Zoológico Guadalajara Guadalajara Zoo Review

Seeing as there is no review of this zoo I'm taking the liberty of adding one.

I've been visiting this zoo since I can remember- it was opened in 1988 if I'm not mistaken, which is one year before I was born.
It has grown enormously since then.
I visited for the last time a few months ago, so there may even be new additions right now- I'll report on them next time I visit.
Anyways, the zoo is located right besides the Huentitan Canyon, which is itself a last refuge for many of the region's wild species- including vampire bats, great horned owls, coati, peccary, bobcat, raccoon, boa, rattlesnake, ocelot, fox, coyote, skunk and opossum. One of the zoo's main goals is reportedly to keep the Huentitan canyon as intact as possible for the animals to keep living there.
The irregular terrain gives this zoo a very interesting appearance as well, as the enclosures are often not flat but mountainous, and so you have the Barbary Sheep and Ibex, for example, living in rugged terrain similar to that they would inhabit in the wild. This terrain however makes it a long and tiring walk for some visitors- it is a very large park but there are many resting spots all around it.
The main entrance leads directly to a circular pool containing Caribbean flamingos; nearby there is a large cage (old fashioned, barred) containing a couple of Toco Toucans.
Then there are two main paths; one leads to the Villa Australiana, or Australian Village, which includes a large aviary containing budgerigars (it used to contain rainbow lorikeets you could feed- Im not sure what happened to them) and cockatiels. There are also wallabies and larger cockatoos in the main exhibits, and then there's the area for the red kangaroos. There is no barrier to the kangaroos other than a simple and not very tall wooden log fence; visitors could easily enter the kangaroo habitat, but there are always guards keeping people outside and keeping the doors of the kangaroo area closed. The kangaroos don´t wander outside of their enclosure when there are visitors around.
I've talked to the kangaroo keeper- whose name I've unfortunately forgotten- and she told me that there used to be a large male called Goliath who was quite aggressive and known for attacking at least one keeper. He sadly died of cancer long time ago. I was also told that when the kangaroos first arrived to Guadalajara, some of them died of fright during a thunderstorm (unlike anything they had experienced before).
There are still quite a few kangaroos in the exhibit and they seemingly breed very well.
Then there is the Aquarium; it is a large rocky-looking structure that used to contain the Nocturnarium during the late 90s. The Nocturnarium housed nocturnal animals from the Huentitan canyon- including fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, vampire bat, fruit bat, barn, horned and pygmy owls, ringtail, raccoon, coati, leaf-cutter ant, rattlesnake, boa, false coral snake (or milk snake), jaguarundi, ocelot and margay. The animals of the Nocturnarium were only kept for a few years then released back into the wild- except for the vampire bats, unfortunately, due to the high risk of them passing disease to their wild counterparts.
The building now has a different entrance; a few Caribbean flamingos can be seen just besides it. The first animals in the Aquarium are in open circular pool-like enclosures, and are small rays (which the visitors can touch- although they have to wash their hands first) and the nurse shark.
Then there is the entrance to the actual building. The first enclosures are of fresh water fish, including tilapia, discus, piranha and Mexico's largest freshwater fish, the alligator gar (although the ones in the aquarium are small ones), as well as the spotted gar.
Then there are moon jellyfish, starfish, blue crayfish, and marine fish such as moray eel, remora and all sorts of coral reef fish.
There is a walk-through "tunel" where you can see other fish swimming around and above you- although a rather small one. And then there is the main tank, with the sandbar sharks (all female) as well as stingray and other fish. There used to be a bonnethead shark- it was bitten by one of the sandbars but seemingly survived, but I don´t know if it's kept in the same enclosure now.
I've heard that one can make reservations for a cage-dive into the shark enclosure, but I haven´t done so myself (Not that I don´t really want to!).
Finally there are open ponds with Amazonian stingrays (motoro), gar and turtles, and the last tanks contain larger Amazonian fish such as pacu, red-tailed catfish, arapaima, tiger catfish and others.
Cleverly, you have to walk through a souvenir store to leave the aquarium, but to be honest the souvenirs sold are not really impressive.

