Even though they may not be accredited by AZA they can still have nice collections and nice exhibits. Southwick's Zoo, MA- One of the best zoos in New England, many primate speceis, and many ungulates. Zoo World, FL- Has Spectacled Bears, Sumatran Tigers, Orangutans, and many rare species of primate. Monkey Jungle, FL- Has a Male Gorilla, Orangutans, and several rare primate species. Metro Richmond Zoo, VA- has Takins, Large Bongo herd, Cheetah, White Rhino Tennessee Safari Park, TN- Has many speceis of Wild Hogs, Many Antelope Species including Lowland Anoa. Tanganyika Wildlife Park, KS- has Indian Rhinos, Black Rhinos, Clouded Leopard, Malyan Tapir, Red Panda Just some off the top of my head. Would be interested to hear of zoos I haven't heard of or that I forgot to mention.
Having visited four of these facilities (all but Tanganyika and Tennessee Safari) I would rank as followed: 1. Southwick 2. Monkey Jungle 3. Richmond 4. Zooworld I rank Southwick first because of its collection and enclosures. If this same thread was around a few years back Southwick would not be #1. The zoo has drastically revamped its facilities adding beautiful exhibits for its big cats, small primates, elephants (visiting) and especially the chimps. They have done away with most of the balen cages and have combined several yards to make one large habitat for a single species not small yards with numerous species. The collection is also impressive with over a dozen primate species (ranging from marmosets to chimps), a decent reptile collection, a large parrot collection and numerous hoofstock species. Hoofstock highlights include white rhino, bearded pig and giraffes. Also, the owner of the zoo is usually either in the giftshop or the education building and loves to talk animals and the zoo. Monkey jungle is really cool to visit wether you want to walk through the free ranging monkey exhibit (Howlers, Capuchin and Squirrels) or watch the macaques dive into the water for treats. The reason I put it second: its collection is primates and birds. Not the most diverse collection, but species like wooly monkey are always a treat. Also it always kind of bothered me they had a lone gorilla. Its a decent enclosure but its kind of weird seeing a single silverback. Richmond barely squeezes ahead of Zooworld because of its collection. It is a very impressive collection, mostly mammals, with highlights including white rhino, mishmi takin, brazilian tapir, snow leopard, cheetah, asiatic black bear, orangutans, chimps, Allens swamp monkey, African penguins and galapagos tortoise. They have a mix species with giraffe, bongo, greater kudu, thompsons gazelle, white stork and crown crane that was quite impressive. The main issue: enclosures. Some of the worst, barren and sometimes unsafe enclosures I have seen. Most enclosures were chain link which made it difficult to see them. Some of the hoofstock yard were barren and dusty while others had debris and stagnant water. The tapir enclosure I could lean into which I am sure people did because of a calf born around the time of my visit and you could easily pet the RRH's and penguins if you so desired. I didn't really see any enrichment either. Also, and this may be my biggest pet peeve with some zoos, no signs. I looked into primate enclosures one after the other that had nothing saying what was on exhibit. The were Angolan colobus, Allens swamp monkey and Reed's titi and I know that because I have seen them before. Your average visitor would have no clue. Zooworld is interesting because it has many characteristics of a road side zoo except the collection. The zoo enclosures are made up of balen cages, chicken wire fencing and concrete. Very typical of a subpar zoo. The collection however is interesting. Up until recently the zoo had a Sumatran orang who lived with an orange tabby cat. The orang passed earlier this year. Next to her, where siamangs, ringtail and black lemur. Other primates included mandrill, diana monkey, red handed, golden headed, golden lion, geoffferies, cottontop tamarins, and callimico. Cats include jaguar, puma, serval, lions, four color phases of tiger and Sumatran tigers. Yes, Sumatran tigers. I confirmed this with the tiger SSp a few years back. They also have spectacled bears, a giraffe you can feed and a timber wolf you can pet during certain shows. Other non-accredited places I would add: Six flags: Great adventure- Safari park with large herds of white rhino and African elephant, lots of African hoofstock including white tail wildebeeste, Syrian brown bears, Amur tigers and more. Reptile Gardens- One of the most complete collections of reptiles in the country. Alligator Adventure- Once again, great herp collection with Tomistoma and Black mamba and one of largest crocs in the country, Utan. Also birds including cassowary and mammals (tigers, small cats, otters, zebra and more). Catoctin Zoo- Located in Maryland, the collection includes sun bears, big cats, primates and a good herp collection. They just added a safari area to the zoo.
