Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is a zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The Zoo is divided into several areas: Australian Adventure; African Savanna; Northern Wilderness Trek, The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, Waterfowl Lake, The RainForest, Asian Highlands, and the newly added Susie's Bear Hollow. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has one of the largest collections of primates in North America, The Zoo is a part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (CMZ) was founded in 1882. It is one of the most popular year-round attractions in Northeast Ohio with an attendance of 1.32 million in 2023.

History

The Zoo, originally named the Cleveland Zoological Park, first opened in 1882 at Wade Park where the Cleveland Museum of Art now stands. During its early years, the Zoo only held animals of local origin. In 1907, the city of Cleveland moved the Zoo to its current location in Old Brooklyn, and the Zoo acquired its first elephant. The park was informally known (and referred to) as Brookside Zoo for many years. Beginning in 1910, the Zoo constructed Monkey Island, sea lion pools, and a moated bear exhibit. By 1940, the Zoo was home to three elephants and its first (permanent) elephant resident since 1924. That same year, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History assumed control of the Zoo.

Between 1955 and the transfer of management to the Cleveland Metroparks in 1975, the Zoo experienced rapid expansion despite setbacks due to flooding: the Zoo's reptile collection and several other buildings were lost when Big Creek overflowed in January 1959. Although the Zoo had recovered by 1962, it would not have another permanent reptile collection until the opening of the RainForest thirty years later. Ostrich races proved popular in 1965 and 1966 and a large public swimming pool sat on the grounds from 1930 until the 1960s.

Construction began on the Primate & Cat Building in 1975 (the Aquatics section would be added in 1985), later followed by the RainForest in 1992, Wolf Wilderness in 1997, Australian Adventure in 2000, and the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine in 2004. Newer exhibits include the Asian highlands and Tiger Passage opened in 2017 and 2018, and The Rhino Reserve was completed in 2020.

The Zoo's official website states that it currently has 3,000 animal residents representing more than 600 different species.

Development history

The following is a timeline of the creation of selected buildings, structures, exhibits and attractions:
* 1882: Cleveland Zoological Park opens at Wade Park (now University Circle)
* 1884: Wade Hall is built
* 1907: Cleveland's City Council moves the Zoo to its current location; the Cleveland Museum of Art is built
* 1934: Monkey Island is completed
* 1956: Pachyderm Building is built
* 1970: Wade Hall is moved to its current location on the shore of Waterfowl Lake
* 1975: Construction began on the Primate & Cat Building
* 1985: Aquatics portion of the Primate & Cat Building is added
* 1992: The RainForest is completed
* 1997: Wolf Wilderness is completed
* 2000: Australian Adventure is completed
* 2004: Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine opens
* 2008: Pachyderm building closes to make room for African Elephant Crossing
* 2011: African Elephant Crossing opens
*2015: Ben Gogolick Giraffe Encounter opens
* 2016: Rosebrough Tiger Passage opens
* 2018: Asian Highlands opens
* 2019: Monkey Island is demolished to make way for Rhino Reserve
* 2020: Rhino Reserve opens
* 2021: Eagle Zip Adventure opens
* 2023: Susie's Bear Hollow opens

Emeritus directors and staff

Goss: 7th director

Dr. Leonard Goss, DVM, PhD (1913–1999) was a veterinary pathologist and retired from the Cleveland Zoo (later renamed the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) as its director in 1979. Prior to assuming the director position in Cleveland, he was the fourth chief veterinarian at the New York Zoological Society's Bronx Zoo as well as assistant director of the Bronx Zoo. Goss was President of the AZA and twice vice-president.

At the Bronx Zoo, which is the headquarters for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Goss conducted clinical, epidemiological and pathological research in collaboration with eminent field zoologist George Schaller. Schaller was the Director of the Bronx Zoo's Animal Research and Conservation Center, which is now referred to as the Wildlife Conservation Society's Global Conservation Program.

