Hi I'm moving from the UK to do a 10 month work placement as St. Louis zoo and was wondering if people could tell me about the zoo.. Read some reviews of people saying it was great, but want to know about good enclosures bad enclosures etc. Cheers
Here is a detailed (and very long!) review that I posted on ZooChat almost a year ago: DAY 8: Monday, July 19th Zoo/Aquarium Review #6: Saint Louis Zoo Zoo Map: http://www.stlzoo.org/downloads/STLZooMap2009.pdf The Saint Louis Zoo is a large zoo with an enormous collection of creatures all over the grounds. The reptile/amphibian building is incredibly diverse, the bird section is huge, the hoofstock section is larger than what is found at many other zoos, there are terrific pachyderm exhibits, the insectarium is simply awesome, the primate area is diverse, and Saint Louis seems to be a top 5 or 10 zoo in just about every category. There is a lot of history there and in fact 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of this acclaimed zoo and I briefly toured the free “Zootennial” exhibit in Peabody Hall. Coming up on my road trip there will be a lot of average but enjoyable zoos, so I’m thankful to having recently seen two of my all-time favourites in Sedgwick County and Saint Louis. The exciting thing about each of those zoos is that they are already brilliant and yet have extensive master plans for even more improvements! Saint Louis has $120 million to spend on updating the sea lion pool, the bear grottoes, and many other exhibits. Both of those are without a doubt in North America’s best 10 zoos (if not top 5), and the other two zoos on this 30 zoo trip that I’m looking forward to the most are North Carolina and Dallas. We’ll see if those two can compete with the likes of San Diego, Bronx, Omaha, Sedgwick County, Saint Louis, Columbus, Woodland Park, Miami, San Diego Safari Park, Oklahoma City, Detroit and Minnesota…as in some type of order those are my favourite dozen zoos on the continent. I’m guessing that of all the many zoos that I have left to see in the next month that North Carolina and Dallas might be the only two that have a chance to crack my favourite dozen. On a side note, during our visit there was an incredibly powerful storm that featured loud cracks of thunder and streaking lightning. Power was lost all over the zoo, and employees were running around and yelling at each other as the wind howled like a banshee. We were eating lunch in the main restaurant when the storm hit, and when the wind died down we went out to see the reminder of the zoo only to be waylaid by a furious pounding of rain that was so loud that we had to raise our voices to be heard. The orangutan exhibit turned out to be our sanctuary, and it was intriguing to see two of the red apes ignore the weather and still move about their lushly planted exhibit. After another 15 minutes of torrential rain the storm passed and everyone poured out from their hiding places. The zoo was crazily busy even for a Monday, but it is free to everyone and regularly receives more than 3 million visitors per year. Thank goodness we did not attend on a weekend! The zoo is divided up into 6 major sections, with many smaller pieces within those broad guidelines. The 6 areas are: River’s Edge, The Wild, Historic Hill, Red Rocks, Discovery Corner and Lakeside Crossing. I’ll review smaller zones of the zoo within those 6 main areas, but I’ll also list where each exhibit is found. THE BEST: River’s Edge – There are animals from 4 different continents represented here (South America, Africa, Asia and North America) and this large section is only about 10 years old and very impressive. I’ve seen too many dusty and barren pachyderm yards featuring swaying mammals, and in contrast Saint Louis has absolutely terrific exhibits for Asian elephants, black rhinos and Nile hippos. The massive underwater viewing area for hippos rivals San Diego as the best I’ve ever seen, the black rhino/sacred ibis paddock is long and narrow to enable visitors to clearly see the animals, and it has a lush, green backdrop. There are actually 3 elephant paddocks, and while they are not huge there has been a lot of thought put into the design and the hidden moats make the enclosures appear to be larger than they really are. Elephants can possibly be rotated throughout the yards, and the exhibits are very scenic and seem tailor-made for both visitor viewing opportunities and animal enrichment. This water-themed area also has these exhibits: cheetah, spotted hyena, bush dog, red river hog/bat-eared fox, capybara/giant anteater, carmine bee-eater, dwarf mongoose, fish from the Mississippi River. Everything is excellent, the entire area is lushly planted with a beautiful walking trail, and this section of the zoo is just about flawless. Penguin & Puffin Coast – This is the premier exhibit within “The Wild” section, and it is the one and only walk-through penguin exhibit in all of North America. Rather than seeing Antarctic penguins behind glass, visitors can get close enough to actually touch the birds if they so chose due to the low glass