The Keeper Who Came In From the Heat

It was a universal truth that I learned early in my career.  Northern zoos (largely) had buildings.  Southern zoos (largely) didn't.  To stroll across the grounds of a large northern zoo was like walking across a college campus, but instead of the different dorms and labs and lecture halls, the grassy lawns were framed by animal buildings.  These zoos needed to be mindful of the harsh winters that they often faced, which meant that not only did they have to have comfortable indoor winter holding for the animals, but if they wanted visitors to come for more than six months out of the year, they needed indoor viewing opportunities to allow visitors to be warm and comfortable while they saw the animals.  Not surprisingly, the north is where you find the big rainforest buildings in zoos for a handy escape to the tropics.

Southern zoos, in contrast, were able to take advantage of their comfortable climates to keep animals outside year round.  They didn't need to invest in expensive buildings that had a regrettable tendency to get dated quickly.  Instead, they could allow lush growing seasons and sunny weather to create their own exotic paradises.  Some southern zoos are almost 100% outdoors with nary an indoor exhibit.  Even the reptiles at the San Diego Zoo are largely outside, and the reptile house itself is partially open to the elements.  The flipside is that southern zoos are more limited in their ability to house northern species.  Tropical mammals and birds, taken as a whole, seem to adjust better to cooler weather than cold weather species to warm.

The was the equilibrium that seemed to exist.  But what if someone ups the heat?

Despite what some folks will try to say, the weather is getting more extreme, which in many cases has meant hotter, dryer conditions.  Will it get too hot for African, South Asian, and South American animals in North American zoos?  Not likely.  Will it get too hot for visitors to want to come to the zoo in those months?  That's a possibility that I worry about.  I really do worry about our visitors on some of these days, when the temps are in the 90s and they are plodding around stubbornly under the sun, not drinking enough water, maybe not dressed appropriately for the weather.  Furthermore, the animals - even the African ones, which have evolved for conditions such as this - are not inclined to be running around in the sun.  They'll be hunkered in the shade.  Those with access to their indoor holding may opt to use it, sprawling out where it's cooler and darker.

I find myself wondering if we're looking at a future where indoor exhibit buildings are going to look like a better investment for southern zoos.  I don't imagine them building giant rainforest complexes, but smaller indoor spaces for visitors to rest out of the sun and have some animals that they can see before going on the next leg of their simulated slog across the savannah.  Otherwise, I worry that some zoos will end of writing off the summer months of tourism as just being too hot for people to come to the zoo, the implications of which could be dire for the institution's bottom line.