoo in the nation within the next 10-15 years.

Looks like they're giving the African plains animals a lot of room! However, some of the other exhibits seem like they may be a bit small, but probably nicely done.

 

It will be good to see the hoofstock area updated. The one that needs it more though is the Cat Complex. I had forgotten how small some of those enclosures were. I do think this zoo can compete with LA and New York's zoos.

 

It appears that Dallas, Nashville, North Carolina, and Disney are going to be given a run for the money with the new African elephant habitats opening in: Omaha(around FIVE acres), Fresno, Reid Park, and Brookfield!I'm predicting that the Omaha habitat will be a bachelor herd facility, unless they can somehow source females...

 

Well it will be a long, long time before Omaha, Fresno, and Brookfield will be opening their elephant exhibits.

 

Fresno is scheduled to open in 2014 and they actually have the money to build it, so not that long for them.

No idea about Omaha and Brookfield, but seems like new elephant exhibits would be high priorities given the popularity of the species and their absence from these zoos.

 

Do you suppose people will be picketing these zoos for having elephants again? That seems to be a hot issue these days.

 

Yes, it's going to happen. The only thing these zoo's can do is keep hush-hush as to where the elephants will be sourced from. Pittsburgh did this twice and avoided a public incident (On the imports of three Botswana cows, and the bull from Germany). If the zoos have the community, that's all that matters. Dallas (my home zoo) was`on the brink of sending Jenny to a Mexican safari park, which animal rights people fought against, then the zoo decided to speed up development of their savanna complex. The animal rights people also protested with this decision. The funny thing is, in IDA's list for zoos that are inadequate for elephants, Dallas was praised ! Based on Brookfields & Omaha's designs, they are similar to Dallas in size and scope.

 

I am so excited about the renovations! When the stadium across the street was allocated for zoo renovations it just made me giddy. With the Omaha Zoo as a hub for big cat species survival plan, I can only imagine at what its going to be like with a new big cat complex! Thank you for the long range plans update.

 

Have any announcements been made about what the next new Omaha exhibit project will be, or when, or is everything on hold given the economy?

What is realistically predicted to be the first new project? Elephants? New cat complex?

 

During our visit in the fall there was a ton of work being done.However all of it seems to be renovation (Front Entrance and Scott Aquarium).From what we heard the next big step towards a major project would be the Demolition of Rosenblatt Stadium which makes way for expansion.In our opinion we would like a big cat complex be that next project but that desicion has yet to be made.

Team Tapir

 

One of the projects that could probably be accomplished rather quickly is the elephant corridor that will link the zebra exhibit. I am not sure what support structures will be needed but from the graphic up on Pachyderm Hill, it seems to be mostly containment and ground preparation.
The cat complex is, literally, complex. It has a basement which services the bear exhibit and all manner of caged runway systems to route the big cats to various areas of the complex. It seems like it would be a very expensive thing to replace.

 

That may be, but to me that building should be replaced. Some of those enclosures really are too small.

 

It looks like the tigers may be relocated to a different area.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

 

Plans look great however complete closure of the Big Cat facility probably quite aways away.

Team Tapir

 

This link has information (and a video) on the newly renovated Scott Aquarium that opens to the public in April:

Zoo's aquarium gets a makeover - Omaha.com