When you leave the aquarium you get to a large lake with artificial waterfalls in which there are ducks and other waterfowl, and an island in the center is home to spider monkeys. I've been told they are very aggressive and attack anyone who approached the island, but of course, this is impossible for visitors unless they're willing to swim across the lake.
The monkeys have tall trees and lots of ropes to climb and overall seem quite content.
Next there is one of the oldest enclosures in the zoo, that of hippos- which is a rather old enclosure, with enough water for the hippos to dissappear under the surface, but not a lot of dry land. The hippos seem content and have bred plenty of times, but I think the zoo would greatly benefit from a better hippo enclosure- maybe one with an underwater viewing area like in the most modern zoos.
I may as well mention that the first hippos kept by the zoo lived in another park in Guadalajara, the Agua Azul, which still has an aviary today but no longer keeps larger animals.
Besides the hippo enclosure there is another lake with another island in the center- this is were white handed gibbons were kept. Last time I visited there were siamangs instead. It seems that the zoo has more animals than available exhibits so they sometimes have different animals in the same enclosures.
NOTE- I heard recently that there is a new exhibit open, Monkeyland, and it is possible that either gibbons or siamangs are being kept here now.
Once back in this area one can take on the original main path, which starts with the American crocodile. This enclosure used to hold two Mexican or Morelet's crocs, Juanito and Rosita, who were parents to many hatchlings later released in the Centla swamps in Tabasco.
I believe both Juanito and Rosita have died, but there are still several adult Morelet's crocs in the zoo.
Then there are llamas, rheas, capybaras, Australian black swans and guanacos sharing large enclosures, followed by an American enclosure containing white tailed deer, collared peccary and wild turkey.
The largest enclosure is probably that of the Lechwe antelopes, which they share with ostriches and peafowl. I may as well add that in many of the enclosures around the zoo, iguanas and ground squirrels can be seen, but the squirrels at least are not part of the exhibit; they have tunnels all around the park. There used to be more of them, though; then there was an explosion of the feral cat population and squirrels became less abundant, but you can still see plenty of them.
The lowland gorilla exhibit is one in which you can either see them from behind glass pannels or in the open, behind a concrete wall. The enclosure is quite large but there isn´t much vegetation- and someone should really clean those glass panels for a change.
The polar bear enclosure is nearby- this is easily the most popular exhibit in the zoo- rivaled maybe only by the reptile house. There used to be two polar bears, but now only Agata, the female, remains. Her enclosure is large with plenty of water for her to swim and dive, and is basically made of concrete painted white. You can see her from above or from behind glass panels in an underwater viewing area (which is always crowded).
Not far away there is the American Black Bear- which have bred recently. There's also a series of wire fence cages which should probably not be there nowadays, and which contain a series of small monkey species- capucchins, tamarins, Brazza monkey- and small carnivorans like grison, ocelot, tayra and kinkajou. The grisons are particularly hard to see.
Then there is the Aldabra giant tortoise enclosure- not much of a barrier between the tortoises and people. If the tortoises are close enough to the edges of the enclosure you can reach out and touch their caparaces.
I should mention that there is a train you can ride for a fast tour of the park but I barely ever use it; I prefer to observe the creatures with more detail, and besides, the train circuit is almost as old as the zoo itself so it doesn´t include many of the new attractions.

The reptile house of the Guadalajara zoo is said to be the largest and most complete of Latin America. There are more species in the zoo's collection than available exhibits so there's no telling of which species you will see when you visit, but some of the usual denizens are reticulated, Burmese, blood and African rock pyhtons, boa constrictor, green anaconda, Monocled and Siamese spitting cobras, timber and coastal green rattlesnakes (the latter is native to Huentitan), chameleons, frilled lizards, blue tongued skinks, a juvenile Nile crocodile, Gila monsters and Mexican beaded lizards (known as "escorpión" locally), inland taipan, green mamba, Gaboon viper, puff adder, cantil, water mocassin, emerald tree boa, Mexican corn snake, savannah monitor and others. The original reptile house, years ago (and before there was a Nocturnarium or an aquarium) also used to house pacu (a fish) and fruit bats. The very last terrarium contained only vegetation and had a mirror in the back part, so that you could see your own reflection as if kept inside a terrarium- the description plate was for Homo sapiens and said it was the deadliest species in the world (I know for experience that some people took offense at this). This exhibit was removed when the space was needed for more actual reptiles.

Just outside of the reptile house there is the Auditorium, where trained bird and reptile shows are run at a certain time of the day.
I sometimes pity the animals that have their enclosures near to the Auditorium because the music can be very loud, but on the good side, these are some of the largest and most natural-looking enclosures in the whole zoo; they contain Ibex, Fallow Deer, Chital Deer, Barbary sheep, Sika deer, and the endangered Mexican wolf, which has been bred in this zoo for years. Sadly, lots of visitors misidentify them for "coyotes" or even "dogs" and many had no idea that wolves actually lived wild in Mexico until the 70's.
Years ago, before the Mexican wolves arrived, the zoo had a couple of Canadian wolves kept in a wire fence cage (there are two, twin cages, one that contained the wolves and the other contains striped hyenas to this day). This is perhaps the exhibit I like the least in the zoo; today, the Canadian wolves are no more (they died of disease, I've been told) but the cage is occupied by coyotes, and the hyenas are still there. I've always thought these animals deserve a larger, open enclosure like that of Mexican wolves.