@loxodonta: very nice mini-reviews of those establishments. It is nice to hear about some of the lesser-known zoos of North America.
Yes I agree, very nice mini reviews. I can't believe I forgot the Catoctin Zoo, I wonder where they got their sun bears from. To make some comments on your review of Zoo World- I didn't hear there Sumatran Orangutan passed away, do they only have one giraffe? ISIS says they have two male sumatran tigers. Surprisingly enough PAWS actually has some, and a few other sanctuaries have had Sumatran Tigers. Besides Zoo World I have never heard of any in private hands but for some reason sanctuaries are getting them? "My New Wildlife" a show on Animal Planet, had a segment about them. They said they rescued them from a breeding center and a few cheetahs were rescued but brought somewhere else. Could thois be an AZA run thing???? I dn't mean to point fingers, but with both species being endangered you would think AZA would have something to do with it.
Other Zoos I forgot to add also Feline Conservation Center in California, they have a 18 feline species including North Chinese Leopards, Amur Leopards, a Persian Leopard, and Jaguarundi. Also Louisiana Purchase Zoo and Gardens a good sized zoo including your average animals, giraffes, lions, tigers, and primates. But I did find they had Mueller's Gibbons. Their website says they have had success in breeding gibbon species. I presume also Lar Gibbons, and Siamangs. They also have a nice Guenon Collection.
Tonda unfortunately passed. Yes, there is only one giraffe in a very small yard. I don't think two would even fit. It is interesting to hear sanctuaries have Sumatran tigers given their endangered status.
I went to Catoctin Mountain Zoo in 2000. The sun bear exhibit was perhaps the worst bear exhibit that I've ever seen in the North America. I don't know if they've updated it since 2000. I went with my dad and he refers to it as the worst zoo he's ever visited.
Yes it is still terrible I didn't go but have seen recent images on flickr. I am not sure about all exhibits but at least most of the primate exhibits they are on concrete.
It is the worst sunbear exhibit I have ever seen and even though they moved from that enclosure to the old Grizzly run its not much better. When I visited in summer of 2005 they had a sunbear cub that was not that old. It proves that some animals (individuals or species) will just breed despite what their enclosure is. I don't know if its the worst zoo I have been to but it wasn't that great (exhibit wise).
It definitely isn't the worst zoo. A zoo like this wouldn't have the money to make a great top notch exhibit but they could make a large no concrete exhibit. I hope it does improve soon and they slow down their collecting and focus more on their exhibit building.
I personally really like the Alaska Zoo. I've been there twice and was impressed both times. The zoo is built into a thick forest and it has many interesting animals, including wolverines, moose, polar bears, tigers, and more. They got some negative flack for trying to keep an elephant up there, but that's over. (A negative mark in my book is that they sent to elephant to a "sanctuary", instead of a zoo.)
I have also visited Homosassa Springs wildlife park which is basically a zoo featuring Florida wildlife and Lu, the hippo. I thought it was a nice place with nice enclosures and set in a native forest that is fed by a natural spring. In my opinion, it is the best collection of native Florida wildlife in the state (With Lowry a close second). There is not much missing including Florida black bear, Florida panther, Western cougar, Florida bobcat, river otters, red wolves, white tail deer, a large herd of Key deer, manatee, whooping crane, crested caracara, osprey, bald eagles, american crocs, gators, gator snapper, indigo snake and albino cooter. The manatee enclosure is the best I have ever seen. Most of the enclosures are just fencing surrounding natural habitat.
