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Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Cincinnati Zoo History

Discussion in 'United States' started by ZooBinh, 6 May 2018.

  1. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    Much I agree with. Also,the aquarium wasn't demolished it was renovated and a new front added. The rest is the same old building.

    And to add on about the polar bears, there were three bear grottos dating from the 30s which were joined to created the current polar bear complex.
     
  2. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I thought during the manatee construction the whole thing went down in flames(?).
     
  3. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    There was a big fire during the renovation but I am not aware that the building was then demolished.
    Still, I had left before that time.
     
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  4. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    What species were in Jungle Trails that were rare?
     
  5. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I'm only questioning this because the structure of the aquarium looks entirely different from what it came out to be.
     
  6. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    The renovation was almost complete when the fire occurred. I don't believe the zoo had the money to demolish and rebuild and it would have added years to the project.
    The original plan was to tear off the face of the aquarium and add a new expanded front while completely gutting and redesigning the inside.So it would appear to be a new building
     
  7. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    There was a Shoebill stork, Red-shanked Doucs, Black-casqued hornbill (last displayed in 2012), mouse lemurs, and dwarf dwarf lemurs are some of the notable ones.
     
  8. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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    There were two of them. Beautiful animals. They were accompanied by two (I believe) of their keepers from China who oversaw their care. The four of them were with us on loan for a few short months.
     
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  9. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Wait. RED SHANKED DUOC LANGURS?!?! When were they displayed?
     
  10. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    As far as I know, at the time of Jungle Trails's opening in 1993. Don't know when they were replaced/phased out.
     
  11. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Has the zoo ever done anything bad, like abuse or violating some accreditation rule or whatever?
     
  12. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I've been told a couple of secrets that could come across as unethical - all during times of course when they weren't seen AS unethical to anyone. Nothing abusive and nothing that ever broke a rule as far as I know. For obvious reasons, I will never share and spread these.
     
  13. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Can you pm those to me?
     
  14. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Of course I... won't;)
     
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  15. StoppableSan

    StoppableSan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    @Moebelle who do you think was (or is) objectively the best director of the Zoo? Ed Maruska or Thayne Maynard? (The only two I know of, there are definitely more)
     
  16. groundskeeper24

    groundskeeper24 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    As someone who grew up in Cincinnati during Maruska's tenure as director, I am very partial to him. It was a different era for zoos, no doubt, and he was a collector of rarities that's been unrivaled since.

    It seems like I'd read about some animal in a book, and then sooner or later he'd obtain one or two. Okapis, babirusa, anoas, doucs, komodos, Sumatran rhinos, bonobos, giant salamanders, king cheetahs, and I'm sure many more that I can't recall came to the zoo on his watch. The giant eland and Tasmanian devils might have as well, but I'm not 100% sure. This isn't even mentioning the temporary exhibits like the aforementioned golden monkeys and pandas. Kings Island, the local amusement park also had a large field exhibit that I believe the zoo oversaw to some extent in the end (it's actually tough to get history on that particular attraction). They had gaur and actually bred them with help from the zoo.

    He was a director for people who loved rarities. That style of director is largely gone for many reasons, a lot of them valid, but it was definitely something to see at the time. The opening of Wildlife Canyon was probably my best memory of the zoo as a kid. Now it's kind of just a ragtag collection of odds and ends, but when it opened it was filled end to end with some incredible species.

    Maynard is another that I grew up with, but more as the PR face of the zoo. I've met him and like him. He's one a decent job IMO of working with what he has money and space wise. He's a likable personalty who the community has known for a very long time.
     
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  17. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    There should be a director as ambitious as Maruska and likable as Maynard.
     
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  18. groundskeeper24

    groundskeeper24 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Well, I'm not sure it's that simple. I don't think that there are a lot of Maruska-style directors in zoos today period. Zoos seem to frown upon being seen as "collections" and seek to hitch the wagons to a more conservation-oriented mission. They really are beholden to public sentiment. I hear the guy a Dallas World Aquarium is pretty similar, and perhaps even more aggressive. Bronx and San Diego also always seem to have access to some pretty obscure odds and ends, too. We're getting a little off topic there, though. Those are two institutions with resources that make Cincinnati's look laughable.
     
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  19. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Was the crowd to see them big, and also, has the lemur island ever looked different? What has it been like throughout time?
     
  20. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Lemur Lookout opened in the early 60's for baboons. Based on photos from back then, I'm guessing the structure survived and it looks identical to what it is today. Sometime 25-30 years later they were replaced by Ibexes until the turn of the century when Lemur Lookout was created.