There are plenty of paths one can take at this point. One leads to the Tropical Rainforest exhibit which features jaguars (there's a spotted couple and a black couple), tapir (the male tapir, named Norton, was one of two tapirs used by Mel Gibson in Apocalypto), chimpanzee, orangutan and giant anteater, as well as tamandua (tree-dwelling anteater) and two toed sloth.
There are also two pyramid-like aviaries where macaws and tropical birds such as scarlet ibis and toucans are kept.
The final enclosure in this exhibit used to have river otters, but they are no longer there- instead, there is a juvenile American crocodile. I have no idea what became of the otters, but it always seemed to me like they were highly stressed all the time.

Just outside of the Tropical Rainforest circuit there is the Bengal tiger exhibit, which is basically the very center of the zoo. Back in the day, an orange male tiger named Niño ("boy") and a white, almost completely stripeless female named Shiva were the usual exhibit. Today, almost every time I visit the enclosure is occupied by white tigers, striped or stripeless, which I suposse are either children or grandchildren of the original couple. Recently, a litter of cubs was born- only one was orange. I won´t deny that white tigers are beautiful, but to be honest, I would like to see a normal colored one once in a while...
An interesting side note is that Montecore, the tiger that mauled Roy (from Sigfried and Roy) was born in this zoo, and was seemingly son of Niño and Shiva.

Nearby there are cages with macaws, king vultures and other animals; bobcats and ring-tailed lemurs were sometimes found in these cages but at least the lemurs are probably being exhibited in Monkeyland now.

Not far from the tiger area there is a large exhibit with Indian antelopes- the blackbuck and the blue bull, and then, one with dromedaries.
Then a long row of large barred cages containing large birds; horned guan, great curassows, chachalacas (which share their cages with agoutis), hornbills, several kinds of parrots, toucans, and finally ravens, magpy-jays, and the raptors, including red-tailed and white tailed hawks, king vulture, and the Golden Eagle. I must mention though that the last times I visited there were no Golden Eagles and their cage was occupied by Horned Guans.

At the end of the bird cage row is the last restaurant in the park, just besides the old giraffe enclosure; giraffes (and an impala, nearby) can still be seen here, but most of them have been moved to a new attraction, the Safari ride.
The impala enclosure is the very last in the zoo and at this point one can stop to observe the enormous Huentitan canyon; I would recommend visiting the zoo during rainy season, when the canyon is most spectacular and the enclosures in the zoo look most beautiful).

From this point one can either leave the zoo (by this point almost everyone is very tired) or return via the African circuit; you will find Crowned Cranes, then White rhinos and the two female African elephants of the zoo, and then the big cat area; leopards (including a black panther) and cougars in twin enclosures, and both normal colored and white lions.
Water Buffalo, Bison and Elk are also nearby.

The Masai Mara Safari ride is a relatively new exhibit just in front of the Patagonian hare enclosure.
You ride a wagon that takes you on a brief tour across a large fenced area which greatly benefits from the local vegetation (thorny trees and bushes) to mimic the African savannah; the ride includes such animals as ostrich, Cape buffalo, white rhino, antelopes of several species, Watusi cattle, flamingos, cranes, zebras (including Archie the red-striped zebra, one of the zoo's stars) and giraffes which can be fed carrots by the visitors. There are also cheetahs, but these are kept in a separate fenced area for obvious reasons. No larger carnivorans are yet kept in this ride.
The guide to the ride is usually dressed up as a Masai and gives short and fun facts about African wildlife and Masai culture. The ride is entertaining but perhaps a little bit too brief; snapping a good picture of the animals can be tricky.

And this is basically what you will see in the Guadalajara zoo. Like I said, this zoo is always growing and adding new exhibits. Sadly, the Komodo dragon brought to Guadalajara years ago died during a particularly cold winter despite every effort to protect it; the keepers told me that this young male was particularly ill-tempered and even that they prefered to work with crocodiles than with the dragon. Now, the enclosure built for him has been modified into the Aquarium entrance. The enclosure were the panda visiting from Chapultepec last year was kept for several months was later used for the new Black bear cubs, but I have no idea what its being used for right now.

