I've just arrived home from a week long holiday in Adelaide, during which I visited Adelaide Zoo twice as well as Monarto Zoo, Gorge Wildlife Park and Cleland Wildlife Park. All of these zoos have been covered extensively by Hix, amongst others, so I won't do systematic reviews of each. Instead, I'll just offer some general remarks. First, Adelaide is a wonderful city for bird fans to visit. Adelaide Zoo is, to my knowledge, the best place to see birds in captivity in Australia. There are no fewer than 37 exhibits that include birds, including 31 aviaries and 6 open-topped exhbits, with three aviaries being walk-throughs. Most are mixed species and many also mix birds with reptiles or mammals. On my second visit to the zoo I was on my own, and so free to indulge in aviary-watching without my less avian-enamoured partner there to get bored. So in a subsequent post I will probably put up my notes on what birds were in which aviary. Gorge Wildlife Park also has a decent collection on display, with many species that Adelaide Zoo lacks, though with sub-prime exhibitry. Possibly my favourite spot in Adelaide Zoo is the elevated viewing platform where you are surrounded by possibly the best three primate enclosures in Australia. The dusky langur/Malayan tapir exhibit, with a very large Moreton Bay fig tree that the langurs have total access to, has been praised on this website before. I can only echo that praise and extend it to the two gibbon islands, both with large trees, for siamangs and white-cheeked gibbons that can be seen on the other side of the platform. The rest of Adelaide Zoo is mostly of a high standard The very large yard for yellow-footed rock-wallabies is even more impressive in the context of a zoo that is only 8 hectares (20 acres) in size. The giant panda exhibits have been covered very well on this site and are, of course, very good, as their hefty price tag (and fiscal consequences?) demands. The very long meerkat exhibit in the giraffe yard's dry moat is one of the best I have seen, up there with Werribee. Sun bears, tigers and tree kangaroos are other quality enclosures. Relatively few of the exhibits are worthy of criticism. Now that the lions (1.2) have between them access to all of the elderly big cat cages, they are of at least an excusable size, but I shudder to think of when they held lions, leopards AND jaguars. The tamarin house is small and becomes very noisy and unpleasant when even a small crowd is inside. Viewing the monkeys from outside is a much more pleasing experience. The sea lion pool is also old-fashioned, only large enough for the current pair and offers limited opportunities for behavioural enrichment. The only other exhibits I didn't like were for hippos and pygmy hippos. The former are poorly served by having a tiny yard, but I understand they are both in their 40s and a move would be detrimental at their age. The pygmy hippo will benefit when its older cousins pass away and it is able to take over their enclosure. I've tagged this thread in the Adelaide Zoo sub-forum because most of my remarks in this and subsequent posts are likely to be about that zoo, but I will briefly comment on the others that I visited as well. It was hard not to compare Monarto Zoo with the zoo which it has so much in common with, Werribee. I much prefer Monarto's hop-on, hop-off bus system to Werribee's prescribed 45 minute tour, though it needs more frequent buses or you end up spending a lot of time sitting around waiting for a bus. I was there on a weekday during winter school term, however, so I'm sure that more buses are usually being used. Monarto is held back by the same problem that Werribee has: namely, not enough small animals. Lions, giraffes, rhinos, chimps and zebras get people through the gates, but a good supporting cast of smaller exhibits slows people down and give them reason to stay longer (that in turn makes them more likely to spend money at the zoo). Monarto has only the (excellent) yellow-footed rock-wallaby walkthrough exhibit and a huge meerkat enclosure with only two meerkats (contrast this with the hive of activity that is Adelaide's dozen-strong meerkat colony!). We did take a couple of the walking tracks, but very few visitors do it seems. I think Monarto should encourage more walkers by having even an occasional small exhibit along these trails. Nothing elaborate - small bird aviaries and lizard pits come to mind, and every 300 metres or so would do. We only spent 2 hours at Gorge, which at only 5.7hectares is easily covered in that time. An excellent bird collection (though I think many species are kept off-display) and a solid collection of native and exotic mammals (especially primates) is let down by facilities that I suspect haven't changed a great deal over the past few decades. The best enclosures were for dingoes and Tasmanian devils. The aviary-style meerkat enclosure that Hix described in his review has been replaced with a more standard open-topped pen. Feeding the larger primates - we were able to entertain capuchins, Japanese macaques, spider monkeys and lar gibbons with Brazil nuts - is good fun. Also - the "reptile house" with a couple of fish tanks, a green iguana, bearded dragon (I think - memory is a bit hazy) and a boa constrictor all with hideous fake "rainforest" theming is just plain weird. For animal encounter lovers, you can hold a koala at Gorge for free. Cleland is a pleasure. As of a couple of weeks ago, they once again have a female numbat retired from the Perth Zoo breeding program - a species I had never seen before. The "Outback to Ocean" complex, part reptile house, part nocturnal house, part museum gallery, is excellent. So is the rest of the park. It's basically a succession of huge macropod paddocks, all wooded to some degree and most containing smaller exhibits within them for wombats, echidnas, koalas, devils and other standard native species. The three walkthrough aviaries are all good, and Cleland's waterfowl lake is notable for its size and range of species. Best of all, though, are the free-range long-nosed potoroos, which are all over the place and will eat from your hand. At one stage, we were feeding 8 at one time. Overall, I will definitely visit Adelaide Zoo the next time I am in the city, and probably Cleland if time permitted. Monarto I am likely to visit again when their plans for the 500 hectare free-range enclosure are realised. I wouldn't expect to visit Gorge again in the near future, but you never know.
