Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) recently hosted Thane Maynard, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, for a virtual presentation about how the Zoo adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming PNC Festival of Lights, new renovations and more. Maynard also toured attendees around the Zoo to view the animals and some of the new habitats and changes. The virtual event was part of UCI’s effort to provide support and information to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like all other businesses, the Zoo had to make significant adjustments to ensure the safety of its guests and staff once it reopened in June. The Zoo implemented a new online ticketing system to limit the number of guests allowed in the park. Each ticket is assigned an entry time, and the Zoo has limited capacity to 30 to 50% of the normal max. Guests were required to wear masks indoors and in congested areas for most of the summer and fall and will be required to wear them in all areas starting Saturday, November 21, when the annual PNC Festival of Lights begins.
The event will feature 4 million LED lights and traditional favorites like the Wild Lights Show on Swan Lake, beautiful lantern displays, holiday food and drink selections, and visits with Santa. This year, those visits will be moved outside and modified to allow social distancing. Reservations will be required for all guests, including members.
“For folks that come, you'll have a good visit because it will only get about one third as crowded as it has been in the past. We used to have crowds as big as 15,000 or 20,000 in one night, and now we'll have a maximum of 5,000 guests for the festivals,” said Maynard. “We've added bonus nights in January on the weekends to try to make sure everyone gets a chance to enjoy the festive atmosphere and a much-needed escape.”
The PNC Festival of Lights is also a significant draw for the Uptown neighborhoods as festival-goers often visit other areas of Uptown, such as Ludlow, Short Vine, or Calhoun, in addition to visiting the Zoo.
Maynard also discussed recent and future Zoo renovations as part of its More Home to Roam campaign. In August, the Zoo opened Roo Valley, an Australian themed exhibit featuring kangaroos and little blue penguins.
“We are about two-thirds of the way through our big capital campaign fundraiser, More Home to Roam, and the idea behind it is exactly that. We're on the same 67 acres where the Zoo was founded, but if anybody's been in Cincinnati a long, long time, you know that up until about 20 years ago, over a quarter of the Zoo was paved for parking lots, and we've been pushing those cars out and making more room for animals,” said Maynard. “We've raised $94 million toward $150 million in honor of our 150th anniversary that's coming up.”
According to Maynard, the next big push will be to remove the Safari parking lot and move the elephants’ habitat to that area so they can give them four times more space and grow the herd.
Many of the Zoo’s plans connect back to its larger conservation efforts, which Maynard also touched on during his presentation. Between the Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, educational programs, and community programs like Plants for Pollinators, the Zoo is constantly working on a number of conservation efforts.
“Our goal is to inspire every visitor with wildlife every day because everybody knows deep down that endangered species are in trouble. Everybody knows that conservation is important, not just for polar bears but for people,” said Maynard. “But we need to make it more of our lives if it's really going to become something that makes a real difference. And zoos are a great way to begin that.”
Throughout the presentation, Maynard emphasized how grateful he and the Zoo are for the community’s support throughout 2020, which has been a difficult year for the Zoo and many other businesses and organizations.
“It has been unbelievably heartening how many folks have joined and rejoined this zoo as members this year. And that's continued all through the summer and fall. And, of course, that's the lifeblood of the Zoo, obviously the revenue, but also those same families that come are the Cincinnati Zoo family,” said Maynard.
Anyone interested in additional ways to support the Zoo can still participate in several programs and online fundraisers. For more information about the Zoo, visit www.cincinnatizoo.com.
The full conversation with Thane Maynard is available to view on UCI’s YouTube channel.