Overall, I think this is a good zoo- some enclosures could be better, in terms of space, but the animals always seem very well fed and well treated, and the fact that many of them have bred several times speaks well of the conditions in which they live. Also, bonus points for actually helping preserve some Mexican species such as wolf and crocodile.

 

Thanx Adam for the nice review.

Does Guadalajara Zoo actually still breed Morelett's crocs?
What is the current status of the crocs'populations in the wild for which the zoo sent out for release?

 

Last thing I heard about the Centla Swamps crocodiles is that they were estimated to be around 1,500, with about 800 more living in neighboring areas. Unfortunately, although the population did rise thanks to the efforts of conservationists, the crocodiles are still being poached, and there's also the added threat of pesticides reaching the swamp.
Also, Tabasco is a state that is constantly being flooded due to seasonal rains, and when this happens, many crocodiles leave the reserve and swim into towns, where people kills them out of fear. I don´t know if the Guadalajara zoo is still breeding them; a crocodile conservation center was opened some time ago in Tabasco and so its possible that they are now breeding their own crocodiles.

Unfortunately in many regards the status of crocodiles in Mexico is similar to that of the alligator in southern US; in my state, for example, American crocodiles became abundant thanks to conservation efforts, but their homelands didn´t get the same protection, and are now being turned into golf courses and hotels. Crocs do their best to survive by taking advantage of pools and golf course lakes, and when they start eating people, it always ends badly for them.

 

After more than a decade I was able to return to the Guadalajara Zoo, one of the big 3 zoos in mexico ( the others are chapultepec ( mexico city) and africam safari ( puebla).
Guadalajara is still a great collection and here are some updates.
New primate area called monkeyland ( yes in english). Walkthrough area for squirrel monkeys and ring tailed lemurs, separated,of course. Very large tall cages for vervets, guinea baboons, patas monkeys and hamadryas baboons. there is also an island for siamangs. I would have hoped for more rarer species, at least mexican black howler monkeys. Well, maybe later, but this area is very nice. There is also an island for a group of mexican spider monkeys.
The great apes are well represented in Guadalajara. There is a trio of chimpanzees in a nice moated area. There are 4 bornean organgutans which are the only breeding group in Mexico. I saw Chencha, the elder female gorilla, but not her daughters. Remember that Chencha is one of the last wild born gorillas currently in a zoo. Let us hope that some arrangement can be made to mate the 2 younger females somehow.
I saw some nice mexican species. Very happy see to 3 pairs of horned guan, a very active pair of mexican tamanduas, yellow headed amazon parrots, king vultures and mexican wolves or lobos. Various crocdiles of both morletti and acutus. The reptile house at Guadalajara is easily the best one in mexico. To my knowledge the aquarium here is the largest inland aquarium in mexico and is a fine addition. The next addition will be a butterfy house.
Criticism: there are still rather small carnivore cages for interesting mexican species like tayra and jaguarundi. The 2 african elephants have an area that was adequate back in 1988, but now it really too limited.

 

Glad to know that the Monkeyland area is good I have yet to visit. And I was wondering what had happened to the baboons as they hadn´t been on exhibition for a while (their old enclosure is now housing the white lion couple).

I agree with you on the small carnivore cages- they need to be replaced ASAP. Also, the coyotes and striped hyenas deserve larger enclosures.

I've been noticing that many English speaking people call Mexican wolves "lobos". Maybe everyone knows this, but just in case I thought I'd mention that "lobo" is Spanish for wolf in general, not just for Mexican wolves- so in Spanish, when someone says "lobo" its "Canis lupus" they're talking about, not just the "lobo mexicano" "Canis lupus baileyi". I apologize if this is an unnecessary remark.

Any more info on the butterfly house? The Agua Azul park in Guadalajara used to have one years ago...

 

Adam, how many white rhino does the zoo still have? Just the two - as in elderly female (one of the original imports) and a captive-born male from an US zoo? Are there any plans for renewal?

 

I have just visited Guadalajara zoo. The orangutans now have a nice series of towers called ruta orangutan. It is like the Washington D.C. exhibit or the outside area of indianapolis zoo exhibit. It is seems much less expensive than the indianopolis building. The 4 year old juvenile orang was enjoying himself on the towers, His mother and an infant stayed down. I did not see the elder female orang or the male. Guadalajara has the only breeding group of orangutans in mexico and they are Borneans. The founders came from Tapei zoo.
I saw the male white rhino Axel out. He does not get along with the elder female rhino. The future is hard for rhinos in Mexico. Chapultepec just lost their male rhino Khartum. Leon zoo has a single white male. Africam safari has 3 elderly white male rhinos and a pair of black rhinos. So now only 3 collections in Mexico have rhinos, Guadalajara, Leon and Africam.
Photos from my last visit to guadalajara zoo coming soon.

