I have always wanted to go to the Greensboro Science Center when I went on my trip to the North Carolina Zoo. I was excited as they added, or redid, their aquarium a couple years ago and there weren’t many photos of this establishment on zoo chat. The science center has an aquarium, zoo, and museum, so something for everyone. I won’t go into detail about the museum in this review. I went into the aquarium first. The first exhibit I came across was for the fishing cat. Although they have no access to the outside, the exhibit was bigger than I anticipated. It also had good vertical space with a high walkway for the cats and places to sit up high. There also was a nice pool, but no fish in it. The next exhibit was for Asian small-clawed otter. Once again, it was bigger than I anticipated. This exhibit is a bit unique as it has a pop up window for kids, or kid at heart. Unfortunately when I tried it, the otters were sleeping in a cluster in the front part of the exhibit. I know there had to be a pool area in the exhibit, but I cannot recall where it was located. Maybe I will remember when I post photos. The next exhibit was African black-footed penguins. It is probably the smallest exhibit I have seen for this species! Nice viewing opportunities for visitors, including underwater viewing, but not a lot of space for its inhabitants. There are also penguin statues near by to pose. The next exhibit was an Amazonian one featuring golden lion tamarin, kinkajou, birds and fish of the area. Next-door was a small exhibit for an anaconda. To finish up this area, there was a touch tank with cow nosed rays and mixed exhibit with sharks and tropical fish. If this were an aquarium alone, it wouldn’t be wonderful due to its small size. However, being attached to a zoo, it’s decent and features some unique mammals in it. The zoo was also small, but I felt most exhibits were spacious for its inhabitants. Off to your right was the Discovery House with small terrariums. Some inhabitants were ferret, rabbit, blue bird, black snake, owl, skunk, chinchilla, and a shared exhibit for tamandua, hairy screaming armadillo, and nine banded armadillo. The latter exhibit was probably not bigger than an entry closet. The only saving grace would be is the tamandua is older and not in the greatest health so I do not think she moves around a lot in the daytime. She does have limbs to climb on and a hammock up front to sleep in. Also in the front of the zoo was decent exhibits for crocodile, tortoise, and meerkat. The meerkat exhibit had a glass enclosed front and a tunnel on the side for kids to get a closer look. Off to the side was a small walkabout for wallabies, a farm area with matted floors for its inhabitants, and small exhibits for white nosed coati, howler monkey, and agouti/prehensile tailed porcupine. In the center of the zoo was a very intimate exhibit for a red panda, and meshed enclosed exhibit to Javan gibbon. I thought the exhibit for the gibbon was quite spacious and they had platforms and such to swing. Exhibits following this was one for a fossa, another for ringtail/red ruffed/another type of lemur, and a big exhibit for Amur or Bengal tiger. The tiger exhibit had natural elements to it, trees and a pool, but had a resting shed on the side that took away from the naturalistic look. However, I felt it provided plenty of space for its two tigers. At the end of the zoo was a very large exhibit for a manned wolf and giant anteater. There was a boardwalk that was in the center of the exhibit allowing visitors to see on both sides of it. The manned wolf had a cave area to rest in and shrubs for the giant anteater to hide behind. I cannot remember if there was a small pool area for them. One nice feature were signs telling guests that manned wolf have sensitive hearing and all should remain quiet will in the area. That is pretty much it for the zoo. In between the lemur and tiger exhibit is a treetop obstacle course for an additional fee. Although the zoo is not one you need to travel far to see, it is a very nice stopping point on your way to the North Carolina Zoo. *Photos are being added to the gallery right now!
Thank you for the review blospz! I have family near Greensboro, so I hope that I can visit the center sometime (fitting in a NC Zoo visit as well, of course.) There are some big plans for this small institution, with animal additions including Komodo Dragons, Okapi, Snow Leopards, Pygmy Hippos, and new tiger and crocodile exhibits. Multi-million dollar expansion at the Greensboro Science Center | myfox8.com