I went to this park also. They actually used to have more exotic species but now focused on natives. Steve Irwin actually visited there, which I was surprised to hear. I remember the manatees really well. I like the underwater viewing area and a lady feeding the manatees. If you want to see florida wildlife that is the place to go. The Alaska zoo looks nice. I am glad they have mostly Northern Species so the animals can handle the weather. I wish Maggie didn't go to PAWS, I am not sure how old she was but she might have been good for breeding. She is fine with the other elephants at PAWS so she should be ok with zoo elephants.
Silver Springs is a nice zoo/wildlife attraction also. They had quite of few antelope species, some monkey islands, many alligators, glass bottom boat rides, black and Kodiak bears, gibbons, giraffes. They do also have a jeep safari that was ok but nothing special.
non accredited not sure if these places are accredited with the AZA but in my travels i came across them Living Treasures Animal Park - Pennsylvania Nice collection of animals but was disappointed with alot of the exhibits. They have 3 tigers (one white) and a white lion, two beautiful black leopards, 3 Grizzly bears in a poor enclosure....exhibit was filthy....had a baby Russian brown bear...really can't figure out how people get these animals but this little guy looked like he was seriously distressed as all he did was run in circles during the ten minutes i watched him.....they have alot of camels and other livestock...pretty good collection of wolves and a pair of dingos.....it was your typical road side zoo that pisses me off to see how the animals are just used for profit....place is located near 7 springs ski resort in PA. Noah's Lost Ark - Berlin, Ohio This is a rescue facility mainly for large cats. They have a huge collection of tigers and lions.....probably 10-15 of each. Several leopards, pumas, servals, caracals, bobcats, bears and wolves. Other animals include bison, caribou, camel and other hoofstock. YOu can tell the people who run this place care about the animals and are not out to make a buck. The exhibits are good considering the limited resources and the stories about the rescued animals are heartbreaking. REading about these stories makes you want to talk to your local congressman about enacting a law preventing private ownership of exotic animals. Try to stop by and support this place if you are in the area. I visited another roadside zoo which i cannot recall the name of but it was in Maryland on the highway from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Small road zoo on a farm. Exhibits are in poor condition but i can only hope the animals are well cared for and comfortable. I was amazed to see this place have a giraffe as it looked totally out of place. There were a pair of wolves, a black bear, a Siberian tiger which looked like it had lived a hard life. Alot of hoofstock and a nice collection of Bison. Several alligators and other reptiles. I saw a serval, bobcats and lynx. I try to support these places as they do not have the luxury as the large zoos have.
I haven't been to either facilities, but from the pictures it looks like they have about the same types of caging. Neither are accredited by AZA or ZAA, Even though conditions are bad at the Animal Park, I have seen worse. Their wolf pen looks large, Monkey cages could be bigger, but the bear a pitiful. I don't like the fact you can feed the most of the animals even the bears. Animals like brown bears actually are often offered for free, babies can go for $3000 and tigers well they are usually Bengal/Siberians and are around as much as pure bred puppy. The white lion however I am surprised they have because they can cost quite a bit. Now some sanctuaries make me mad. Out of all sanctuaries Big Cat Rescue is probably one of the best. But some places don't believe animals should be in captivity. The believe they ALL should be left in the wild. Now this is nice in theory but if we didn't have zoos many more species of animals would already be extinct. I do agree keeping a tiger in your house or letting people pet your big cats for a roadside attraction is stupid. I just don't think they should be generalizing so much.
Since we are mentioning roadside zoos, Animal Kingdom Zoo in New Jersey has many rare species. I posted the entire species list and number of animals. In a different thread. Their more highlight animals include, Brazilian Tapir, Giraffe, once had a Masi Giraffe, Blue Monkey, Debrazza Monkey, Diana Monkey, Mona Guenon, Spot Nosed Guenon, Sykes Guenon, Gray Armed Macaque, Colobus Monkey, Mandrill,White Handed Gibbon,Siamang, Striped Hyeana. These are just to name a few. But terrible cages, no enrichment very small. A true roadside zoo.
That is the reason I chose Southwick #1. Southwick is the only non-accredited zoo I have visited that had a collection that was backed up by nice enclosures. Anyone can own a rhino or hyena but the enclosure thats provided is what makes it good or bad. Most of the facilities mentioned before have nice collections but have some of the worst enclosures I have seen.