and close proximity of the brave little creatures. There were zoo workers posted in position to stop anyone from being overly exuberant with the creatures, but it was amazing to see the birds up close and seemingly in the frozen southern part of the world. There are king, gentoo and rockhopper in the exhibit, with another area that has horned puffins, tufted puffins and king eider ducks also with only a low glass wall barrier. This area is freezing cold and visitors don’t seem to spend much time in the building as even on a muggy summer day it was unbelievably chilly and I was soon near to shivering. I can’t imagine what the exhibit would seem like in the winter, although I suppose that zoo visitors would be dressed more appropriately. Insectarium – A geodesic dome with butterflies is of average quality, but inside this building, located in “Discovery Corner”, is a very well designed insect house that is the second best of its kind in North America. Only Cincinnati has a better insectarium, but the diversity of interesting exhibits make the Saint Louis one a place that no one should miss on any visit. I was entranced to see so many children go crazy for the bugs and creepy crawlies that were attractively exhibited. Lipton Fragile Forest – This the great ape complex of the zoo, located in “The Wild”, with gorillas (a bachelor group), orangutans and chimpanzees in lush, large, naturalistic, modern outdoor habitats. The “Jungle of the Apes” building was closed during my visit, so I did not see the animals in their night quarters, but like most American zoos the apes had massive, extensively planted yards to roam around in. The orangutan exhibit was perhaps my favourite, with a plethora of climbing opportunities for those arboreal apes. Herpetarium – This building, located in “Historic Hill”, was erected in 1927, and I was not expecting much from such an old structure. I’ve been in enough ancient zoo buildings to see how there are often only band-aid solutions to the ravages of time, but I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful this reptile & amphibian house truly was. There are some average-sized terrariums scattered along the walls, but for the most part the reptile tanks were much larger than I had anticipated. There are some massive ceiling-to-wall exhibits with animals such as komodo dragons, king cobras, false gharials (two exhibits), tuataras, Yacare caiman, Chinese giant salamanders and an extensive variety of crocodilians, snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles and tortoises. Huge columns separate a central turtle/stingray exhibit from the other galleries, and it is obvious that this is clearly one of the top 5 reptile houses in North America. Red Rocks – If you’ve ever been to San Diego Zoo before “Elephant Odyssey” was built you’ll recall that there was “Horn & Hoof Mesa” with a bewildering variety of hoofstock in a seemingly endless sea of enclosures. Saint Louis has a smaller version of that area, and I was thrilled to finally see some rare hoofstock in a major zoo. It seems that so many major American zoos (San Diego, Oklahoma City, Denver, etc) have phased out many of their hoofstock species in favour of new exhibits complexes, but Saint Louis is doggedly holding onto their impressive collection. The species found here: Somali wild ass, reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, red kangaroo, Visayan warty pig, Chacoan peccary, babirusa, okapi, bongo, gerenuk, banteng, Cuvier’s gazelle, Bactrian camel, Indian muntjac, Transcaspian urial, Chinese goral, red-flanked duiker, lowland nyala, addax, lesser kudu, Speke’s gazelle, Sichuan takin, Mhorr gazelle, as well as birds such as wattled cranes, sarus cranes, white storks, Stanley cranes, East African crowned cranes, hemeted guineafowl and ostriches. Living World – This building, located in “Discovery Corner”, has restrooms, a gift shop, a restaurant, theaters, classrooms, a grand hall with “An Introduction to Animals” exhibit, Chinese giant salamanders and many other visitor amenities. Love Cypress Swamp – This huge flight cage was built in time for the 1904 World’s Fair, and is found in “Historic Hill” and is the oldest structure at the zoo. There are now 16 North American bird species found here, including spoonbills, cormonrants, herons, ibises, egrets and other waterfowl. Sea Lion Pool – This is an outdated pool found in “Historic Hill” that is going to receive a multi-million dollar makeover that will be completed by 2012. This exciting development is detailed on a large sign at the zoo, and there will be a tunnel with underwater viewing over the heads of visitors, huge glass windows and an expanded habitat that will include space for a new sea lion show. Nearby exhibits with North American river otters and a startling abundance of waterfowl are attractive but average. Big Cat Country – These exhibits in “Red Rocks” are borderline average, but they squeak into my “best” category due to their large size. A pair of lions is in a massive pit, but one that is huge, grassy and with some tall trees. The