Parque Zoológico Huachipa My visit - July 2010

This little publicised zoo outside of Lima is frequently deemed too far off the beaten track to boldly advertise to tourists, but it’s a gem on ISIS. In fact, that’s how I think it came to my attention a few years ago. Several species listed at Huachipa are often found at no other member institutions. Examples of their rarely kept animals include Uakaris, Sechuran foxes, Pygmy Anteaters and Marine Otters. Unfortunately many are not freely on display (e.g. out of a total of 14 cocks-of-the-rock on ISIS, only one was on display).

Still aching from my trip to Lima’s other zoo two days previously; I decided to hire a taxi with a driver who would be happy to push me in a wheelchair for a couple of hours. Though quite costly, I’m glad I did it, but still feel very sorry for the poor guy.

From Chlidonias’ link posted a couple of years ago, I wasn’t expecting great things from the zoo, but ended up being pleasantly surprised. Large donations have led to the improvement of inadequate enclosures, and the creation of some new exhibits of a very high standard. A Review of the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru and a Methodology for Grading Zoos – EcoLocalizer

During the hour-and-a-bit it took to get to the zoo, my driver asked me what I wanted to see there, hoping it would be a quick visit. I told him ‘everything’. I think he thought I was joking. Poor guy. I then went on to try and describe pygmy anteaters and uakaris to him in broken zoological Spanish. There was much more to come.

After getting a wheelchair at the reception, the taxi driver, who had visited the zoo before, suggested that we start with the reptile house, which doubles as an aquarium. On the way, we passed a Chilean Flamingo aviary, decent tapir paddocks and a mixed enclosure for macaws and Red Brocket Deer.

The aquarium/reptile house sneakily sits in the same, new-looking building which is used for the zoo’s administrative offices. Poorly signposted and not on the map, I think I’d probably have missed it if I were alone. The first part of the building displays tanks housing individuals or groups of juvenile animals, including young Electric Eels, Pipa toads, Matamatas, Caimans, turtles, Red-tailed Catfish, a lone piranha and pacu, and a single Ocellated Ray. The second part of the building showcases mostly reptiles, with the odd fish tank in-between. Species exhibited here include the Elegant Racer, Blood Python, Cook’s Amazon Tree Boa, Monocled Cobra, Peruvian Boa constrictor, Yellow-bellied Puffing Snake, Fitzinger’s False Coral Snake and Black Caiman. Before leaving the building, a wall of confiscated items and interesting signs highlight threats facing reptiles and amphibians throughout the world, but with special focus on Peru.

Rolling past an aviary for Razor-billed Curassow and the crocodilian enclosures, we found the new (and unfinished) penguin-sealion-marine otter complex. I was impressed by the disabled access and the ease of viewing both above and below water. This pleasant exhibit houses a mother sealion and her pup, a small colony of Humboldt Penguins mixed with other Peruvian seabirds, and will soon be home to the zoo’s marine otters – but because their enclosure was still unfinished when I visited, they were off-show and I missed them.

Before getting to the main group of primate enclosures, we passed a lake filled with giant koi and which had a small island in the middle was home to a pair of spider monkeys who were very active. The main primate enclosures were arranged around a central garden (which contained enclosures for an injured Giant Anteater and both Greater and Lesser Grison) The first set of primate enclosures were a series of glass-fronted rooms housing capuchins, titi monkeys, marmosets and tamarins, with the occasional room-mate (e.g. sloths or douroucouli). The other four primate enclosures around this ‘garden’ were for monk sakis, a pair of White-bellied Spider Monkeys, a family of Red Howlers mixed with a dark Tamandua, and, one of the zoo’s highlights for me, a pair of active Red Uakari.

We then went on to see a set of enclosures for amphibious mammals – the first housing a large bull Patagonian Sealion (I think this may have been temporary as the other sealions were in the new complex and there wasn’t much of interest in his enclosure.) The second enclosure housed a mother Capybara with her young pups and the third was a very nice habitat for a Giant Otter.

On the way to the main carnivore complex, we passed another set of poorly-labelled primate enclosures with marmosets, sloths and douroucoulis. The first of the carnivore enclosures was a plain paddock housing a pair of tigers, one of which was white. Next was a much nicer hilly enclosure for a sedentary puma. The third enclosure was held a pair of lions and a lot of mock-rock, and the fourth was home to a lone black jaguar. An empty enclosure was labelled as displaying a jaguar. By far the most numerous carnivores were Spectacled Bears, who had several enclosures in the carnivore block, and were very active. The last two enclosures were home to Culpeo and Sechuran foxes.

Moving away from the carnivores, a large paddock was home to a pair of zebra (giraffes and ostriches are mixed separately at the other end of the zoo), and a small artificial mountain behind offered a view over the entire zoo, as well as a small geodesic aviary for a pair of Buzzard-eagles. We then went over to the Children’s zoo area, which had recently been partially converted into an ‘Australia’ exhibit. The first enclosure was home to (white-tailed?) deer, but the second and third were both spacious and home to an emu and a group of red kangaroos, respectively.

Next, we moved onto my driver’s favourite part of the zoo, Bosque de las Aves (Forest of the birds); opened in 2002, this huge walk-through aviary offers the chance to get close to a huge variety of birds including macaws, curassow, jabiru, oropendolas, peafowl, doves, herons, king vultures, waterfowl, chacalacas, and, allegedly, free-flying cocks-of-the-rock (though we didn’t see any here – I think they’ve been removed.) It’s a pleasant experience, well-labelled and well-planted with waterfalls and ponds – one of which has underwater viewing (mostly for the Anhingas, I presume); I can see why so many Peruvians are so fond of this part of the zoo.

Following our walk-through experience, we moved on to a new exhibit round the back of the large aviary called ‘La Selva Peruana’ – The Peruvian Jungle. A Faber-Castell-sponsored experience involving a series of aviaries of rainforest/cloud forest birds dotted throughout a very well-planted garden, the path acting as a forest trail. The aviaries were difficult for photography, but the birds themselves were amazing, and the planting along the trail was among the best I’d ever seen in a zoo. The definite highlight of this exhibit is a beautiful male cock-of-the-rock who displays to you as you approach his aviary, which he shares with grosbeaks, motmots and pope cardinals. Other birds include various curassows, guans, owls, parrots and parakeets.

On our way out we passed a set of vivaria for huge pythons and anacondas, and we went round a leisure lake in order to get a closer look at the giraffe/ostrich paddock. Though there was no sign of Pygmy Anteaters and Marine Otters, my driver looked so relieved after three-and-a-half hours that I didn’t have the heart to ask a keeper if they knew where we could see them, if possible.

All in all, a great trip to a pleasant zoo. Though some of the enclosures are outdated, many of the newer exhibits are of an extraordinary standard and with a decent income, great things can come of this zoo. And although we were eluded by a couple of the zoo’s rarities, uakaris and cock-of-the-rock made my day.

Due to the ongoing photo gallery issues, I have only uploaded a small selection of my photos from this visit, and don’t intend to upload more for a while unless individual photos are specifically requested.

 

Thanks for the very interesting review!
Good to hear that the zoo has gotten much better. I remember that link too.