What zoo or zoo's in America do you think have the most potential to be top notch. In other words, what zoo do you think could up there game if they had an enormous amount of money and support. When I ask this question, I am mainly speaking about an increase in species count, spacious + beautiful exhibits, and a wild realistic approach towards handling and treating the animals. Personally, as a California bay area resident, I think the Oakland and San Francisco Zoo have an extreme amount of potential. Especially Oakland in my opinion...
If money is no object then the limiting factor is land. A less limiting factor (but still important) would be climate. I'm not sure SFZoo wins in the land department
If it were me, I'd 1. Convince the people in San Fran to relax on the regulations of exhibiting elephants and explain how they're doing more bad than good by giving in to the AR crowd 2. Get a kajillion dollars from really rich animal lovers and hipsters 3. Demolish as many old exhibits as possible to start afresh
I think it depends on the leadership more than the location (though that helps). I don't mean the director only, I mean staff at all levels. Having a lot of money and a good climate should automatically mean a great zoo, but sadly it does not as Los Angeles continues to prove.
