Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Metroparks Zoo News 2018

Asian Lantern Festival at Cleveland Metroparks sets international record

 

I guess I would have though they would have a rendering or something, especially after the Lantern Festival did so well with Asian Highlands this year. It would make sense if Akron was announcing something, that they would wait. If memory serves me correctly, the CMZ announced both Asian Highlands and the new Cheetah exhibit to open back to back summers in '18 and '19. We did not really see a rendering for Asian Highlands until the winter months, maybe January or February, maybe they are on the same timeline again. For these smaller sized endeavors, I don't think they need as much fanfare or at least maybe that's how they see it.

 

Asian Highlands was formally announced and major construction began in August. There was a small sign there before though. The last two exhibits followed a Labor Day to Memorial Day construction timeline. The closure of Monkey Island may have changed the timeline. The zoo is figuring out what to do with the area. The Colobus monkeys have moved into the former leopard exhibit now. That is where the cheetah exhibit was going to go.

 

Ok, so are the Klipspringers still there or are they gone?

 

I do not know. I have not been there since the island closed.

 

Dasha the Amur tiger has died.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

 

The baby Black Rhino has recently gone on display and a naming competition has begun.
The names that you can vote on are:
— Nia, meaning purpose
— Daliz, meaning flower
— Zina, meaning free spirit
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo gives public first look at baby rhino, launches naming opportunity

 

Some thoughts:

1. Dasha's death is unfortunate, but it might actually be the first step towards a better Amur Tiger SSP at the zoo. As far as I know, she never had cubs even with one potent male next door for years. Since Tiger Passage has been completed and they already deemed it a sufficient enough exhibit for three adults, it would seem to be a good sign that a breeding female and cubs could be in the future - as the CMZ admins no doubt intended. And speaking of breeding . . .

2. Why is there no talk of better Black Rhino exhibit from the admins? Their breeding program of a critically endangered species (and a famous one at that) has been spectacular and the whole crash is earning their keep, yet they are still in a laughably small building and enclosure. It seems like an obvious thing to promote and expand but so far there's been very little thrown their way, other than press releases and naming contests. Admittedly, this is more of a structured vent, but still . . .

 

Cleveland Metroparks board meeting agenda is out. No cheetah exhibit news. I am now predicting that it will not open for next summer. It is getting too late to start construction.

 

Any other news from the agenda?

 

Nothing about the zoo.

 

Interesting...I wonder where the shortfall is. They seemed to have been doing well momentum-wise going all the way back to Elephant Crossing. They've built a successful event center that is one of the hardest spots to rent out for the weekends, more funding from the carousel too. Tiger Passage was deemed a success and they promoted Asian Highlands a lot. While I still find the exhibit slightly underwhelming at this point, the Lantern Festival seemed to be a huge hit.

 

I think the closure of Monkey Island has something to do with the delay. Path reconfigurations in Africa might also be part of the reason. With Akron opening Pride of Africa next Memorial Day weekend (It was announced today), Cleveland may not want to open an Africa exhibit the same time as Akron. They are in the same media market after all.

 

That seems like a fairly logical and fair move on their part. Although I do find it curious that Akron is simultaneously building a new tiger/red panda exhibit immediately after CMZ put considerable resources into Tiger Passage and Asian Highlands. I'd be a little salty about that if I was an admin.
It only makes sense for the momentum to slow a bit. Their development and fundraising staff must have been working tremendously hard on so many small scale projects with different objectives and approaches. As someone who dabbles in both fields, its sometimes easier to have one, multi-year extremely expensive project then several smaller but much more aggressive ones. The time from concept to announcement to build for these past few is remarkable - a lot of people were probably stressing out on overtime to get these done within the timeline.

 

Akron's has been in the planning stages since at least 2015. Probably earlier. The size of the current exhibits are the main reason. We cannot have breeding permission from the SSPs without larger exhibits. The exhibit was originally going to remain one, but the architects told them two separate exhibits were better idea. As Pride of Africa opens, Tiger Valley can close for Wild Asia construction. This is the largest expansion in Akron's history.

Cleveland has needed some smaller and medium sized projects because there is too long of a gap between large capital investments. There are enough smaller to medium projects that could be done. I have been a member of Cleveland for a while. I know.

 

They have needed some smaller and medium sized projects but after the announced cheetah exhibit happens, what else could they do? The lions, bears or seals maybe but I think they would really want to announce something larger as they have mentioned gorillas and such in the past.

 

In my opinion neither one of them could avoid that problem. Both places have been planning major facelifts in both Asia and Africa for years now, which both just happen to be the two most popular themes in zoos. They were going to overlap at some point. Akron has its hands tied with the order they proceed where Cleveland has multiple different options for their next project if they want to avoid that conflict all together. I feel like Cleveland should finish updating the Wilderness Trek side before moving onto African updates weve been hearing about. The bears and seals are still awful when you compare them to the updates right next to them. Also Akron hasn't had a major project since Grizzly Ridge in 2013, while Cleveland has had two in the last years? Seems only fair that Akron has done their planning in the order they have without big brother getting upset about the similarities that really can't be avoided. How I'm looking at it they are just going to have to switch off Asia, Africa, Asia, Africa If they don't want to screw each other over.

 

I think this has nothing to do with the two facilities being upset with each other. They are in the same market and each (especially Akron) must be realistic about competing for the visiting public's leisure time and money. But they also have to consider the expectations of their own members and wider community as well as funding availability

 

Sorry, I was replying to this quote more than anything, " Although I do find it curious that Akron is simultaneously building a new tiger/red panda exhibit immediately after CMZ put considerable resources into Tiger Passage and Asian Highlands. I'd be a little salty about that if I was an admin."

 

Episode 39: The Asian Highlands at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo



The Cleveland MetroParks Zoo welcomed an exciting new addition in 2018 - the Asian Highlands. The zoo's already displayed animals like red pandas, Amur and snow leopards made their move to a new destination that includes significantly larger and more complex habitats. Within the educational plaza are overhead tunnels that allows the cats to travel from enclosure to the other on a scheduled rotation. Offering the animals the opportunity to change their daily patterns, and with leopards walking over their heads - it obviously gives an intriguing view for guests. Adding to this thrill, you'll currently find the zoo's Snow leopard cubs exploring their new space. Enjoy. ​