Also, an addendum. On the way we popped into Halls Gap Zoo for a short one-hour visit. It was as enjoyable as always. With the arrival of pygmy marmosets imminent and giraffes and zebras later in the year, there were no new developments since my previous visit in March, but I expect that will have changed by my next visit, which if previous form is anything to go by will likely be in September or October.
Thanks for writing up a concise but detailed posting, and I visited Adelaide, Monarto and Cleland in June of 2007 and I still have fond memories of all three parks. I agree with your mini-reviews and I appreciate the willingness to share information here on ZooChat. Cheers!
For birds, definitely Gorge has a larger collection, but the enclosures they are kept in are definitely as good as the Adelaide Zoo enclosures (which are slowly lessening in number, and species variation). CGSwans did you get to see the African grassland aviaries? Recently, I'd say before your visit, 3 green-winged pytilias and 5 red-cheeked cordon-bleus were added to the exhibit. Definitely one of my favourite aviaries at the zoo.
Comprehensive reviews of all zoos. Good job. Bar the koala cuddling at Gorge, are there any other notable animal encounters that you came across? If I understand your post, you also got to hand-feed the primates - at an extra cost? Cheers.
At Cleland you can pat, but not hold, a koala for free. I think holding plus a photo costs $30. Feed the long-nosed potoroos at Cleland - just buy a feed bag of pellets at the entry. You can also feed the various larger macropods. At Gorge, you can buy peanuts or biscuits to feed the primates, but it's only through the bars of their respective cages. The Brazil nuts were not exactly purchased at the park... but frankly, they were more nutritious than peanuts or biscuits. At Adelaide we did a "brief animal encounter" with squirrel monkeys that was $30 each. You can also do this with ring-tailed lemurs and a couple of other animals that I've forgotten about.
Cheers for that. Feeding monkeys through the bars of their cages sounds like a recipe for disaster. God alone knows what must have been fed to them over the years. I once saw a video clip at a zoo where patrons would give a chimp a cigarette to smoke. Crazy. I also saw recently where a woman who was getting a revolutionary face transplant, lost her face due to an attack by a chimp - albeit a pet. The 'brief animal encounter' sounds perfect for us.
