I'm visiting Buin Zoo tomorrow, really looking forward to see the new Red pandas and (white-handed?) gibbons. I might come up with an updated list of the current species on exhibit, since sadly the official website lacks one.
My experience was mostly great, managing to spot almost all of the species and had a memorable time with the lifer and newcomer species. Because of Covid prevention measures, some of the indoor buildings such as the aquarium, the reptile house and the nocturnal house were closed, and many sectors like the main aviary and the parrots and reptiles alley only allowed for quick glimpses of the animals to avoid jams, so I couldn't spend as much time there as I would like. Buin Zoo is really pleasant to the eyes and most of the habitats are carefully planned and naturalistic-looking. Since the park has experienced continuous growing since its humble beginnings as a wildlife rescue center, the shift in architectural style and exhibit quality is noticeable, as most of the older exhibits of simple wire and mesh are near the entrance while the more modern and immersive exhibits are the most distant. The zoo is pretty aware of this, and I found that many of the older cages at the Americas themed area had phased out their animals or were awaiting a reshuffle. Some of them were even acting as temporary holders for geographically incorrect species such as lemurs or colobus. They haven't disclosed what their current plans for the Americas region are but I'm looking forward for it. The current Chilean zone is set to be restyled into a Patagonia zone according to the zoo director. Regarding the newer aspects, the red panda exhibit is great. Both the outdoor and indoor halves are visually interesting, with a Himalayan/East Asian flavor, and the pandas themselves were active and pretty easy to see, this made the exhibit really popular. The new group of white-handed gibbons effectively share an enclosure with the male Bornean orangutan, Sandai, who was surprisingly active today and made for a fascinating viewing experience. It also surprised me to see a pair of Southern cassowaries in the Australia zone, since the zoo hadn't properly introduced them through social media or any other source. Though, given that the two birds are juveniles and not instantly recognizable as cassowaries, the park may be waiting for them to mature to do a more worthy presentation. As always, the worse aspect are the visitors with their simple but recurrent misbehavior such as feeding the free-roaming birds or unchecked children getting too close to the animal ambassadors, but thankfully it seems to be less of a problem each time I visit. I hope to visit again once things become more stable and the zoo gradually reopens more sectors. Buin Zoo had many welcome surprises for me this time and I hope this trend continues.
LIST OF ON-EXHIBIT ANIMALS Excluding aquarium, insect house, reptile house, nocturnal house, butterfly house and children's zoo. Animals are in approximate order of sighting: Brazilian tapir Jaguar Ring-tailed Lemur Black spider-monkey Great curassow Tufted-capuchin monkey (off-exhibit, habitat in maintenance) Scarlet macaw Green-winged macaw Blue-and-gold macaw Java sparrow Monk parakeet Austral parakeet Burrowing parrot Slender-billed parakeet Tucuman amazon African grey parrot Toco toucan Broad-snouted caiman Yellow-footed tortoise Red-footed tortoise Leopard tortoise Red-eared slider Patagonian mara Lesser rhea Greater rhea Alpaca Guanaco Llama Brown bear (no subspecies specified) White stork Turkey vulture Golden pheasant Indian peafowl Puma Red panda South American grey fox South American sea lion Peruvian pelican Kelp gull White-naped crane Bar-headed goose Hawaiian goose Yellow-billed pintail White-cheeked pintail Chiloé wigeon Rosy-billed pochard Coscoroba swan Black-necked swan Fulvous whistling duck White-faced whistling duck Chilean flamingo White-faced ibis Black-faced ibis Red-gartered coot Lady Amherst's pheasant Black-chested buzzard-eagle Chimango caracara Wild boar Mute swan White-handed gibbon Bornean orangutan Tiger (labeled as "Bengal") Sun bear Snow leopard (off-exhibit) Common crane Bactrian camel Chital deer Eurasian wolf Mallard duck Radjah shelduck Plains zebra Siamang Rainbow lorikeet Red-rumped parrot Eastern rosella Black swan Emu Bennett's wallaby Red kangaroo Southern cassowary Cockatiel Sulphur-crested cockatoo Somali sheep Meerkat Guinea turaco Crested partridge Pygmy hippopotamus Southern white rhinoceros South African shelduck Koi Blue crane Black crowned crane Nile crocodile Hamadryas baboon Guereza Helmeted guineafowl Giraffe (no subspecies specified, though they came from South Africa iirc) Thomson's gazelle Common ostrich Nyala Somali wild ass African lion Eared dove Cocoi heron Scarlet ibis African sacred ibis Southern screamer Turquoise-fronted amazon Blue-crowned parakeet Golden-collared macaw White-backed stilt Midas tamarin White-lipped tamarin Cotton-top tamarin Wood duck Great egret Ashy-headed goose Kinkajou Dwarf crocodile and maned wolf were off-exhibit, though they remain listed on the map.
Thanks a lot for the list! Much needed for this park. Glad to see that work is being done on the most outdated areas. Are the nyalas exhibited alongside the giraffes, asses, gazelles, and ostriches?? I thought they phased out this species.
Yes, all of them share the savanna exhibit (also including guineafowl). I only saw one nyala today, an adult male.
Great work, the list is very good. I remember seeing the culpeo fox and red fox.Was that section closed ? Also do you know if the new gibbons are the offspring of the breeding pair at Zoologico Nacional de Chile ?
I believe both of those species were phased out or have died. The red fox and arctic fox habitats don't exist anymore (it appears it's one of the sectors that has been selected for remodeling), while the former culpeo habitat is now inhabited by Patagonian gray fox. I don't know where the gibbons came from, I hope it is addressed in a future videoblog.
A thorough and impressive list. Only thing: I am surprised that some of the iconic Chilean fauna like vicuna and also culpeo (no longer) are not represented.
