Busch Gardens Tampa Bay » Busch Gardens Africa

23-05-2008

Those pictures did seem to really show any of the exhibit, mostly the viewing areas. I agree with the lack of vegetation, that's what you get when the brewmeister is in charge of animal exhibits. But Disney and Miami's tiger exhibits are just as manicured. I think most of the tigers were given to busch by a private owner and they have lived with each other their whole lives, so Im sure they all live together. There are two enclosures for the tigers and I think the orangs have the same. As for the ugly climbing structure for the orangs....why? The National Zoo's O-line structures are just as unnatural but better-looking and serve the same purpose...probably cheaper too.

Anyway I have a tour setup for this saturday, hopefully I can post pictures of the exhibits and see what the place is really like. It would be a shame that they didnt take examples from Myombe Reserve, their wonderful gorilla/chimpanzee exhibits.

23-05-2008

@okapikpr: a comprehensive, detailed review please. Pretty please, as I want to learn how those lawns look so well manicured...haha. But seriously, for the amount of money that was invested there must be some positive aspects to the new exhibits.

23-05-2008

I'm sure most of the costs went into the rides and acquiring/recycling old material to build Jungala. As for the lawns, I'll try and get a picture of the lawn mower for you

24-05-2008

Does Busch Gardens still keep koalas?

I have a vague memory from about 8 years ago of a house with a slowly moving floor (to prevent crowd congestion).

25-05-2008

Here's a note of information gleamed from my visit:

The Tomistoma died prior to the opening of Jungala, they now exhibit 2 gharials in a mixed exhibit with Malayan Flying Foxes

"Manicured Lawns"
25-05-2008

That's what fresh sod looks like in Florida! Give it time to grow.

Historical Timeline of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
22-06-2008

1957 - Property purchased by August A. Busch, Jr. for planned brewery
1959 - Anheuser-Busch Tampa brewery opens a hospitality center with the Busch family’s animal collection (March 31)
1964 - Old Swiss House Restaurant
1st Gorillas arrived
1st Chimpanzees arrived
1965 - Serengeti Plain (The Wild Animal Kingdom)
1st Pygmy Hippopotamus arrived
1st White Rhinoceros arrived
1966 - Monorail Safari
1st Okapi arrived
1st River Hippopotamus arrived
1968 - Busch Boulevard named (road south of park)
1969 - 1st Black Rhinoceros arrived
1970 - Admission installed ($1.25 for Adults)
1st Orangutan arrived
1971 - Trans-Veldt Railway
1972 - Admission ($3.75 Adults, $2.50 Children)
1st Asian Elephant arrived?
1973 - Stanleyville with Stanley Falls Log Flume, Livingstone’s Landing, Tanzania Theater, and Zambezi Café
Last Pygmy Hippopotamus died
1974 - Skyride
1975 - Moroccan Village
1976 - Congo with Python and Monstrous Mamba (“Witchcraft Village”)
Parks adds “The Dark Continent” to name
1977 - Congo area completed with African Queen Boat Ride (replaced Livingstone’s Landing), Claw Island, the Swinging Vines, the Moba Marksman, and the Vivi Storehouse.
1978 - Ubanga-Banga Bumper Cars
Last Okapi sent to Dallas Zoo
1980 - Timbuktu with Dolphin Theater and German Festhaus
1981 - Scorpion
1982 - Congo River Rapids
1983 - Dwarf Village
1984 - Phoenix
1985 - Eagle Canyon (relocated to front of brewery)
1986 - Brewery Tour Expansion
Asian Elephant enclosure
Moroccan Palace theatre
Nairobi Field Station Animal Nursery
1987 - Large Animal Display – temporary exhibition of Giant Pandas
1st Asian Elephant birth
1989 - Koala Habitat (former Large Animal Display)
Tanganyika Tidal Wave (replaced African Queen boat ride)
Clydesdale Hamlet
1990 - Crown Colony House & Restaurant (renovation of Old Swiss House)
1991 - Questor
1992 - Myombe Reserve: The Great Ape Domain
1993 - Kumba
Receives AZA Significant Achievement Exhibit Award for Myombe Reserve
1995 - Land of the Dragons (replaced Dwarf Village)
Anheuser-Busch Brewery closed
1996 - Egypt with Montu and Tut’s Tomb
1997 - Edge of Africa
1998 - Akbar’s Adventure Tours (replaced Questor)
Lory Landing
1999 - Gwazi
Monorail Safari closed
2001 - Rhino Rally
2003 - Timbuktu Theater (replaced Dolphin Theater)
2004 - Cheetah Chase
2005 - SheiKra
2006 - park renamed Busch Gardens Africa
Congo renovation begins, closing Python and Claw Island
2008 - Jungala (Congo renovation)
2009 - 50th Anniversary

07-09-2008

Busch gardens kept Koalas, just came back from busch gardens.

The Gibbons are in an enclosure next to the gharlas

07-09-2008

How is that review going ?

Is it posted somewhere else?

__________________
Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
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08-09-2008

I thought I posted the review. huh....I'll be sure to post it once I can find my notes again, sorry.

23-12-2008

Does anyone know if Mem the elephant at Busch Gardens is still alive. I thought she was 67 years old or something like that?

23-12-2008

Sorry, she passed away just a few years ago. Here is the current herd census:

Name - DOB
Simba - 1968
Tina - 1969
Rosie - 1970
Karina - 1972
Karnaudi - 1990

29-03-2009

I visited Busch Gardens today so I figured I would post a review of the place.

Myombe Reserve- Better than what I thought it was from last year. The chimp and gorilla habitats are both top 10 contender exhibits for those species as both are spacious and simulate an African rain forest quite well.

Edge of Africa- A brilliant set of habitats with a top 5 hippo exhibit that I would say is only bettered by San Diego and Disney. The lion and hyena exhibits are also brilliant. The only thing that bothers me is how they have lemurs in an African savanna type exhibit.

Serengeti Plain- A similar concept to the one at SDWAP, this 65 acre vast savanna is the perfect home for White Rhinos, Zebras, Giraffes, and a variety of antelope. It was a treat to see the 10 month old White Rhino calf.

Rhino Rally- This ride is so-so as all the animals are passed in mere seconds, however all the habitats passed are excellent and the purpose of the ride is much different from say Kilamanjaro Safari or Journey Into Africa.

Elephant habitat- A decent elephant exhibit that is around 2 acres. My one complaint is that the habitat is really dusty with not much other substrate for the pachyderms to use besides dusty compact sand. They do have half the exhibit to disappear to if they s choose to not be on display and in the back of the exhibit they have a massive pool.

Jungala- This section is so-so. The tiger exhibit offers the big cats plenty of space, although it's could be a lot better in terms of naturalism and offering the big cats more hiding spots. The Orang exhibit is above-average and the red apes have loads of things to do. I noticed that there are tons of little feeders around the outside of the exhibit that the Orangs can forage through which is a great idea because it keeps them active.

Black Rhino exhibit- Extremely average exhibit that is nothing remotely special. I believe the exhibit use to house dromedary camels until they brought in a female Black Rhino. There is not much enrichment and the exhibit isn't really designed to keep the rhino active...

Anyways hope you all enjoyed the review.

29-03-2009

Thanks for your review

29-03-2009

Nice review BlackRhino! How would you rank Busch Gardens on a list of top North American zoos? Is it an establishment that you'd place highly on such a list?