As promised, here is the list of aviaries at Adelaide Zoo and their inhabitants (avian as well as mammalian and reptilian) as of Thursday 1 July. Where there is an asterisk, the species was listed on signage, but I couldn't find them. I've given each aviary a name based on which group of aviaries it was in and the theme, if any, listed on the sign. Australian walkthrough aviary 1: Rainforest - King parrot; Eclectus parrot; Wonga pigeon; Torresian imperial pigeon; White-headed pigeon; Bush stone-curlew; Buff-banded rail; Figbird; Superb lyrebird; Satin Bowerbird; Regent Bowerbird; Short-beaked echidna Australian walkthrough aviary 2: Wetlands - Little pied cormorant; Pied heron; Royal spoonbill; Glossy ibis; Plumed whistling-duck; Eurasian coot*; Red-tailed black-cockatoo; Red-collared lorikeet; Bar-shouldered dove; Buff-banded rail; White-browed woodswallow Lyrebird aviaries 1 - Swift parrot; Wonga pigeon; Brown cuckoo-dove; Superb lyrebird; Regent honeyeater; Eastern whipbird; Long-nosed potoroo Lyrebird aviaries 2: Birds of the Adelaide Hills - Swift parrot; Peaceful dove; Bush stone-curlew; Regent honeyeater; Diamond firetail Lyrebird aviaries 3 - Freckled duck; Superb parrot; Black-winged stilt; Sacred kingfisher; Eastern yellow robin; Star finch Lyrebird aviaries 4 - Orange-bellied parrot; Black-winged stilt; Hooded plover; White-browed woodswallow; Red-browed finch; Superb fairy-wren* Jewels of Asia 1 - Dusky lory; Channel-billed cuckoo; Common tree shrew Jewels of Asia 2 - Dollarbird; Emerald dove; Luzon bleeding-heart dove; Black-winged stilt; Noisy pitta Jewels of Asia 3 - Palm cockatoo; Rose-crowned fruit-dove; Mandarin duck; Lady Amherst's pheasant; Rufous whistler; Chestnut-breasted finch; Red-faced parrot-finch Jewels of Asia 4 - Black-capped lory; Mandarin duck; Golden pheasant; Peaceful dove; Rose-crowned fruit-dove; Red avadavat Australian native birds 1 - Colours of the Savannah - Scarlet-chested parrot; Diamond dove; Flock pigeon; Crimson chat; Gouldian finch; Long-tailed finch: Australian pratincole; Pied honeyeater; Chiming wedgebill; An olive and grey small passerine that wasn't on the sign and which I couldn't identify. Australian native birds 2 - Parrots of the desert - Cockatiel; budgerigar; Bourke's parrot; Scarlet-chested parrot; Pied honeyeater; White-plumed honeyeater; Inland dotterel Australian native birds 3 - Regent parrot; Purple-crowned lorikeet; Hooded robin Australian native birds 4 - Orange-bellied parrot; Hooded plover; Striped honeyeater; Red-browed finch* Toilet aviary 1 - Major Mitchell's cockatoo; Red-tailed black-cockatoo; White-tailed black-cockatoo; Yellow-tailed black-cockatoo; Gang-gang cockatoo; Princess parrot; Red-winged parrot; Budgerigar; Flock pigeon; Mallee fowl; Tawny frogmouth* Toilet aviary 2 - Hyacinth macaw; Blue-and-gold macaw; Red-bellied macaw; Yellow-crowned amazon; Sun conure; Crimson-bellied conure; Blue-crowned conure Pheasantry aviary 1 - African grassland birds - Rainbow bee-eater; Namaqua dove; Red-billed fire-finch; Yellow-fronted canary; Red-cheeked cordon-bleu; Red grenadier*; Green-winged pytilia (I don't recall seeing them, but I'll believe Eclectus parrot); Spur-thighed tortoise* Pheasantry aviary 2 - Nicobar pigeon; Wonga pigeon Pheasantry aviary 3 - Plum-headed parrot; Rose-crowned fruit-dove; Golden pheasant; Java sparrow Pheasantry aviary 4 - Sun conure; Maroon-bellied conure; White-bellied caique; Yellow-crowned amazon; Cotton-top tamarin Pheasantry aviary 5 - Brown-throated conure; Razor-billed curassow Pheasantry aviary 6 - White-breasted ground-dove; Metallic starling Pheasantry aviary 7 - Red lory; white-breasted ground-dove Pheasantry aviary 8 - Dusky lory Pheasantry aviary 9 - Chattering lory; Mandarin duck; Nepal kalij pheasant Pheasantry aviary 10 - African grey parrot; Madagascar red fody* Asian walkthrough aviary - Plum-headed parrot; Green peafowl; Mandarin duck; Cattle egret; Glossy ibis; Eurasian coot*; Pheasant coucal* Pelican pond - Australian pelican; Cape Barren goose; Chestnut teal; Hardhead; Bush stone-curlew; Quokka Flamingo pond - Greater flamingo; Chilean flamingo; Hardhead Brolga enclosure - Brolga Cassowary enclosure - Southern cassowary Kangaroo enclosure - Emu; Kangaroo Island Kangaroo; Swamp wallaby Brazilian tapir enclosure - Egyptian goose; Brazilian tapir
Haven't been to the zoo in a while. Would you happen to know where the masked and Nyasa lovebirds are?
Didn't see any lovebirds. However the African grey parrots are apparently new and it wouldn't surprise me if they are intended to go into that aviary once the greys are settled?
Before the pandas moved in there were 2 smaller aviaries and 2 very large aviaries, the old South American aviary (which also had golden lion tamarins) and the old lyrebird aviary.
