Yesterday, I got the opportunity to go to the Kansas City Zoo. I couldn't find any species lists for this particular zoo, so I decided to make one. Every time I go to a zoo or aquarium, I write down all the species that I see there. I don't include species I don't see. For this reason, I won't be including some species I haven't seen (except for the ones I remember I didn't see). I'm sorry if I missed any species, as I don't remember every single species I didn't see. Also, some exhibits like the snake house, Stingray Bay, and the lower level of the Discovery Barn, will not be included because I didn't see them, since they were closed due to COVID-19. This list is accurate as of 9/19/20. Entrance Exhibits: Waterfowl Exhibit: Trumpeter Swan, American Wood Duck (unseen), Northern Pintail (unseen) Mallard (wild) Aquatic Animal Exhibit: North American River Otter Polar Bear Plunge: Polar Bear Asia: Medium Enclosure: Bornean Orangutans Small Enclosure #1: Lion-Tailed Macaque, House Sparrow (wild) Small Enclosure #2: Rhinoceros Hornbill Medium Roofed Enclosure: Sumatran Tiger Small Enclosure #3: Francois' Langur Small Indoor Enclosure #4: Red Panda Waterfowl Pond: Red-Crowned Crane, Mute Swan Australia: Snake House: (CLOSED) Australian Walkthrouh Aviary: There was no information signs for any of the birds, so I just listed every bird I saw. Black Swan, Silver Gull, Magpie Goose, Common Emerald Dove, Straw-Necked Ibis, Cockatiel, Common Shelduck, Radjah Shelduck, Ruddy Shelduck, Parakeet (unidentified) Unidentified Parakeet - ZooChat Small Yard: Emu Small Exhibit: Dingo/New Guinea Singing Dog (was labeled as a Dingo on information sign but I'm not sure) Medium Exhibit: Red-Necked Wallaby, Parma Wallaby Huge Field With No Barriers: Red Kangaroo Large Indoor Exhibit (indoor viewing closed but visible from outside): Matschie's Tree Kangaroo Small Yard: Domestic Sheep (unknown breed; possibly Merino) Cage Outside of Wonders of the Outback (inside closed): Laughing Kookaburra Large Exhibit: Dromedary Camel KidZone Billy Goats Gruff Yard: Anglo-Nubian Goat, African Pygmy Goat Koi Pond: Koi Discovery Barn (lower level closed): Green Winged Macaw, Radiated Tortoise, Green & Black Poison Dart Frog, Blue Poison Dart Frog, Amazon Milk Frog, White's Tree Frog, Panamanian Golden Frog, Linne's Two-Toed Sloth, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Prevost's Squirrel (unseen; presumably on closed 1st floor) Stingray Bay: (CLOSED) Connected Indoor & Outdoor Enclosure: Allen's Swamp Monkey Small Yard: Llama Lorikeet Encounters: Rainbow Lorikeet Helzburg Penguin Plaza (didn't enter due to long line, but I looked through the window): King Penguin, Gentoo Penguin, Humboldt Penguin, Unspecified Rockhopper Penguin species (unseen) Sea Lion "Stadium": California Sea Lion Tropics: Von der Decken's Hornbill, Freshwater Stingray (unseen), Cotton-Top Tamarin, Northern White-Cheeked Gibbon, Asian Small-Clawed Otter, Brazillian Porcupine, White-Faced Saki Monkey, Capybara, Southern Screamer, Mona Monkey, Blue Monkey, African Crested Porcupine, Unidentified Mouse (possibly wild or a feeder animal) The Valley Beaks and Feet Boulevard Cage #1: Eurasian Eagle Owl Cage #2: Rhinoceros Iguana Cage #3: Toco Toucan Cage #4: Golden Lion Tamarin Cage #5: Golden Pheasant Cage #6: Cotton-Top Tamarin Cage #7: Bobcat Valley With Waterfowl: Chilean Flamingo, American White Pelican, Coscoroba Swan (unseen) Long Elephant Exhibit: African Bush Elephant East Africa: (As you follow the path, you will find these exhibits, in this order) Small Exhibit Near African Sky Safari Loading Station: Purple Glossy Starling Large Exhibit With Moat: Cheetah Tiny Exhibit In Ditch: Common Warthog African Plains Viewing Area (x3): Springbok, Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Addax, Common Eland, Lesser Kudu, Gray Crowned Crane, Helmeted Guineafowl, Canada Goose (wild) Medium Exhibit Under Walkway: Saddle-Billed Stork Medium Aviary: Lappet-Faced Vulture, White-Necked Raven (unseen) Small Field: Aldabra Tortoise, African Spurred Tortoise (both unseen) Small Exhibit: Blue Duiker Medium Aviary: Bateleur Eagle Small Exhibit: Kirk's Dik-Dik African Walkthrough Aviary: Cattle Egret, White-Faced Whistling Duck, Marbled Teal, Hottentot Teal, Hammerkop, Hadada Ibis, Superb Starling, Taveta Weaver, Lilac-Breasted Roller, White-Headed Buffalo Weaver, Black Crake (last three all unseen) African Walkthrough Aviary Side Exhibits: Exhibit #1: Red Ruffed Lemur Exhibit #2: Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill Medium Exhibit Under Walkway: Southern Ground Hornbill Medium Glass Viewing Exhibit: African Lion Small Exhibit: Bat-Eared Fox Small Exhibit: Fennec Fox Small Walkthrough Tunnel With Terrarium: Malagasy Giant Hognose Snake Small Aviary: Violet Turaco, Masked Lovebird, Rock Hyrax, Spider Tortoise (unseen) Tiny Exhibit: Black-Footed Cat Small Exhibit: Sand Cat Rhino Viewing Area: Black Rhinoceros Huge Exhibit With Forest: Chimpanzee, Eastern Gray Squirrel (wild) Savanna Viewing Area: Common Ostrich, Grant's Zebra, Gray Crowned Crane, Helmeted Guineafowl (unseen) Masai Giraffe (off exhibit) Canada Goose (wild) Small Exhibit Below Elevated Path: Gray Crowned Crane Medium Exhibit Below Elevated Path: Yellow-Billed Stork Small Yard: Leopard Tortoise Indoor Crocodile Exhibit: Central African Slender-Snouted Crocodile Small Pond: Hippopotomus Small Yard: African Wild Dog Medium Exhibit With Moat: Guinea Baboon West Africa (The path leading here is in between the Common Warthog and Saddle-Billed Stork exhibits) Small Roofed Exhibit: Black Mangabey Tiny Roofed Exhibit: Amur Leopard Medium Roofed Exhibit: Red-Capped Mangabey Medium Yard: Bongo, Yellow-Backed Duiker (unseen) Small Yard: Red River Hog Large Outdoor Exhibit: Western Lowland Gorilla And that, is a full list of every animal in the zoo (to my knowledge). Hoped I helped! Let me know if I missed any.
(edit: There are no Mute Swans in the Asian waterfowl pond, they were actually juvenile Trumpeter Swans.)
I was at the Kansas City Zoo many years ago and was quite disappointed, especially when it was contrasted with the St. Louis Zoo, where I was then living. They've done wonders with it and it's a first-class facility now, recommended for any Zoo Chatter who can get there. Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes.
One thing that I find really interesting about the KC zoo is that they do not keep any venomous reptiles. So they have plenty of snakes, but none have venom. The STL zoo, by contrast, has about 100-120 species of snake, and more than half are venomous. About ten years ago some idiot in KC bought a Black Mamba on the internet after seeing a documentary about one, and, having never kept a snake before, much less an extremely dangerous one, was quickly freaked out and called the KC zoo to take it because he couldn’t handle it. They had no idea what to do with it, either, because they won’t exhibit species with venom, so they had to call the STL zoo to have someone drive all the way across the state, pick it up, then drive back. I believe that mamba is the one still on exhibit today, actually.
I have no idea. My guess is it’s because that requires employing keepers with extensive experience having handled venomous species, and there aren’t a whole lot of people that meet those requirements. A whole host of precautionary measures to keep the staff safe must be maintained for every potentially-dangerous animal.
