I would have liked to see a larger underwater viewing but other than that I can't complain it's opening tomorrow correct?
It does look larger than the overwhelming majority of hippo enclosures, so I commend them on that. Otherwise, it still lacks the same things most hippo enclosures lack: grass and adequate land area. Not that exceptional or groundbreaking in my opinion.
I have visited the zoo, and will list the many changes I saw, and give my opinion on the hippo exhibit. -The hippo exhibit was opened (as stated before), and they were giving out free hippo stress toys at the front. The exhibit is mainly overhead viewing, looking over the water to see the hippos and okapi exhibit above the hippos (This, one of two new okapi exhibits, is not able to be reached by foot). There was another small okapi exhibit, and multiple other overhead views of hippos. They also had a nice little lounge in a small building with information regarding hippos. At the end there is a small glass panel for underwater viewing. There were no red river hogs to be found. I will put my opinions on it at the bottom -The vulture aviary with saddle billed storks was closed, with a sign with a saddle billed stork that read coming soon. -The lesser flamingos were off exhibit. -The African Aviary added a wide variety of new birds, including robin-chat, spur winged plover, and 2 species of turaco. -Joel sartores pictures are scattered throughout the zoos each with information about the animal pictured and it's conservation. -The giants of the savahnna now holds a large herd of nile lechwe, with no zebra or impala in sight. -The raptor area has replaced the king vultures with a new unsigned species of vulture, my guess is cape griffon. -The exhibit previously holding milky eagle owl now holds azure winged magpies and a pheasant (notorious for looking like Trump) -The reptile house has new exhibits, such as Pan's box turtle and sedge viper. The new crocodile monitor exhibit has been stripped of its bedding and vegetation, and is now off exhibit. The perentie is also off exhibit. The former burmese python enclosure is now seemingly empty and unsigned, but it's design and fruit/veggies suggest a species of tortoise is now on exhibit. -The left exhibit in tamarin tree tops now has white faced saki. -No aldabra tortoise to be found in the zoo Hippo Opinion I think it is a very nice exhibit but it has it's flaws. For one the underwater viewing is very limited and of my visit I only saw the nose of the hippos in the corner. The underwater viewing is too small and it's angle makes it limited to one part of the pool. The okapis behind the hippos are a very nice addition, but the exhibit along the path is bland, and feels like it was just an add on as it's not much more than a box with a few trees. The okapi exhibit along the path fencing was by no means photo friendly as it's a tall half chain half wood fence that goes above your head. I have no idea where the red river hogs will play into this but if they will share an exhibit with the hippos, the land space would be somewhat limiting. It is very very nice, but not the best I've seen, and I wished they'd have put more work into the okapis than they did.
If they are going to the trouble of having underwater viewing, it seems odd they would do it in such a lacklustre manner.
Agreed, it is always by far the most popular point of hippo exhibits. It seems to not have been the quality I would have expected from Dallas, though I haven't yet seen photos.
That being said it is definitely one of the largest, most naturalistic and best hippo habitats ever built with only a few (San Diego, DAK, Memphis, Busch Gardens) in the same league.
There were lesser kudu on the monorail. The nile lechwe where the only ungulates on exhibit in the Savannha area and they certainly caught me off guard. Regarding the birds in the aviary I those species had all been off exhibit until recently.
Gorilla "Hope" has arrived and joined the family troop. I believe she came from Pittsburgh, based on their news thread.
I went to Dallas today and have one or two observations. New Hippo exhibit is a flop for me. The underwater viewing is tiny and the land area is small. The water is also fairly turbid, with only about 10 feet of visibility from the window at most. Stork aviary has the roof smashed in. Talked to some of the keepers and also learnt some very cool things about the elephants and reptiles at the zoo. Expect big changes in the reptile house over the next several months.
Did they tell you anything specific? I've noticed new species on exhibit like sedge viper and pans box turtle.
For the first time in the zoo's history, it has bred European white stork. One hatched April 22 and one on April 26. They're being hand reared behind the scenes. The post that announces this also indicates the population of this species in America is small and not breeding too well. Does anyone have more information on this?
I wouldn't say the population is small... there are close to a hundred in US zoos. There was a lack of breeding for many years (mid-90's to late 2000's) but since then the population has grown by half, so it's on a positive trend.