lioness was actually asleep far up in the foliage, as she was resting in a crook of the tree. There is a smaller and fairly standard Amur tiger enclosure, one of the largest (and surprisingly open-topped) jaguar exhibits that I’ve ever seen, and then wire mesh exhibits that were of average quality for Amur leopards, snow leopards (two enclosures) and pumas. THE AVERAGE: Bird House – I enjoy ratities, raptors, penguins and many larger bird species, but my wife and I both care little for smaller songbirds or even colourful perching birds. However, this 1930 building in “Historic Hill” has low lighting and a fine steel wire that makes it seem as if there are little or no barriers between visitors and the birds. If you are into birds then the collection is vast. There is an outdoor Bird Garden with average exhibits for bald eagles, bateleur eagles, cinerous vultures, white-naped cranes, Cabot’s tragopans, white-crested laughing thrushes, vulturine guineafowls, blue-bellied rollers, white-crested turacos, white-headed buffalo weavers, speckled pigeons, blue-faced honeyeaters, kookaburras, helmeted curassows, collie’s jays and red-legged seriemas. Lakeside Crossing – A series of attractive waterfowl pools, with loads of visitor amenities and train-station stops. THE WORST: Primate House – Located in “Historic Hill” this 1930’s-era structure has a fantastic collection but so-so exhibits. Some of the primates have access to the outdoors in small wire/mesh enclosures, but many are indoors for life. Tastefully done and not nearly as bad as the prisons at Tulsa or Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (shudder!!) but still disappointing for a zoo of the immense quality of Saint Louis. Here are the species found in this building: Coquerel’s sifaka, mongoose lemur, ring-tailed lemur, black lemur, black-and-white ruffed lemur, lion-tailed macaque, colobus monkey, Francois’ langur, spectacled langur, golden-headed lion tamarin, white-faced saki and pygmy marmoset. Bear Pits – Located in “The Wild” there are 4 grottoes that the zoo director and everyone else in existence has acknowledged are not just subpar but downright atrocious. There are thankfully no longer polar bears at the zoo (they escaped to greener pastures) but the four species are: spectacled, American black, sun and grizzly. These pits are due to be demolished as part of the $120 million redevelopment of the zoo. Extra Charges – I know that this might be a touchy subject as the zoo is free and open 363 days of the year…BUT parking is $11 unless one wants to hike from across the park, the Children’s Zoo is $4 per person and doesn’t appear to be much more than average (for once we skipped this section), and the train, carousel ride, simulator ride, 3-D movie and safari pass are all extra and I can understand those costs. The children’s zoo should definitely be free, and it was annoying to find out that the sea lion show was an additional $3 and the stingray petting zone was $3 as in the past we’ve done both of those things on more than one occasion for free. However, I fully understand that this great zoo has to generate revenue from some capacity. OVERALL: The Saint Louis Zoo is easily one of the most comprehensive zoos in existence. Looking at all of the hundreds of zoos found throughout North America I’d place Saint Louis in the top 10 for birds, top 10 for hoofstock, top 5 for reptiles/amphibians, top 10 for primates, top 10 for pachyderms and top 2 for insects. Other than the bear pits (which are slated to be demolished/renovated in the next few years) and the Primate House there isn’t a lot to complain about in terms of exhibitry. It is a historic, traditional zoo with the various monkey, bird and reptile houses, and I much prefer geographic zoning in modern zoos. However, at the end of this summer I’ll have to think long and hard whether or not the Saint Louis Zoo is truly impressive enough to crack my top 5 North American zoos. The zoo has $120 million in developments planned (bear pits, sea lion pool, etc) and so the economic future is very bright indeed! On my next visit, whenever that might be, this could well be close to a near-flawless zoo.
Here is my review as well. snowleopard's is better for getting a sense of the exhibitry, but mine has a list of species on display The Saint Louis Zoo is my favorite zoo I’ve ever been to. It has the perfect mix of old and new, a very impressive collection, but outstanding exhibitry, and a great price (free). It has some of the best exhibits for pachyderms and penguins, huge collections of birds, hoofstock, and reptiles, but one of my favorite parts is that it embraces is history, with bird and reptile houses still looking original, but with beautifully renovated interiors, and the 1904 flight cage renovated into a cypress swamp exhibit. The only downside to this zoo is the hills which provide some difficulty walking. But even that will provide some good exercise. I must warn anyone wanting to go to this zoo, DON’T go on St. Patrick’s Day, and during Spring Break. I will try to describe it counter-clockwise (the