Minnesota Zoo Minnesota Zoo Species List

Here is the list of species that I saw when I was at the Minnesota Zoo in early November. As for my thoughts on the Minnesota zoo, I think this might be one of my favorites! It doesn't have the largest collection out there, but it does have a lot of interesting species that I haven't seen anywhere else! I will be going again around New Years, so I'll probably update it as needed.

Entrance Exhibits

• Japanese macaque
• African penguin

Discovery Bay

• Horned shark, leopard shark, bat ray, swell shark
• Sand tiger shark, crevalle jack, goliath grouper, lookdown, Florida pompano, ber jack, permit, yellow fin mojarra, longspine squirrelfish, tarpon, queen triggerfish, creole wrasse, green moray, graysby, coney, atlantic spadefish, royal gamma, queen angelfish, spot-fin porcupinefish, southern stingray, green sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, blacktip reef shark
• Hawaiian monk seal (according to some staff there this is the only place outside of Hawaii you can see them!!)
• Smaller touch tank: Purple urchin, shiner surfperch, white-spotted anemone, bat star, short-spined sea star
• Coral reef tank (The rest of the enclosures here won't have in-depth lists. I will be sure to update them the next time I go)
• Moon jellyfish
• Weedy seadragon
• Lined seahorse, horseshoe crab
• Splendid garden eel
• Unknown shrimp species

Tropics Trail

• Radiated tortoise
• Tomato frog, Henkel's leaf-tail gecko
• Madagascar hissing cockroach
• Ring-tail lemur
• Egyptian fruit bat, straw-colored fruit bat, long-haired rousette
• West African dwarf crocodile, African cichlids
• Black and white colobus monkey, De Brazza's monkey, red river hog
• Komodo dragon
• Star tortoise, bali myna, bamboo partridge
• Giant gourami and other asian fish
• Asian small-clawed otter
• Northern white-cheeked gibbon
• Baikal teal, layson teal, silver teal, red-crested pochard, Baer's pochard, spotted whistling duck, West Indian whistling duck, Indian spot-billed duck, freckled duck, maccoa duck, garganey, falcated duck, New Zealand shoveler, white-faced whistling duck, common shelduck, lesser flamingo
• Rhinoceros hornbill
• Silver leaf-eating monkey
• Asian forest tortoise
• Malayan tapir
• Pennant Coralfish, King Angelfish, Semicircle Angelfish, Orbiculate Batfish, Emperor Angelfish, Yellow Tang, Bluering Angelfish, Regal Angelfish, Flame Angelfish, Bluegirdled Angelfish, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Redtail Butterflyfish, Blackback Butterflyfish, Bluecheek Butterflyfish, Saddle Butterflyfish, Atoll Butterflyfish, Pacific Double-Saddle Butterflyfish, Sunburst Butterflyfish, Sunset Butterflyfish, Teardrop Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, Spotband Butterflyfish, Vagabond Butterflyfish, Pearlscale Butterflyfish, Silver Moony, Blackstriped Angelfish, Longnose Butterflyfish, Barred Spinefish, Twospined Angelfish, Copperband Butterflyfish, Foxface Rabbitfish, Lemonpeel Angelfish, Brown-and-white Butterflyfish, Twotone Tang, Russet Angelfish, Yellowface Angelfish, Millet Butterflyfish, Latticed Butterflyfish, Whitetail Dascyllus, Yellowtail Angelfish, Bicolor Angelfish, Powderblue Surgeonfish, spotted Unicornfish, Palette Surgeonfish, Orangespot Surgeonfish, Orangespot Unicornfish, Sohal Surgeonfish, Bluespot Unicornfish, Clown Triggerfish, Spotted Surgeonfish, Bignose Unicornfish, Black Triggerfish, Blackbelly Triggerfish, Yellowtail Tang, Picasso Triggerfish, Convict Surgeonfish, Wedge-tail Triggerfish, Achilles Tang, Japan Surgeonfish, Orange-lined Triggerfish, Lined Surgeonfish, White-spotted Puffer, Longspine Pufferfish, Spotted Sharpnose Puffer, Guineafowl Puffer, Whitespotted Boxfish, Longhorn Cowfish, Blackspotted Puffer, Yellow Boxfish, Milkfish, Pinecone Soldierfish, Bird Wrasse, Crown Squirrelfish, Ornamental Wrasse, Sea Goldie, Harlequin Tuskfish, Brick Soldierfish, Clown Fairy Wrasse, Bluntheaded Wrasse, Saddle Wrasse, Fivestriped Wrasse, Moon Wrasse, Yellow-Brown Wrasse, Yellowtail Clownfish, Clown Anemonefish, Orange Clownfish, Black-axil Chromis, Comet, Green Chromis, Barlette’s Anthias, Whitespotted Bamboo Shark, Port Jackson Shark, Zebra Shark, Coral Catshark, Brownbanded Bamboo Shark, Epaulette Shark, Zebra Moray
  
