It's not many, but there's at least a few. Some zoos only have native species, such as Zoo America, while others have native species as some of their most popular, such as Stone Zoo (with Mexican Grey Wolves and North American Black Bears as their main attractions), and if you count Jaguars as continental US, then Elmwood Park Zoo would also be one. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of as well.
But yeah, it isn't uncommon for Gray Wolves especially to reach main attraction status. I feel like bison and Jaguars qualify, too.
I'm struggling to think of any zoo I've been to where gray wolves were a main attraction. Jaguars are grizzlies but at the opposite border; they're also not that common in zoos.
True. Jaguars have unfortunately become a lot rarer in recent years, and there hasn't been much breeding occurring. I wish they were more common though, as personally I find that any of the spotted big cats are a lot more interesting than lions and tigers.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but lions have got to be the most boring cat to display. All they do is sleep. They don't need many(if any) climbing opportunities or a pool. All lions need are a large savanna with some rocks. Boring.
I am hoping to revisit Denver this year and this is all convincing me to beg the buddy I'll be there with to drive us out an hour to Cheyene Mountain Zoo on top of revisiting Denver. It probably won't work out because our schedule is already packed but it looks like such a unique way to do an African savannah. I think this is the million dollar question. I am probably the least traveled of active zoochatters, but while I've heard of many zoos keeping them in part of larger complexes, they often sound to be more of a secondary focus. They are easily the largest mammal in Lincoln Park Zoo's Children's Zoo, but they aren't the most promoted animal in that exhibit, which is more often the wolves or the otters, and the presence of polar bears is obviously a bigger deal to people than the more mundane black bears. Setting aside the specifies of North American black bears, you notice Andean bears, sun bears, sloth bears, and Asiatic black bears have always been more like 'add-on' species than stars, and they all have darker fur, whereas grizzly bears are stars and polar bears are one of relatively fewer 'superstar' species that just inherently capture the hearts of guests. I suspect it's because grizzlies and polar bears are associated as larger, more imposing and more dangerous, in the same way that lions and tigers command more presence than leopards, cheetah or cougar. Yes, everyone loves big cats, but the 'scariest' ones command the most attention. I was originally going to refute this, but after thinking it over, I think you're very much correct. I do think certain zoos have used grizzlies as a major attraction (Brookfield advertised Great Bear Wilderness on local television entirely by itself for many years, and Russia's Grizzly Coast is a big point of interest for Minnesota) and they should count to some degree, but I do think that is more exception than rule. Moreover in regards to you're comment about them not being exotic enough -- it is common for not only exotic bears to suffer this effect, but also exotic deer and bovids, so I think that completely validates your statement. (Not that you need my validation out of anyone here, but still.) I'd be curious to hear about which zoos promote wolves as major attractions, but only because I realized recently that two of the major institutions I've visited completely lack wolves right now -- Milwaukee and Denver -- and neither seems to have suffered for it in the way a zoo might suffer for lacking a lot of major abc animals. Denver may be lacking in canids entirely as I've heard their African painted dogs may be gone. Brookfield does promote Wolf Woods somewhat often, especially in regards to conservation work, but I'm genuinely unsure how unusual that is. I half-agree. I've been to Brookfield and Lincoln Park many times and the lions were usually not active, although seeing the males roar was always a treat. Pepper Family Wildlife Center and Benson Predator Ridge at Denver both drew much more attention to their lions mostly by luxury of numbers -- having a larger prides seemed to ensure more interactivity between the animals, more opportunity to see behavior, more chance at least one of them is awake.
Brookfield comes to mind, lots of smaller zoos. Jaguars are completely extirpated from the lower 48 states, whereas there's still plenty of Grizzlies around!
The most obvious facility using bears as the feature species, and mostly black bears is Bearizona. While it may be an outlier, it is there. Also there are a few small zoos or nature centers that more or less "feature" wolves as their main mammal. Oatland Island has Wolf Wilderness for grey wolves. @SusScrofa noted that Seewee Visitor and Environmental Center as well as Charles Town Landing Historical Site both feature red wolves.
37. Penguin and Puffin Coast Saint Louis Zoo, MO Opened: 2003 Size: 12,800 Square Feet (1,190 Square Meters) Inhabitants: Humboldt Penguin, King Penguin, Southern Rockhopper Penguin, Gentoo Penguin, Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin Antarctic penguins and seabirds have proven to be tricky to exhibit well, but this house manages to display them in a very memorable way. Instead of being behind a sheet of glass, the penguins and puffins are in open topped enclosures on both sides of the visitor pathway. You’re able to get so close to the animals that you would be able to reach over the glass and pet one if it weren't for the docents stationed to prevent anyone from doing so. At certain angles the birds can even look down upon visitors with seemingly no visible barriers preventing them from escaping. However, it is clear that this is an exhibit primarily designed for the guests rather than the animals, as the amount of room the penguins have isn’t particularly large compared to other penguinariums - although the space for the puffins is more than adequate. This is one of the most popular attractions at the zoo and since the house is rather small, lines forming outside the door happen frequently. Luckily, a rocky outdoor pool for not so antarctic Humboldt penguins should keep you entertained until it's you're able to enter. @pachyderm pro @pachyderm pro @Grizzly Hound @Grizzly Hound @pachyderm pro Similar Exhibits: There is one, but because it's not technically eligible for this list I will have to wait just a little longer to talk about it.
I'm not sure if you are talking about SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica: Empire Of The Penguin or not, but it is a very similar exhibit.
That was not the exhibit I was referring to. I agree the SeaWorld exhibit is very similar, but it will get a mention later on.
Pro tip: they feed the penguins shortly after opening. I saw them fed last time I was there. Turns out that penguins can be very loud and a little feisty. Exhibit was also almost empty because it was kind of a miserable day. I spent over half an hour inside before finally moving on. If there was seating I could’ve sat there all day. Great choice.
The house is kept at roughly 45°F at all times which makes for a great escape from the heat in the summer.
This is always an interesting exhibit to discuss, as while it's an incredible facility for visitors, it isn't the greatest exhibit for penguins. When I was deciding what facilities to include on my guesses for inclusion, this is an exhibit I thought of as a possibility, but decided it barely didn't make the cut, figuring it'd be a "similar exhibit" when Detroit's Penguin Center is mentioned, but didn't expect it to get it's own entry. That being said, I can't argue its inclusion, as it is certainly a unique and interesting exhibit- even if the penguin section is too small for the number of birds included. I did however include two other penguin exhibits on my list of guesses, and also thought that three penguin exhibits might be more than @pachyderm pro was willing to include as "must-sees". On a different note, what surprises me a lot is that not many other facilities, if any, have replicated Saint Louis' approach for penguin/sea bird exhibits. One thing I can't stand about many exhibits for penguins and other sea birds is that glass viewing windows inevitably end up blurred with water droplets, making visibility and especially photography a lot more difficult. It'd be great if other facilities took this "walk-through" approach to penguin and seabird exhibits (but larger than STL's, of course, allowing a more unimpaired view of these incredible birds.
