New Zoo for Sacramento. Why?

Not shown (in an image of my daughters chalk drawing for Chalk It Up To Sacramento 2023, is a sign suggesting that the Sacramento Zoo be moved to Elk Grove. Qui bono? Why would anyone want to move the zoo at all? Does someone feel that the zoo needs to get bigger and bigger? The zoo was built at Sutterville because it is on high ground.  Elk Grove is built on a flood plain.  So are West Sacramento Natomas and North Sacramento.  Rancho Cordova is not much better.  It is built on old dredge ponds.

There seems to be a lot of land out along Auburn Boulevard.  This is Old Highway 40, and has had many motels built along it.  With the construction of Interstate 80, most of the motels fell on hard times.  Many were forced to accept weekly rentals from among the hard pressed and the down-and-out.  As the motels were forced out of business and torn down, the area became overrun with car sales lots.  Imagine a linear zoo, running for several blocks.  It could contain herds of bison, mustangs, tule elk, etc., all visible for the tourist willing to cough up $10 per vehicle to an adjacent parking meter.

What about having a vertical zoo?.  At the current site, six story structures could be built around a series of six story cages.  To my knowledge, no zoo has ever been constructed to house animals that are truly arboreal.  In several cages of such height, we could observe a huge variety of birds, and simians, and even snakes in a habitat which is more natural than any other in the world.  Four elevators could bring visitors to each level to view eight different environments, including continual rain forests.

When the people of Sacramento hear, “Oh,  let’s move to zoo to Elk Grove”, be certain that there are more secret handshakes than at an Elks convention.