So, today I visited the Cincinnati Zoo for the first time in almost 3 years. I have always been very fond of the zoo, and it’s my first time coming alone because I just got my drivers license!! The entrance itself is quite unique. You have to walk into this tallish building and either take the stairs, elevator, or escalator to the top floor. When you’re there you have to walk a bridge that overpasses a road below. When you cross the entrance is right ahead of you and the tickets are to the right. When you walk through the entrance line you walk into the main plaza. The plaza is filled with shops and kiosks of all sorts. Immediately after you come down the stairs, right in front of you is a Red Crowned Crane exhibit. Per usual the cranes were no where to be seen. After that I went to Elephant Reserve. There are two separate exhibits both of smaller size for Asian Elephants. The one holds two females and the other held a male and female pair. Last time I visited the females were all in one and the bull was alone. The Discovery Forest was the next stop. There was one Blue and Gold Macaw, a sloth, and some sort of snake in a terrarium. This exhibit is heavily lush and has many different kinds of tropical mist and honestly it’s kind of a waste of the such a beautiful area, it’s not educational and I feel there could be more exhibits for plants, animals, and the Amazon. After that I made my way to the African region. The first stop was Giraffe Ridge, home to Masai Giraffe. When I was on the deck I could see at least 5 giraffes, one for sure being Cora. After that was the first of two Greater Flamingo exhibits. It was small and held about 6-7 flamingos. When you are passing to go to the next exhibit you pass a small fenced in area called Animal Encoutner. They rotate what species are in there and when I was there, there were a few flamingos in with the educator. Then I came up on the African Lion exhibit. I was only able to see four lionesses. Afterwards we went to the African Savanna and tbh it was quite dead. There were two impala, a singular White-bearded wildebeest, Pink Backed pelicans, Lappet-Faced Vulture, and two Crowned Cranes, and well apparently two baby bunnies in the exhibit. I then went to the Meerkat exhibit which was rather large. The meerkats were really playful and were jumping on the bubble you can go in to view them. The first viewing area of the African Painted Dogs was bare of any dogs. And then you when I passed the other viewing spot waiting to see Fiona, about 11 of the Painted Dogs were frolicking around in their stream and play-fighting each other. Finally, after an hour of wait i approached the Hippopotamus exhibit and... I saw Fiona!! She was so cute and was hiding behind Bibi. They were sleeping in the water. I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of them. The keeper told me Henry was inside because they heard he was a bit aggressive to Fiona. The acclamation is still going on between the family. Before exiting Africa I passed by the savanna one last time and the ostriches were out, and then I viewed the Cheetahs. They were no shows . Overall the Africa region was very beautiful and had an amazing amount of species in it and is also immersive. After that i went by the Kea Aviary not expecting to see any Kea, and to my astonishment I saw a kea!! And then I went into Wings of The World. This is one of my favorite exhibits in the entire place! The first one exhibit was a South American Rainforest. It had a tank for Mata Mata turtles first. The “Aviary” itself had a very friendly Sunbittern who tightroped across the glass of the mata mata exhibit. And in the distance I saw a Golden Conure, Blue Grey Tanager, and another type of bird I was not able to make out. When I looked up into the canopy above I saw a pair of Scarlet Ibises. And then all of the sudden, two Boat-Billed Herons came flying at each other and were fighting in one of the trees. The next exhibit was for Southeast Asian birds. As soon as I walked in a White-Rumped Shama was whistling a beautiful song above the path. There weren’t many birds in the Aviary other than a lapwing that scurried off into the foliage and a Victoria’s Crowned Pigeon who was creeping around a bush. After that there were 3 aviaries in a row, in 2 I couldn’t find any birds, but in what I assume is Grassland Aviary, I saw a 2 Guiras and a Buff-Breasted Bustard. After that I went down a narrow hallway where two exhibits were in the wall. One was for Canaries and Southern Red Bishops and the other was for Gouldian Finches. Then there was 2 exhibits for arctc shorebirds like Horned Puffins, Crested and Whiskered Auklets, and Pigeon Guillemots. Then my personal favorite the penguin Exhibit! There were Magellanic, King, and Rockhopper Penguins swimming about. There was a Black-Faced Ibis perched on a rock as well as two Inca Terns fluttering around the exhibit and put on quite the show. After exiting the building there is an exhibit which I believe was home to a hornbill species but now holds Chestnut-Breasted Malkoha. I LOVE this building a lot its great way to feel like you are birding and seeing this animals in a natural habitat. Walking down a curved path leads you to three Bear grottoes and Lords of the Arctic. The first exhibit was for Andean Bears. There was one who walked across the exhibit and laid down. The next was for American Black Bear who were laying behind a log. And then the next one was surprisingly the most active, polar bears. They had ice as enrichment in their exhibit as it was edging 100 degrees XD. The first part of the exhibit is a grotto which one polar bear, Anana, was sitting on a log eating ice. And the second half is underwater viewing and the other polar bear(unsure of name) was swimming. Directly beside the underwater viewing is an exhibit for Arctic Foxes. I saw one, the others must of been hiding or very well camouflaged. Overall this section is on of the worst in the zoo. The amount of mock rock is overwhelming. And I’m definitely not a fan of old style grotto exhibits. This review will be in 4-5 pieces and the others will come later. Pictures will be up later tonight.
