Small fire breaks out at Buffalo Zoo Small fire at former elephant exhibit yesterday afternoon during "minor demolition". No injuries, deaths, or significant damage. The article also states that "restoration of the area will begin soon." Not sure if they simply mean clearing up the damage, keeping up appearances, or if they intend to break ground on a new project.
That beautiful building is almost certainly covered under preservation law, so I don't think any ground is going to be broken in its footprint. It could, however, be converted to a different exhibit, but the outer structure would have to remain untouched.
Certainly the building will remain standing, but the actual yard will be the most likely thing to be developed. Nothing has been made public yet, but one of the main theories is that the elephant exhibit will turn into a gorilla exhibit. (this is talked about in some news articles about the elephants leaving) It would be great, but I see issues with the relatively small space the yard, off-show areas, and W.I.L.D. Place (that stage near the elephant barn) would provide. This is especially so with the barn taking up some vital area that would infringe upon the design of whatever is built there. Plus, the barn would obviously too small for a decent indoor ape exhibit. I think Buffalo Zoo should use Lincoln Park Zoo's African ape exhibits as a model for building dynamic indoor and outdoor spaces in a relatively small footprint. Here's an idea: what if Buffalo Zoo held chimpanzees instead of gorillas? A smaller ape means a relatively smaller footprint will be fine, they can make use of vertical space, and they'd be the only zoo in NYS to have chimps. The biggest issue I'd see here would be any restrictions placed on sight lines and the heights of buildings because Delaware Park (to which the zoo is adjacent) may have some restrictions on the heights of buildings in order to keep to a certain aesthetic, for lack of a better word. Part of me wishes Arctic Edge could pivot 90 degrees so the elephant barn can be turned into an environmental education center and maybe there could be more space for polar bears, a reindeer exhibit, or expanding the rhino enclosure.
I love the idea of Arctic Edge rotating 90 degrees. I really hope the zoo is able to use the Elephant House for an animal exhibit, so I also like the chimp idea. Chimps could perhaps use the height of the building to good advantage, removing the need of a new building for them. Then the outdoor yard could be fitted with a group of tall poles like we see at Chester Zoo on their TV show. Chimps (or bonobos or macaques) could really make great use of the vertical space and not need horizontally-large outdoor or indoor spaces.
I will go to the zoo tomorrow and check out what damage was done and what is being worked on. As far as the use for the yard it does make to use it for great apes especially if you take the space behind the barn and show area to build the holding facility and dayroom. As far as the old elephant house my dream would be to use it to hold pygmy hippos with their outdoor yard near the zoo entrance where the bird show was. But that is highly likely for this zoo who tends to go the cheaper route. Whatever they are doing currently is most likely a temporary exhibit because the zoo is currently working on the new master plan and nothing has been made official or announced to the public. I can not imagine the zoo starting a multimillion dollar project with out the master plan. As for temporary exhibits maybe a hoofstock like camel or takin? Or maybe something like the dinosaurs from last year.
The problem with the Elephant House is that it's so small. To enlarge the elephant space to four small cubicles, they had to remove all visitor space and have the crowds look in through a door. I'd like to see the public have some indoor viewing for inclement weather, and your suggestion of chimps using vertical space is perfect for both the Elephant House and it's outdoor habitat!
This thread is dedicated to news about the Buffalo Zoo for 2020 As of the time I am typing this (May 20, 2020, 8:00 p.m. EST), the zoo remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. No reopening plans have been made known. According to the zoo's Instagram page, some baby leaf-tailed geckos, Indochinese box turtles, and Solomon Island leaf frogs have hatched. The Buffalo Zoo’s Instagram post: “Attention! We interrupt your news feed to bring you some of the adorable new faces at the Buffalo Zoo! Say hello to a few of the tiniest…”
As per the usual - thanks to our stronger privacy concerns over here - we still cannot read a good deal of news items. Now, guessing at the top of my head what I know of vulture species and their distribution in US zoos ..., are we talking cinereous or Eurasian black vulture here??? In that case, yes a great breeding result! Has it really been 8 years, no unsuccessful breeding attempts or egg layings in between?
Last night a red foot tortoise named Red was stolen from the rainforest falls exhibit at the zoo. Red-footed tortoise stolen from Buffalo Zoo | wgrz.com As a zoo member and a red foot tortoise owner this really angers me. The fact that someone not only broke into the zoo but also in to a zoo building in the center of the zoo is incredible. I also wonder if the tortoise was the target or was someone trying to steal a monkey, tamandua or a caiman but gave up and "settled" for the tortoise.
Absolutely heinous, I hope whoever did this serves 500 hours of community service and wears an ankle bracelet minimum.
Buffalo Zoo ready to reopen, but left waiting for Gov. Cuomo's go ahead Buffalo Zoo has announced its hygiene plans for when it reopens, the date of which has yet to be announced. The zoo will open at a quarter capacity, require masks and temperature tests, and close once a week for intense cleaning. Also, the zoo has acquired a Harris's hawk named Dexter. Buffalo Zoo celebrates addition of 7-month hawk while closed to visitors
Yesterday the zoo opened to members and today the general public. The zoo has broken up the day into 2 sessions, members in the morning and public in the afternoon. The zoo also posted an Instagram video yesterday showing a new exhibit for their educational animals. They renovated the lobby between the gorillas and education department. The new exhibit encloses the space between the window to the outside and I would say it is about 8ft×25. It looks modern, clean, and allows the public to see a rotation of animals like sloth, porcupine and others that are not normally on display. The video showed a sloth and red foot tortoise (not the one that was stolen, she is still missing) in the exhibit. That space was dated and old, seems like a good use for that space.
A 2 year old black rhino is moving into the old elephant exhibit. This will be the first time the zoo has held 2 species of rhino. Buffalo Zoo welcomes 2-year-old Eastern black rhino | News 4 Buffalo
Seems like a good option for the space for a few years. The outdoor exhibit is pretty nice for a black rhino. The barn is still small though, but its only a single rhino.
Did not see / expect this (her that is) from happening, allthough I do think it is a temporary measure pending definite breeding plans elsewhere.
