We really enjoyed the day out here, I love that there's so much history behind this zoo. It's run by a non-profit through the city, and it is expanding because of a 2017 voter initiative.

You can feel that the exhibits have changed over time, and there's something very interesting about that in a place. My partner grew up with this zoo, and she told me what all the exhibits used to be. Feeling their echoes was really something. The polar bear exhibit is now the grizzly exhibit, and you could feel that in the design choices by the fact you can go under the ground to look through the water at the grizzly (once a polar bear). I think it would be cool if the zoo made more of this kind of information available to the public, so they can feel the history as well.

Seeing the one month old baby elephant Meru was definitely a highlight, and now that African elephants have been reclassified as endangered, it's really great to see an accredited zoo with a baby, since they are a part of the organization that maintains genetic diversity (So we can continue to have healthy elephants in the future). A reviewer mentioned that the people of Tucson asked for the elephants to stay in the renovations, so the zoo accommodated the request.

I also found it interesting that the zoo brought a Jaguar to Arizona in order for it to benefit from the desert weather since it had a longstanding issue with allergies. They also participated in conservation research regarding jaguar disease simultaneously. I didn't "spot" the Jaguar today however. People in the past noted it had had issues, but I didn't see it for myself.

I'm grateful to see an exhibit dedicated to African wild dogs, as they are also endangered. However, I think they would benefit from a tunnel system with altering signs and gate systems throughout the zoo. This is a more modern take on predator layout design in zoos, as they'd greatly benefit from being able to choose between different sites that require a long jog to get to: nesting, hunting, water hole, puzzles. When I saw them today, they seemed to have a lot more energy than the exhibit could let them express easily.

I'm not sure why they have an exhibit that's so big, which I believe was formerly the smaller of two elephant enclosures, containing domestic goats... That seems like a waste of the space. If it's a money issue, surely there is some other animal out there with higher conservation needs that could be maintained here instead..?

I have concern about the lack of security guards, since a few of the exhibits can be reached into, and pea fowl and ducks are free roaming. If they are allowed to be around guests without monitoring, they can be injured or fed. I also didn't see enough signs telling people to not feed animals, or touch them. I saw three instances of people misbehaving and had to confront them myself.

• One person was letting their stroller baby hand food to peafowl, which is super dangerous for the baby and not healthy for the pea fowl.
• another person was reaching into an exhibit to touch a pea fowl, which is also awful for setting an example to other children
• another person was trying to grab a pea fowl.

Overall, the zoo could greatly benefit from sharing more of their history, conservation techniques that are unique from the zoo instead of just about the animal itself, and sharing local efforts, as this zoo is a local citizen-led project for the advancement of conservation and protection of endangered wildlife, with so very many years of history... instead of a corporate overlord situation with animal abuse (which many roadside shows are..) I don't feel the zoo is leaning on its best selling points or educating the public properly, as many people in the reviews complain about not being able to see the animals without understanding that this is actually a really good sign. Animals are not meant to be here just for a person's viewing pleasure, having hideaways is very important for their mental health. Also complaints of "isolation" - bears are solitary! (contrary to depictions like Brother bear 😂😭)