I have visited 23 zoos/petting zoos/reptile zoos/aquaria. Ohio- Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Lake Farmpark Pennsylvania- Erie, Pittsburgh, Reptiland New York- Bronx Illinois- Lincoln Park, Brookfield, Shedd Aquarium California- Santa Ana, Orange County, San Diego, San Diego Sea World, Living Desert, the Reptile Zoo New Mexico- American Intl Rattlesnake Museum Michigan- Detroit *- I bet no one (not even SL) has ever heard of Lake Farmpark. It is in Kirtland, Ohio and is basically a big petting zoo, but is a working farm. Zoos- #1. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, OH. The Best- Asia Quest. Asia Quest has excellent exhibits for all the animals except the indoor sun bear exhibit, which is barren. The flying foxes have a very large diurnal enclosure. Asia Quest is themed well, especially the Extinction Bell area. The pheasant aviary is also excellent. Heart of Africa (HoA). There are very few flaws about this epic exhibit at an epic zoo, except too many food stands! They should have added an African aquarium exhibit or reptiles instead of two little food stands. The big cafe is nice, but the little stand or two should be removed. The camels and warthogs do not have perfect enclosures, but are decent. The vervets, cheetahs, and lions all have great enclosures. The Tumbili Trail should lead to a little reptile house, or aquarium. The meerkat exhibit is a little better than Cleveland. African Forest- Typical Columbus. Nothing is bad here except for the concrete in the bonobo and indoor gorilla areas. It reminds me too much of Cleveland's PCA. That's the best exhibit in the world! Australia- The koalas have a great enclosure with wood chips instead of concrete, but the kangaroos must be stressed from all the visitors. The Lorikeet Garden is well done, but it must be stressful to the birds. The Roadhouse is excellent. The tawny frogmouth and binturong are really cool. Polar Frontier- The underground mine area is such a cool idea. The displays in the polar building where the gift shop is is also great. They should put snowy owls where the little zip line thingy is, or in the Tundra Buggy. A seal pool would fit right in here. North America. Every exhibit is SO great here. I've caught a frog in the little aviary pond at the end of the aviary. The pony (horse??) ride paddock is dusty and crappy and the train is kind of loud. The hawk/crow (whatever is in the little cages that the train passes) are small and bad, like the leopard at Cleveland next to Monkey Island. The puma, bears, and wolverine enclosures are done really well. Manatee Coast. The manatee/ray/fish/whatever tank is really good. I love seeing manatees drift by me. The mangrove theming around it is really good. The gift shop is good too- I love gift shops!!! Reptile House. The Ohio snake exhibit (the rat snakes with the barn especially), and the maps of range are the best. What bugs me is the alligator snapper/South American turtle tank because that is NOT zoogeographic! I follow SL regularly and his gripes are about zoogeographic exhibits- like Montgomery's warthogs! Average- Southeast Asia. The orangutan yard is good, the otters are good, but the gibbon exhibit is a bit on the small side. The Komodo dragon exhibit is crappy, smaller than Akron. They should add babirusa or Malayan tapirs. I was so happy to see a tapir at Bronx JungleWorld. I was sorta sad when the tapirs left Cleveland for Elephant Crossing. Why couldn't they just put them on the lower level of the Rainforest where the Francois' and the squirrels are now? Discovery Reef. The place is dark and fish all blend together after a while. The touch pool is decent, much better than Akron. Nothing makes this the best, but it is still really good for an aquarium. Stingray Bay. If this didn't cost so much ($2), it would be under the Best category. Humboldt penguin pool. This crap would be the worst exhibit at the zoo. It is just another stinky penguin pool. Shores. The alligators, flamingos, Aldabra tortoises, etc. have average enclosures, except for the alligators. It is not as good as Erie's Gator Bayou. The Worst- NOTHING! I love Columbus because of this.
The indoor sun bear exhibit should actually have Amur leopard in it (they were still there last week). It was nice to see them up close, however, I hope it's not a permanent exhibit for them unless they switch on and off with the sun bear outside. Where is the warthog exhibit located in this section? I must have missed it! Did you see the komodo dragon also has an outside exhibit? Although I have never seen it located there.
I think warthogs were toward the front of Africa. I have never seen the outdoor Komodo dragon exhibit either.
It's around the corner as you go down the path to the Asian small clawed otters. The boat ride goes in between the two exhibits.
Wait theres a Meerkat exhibit? I was just there in July and didn't see one? Did they build it between then and now or did I just miss it?
The warthogs rotate in the waterhole exhibit; the other animals that rotate through there are the cheetahs (only for their runs), flamingos, aardvarks, and sometimes the hoofstock, if I'm not mistaken.
Ye of little faith. I first visited this park in the early 1990s and distinctly remember milking my first cow there.
@gerenuk: I also visit this park semi-regularly... and milked my first cow there, too! Have you visited it since?
