Berlin Zoo's Super Star Needs Bigger Habitat

Berlin Zoo's megastar polar bear, Knut (the zoo's equivalent of a studio produced boy band), turned two  on Friday, December 5.  However, the celebration was a quiet affair. 

News that the bear needs a larger enclosure as he reaches maturity has the bear's biggest fans all atwitter.  Due to the omnipresent credit crunch, the Zoo's intention to renovate the bear's home have all but disappeared.  Instead, the Zoo is looking for potential new homes at European zoos far and wide.

I'm impressed to hear the Zoo is willing to give up its 27% increase in attendance in exchange for "doing the right thing"--for the bear itself (to have a healthier and happier life), and for the species as a whole (to be given a chance to breed). 

Read the whole story here.  There's a nice little video along with the article that I can't seem to get into the post.  Check it out.

More NY Aquarium Renderings

Renderings of shark exhibit concept from designers, WRT.  Thanks, Rob, for the tip!

Correction to earlier post:  WRT and Cloud 9 are the design competition winning team.  I reported that Smith-Miller +Hawkinson had the winning design.  I apologize for the confusion. 

New York Aquarium Facelift?

For years, it seems, the NY Aquarium has been flirting with revamping its exterior.  In 2006, the city hosted a design competition for that very reason.  Three very interesting finalists were chosen, and eventually, one winner announced. 

Then, this spring, that design was thrown out the window for apparently being too restrictive to potential future growth.  The next step, according to city officials, is to re-work the interior of the aquarium to attract new visitors. 

First on the plate? A new shark tank. The $50 million tank would triple the aquarium's current shark population to 40, and plans for the 300,000 gallon tank include an arch for guests to walk beneath.  For comparison, 300,000 gallons is approximately 1/18th the size of the Ocean Voyager tank at Georgia Aquarium.  $50 million for 300,000 gallons seems a bit pricey to me, so perhaps other unreported exhibits are included in that number.

All of those plans are now moot, though, as the New York state government is proposing 55% budget cuts to all of the state's "living museums."  This includes the NY Aquarium, the Bronx Zoo, and the Botanical Gardens, amongst many others.  If this proposal passes, any redesign or renovation of the Aquarium is surely to die. 

Sadly, I'm awaiting news of these types of budget cuts to occur all across the U.S. and the world, as unfortunately, educational and entertainment budgets are always the first to go.  If your local zoo, aquarium, or living museum is currently facing major cutbacks, please let me know and I'll gladly post your story here.

Buffalo's Newest Exhibit!

This summer, Buffalo Zoo implemented another portion of their 15 Year Master Plan, created in 2002.  The Phase I addition is the South American portion of the geographically organized master plan.  The M&T Rainforest Falls is a two-story building housing a collection of animals representing the tropical rainforest.  The exhibit "replicates the unique geology and ecology of Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, home to Angel Falls - the tallest waterfall in the world."  Featuring a 25' waterfall, the exhibit incorporates lush vegetation and beautiful graphics into an immersive environment.  

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8TqlSfns9I&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] The subsequent phases of the Zoo's master plan include a new entry plaza, an Asian river and highlands zone, an African savannah, and an Arctic zone.  The overall plan organizes itself around the theme of water, and I'm especially interested to see how successfully the guests pick up on the message.

California Academy of Sciences Re-Opening

I have to apologize to everyone for my lack of updates lately.  Busy, Busy, Busy!  I found this post on a guest's blog about the new CAS.  Its filled with beautiful photography and a little editorializing.  I won't spoil the story for you, but I definitely commend his dedication!

Here's the link:  http://shuttersounds.thedailynathan.com/2008/10/08/academy-of-sciences-reopening/

Enjoy!

Tying Living Classrooms to Schools

I saw this brief article about a school which invested in creating an entirely new avenue for children to learn about the living world--a Botanical Garden and Aquarium on the school's site.  Despite the small scale of the aquarium (which is basically a bunch of store-bought tanks) and the raised planters that can hardly be called a "Botanical Garden," the high school in New York does illustrate an admirable dedication to enhancing the science curriculum. With national cut-backs in education, and battles over what and how we teach science (especially in Texas!), I find this story to be inspiring.  Not only will educators be able to show their students the abstract concepts they are studying, but kids will also get a taste of a few science-based professions, like horticulture and zookeeping. 