The Cleveland Zoo has since made efforts to replicate this type of collaborative research relationship as demonstrated by Drs. Goss and Schaller in the 1970s and more recently by Atlanta, Chicago (Lincoln Park & Brookfield), National, San Diego, and Saint Louis zoos.

In the mid and late 1990s General Curator Hugh Quinn hired Patricia McDaniels as the first of three successive curators for the CMZ's Science and Conservation section. The unit now has a veterinary epidemiologist on staff. Sharon Deem, DVM, PhD Dipl. ACZM (now with the Saint Louis Zoo), was the first formally trained epidemiologist on staff and was both a researcher and experienced clinician from the National Zoo.

When Goss, a graduate of the Cornell University and The Ohio State University veterinary colleges returned to Ohio to assume the role as director of the Cleveland Zoo, he continued to conduct research in zoological medicine and related animal science disciplines. Goss was a president of the board of directors of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (previously the "American Zoo and Aquarium Association", and originally the "American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums").

Vitantonio: 8th director

Michael "Mike" Vitantonio was hired as the eighth director of the Cleveland Zoo in its 130 plus year history.

Taylor: 9th director

Inspired by the TV show Zoorama, zoo director-emeritus Steve H. Taylor, B.S. began his zoo career in 1972 as an animal keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo. According to his website, he is now a "Zoo Consultant and Entertaining Speaker". Taylor continues to advise zoos, including the Akron Zoo as both a professional consultant and member of its board of trustees. He also served on the board of directors of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Prior to moving to Ohio, Taylor was the director of the 5-hectare Sacramento Zoo.

Taylor resigned as director of the zoo in Sacramento to accept the directorship of the zoo in Cleveland. In his memoirs, published in a newsletter, Taylor described the CMZ to be poorly managed and "undistinguished" when he assumed the position as its 9th director. He credits himself for improving the conditions for both animals and staff over his 24-year career in Cleveland.

Emeritus staff recognition

The National Zoo Association awarded Cleveland Metroparks' Zoo staff with Honorary Memberships. Retired CMZ administrators and career zoo and aquarium professionals Daniel Moreno and Donald Kuenzer were recognized as ''Honorary Membership'' Winners by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Recipients of Honorary Membership are recognized as the most esteemed and distinguished zoo professionals in North America. According to the AZA website, ''Honorary Membership'' is conferred by the AZA Board of Directors upon those AZA members who have made "significant contributions to the zoological profession during their careers."

Moreno and Kuenzer are included in a list of other notable North American zoo and aquarium professionals. Other recipients include William G. Conway, Hon. PhD (Director General/President Emeritus, Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society), Lester Fisher, DVM (Veterinarian/Director Emeritus, Lincoln Park Zoo), Murray Fowler, DVM (Veterinarian/Professor, University of California), Jack Hanna, Hon. PhD (Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium), Charles H. Hoessle, Hon. PhD (Director Emeritus, Saint Louis Zoo), Marvin Jones (Registrar Emeritus, San Diego Zoo), Peter Karsten (Director Emeritus, Calgary Zoo), Edward Maruska, (Director Emeritus, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden), Dennis Meritt, Jr., Ph.D. (Professor–Assistant Director Emeritus, Depaul University–Lincoln Park Zoo), George B. Rabb, PhD (President/Director Emeritus, Brookfield Zoo), Alan H. Shoemaker, MS (Curator Emeritus, Riverbanks Zoo), Kurt Benirschke, MD (Board of Trustees, San Diego Zoo), Gary K. Clarke (Director Emeritus, Topeka Zoo), Roger Conant, Hon ScD (Curator Emeritus, Toledo Zoo) and Ted A. Beattie (President/Director Emeritus, Shedd Aquarium).

=Daniel Moreno

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Dan Moreno joined the CMZ after serving three decades at the helm of the Cleveland Aquarium as both its director and curator under the auspices of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The Cleveland Aquarium's animal collection was "absorbed" by the CMZ in 1986 after structural elements of the aquarium building forced its closing.