So the next exhibit is Jungle Trails! A lot has changed since I went last the Müeller’s Gibbon were screaming SO loud. Everyone was screaming back at them and I got quite annoyed. The Orangutans were no where to be found and there were Victoria’s Crowned Pigeon in a small exhibit, I don’t recall what was in there once. That lead to the Tropical Asian Building, where there was an EXTREMELY large Pygmy Slow Loris exhibit. There was another nocturnal exhibit, but I don’t remember what was in there. There was also indoor viewing for gibbons but they were all outside. Then after exiting the building it puts you in the rest of the exhibits there was an exhibit for White-Faced Saki Monkeys (both visible), Black Howler Monkey (sadly off exhibit) and a single Black and White Colobus. There was also an exhibit for Black Curassow. The former Saddle-Billed Stork exhibit is now home to a single Crested Screamer. Then comes my personal favorite exhibit... the bonobos! Only one of them was outside, chilling on their MASSIVE tree. This then lead to the indoor Tropical African Building, which had Pottos, Coquerel’s Sifakas, and an indoor Bonobo exhibit where the rest of the bonobos were sleeping. Jungle Trails is easily my favorite exhibit of all! It’s so beautiful and picturesque and it truly feels like you are in a rainforest. Then *sigh... Rhino Reserve. The first exhibit on my path was the Black Rhinos. Like expected the female and baby were off exhibit and the male was off too. The next exhibit is for Plains Zebra, which was once for Grevy’s Zebras. I’m kinda confused to why the zebras aren’t with the giraffes or on the savanna. Instead they are in a barren, flat exhibit. The next exhibit is the bigger, the uglier, and the flamingo exhibit with the most flamingos. Yes.. they have 2 Greater Flamingo exhibits. I’m not sure why but, I think they should at least use on of them for a different species. Up next is the bongos, I finally got to see them! They were both out and active which is the perfect first time viewing of them. The next two exhibits are for two of my personal favorite animals, the okapis were first. I saw one of them from the first viewing spot and then when I went around to the other I saw another. I’m not sure if it was Mojo but it kinda seemed like it could be him. I’ll post a pic later so you all can see. The Duikers were no where to be seen. The final exhibit in Rhino Reserve is another favorite, the Indian Rhinoceros. I believe it’s the female who is always on exhibit, she is always in the water every time I see her. She was moving around A LOT in the water. This section of the zoo is kinda sad they are all except for the okapi and bongos barren and could use some sprucing up. Before I went in the Manatee house, I stopped by the White Lion exhibit. The two lionesses were lounging around like usual and aren’t very exciting to see. So that lead to the manatee house. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by a large American Alligator exhibit and as you continue walking, you see a large exhibit for American Crocodiles. Both species were visible. When you walk through the doorway, you are greeted with two terrariums on the wall. One with an unsigned lizard and another empty tank. Then following that wall you are taken to a massive West Indian Manatee tank a large one and small one were laying on the bottom of the tank. They shared a cage with what I believe was an Alligator Gar and various colorful fish. Throughout the building, there are exhibits for different herps. Some I remember include cane toads, Florida Pine Snake, and Everglades Rat Snake. After viewing the skeletons and pictures of animals of the Everglades, you are lead to a large exhibit for the notorious invader of the park... The Burmese Python. This exhibit is a unique way to educate people about the Everglades and the impact of the different animals. It’s almost like a museum with all of the educational pieces and parts. The next two exhibits I’m gonna put together because they are small. The first being Lemur Lookout. It’s a beautiful rock island, even though I don’t like rock island exhibits. Like the last four times I’ve visited there were zero Ring-Tailed Lemurs on exhibit. Then is Dragons! When you enter the building there are two exhibits one for Quince Monitors and another for Green Tree Monitor. Others included one for a sleepy Ackie Monitor and another was for Crocodile Monitors but they had a sign that said they were off exhibit. Then the namesake of the exhibit the Komodo Dragon, they had an indoor viewing area with a sign that pointed us outside, where he was basking on one of his rocks. I don’t particularly like the lemur exhibit, but I really like Dragons! I love monitors and large lizards so this is the perfect exhibit for me to view many of them. I’m gonna go ahead and throw World of Insects in this post because i don’t care for insects. I zoomed through the building, where I didn’t get to see much because a Day Care group was in there. But I made a point to stop and see the bright colored beetles and the Walking Sticks (my favorite insect) it is the perfect exhibit for anyone who likes bugs and it’s set up in a way that is reminiscent of a photo gallery exhibition. More on the way and pictures will be posted today.
Oh wow that's fantastic. Since its opening it's been an exhibit for rattlesnakes and rat snakes. I probably would've noticed it sooner but I stopped visiting indoor exhibits.
