Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

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daiv
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Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by daiv »

Omaha's Henry Doorly zoo is about as good as it gets. This zoo is brilliantly planned and organized. If you are ever anywhere near it, you must go. However, I did find one negative thing and that is what this post is about. It is a real head scratcher for me. We stopped there on the way to the Mid-States conference in particular to see the "Desert Dome". Everything in the zoo was really nice, but the plants in the dome were in terrible shape or dead. All of them looked like they simply needed water. Maybe they just think that desert plants don't need water. Even if the water system was broken, it wouldn't take that many 5 gallon buckets of water to really help these things along. So while I don't like to focus on the negative - since the plants in the desert were the reason we went and relevant to this forum, here they are:

The dome:
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First thing you see are these sad-looking aloes
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This pic is for Ron and Martin
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The reconstructed cliffs and layout is absolutely fantastic.
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Some sort of sprawling cholla - not sure which
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Dead Mamm.
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Not sure what this is, but there were plenty others like this
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One little bit of life on this Cholla - if you can see it.
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Amazingly the Saguaros looked the best and some F. cylindricus where OK too.
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The Saguaros were even in bloom!
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Yet even the Opuntias were hurting!
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This Agave has about had it
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This very nice Boojum tree has had it!
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Weird thing is that the plants all look like habitat plants to me. Not sure where they are getting them, but even wild collected plants should have a better survival rate than this.

There were other plants - such as palms that were near dead in the dome as well.
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
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Harriet
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by Harriet »

That's just sad!
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MJPapay
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by MJPapay »

I agree.

Not a pretty site.

Apparently they did not get the expert advice they needed on setting the desert dome biome in place.

They could have emailed the NC Zoo in Asheboro, since they went through the learning curve with the same thing and now have it running pretty well.

Better yet, they could have emailed KEW Gardens in London. Their desert rooms are jaw-droppingly nice.

Sorry you and the rest of the visitors didn't have a better experience.
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vlani
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by vlani »

How they managed to kill Opuntias? They have to share the secret with those Australians, just in case they need it again.
daiv
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by daiv »

I sent them an e-mail and told them I'd be glad to help them with cultivation advice. The gal replied and said she would forward it to the horticultural people. We shall see....
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tumamoc
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by tumamoc »

Everything looks underwatered.
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John C
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by John C »

That would be pretty disappointing. It's too bad that they didn't give the plants the proper care.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

I missed this the first time around. First thing first. Nice dome. That looks really cool. If I had more money I would make a greenhouse out of one of those, just much smaller.

now on to the plants. Those all looked like they hadn't been watered. When I had the saguaros moved I had to water them once every two weeks for the first two months then once a month thereafter for a long time. They are established now and I haven't watered them for awhile, it's been a wet summer so last time I think was in April.

I have seen Opuntia that look like that in the desert, that hadn't gotten sufficient rain in around a year or so. I am pretty sure it's hard to kill Opuntia once they are established. I have lost a grand total of two so far... One from I guess too much water and the other died from too much sun, I think.

btw as for a possible ID on the sprawling unknown cholla, maybe C. leptocaulis?
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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madkactus
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by madkactus »

Look at it this way. Maybe the zoo wanted to display the cacti in a real time harsh environment. Well............. they succeeded :shock:
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

I live in the desert and sure we have trouble with some plants from time to time, but that is sad :(
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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toadstar
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by toadstar »

I was here a couple weeks ago. Here's a few pics I took:
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hegar
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Re: Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha Nebraska

Post by hegar »

I see a definite improvement compared to four years ago. :D

Harald
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