Leaning Into Animal Welfare
& Conservation
In 1948, more than 70 years after its founding, the zoo got its first director, Arthur Watson, who held the position until 1980. At that time, Watson— who also hosted the black-and-white television show This is Your Zoo— acquired a few exotic animals from other countries to add to the zoo’ s collection. For example, he traveled to Africa to bring back pygmy hippos and even Betsy the chimp, who was shipped to Baltimore in a crate when she was two years old.
During this time, zoo animals were primarily kept in cages. The Maryland Zoo has a small round cage that used to house big animals like bears and lions on display in Main Valley, the section that connects the zoo entrance to Zoo Central, the location of most of the exhibits. In the future, visitors will even be able to step inside the cage to truly understand the cramped conditions.
“ It’ s going to be a teachable moment,” says Fowler.“ But zoos have evolved to put animals first. We transfer animals between our zoo and other zoos. We’ re basically building up a population of these endangered animals within our zoos.”
As part of this shift, The Maryland Zoo began moving some of its animals to more expansive habitats like the Penguin Coast, which opened in 2014. The exhibit won the 2016 Award for Best Exhibit Design from The Association of Zoos and Aquariums( AZA), who called the Penguin Coast“ a dynamic,
36 BALTIMORE. ORG