• Visayan warty pig
• Red panda, Transcaspian urial
• Chinchilla
• Burmese python
• Golden-Crested Myna, Fairy Bluebird, Yellow-Throated Laughingthrush, White-Crested Laughingthrush, Grosbeak Starling, Dhyal Thrush, Malay Great Argus, Temminck’s Tragopan, Bleeding Heart Dove, Green-Winged Dove, Nicobar Pigeon, Victorian Crowned Pigeon, Black-Naped Oriole, Black-Naped Fruit Dove, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Metallic Starling, Blue-Bellied Roller, Fawn-Breasted Bowerbird
  
• Black-necked stilt, scarlet ibis, spur-winged plover, roseate spoonbill, sunbittern, crested oropendula, Amazonian motmot, grey-winged trumpeter, green aracari, Andean cock-of-the-rock
• Amazonian milk frog
• Red-rumped agouti, Bolivian gray titi, cotton-top tamarin
• Golden lion tamarin, Southern three-banded armadillo

Minnesota Trail

• Blanding's turtle, false map turtle, northern map turtle, painted turtle, smooth softshell turtle, common snapping turtle, spiny softshell turtle, wood turtle
• Northern leopard frog, American toad, mudpuppy, painted turtle
• Western hognose snake
• American bullfrog
• Raccoon, red fox
• American beaver
• Lake sturgeon, long-nose gar, walleye, muskie, largemouth bass, northern pike, bowfin, bluegill, black crappie, brook trout, channel catfish
• American river otter
• Coyote
• Great horned owl, American porcupine (interesting mix)
• Fisher
• Pileated woodpecker, Northern cardinal, American robin, downy woodpecker, song sparrow, cedar waxwing, ruffed grouse, Baltimore oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak
• Gray wolf (not sure of the exact subspecies. Some staff members had told me they were orphaned cubs from Alaska)
• Wolverine
• Puma
• Bald eagle
• American black bear
• Canadian lynx

Northern Trail

• Northern sea otter
• Grizzly bear
• Unknown species of trout
• Wild boar
• Amur leopard
• Amur tiger
• Sichuan takin
• American bison (website also says pronghorn, but I didn't see any)
• Prairie dog
• Asian wild horse (website says goitered gazelle, but I didn't see any)
• Bactrian camel
• Dhole
• Musk ox
• Moose
• Caribou

 

Do they no longer have beaver on the Minnesota Trail? That was one of their signature exhibits.

Was there a lemur exhibit in the Madagascar section of the Tropics building at one time?

 

Ah thank you for noticing! Yes, both exhibits are still there. The lemur exhibit in tropics trail has ring-tail lemurs. The website also says red-ruff lemurs, but I didn't even see a sign for them

 

The ducks are actually free-flying birds that free roam the Tropics Trail (and happen to like to spend time here.) Do you have a list of the other species free-roaming here?

This is new! Do you have a scientific name?

Rainbow Trout.

In the past, the Pronghorn and gazelles have rotated in the yard across from the prairie dogs. I assume they still do.

The zoo has not kept this species for a few years.

I visit every once in a while, so can update every so often as well.

Did you make it to the Mussel Cabin?

 

I know the ducks are free-flying, I just put them there for simplicity. As for other free-flight species, I only saw the white-cheeked turacos. Do you know of any others?

The new monkeys are Trachypithecus cristatus, they are in what used to be the tree kangaroo exhibit. They weren't on exhibit yet when I went, but they were preparing the exhibit

I don't think I went to the mussel cabin, where is that in the zoo? I'll have to check it out next time I go!

 

In the past, I've seen House Sparrows and Racket-Tailed Treepies, and Pied Imperial-Pigeons free-flying. I've always assumed there was more I couldn't see.

Cool about the monkeys. Do you know what happened to the Binturongs and tree-kangaroos?

The Mussel Cabin is completely out of the way, kind of behind the Northern Trail. It exhibits some rare mussel species not common in captivity.

One more question, is Kangaroo Crossing open this time of year?

 

Oh I assumed the house sparrows were wild and just got inside haha.

I don't know about the tree kangaroos unfortunately. I was hoping the binturongs would still be there, for some reason I never actually get to see binturongs. They always seem to be off exhibit or no longer there.

I'll check out the mussel cabin while I'm there next!

 

Actually, that is what happened. I, however, think that since they've been there for years they are owned by the zoo at this point.

 

That's going to happen regardless. Those guys are too adaptable for their own good. I've seen a couple in Omaha's jungle building before.

 

The wolves will be C. l. occidentalis.

The Goitered Gazelles and monk seals are the species I think I'd love to see most here.

~Thylo

 

What are the gazelle's names?

 

I don't know, they aren't on exhibit anymore. According to a keeper they only have a couple of elderly females left

 

They have them according to their website.

 

They have them, they just aren't on exhibit anymore. The website is not up to date, there are quite a few animals on they they don't have anymore. I was just there yesterday lol

 

Thanks again.

 

That is sad, when I visited this zoo in 2010(?) I seem to remember a large herd of goitered gazelles.

 

Well gazelles typically only live around 10-15 years. Plus, it isn't a common species here in the US, so it's not like they can bring in more

 

I think they're the only holder in the US.

~Thylo

 

Does Miami no longer hold them?

 

They do not. Minnesota holds the last three.