For decades, the place now referred to as Metro Oregon Zoo featured a series of waterfowl ponds near the northern end of the property, near a stream-fed ravine. Over time, they built into the ravine itself, creating a set of exhibits first referred to as "Cascades", and eventually, the "Great Northwest". With the construction of the latter set, they dealt with the pesky stream, which had repeatedly flooded parts of the former exhibits. Being dedicated conservationists, they allowed the stream to continue to exist in parts of the "Great Northwest" as they pushed their conservation education messages. Eventually, of course, the stream is buried.
Do as they say, not as they do.
Prior to the "Great Northwest", a series of three waterfowl ponds were located in the ravine. At a cost of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, these were destroyed over a decade ago, and a new, "green" set of exhibits called the "family farm" were installed.
These featured chickens and bunnies and goats and cows and pigs, and all of them held hands and hooves and paws while dancing around the Maypole to the tune "Everything Is Beautiful". It was all very vegetational educational. Now, it's all slated for demolition as the organization prepares to "invest" a few hundred thousand more taxpayer dollars to build: a waterfowl pond. They're also thinking of California Condor cage there. After all, not every condor can be released back into the wild, so they can put some nice vegetational educational graphics up. You won't be able to see the bird/birds soar, or otherwise behave as they might in the wild, but they might be able to flap around some.
After that, you can go visit the polar bear exhibit, where you can view vegetational educational graphics that describe the horrors of man-made global warming, the importance of recycling, and the impending demise of the polar bear. Not one mention is made of the fact that there are more polar bears now than at any time in recorded history; it doesn't fit the meme.
Welcome to the New Zoo, where waste is the norm, talk is cheap, and conservation is replaced with conversation. Don't ask where the stream in the ravine ends up, and don't ask them why they pump water from on-site springs into the Portland sewer system.
Concentrate on recycling. Do your part to Save The Planet™.
They're all about conversation. You don't need to know the rest.