Until his retirement in 1997, Moreno managed the aquatic animal collections at the Cleveland Zoo under General Curator Don Kuenzer. He supervised animal husbandry programs for the Rainforest and Aquatics exhibits. Moreno was a charter member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums) and served on its board of directors from 1971 to 1976.

In 2012, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium opened to the public as the only free standing aquarium in the state of Ohio.

=Donald Kuenzer

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Don Kuenzer retired after a 40-year career serving in multiple capacities, including senior curator, general curator and acting director. In 1961, Kuenzer began his career at the Cleveland Zoo's Petting Farm as an attendant animal care technician. After serving as an animal keeper, he was promoted to Assistant General Curator in 1975 by zoo director Dr. Leonard Goss.

Kuenzer was credited with designing The Rainforest, a state-of-the art indoor naturalistic living exhibit dedicated to the display of tropical and subtropical species from multiple continents. He served on the Board of Regents for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Exhibits

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (CMZ) is divided into several bio-thematic areas that house animals from different regions of the world. Each area is themed for the particular region of the world they represent, although the older areas (such as the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building) are less thematic than those that were constructed more recently. Upon entering, visitors arrive in the Welcome Plaza which features administrative buildings, an amphitheater, food court, and the Zoo's largest souvenir shop. Numerous smaller concession/souvenir stands are located throughout the park.

Aside from walking, Zoo patrons may opt to ride the "ZooTram" line which shuttles visitors between the Welcome Plaza (near African Elephant Crossing) and the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building.

The RainForest

The RainForest, opened in 1992, is one of the most popular exhibits at the CMZ. It is contained in a large, two-story building with over of floor space, making it one of the largest indoor tropical environments in the world. The RainForest boasts more than 10,000 plants, and over 600 animals, from the tropical regions of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas. The opening of the RainForest also introduced the Metroparks Zoo's first permanent reptile collection since the flooding in 1959. The RainForest's herpetile collection includes Amazon milk frogs and tree boas, Baron's green racers, Burmese pythons, climbing toads, dwarf crocodiles, Fiji banded iguanas, green-and-black, blue-and-black and 'Mint Terribilis' poison dart frogs, green tree monitors and pythons, harlequin frogs, Indian gharial, Indochinese box turtles, Madagascar leaf-tailed geckos, magnificent tree frogs, spider tortoise, Panamanian golden frogs, prehensile-tailed skinks, the aquatic tentacled snake, tiger ratsnakes, tomato frogs and Yemeni veiled chameleons.

The RainForest is housed in a large glass and granite building, just outside the main entrance to the Zoo. The structure is divided into an outer ring—featuring an assortment of tropical plants, exhibits containing small mammals, a cafeteria, and a gift shop—and an inner area that contains the principal animal exhibits. Animal habitats are located on both floors of the RainForest. The exhibits contained on the ground floor are collectively known as the "Lower Forest", and those on the second floor are known as the "Upper Forest".

Upon entering the RainForest, visitors are immediately greeted by a cascading, waterfall and a rush of hot, humid air, as the entire complex is heated year-round to an ambient 80 °F (27 °C). All around the waterfall is a lush, tropical garden of epiphyte and lithophyte plants, growing vertically, rooted to the different trees and rock wall; botanical species here include various types of bromeliads, aroids, and orchids. The entire garden display grows steadily towards the sun, soaring upwards of two stories. The walls behind the waterfall resemble Ancient Mayan temple ruins; as visitors walk around the water feature, exhibited creatively within the walls are a series of (geographically appropriate) diminutive New World monkeys, including the pied tamarin, Geoffroy's tamarin, white-headed marmoset and the endangered golden lion tamarin.The RainForest,

The outer ring of The RainForest is home to a wide variety of tropical plants including lancepods, ficus, dracaena, philodendron, prayer plants, clusia (or balsam apple), Indian-almond, bixa/achiote (or lipstick trees), numerous varieties of orchids, a