San Antonio Zoo How long does this zoo have left?

Thanks for the comment. To me it just looked a bit like a bad media hype type of thread anyways. I personally do not see anything wrong with San Antonio Zoo in terms of mortalities or even exhibits.

The sorry state of affairs in not being able to present exhibits on a scale like Dallas or Fort Worth is probably due to the more financially affluent side of town of those collections.

IMO the San Antonio Zoo has a quite interesting animal collection and certainly AL phases I and II look pretty good to me.

 

I just returned a couple days ago from San Antonio (and other parts of south Texas). Spent one afternoon at the start of the trip and one full day at the end of the trip at the San Antonio Zoo. How long does this zoo have left? A long, long time. The new additions are quite good, especially the hippo pool which has a fun feeding/training session daily at 3pm. Some of the really bad cages from my first trip are now gone. The old rift valley exhibit is still a lot of fun, even if it is a bit of a quirky design. The elephant exhibit is not great, but not terrible either. It is better than the current one at my zoo (although we are building a new one).

The jaguar exhibit is temporarily closed and I have a feeling will be filled with another more appropriate species. The jaguar currently resides in the former leopard exhibit, which before that was a snow leopard exhibit when I last visited. It has been improved since that visit. The cranes of the world exhibit, viewed by a boardwalk, is totally unique and the nearby boardwalk over the large tomistoma pond is fantastic. Only zoo I have seen with giant anteater inside a (south american) free flight aviary.

The former caracal exhibit, which was a bit small for a mid sized cat, is now filled with much more appropriately sized black footed cats. Aquarium building is small, but they get credit for being one of the few traditional zoos with an aquarium. Reptile house is quite respectable. Lion and tiger exhibits are somewhat bland, but at least they are decent sized.

A couple sections near the children's zoo were under construction, so perhaps some new small additions coming. I will say the zoo was fairly busy both days and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I did not hear many complaints from other guests and I do not have many complaints myself. As I said in my earlier post, it will never be a world class zoo, but it is also not a terrible zoo.

 

Arizona Docent

Thanks for the kind words about our zoo. It is showing some signs of aging but the zoo staff and board are really trying to update in so many areas. Africa Live 1 and 2 are the crowned jewels of the zoo. Phase three is in the planning stages and hopes to extend the look of the first two phases. Our two older female Asian elephants seem to be getting along quite nicely. Boo, the older and newer female has taken charge and rules the roost.
We sent our non reproductive male jag to another zoo after years of trying to get our pair to reproduce. Maya our female jag has moved to where the black leopards were housed. The old jag exhibit will become the home of our black handed spider monkey troop.
We love birds at the zoo as you could see. This year we hatched 48 flamingos including Caribbean chicks. We have had great success with the highly endangered Bali minah as well. I agree with your assessment of the tiger and lion areas. Not sure what will happen there. We have just the one tiger now and two post-menopausal lionesses.
The area around the children's area, the old seal island, will become a teaching/presentation area. There were plans to share the space with Texas Parks and Wildlife to show native species. Have to wait and see.
As a docent, i get to be there quite often. We have been quite busy as of late. I worked a Sunday recently where we had almost 9000 visitors. To put that in perspective, during the week of Spring Break, we bring in about 1/6 of out total revenue and visitors for the year. These days bring in over 10,000 guests easily. So you can see that that Sunday was quite busy for us. Like any zoo, we have been hit by the recession. Projects are driven by contributions. When they are down, then that slows progress. Thanks for your kind words about our zoo.

 

Does anyone know of any official word on Africa Live Phase III? I've heard rumors here and there, but none of them have been confirmed.

 

I will be making a return visit next month (just under one year from my last visit) and will see if they have any plans posted.

 

Here, here, Zoo Plantman and jb. Trowaman, I happen to know from inside information that the animals from San Antonio reported as dying from old age actually DID die from old age. What information did you have which made you post a comment doubting it? One of the unpleasant facts of the zoo world is that every single animal we have, no matter how well cared for, will eventually die. Many experienced and knowledgeable members of zoo management (unofficially) around the U.S. consider it normal for a well run zoo to have about 4% to 5% mortality a year on animals over 60 days old, or if new acquisitions, have left quarantine, and San Antonio does not exceed that figure, last time I saw it.

 

ZooMan is correct about the deaths. Our female giraffe was one of the oldest in captivity. Her mother and grandmother also lived well int their thirties. The two black leopards had unknown health issues when they came to us. Both had serious kidney issues that developed as a result of earlier care. I can tell you, our vet staff, the nutritionist, and keepers do a magnificent job taking care of their animals. Our animals would never die of neglect. As for the next phase of Africa Live, it is just money holding up things. Like everything else that depends on donations, grants or ticket sales, times are hard. Remember we are a not for profit zoo. Less than 2% of the budget comes from the city of San Antonio. If you ever come to the zoo and need a guide or a fellow zoo lover, let me know. Email me at [email protected].

 

I am looking forward to getting back to SA again this year. It has been nearly 2 years since I last visited (man, where has the time gone). An older and wiser version of myself has grown to appreciate what this zoo has to offer.

 

I love our little zoo. I am a bird and croc guy and we plenty of both to keep me coming back. Let me know when you come back and I'll get some of my weekenders to give you a guided tour.

 

For both birds and crocs, you can't get a better zoo in the nation than San Antonio.

 

Did you know we house 1/8th of the Micronesian Kingfisher population?

 

What is it about the crocs that makes the SA Zoo so good for seeing them? Do they have an especially cool exhibit? I'm a cat person, but I really like/admire/appreciate crocodilians and if SA Zoo has a really cool exhibit, it might be enough to put it higher on my list of zoos to visit. I've never been to Texas, but would like to.

 

The two Nile crocks are behind glass( Boom and Reaper). They often swim by the glass when I am doing a presentation, and stare at the children. We have Orinoco crocodiles. We have two gharials. Two large tomistomas that we have hatched babies from over the last two years. Really rare. Have the young on display in the reptile house. Two American alligators(Bubba and Bubbles). Two dwarf caimans who also had young a few years ago. So that is our collection.

 

8 species of crocodilians does it for me.

 

Oh, and the tomistoma exhibit is the best croc exhibit I've seen.

 

Until I read "You Belong In A Zoo" I had no idea there were so many different crocodile species out there and it'd be really cool to see the Orinoco since I read about them in that book. I have never heard of a Tomistoma. It reminds me of something from my EMT days.

 

That would do if for me, too!

 

3 zoos in Texas have Orinocos. Including two with breeding pairs (1 successfully bred, and the other potential). These are the only breeders outside of South America.

 

That is awesome. Thank you for the information! Texas is looking more and more like a front-runner for my next trip.