 

Thanks for this up-date carlos55 and looking forward to your photos !

 

@carlos55, thanks for your update. Looking forward to the photos.

I will pm on rhinos (as I believe there should be further collections in Mexico with whites).

 

Kifaru. i did not consider the private safari parks in mexico, so you are correct, there may be still be rhinos there.
Pictures on ruta orangutan are now on the gallery.

 

Return visit to Guadalajara zoo, about 2 weeks ago. New penguin exhibit for a dozen adelie penguins from an aquarium in Japan. Quite nice. The penguins at chapultepec zoo are also from japan. So all the penguins in mexico come from japan.
The orangutans all use their towers on ruta orangutan. When opened last year i only saw 1 young female use it, but now all the orangutan were up there. This is the only breeding group in mexico, maybe latin america.
sadly, only faustina and chencha remain as the gorillas of guadalajara. Ituri, chencha´s other daughter died last year. If only a male gorilla could be sent to guadalajara to mate with faustina, but this seems to be very difficult now. remember that chencha is one of the last wild born gorillas in any zoo outside of africa. Another possiblity is sending faustina on a breeding loan, but that would leave chencha alone.
The baird´s tapir died and now there are capybara in the exhibit.
The exhibit for the lone female polar bear has recieved no improvements at all. still the only really bad exhibit at the zoo.
Guadalajara zoo is still a very nice animal collection that is still up there in the big 3 mexican zoos, along with chapultepec and africam safari , puebla. Zoomat, chiapas is in a league of its own, of course.

 

I was able to visit Guadalajara zoo recently and have posted some pictures. Some recents births are eland, squirrel monkey, ringtail lemurs, guinea baboons, caribbean flamingos and king vultures, as well as the popular but controversial white lions. The orangutans were not out on the towers, so perhaps there are some repairs there. There was a single Wied´s marmoset in the exhibit which used to hold mexican tamanduas, most likely the primate was confiscated from the illegal pet trade. I did not have time to check out the masai mara safari area. There are now gentoos along with the adelie penguins. All the penguins in Mexico have come from Japan, by the way. Guadalajara zoo has an interesting TV series called Desde el Zoologico, various episodes can be seen on Youtube. Estan En Español, Amigos.

 

VIDEO: Nacen crías de pingüinos Adelie en Zoológico de Guadalajara
3 adelie penguin chicks hatched at Guadalajara zoo. First hatching of this species in latin america. A great way to start the year.

 

Nacen 3 pingüinos Adelie en el Zoológico Guadalajara
Another article on the Adelie penguin chicks at Guadalajara Zoo. It is interesting that the only other holders of this species in the Americas are Seaworld San Diego and SeaWorld Orlando. As noted, above the Adelie penguins at Guadalajara came from a japanese aquarium, but i do not know which one.

 

Gracias Chli for the information. Interesting that the Americas have 3 holders of Adelie penguins, Europe has 1, that is Faunia in Madrid, but Japan has 4 holders of this attractive species.

 

Zoológico de Guadalajara, más de 300 especies en conservación
a nice article in spanish about conservation work at the Guadalajara zoo

 

Just catching up on a bit of news:

*Two Adélie Penguins also hatched in 2019 [Nacen dos pingüinos de Adelia en zoológico de Guadalajara]. A recent episode released in December 2020 of their very informative TV show Desde el Zoológico revealed that they have approximately eight Adélie eggs currently across four pairs (including from a newly-formed pair). The eggs are due to hatch around this month. Fingers crossed everything goes well.

*I also came across an article published in June 2020 about some of the 2020 births at Zoológico Guadalajara. They are listed as followed; seven Sika Deer, a White-tailed Deer, three Wapiti, eleven Barbary Sheep, three Eland calves, an Impala, a Dromedary, three Mexican Military Macaws, twin Ring-tailed Lemurs, three Blackbuck, a Patas Monkey, a Vervet Monkey, ostrich and peafowl. Full article: Nuevos habitantes llegan al Zoológico Guadalajara

 

Zoológico Guadalajara have announced the successful hatching of an Adélie Penguin. The chick hatched on 9th December: Log into Facebook | Facebook