As a parallel thought to the idea of evolving all science institutions (zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, science centers, etc) into one all-encompassing Living Center, incorporating small gardens and animal exhibits into schools seems completely logical.  Remember the connection you had to the classroom hamster?  Imagine having raccoons or deer or even a monkey or two just outside your classroom!  Inspiring children to learn about science shouldn't just occur on field trips and the occasional family day to the zoo.  Professional training in high school shouldn't just mean shop class and drafting.  We should encourage our schools to make these types of additions, despite the associated costs, since the benefits would surely outweigh the costs. 

Good Job Gates-Chili High!

News of Aquaria Across the Globe

I've been finding tidbits of news about new aquaria and new additions to old aquaria around the world recently.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything in depth about ANY of them, so I decided to make a single posting with links to some of the soon to be built / soon to be open / recently opened aquaria making news these days.  If you happen to have any info on any of these, or others, please let me know. 

Guadalajara Zoo's New Aquarium in Jalisco, Mexico:  $2.5 million addition to existing zoo with 95 species of fish.  The main attraction is the aquarium's great white shark, previously only temporarily exhibited successfully by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  No details on the Guadalajara Aquarium's exhibit.

Steinhart Aquarium at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco:  Expansion of existing aquarium adds California Coast exhibits, including 100,000 gallon main tank and the world's deepest coral reef tank at 25 feet deep.  Opens September 27 as part of the new Science Museum which also includes a Living Rainforest, Penguins, and Alligator exhibits, as well as a planetarium and natural history museum.  The Museum complex is another example in the evolution of the science institution as outlined in a previous post.

Xanadu Aquarium at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey:  Controversial aquarium in the works, awaiting approval by the New Jersery Governor, plans to be the second largest aquarium in the U.S., behind the Georgia Aquarium.  Estimated cost: $200 million.  Estimated attendance: 2.5 million annually.

Chiang Mai Zoo's Aquarium in Northern Thailand:  Expected to open in October of this year, the aquarium boasts 8000 individual animals of 250 species.  Nearly 88,000 sf in area, the aquarium will supposedly have the world's longest acrylic tube through a tank (the length is undisclosed).  Approximate cost: $17 million.

The Blue Planet Aquarium in Copenhagen, Denmark:  Danish designers, 3XN, recently won the design competition for the new aquarium which, as far as I can tell, is the newest in the Blue Planet family seen across Europe.  Details are scarce, but design images are not. 

Jenny Stays...the Final Word

I found this very good blog / article about the final decision, including the RFP for the proposed new exhibit.  Enjoy!

New York Times Covers Jenny the Elephant's Plight

Jenny in the NY Times

Check it out here.

Admittedly, the article seems a bit slanted on the animal rights side, but still a good story. It truly is amazing how this topic strikes the heart of the nation.

Dakota Zoo's New Tiger Exhibit

Apparently, its Tiger Week here at DesigningZoos.com!  To continue the trend, I'm bringing you the exclusive details on the Dakota Zoo's new Tiger exhibit.  This week, the Zoo, located in Bismarck, ND, opened Phase I of its new two-part big cat exhibit. Phase I is a super-sized tiger exhibit, currently housing three adolescent Siberian Tigers, and Phase II, slated to open September this year, will be the new home to two Snow Leopards.  Here is a local news reporter's tour through the exhibit. The Zoo successfully managed to stretch its limited budget of $1.2 million to the max, by primarily focusing on animal well-being and visitor proximity above theming and story-delivery. The guest features of the tiger habitat include pop-up viewing stations inside the exhibit, as well as nose-to-nose glass viewing from the perimeter.

The tigers are lavishly provided for, as well, with an enormous 45,000 sf of exhibit space. For comparison, the Bronx Zoo's large six tiger habitat, opened in 2003, is approximately 65,000 sf (that's 10,800 sf / tiger) while Dallas Zoo's six tiger habitat, opened in 1999, is a more typical 28,000 sf (4600 sf / tiger). The Dakota Zoo has planned for a maximum of four total tigers, which would mean each tiger could have a possible 11,250 sf territory to roam, when the facility is maxed out.

The exhibit also features pools for swimming and play, rocks for lounging and climbing, natural vegetation for shade, and grass underfoot.

The Dakota Zoo's back of house support area is also impressive, providing four somewhat standard-sized stalls of 120 sf each (10' x 12'), with an additional 1200 sf off-exhibit yard.

Terry Lincoln, Director of the Dakota Zoo, kindly took a few minutes to share some thoughts on the exhibit with me. Via e-mail, I asked him if the recent press coverage of the San Francisco Zoo's attack had affected any of the planning for this exhibit.

