There are three major zoos in California's Bay Area. San Francisco Zoo has the history. Oakland Zoo is on the rise. And Sacramento is... well, it's Sacramento. For years, the zoo of California's state capital has chaffed at the limits imposed upon it by its borders and its infrastructure. As is the case of many city zoos, it has steadily shed species over the years, acknowledging that its facilities don't adhere to current standards of animal care.
Sacramento Zoo will relocate to Elk Grove
All of that is about to change. The city council of neighboring Elk Grove has voted, and the zoo has officially be cleared to move to a new location in that neighboring city. They'll get the chance to do what so many zoos have longed to do - start fresh, from the ground up. I know of several zoos which have, with varying degrees of seriousness, contemplated such a move before. Few have actually followed through (Miami and Nashville being two examples, the later being one of the most recent).
It's an exciting opportunity to create animal habitats as they could ideally be, rather than try to build around what is already there, or engage in expensive, disruptive demolition. Right now, I'm torn. Do I hurry back to the Bay Area and try to see Sacramento's current zoo while it's still there? Or wait a little bit, and let myself be surprised?
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