Penguin species: King, Gentoo, Macaroni, and Humboldt. There are no longer any Rockhoppers of either subspecies since 2017 Stingray bay: Cownose, Southern, Yellow rays, white spotted bamboo shark
Are their slender-snouts really Central African? I was under the assumption that all the slender-snouts in the US were West African
Yeah sorry about that. They are West African. I created this thread before I discovered they were West African, not Central. But by that time, my post was too old to edit. Here's the post where I questioned whether it was a West Or Central African a while ago. It was confirmed to be a West African. Central or West African Slender-Snouted Crocodile? - ZooChat
I visited the Kansas City Zoo again, and this time, all the indoor exhibits were open! I will post the species lists for these buildings, along with any updates. This post is accurate as of 3/21/21 Helzberg Penguin Plaza - King Penguin - Gentoo Penguin - Macaroni Penguin (incorrectly signed as Southern Rockhopper Penguins) Along with the penguins, there are tanks containing: Tank #1: - Barred Flagtail - Spot Croaker - Onespot Foxface Tank #2: - Moon Jellyfish Tank #3: - Royal Blue Tang - Yellow Tang - Ocellaris Clownfish - Tomato Clownfish - Banggai Cardinalfish - Blue Chromis Stingray Bay - Whitespotted Bamboo Shark - Southern Stingray - Cownose Ray Lower Level of Discovery Barn There are four terrariums on the wall containing: - Anthony's Poison Arrow Frog - Oriental Fire-Bellied Toad - Wyoming Toad - Chuxiong Fire-Bellied Newt To the left of the terrariums is a small exhibit for Guianan Squirrel Monkeys and to the right is a exhibit for a Prevost's Squirrel. Snake Building - California King Snake - Burmese Python - Blood Python - Carpet Python - Honduran Milk Snake - Gray Rat Snake - Woma Python - Ball Python - Corn Snake - Brazilian Rainbow Boa Inside of Wonders Of The Outback - Green Tree Python - Spotted Python Zoo News/Updates: - All indoor areas are now open. However, the bird and sea lion show are still suspended until further notice due to social distancing. The Lorikeet Encounters building is also still closed although the birds can be viewed from outside. - The giraffes were off exhibit again, for unknown reasons. The Springbok, Gray Crowned Cranes, Helmeted Guineafowl, Purple Glossy Starlings, Aldabra Tortoises, African Spurred Tortoises, Leopard Tortoises, and were off-exhibit today due to weather. - The Allen's Swamp Monkeys will be off-exhibit until November, since their exhibit will be needed for the new koalas on loan from the SDZ. - The zoo has added Mandarin Ducks, Eclectus Parrots, and Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos to the aviary and have removed the Black Swans, Common Emerald Doves, Cockatiels, and Red-Fronted Parakeets. It seems that the aviary's collection of birds constantly changes with new birds being added and removed. - Beaks and Feet Boulevard is completely blocked off, and will probably be destroyed for the new aquarium being built which will finish in summer 2023. The animals located here have been presumably been put behind-the-scenes. - The Red Pandas & Francois' Langurs have switched enclosures with the pandas being located outside, and the langurs being in the panda's old indoor exhibit.
Thank you for the list and updates! It really reminded me how this zoo must be among the top contenders for most complete African species collections!
For the original poster, @BerdNerd, the Australia Aviary not having signs was my fault! I tried to clean the signs, it didn’t go as planned, I ended up breaking everything, yada yada yada, signs went bye-bye. Total project-day failure. But there are new signs up now! Solid my bad though! It felt weird seeing my mistake and not apologizing, so - there it is. And if nobody answered, the little parrot pictured is one of our (now off exhibit) kākārikis. They’re the best!
It’s quite alright! I understand that we all make mistakes, and thank you for attempting to clean the signs. Dirt and bird poop covered signs are something I have seen at many other zoos, and I can tell you it’s quite disgusting. Even without the signs, I was able to easily identify most of the birds on my own, and had help from other ZooChatters with the picture I took of the unknown parrot. But it’s nice to have someone you actually works there to identify this bird for me, since I know their answer is 100% accurate!
Most likely long term, unless something changes. They’re starting to turn up more in the states through hobbiests, so more zoos may start exhibiting them in the future?
This is an excellent thread and thank you for posting the species list! I'm impressed by the Kansas City Zoo's collection!