"We did review the San Francisco tiger incident and didn't end up changing our plans, although we were interested to learn that our den height of 12' was roughly the same height as their exhibit wall. Our den {ed. note: holding building which serves as one barrier of tiger enclosure} has 4.5' of mesh and solid invert above the 12' level to prohibit jumping or climbing {from within the exhibit}. We {also} made provisions to install a video DVR system to monitor and record the guardrail areas in the event that an incident were to occur."

He also mentioned the exhibit walls are 16.5' tall, and made from 3" mesh. The full height includes a four foot kickback at the top. Additionally, the tigers are discouraged from approaching the mesh walls with a single strand of hotwire at the two foot level. Click here to watch a video of Terry and the stars of the show being interviewed at the off-exhibit yard.

This exhibit took over eight years of planning and fundraising. The Zoo designed the exhibit in-house, hiring a local architect to draw it up for them.  It is clear by the amount of local press coverage of the exhibit that the city is very proud of the exhibit and the zoo. Congratulations to all involved in Phase I, and best of luck in Phase II.

Erie Zoo's New Tiger Exhibit

The AP story about Erie Zoo's shy tiger is showing up in most of the nation's local papers and is plastered all over the internet...just try googling Erie Zoo and tiger!  The brief article tells us the tiger, a male named Nikki, who is a recent addition to the zoo, is taking his sweet time to explore the exhibit.  Two months, so far, and he's only poked his head out.  The article does not go into detail about the exhibit.

After some searching, I've found some additional information related to zoo design.  The $500,000 exhibit renovation included adding a yard (essentially doubling the space for the tigers), adding grass versus the traditional rockwork underfoot, and upgrading the visitor experience to include glass viewing for nose-to-nose interaction, mesh training panels, and shade to encourage lingering (and in Erie, I suspect, to protect from snow).  Here's a video on the new exhibit.

Nikki came from the Brookfield Zoo, whose tiger exhibit leaves much to be desired.  The Brookfield exhibit is a remnant of the historic bear pits, and is mostly rockwork.  The Zoo has upgraded as much as possible by adding some natural substrate and encouraging vegetative growth, but the exhibit is highly dated.  Visitors can view 180 degrees along the moated pathway.  Nikki's hesitation to explore might be exacerbated by the extreme difference in habitats, not to mention his change of city and additional new neighbors.  Or, he could, as the AP puts it, just be shy. 

If anyone has more data on the new Erie renovation, please pass it along.  I'm curious especially about size and barriers.

MI Zoo's Reaction to San Fran's Tiger

This article is definitely a little late in the game, but its an interesting read in relation to how zoos nationwide are affected by local tragedies. 

Essentially, the attack in San Francisco has caused zoos to re-evaluate the safety of their own enclosures, and, in some instances, add additional safeguards to new and existing exhibits.  John Ball Zoo opened the Lions of Lake Manyara exhibit this summer, after having carefully considered the events in San Francisco. 

The zoo community is very close-knitted.  Issues that affect one zoo, also have effects elsewhere.  Keep this in mind when designing for multiple zoos.  We can always learn from each other.

Just for Fun...

This just made me smile today, so I thought I'd share...Enjoy!

Legoland Opens Aquarium

San Diego's Legoland theme park just opened the doors on its sister facility, SEA LIFE Aquarium. The Aquarium is 175,000 gallons in total with one large main tank, featuring an acrylic walk-thru tube, sea horse exhibits, and tidal pool touch tanks.  The tanks will include over 70 lego statues including a 10 foot creation of Poseidon.

This SEA LIFE Aquarium, one of the over 20 of the SEA LIFE branded aquariums centered in Europe, is focused on regional fauna, including both sea and fresh water of California.

For reference, the Georgia Aquarium, which is one of the largest, if not the largest, aquarium in the world (depending on which stats you chose to use), holds a total of over 8 million gallons of water. The Ocean Voyager tank alone, in which lives the Aquarium's whale sharks, holds over 6 million gallons. The Shamu Show facility at Sea World Orlando, including all back of house pools and show pools, holds approximately 7 million gallons of water.

American Tigers Pave Way for Baghdad Zoo

Baghdad Zoo has probably never been at the forefront of innovation in animal husbandry and exhibitry, but after enduring continuous destruction from war over the last few years, its been decimated.  The zoo's collection has depleted to just under 800 specimens of mostly birds.  Recently, in an act of good will, the U.S. has endeavored to send the Zoo a pair adolescent tiger siblings from a sanctuary in North Carolina.  The act is controversial for many reasons, but, from our point of view, mostly because of the lack of modern (ethically) designed habitat for the tigers.

 

On the flip side, the move brings a positive light to the zoo, which has already increased the visitor attendance.  An increased attendance will, eventually, lead to capital projects which will hopefully include a new tiger exhibit. 

For the time being, the cubs are provided with all of the basic elements standard in exhibits: natural substrate, a medium sized pool, enrichment devices and shade from the sun.  That's a start.  And, if you consider the environment from which they came, being that sanctuaries rarely spend money on the aesthetic design of an animal habitat, the new home is probably not much different for them. 

Hopefully, the heightened Zoo security will keep the tigers safe from harm.  Safety is the real issue here.  Aesthetics will provide a much more comfortable home for the tigers, giving them more places of reprieve from being on exhibit, as well as providing more complex spaces for play.  However, the main reason we provide aesthetically pleasing exhibits is for the guest.  In this case, the guests, I assume, are happy to just have a functioning zoo at all.

Take a look at a video of the cubs in their new home, here.

Dallas Zoo Changes Plans for Elephant

Last month, I reported on Dallas Zoo's decision to send their last remaining elephant, Jenny, to a wildlife park in Mexico.  It was announced this week that the Dallas city council has stepped in, reacting to the pressures of animal activists, and has requested the Zoo to find an alternate home for Jenny.  No plans have been reported, but it is safe to assume that the Zoo will consider the Tennessee Sanctuary suggested by the activists.  The Elephant Sanctuary boasts 2700+ acres at its disposal, providing 300+ acres for African elephants, and 2400+ acres for Asians.  Additionally, the Sanctuary has one 9000 sf African elephant barn, one 17,000 sf Asian elephant barn, plus separate quarantine facilities. 

Russia's Grizzly Coast Pics

I love Flickr! I just found a couple of good sets walking through Minnesota Zoo's new Russia's Grizzly Coast exhibit. I personally can't wait to see this in person. It really does look amazing. I especially love the photo below, with the steam escaping the vents amongst the landscaping. Gorgeous, enchanting, magical...

Set One

Set Two (thank you to the family pictured!)

If you have pictures of this attraction, or any other new zoo exhibit around the world, please contact me.  I'd love to share your experience with everyone.

Madagascar! Pics

I found a couple of interesting photo sets on Flickr from the Bronx Zoo's Madagascar! Exhibit.  Enjoy! From a visitor's perspective...

From an exhibit designer's perspective...

Dinosaur Educates!?

Check out this video of an amazing idea for surprising guests at educational facilities (warning:  adult language in the comments section...it really freaked some folks out!). This "live" dinosaur walks amongst the shocked visitors at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and could be considered an interesting version of an animal presentation at zoos! I'm always curious about how to make presentations and shows (not to mention videos) more intriguing, and less "showlike" -- walking into a theater to await a formal presentation just seems so anti-nature to me.  However, this isnt that far from what we do currently, with the most elaborate of edutainment (like at SeaWorld) with amazing costumes, scenery and sound.  This is actually much more simple--a person in a costume--albeit an immensely impressive costume.  But, its just a person in a costume, nonetheless.

Is this the real deal in edutainment?  Does this inspire or intrigue, or just startle and scare the little ones (and adults, alike!)?  Would it be as impressive if it were a different animal?  Could it serve as a presentation in and of itself, or simply as another tool in our kit?  Let me know what you think!

Rotation Exhibits: How To Guide

The idea of rotating animals through several exhibits as a means of enrichment and variability is a relatively new one.  The popularity of the idea is widespread, despite the requirements of large spaces, intensive staff involvement, and complex (or flexible) holding facilities.  Generally, we've been incorporating some sort of rotation capability in all of our exhibits for the past several years.  If the staff is willing, the advantage is great:  providing several smaller exhibits in which to rotate through the animals during the day provides active animals, which in turn, provides engaged guests. 

The upcoming Louisville Zoo Glacier Run exhibit takes full advantage of this type of exhibitry.  Despite the main exhibit area being on the small size, the bears here will have several play areas away from the main exhibit, thereby increasing the overall territory of the animals.  The downside to this is casual visitors may not understand the complexity of the bears' lifestyle, and may judge the exhibit as inadequate. 

However, understanding how to incorporate this important concept will enhance most zoo exhibitry, and many times, is a creative solution to a tricky problem.  Read more about rotation from da man, Jon Coe, here.