way I walked) starting from the North Entrance. The Living World building is a nice, two-story entry building with gift shop, restrooms, and other amenities. Near the center of the zoo are several huge waterfowl ponds, with a staggering amount of waterfowl species. Species I saw are: smews, nene geese, white pelicans, trumpeter swans, hooded merganser, bar-headed geese, common shelducks, North American wood ducks, along with some I didn’t recognize. These ponds are very scenic, with multiple islands in the middle. The first exhibit you will come to is the Children’s Zoo. It cost $4 to get in, except during the first hour. It is pleasant, but not worth $4. The main exhibit is a building cluttered with small animal exhibits and poor signage. Many of the exhibits are unique such as a hissing cockroach exhibit shaped like a bench. Exhibits include, nice rock exhibits for fennec fox and meerkat, three unlabeled aquariums with small fish, exhibits in tree stumps for gray tree frogs and White’s tree frogs, basic wall terrariums for prehensile-tailed skink, pancake tortoise, and African hedgehog, a nice tunnel exhibit for naked mole rats, a very large, glass-fronted two-toed sloth and three-banded armadillo exhibit, a center exhibit with rabbits and guinea pigs for petting, and a Matschie’s tree kangaroo exhibit with about 3 foot high glass walls. Also in here are unmarked exhibits for tortoises, snakes, and some unknown rodent. Back outside is a small amphitheater and two small exhibits for alpacas and pot-bellied pigs. Also roaming around this exhibit are domestic chickens. Up next is a strange tunnel through the rock designed to feel like being in a whale, and odd and basically pointless element. Located throughout the rest of the area are small wooden cages for Virginia opossum, woodchuck, gray squirrel, and domestic rabbits. Also here is a small pen with dwarf zebu, goats, and sheep, a large mesh black and white ruffed lemur exhibit and a huge goat contact yard. My favorite exhibit in this section is the North American river otter exhibit. It is e very nice exhibit, with two pools and underwater viewing, but the best part is a clear slide that goes through one of the pools. It is a nice idea, and if I was a few feet shorter would have tried it myself. The Children’s zoo is nice, but not worth the four dollars. After this is the Insectarium, a fantastic invertebrate (not only insects) building. Out front is rhinoceros beetle statue. It is split into several sections. Most areas are just rows of terrariums, but some are interesting, like a desert area, or a kitchen. I will list the species by section. The first is an introduction to invertebrates and has these species: caterpillar, praying mantis (misspelled as “preying ” mantis), leopard slug, emperor scorpion, red-knee tarantula, giant centipede, and pillbug. The next section displays insects from different habitats and has these species: Derbyana flower beetle, Missouri tarantula, giant tiger beetle, cave cricket, desert hairy scorpion, water scorpion, American carrion beetle, and the Arctic bee. The next is a cool section with several exhibit in rock, showing species from the desert. Species are: darkling beetle, whipscorpion, sonorant centipede, tailless whipscorpion, velvet ant, striped scorpion, Arizona blond tarantula, red-backed darkling beetle. In a model kitchen, there are many drawers with insect artifacts, one with a brown recluse spider, living in the “window” are house flies and long-bellied cellar spiders, and book louse in a book. A section on insect architecture displays pinktoe tarantula, bagworms, and South American wasp nest, many different wasp nests, and a carpenter bee colony. A small area houses a few spiders such as golden silk spider, brown widow, suntiger tarantula, and the huge Brazilian salmon pink birdeater. In an undefined are there are many terrariums for these species: house fly maggots, deaths head cockroach, dung beetle, Missouri millipede Cochineal insect, hide beetle leech, silkworm, Atlas beetle, Javanese walking leaf, jungle nymphs, burying beetle, white-eyed assassin bug, ladybug beetle, Chinese praying mantis, cricket, Bess beetle, giant Malaysian katydid, hissing cockroach, giant spiny stick insect, giant prickly stick insect, giant walking stick, and a central semi aquatic exhibit for predaceous diving beetle, sunburst diving beetle, and ferocious water bug. Also in this building is a leaf-cutter ant display, a butterfly cocoon display, and a nice walkthrough butterfly dome. Overall this section is very nice, and defiantly worth a visit, even if you don’t like insects. The next exhibit is the zoo’s premier exhibit, River’s Edges. Pretty much the zoo’s only immersion exhibit, it is very well done, but better seen during the summer, when the trees have all their leaves. It is split into four geographic zones: South America, Africa, Asia, and Missouri. The whole area is filled with water features; streams, ponds, waterfall, swimming holes, and even an aquarium. One of the best things about these exhibits is that almost everyone has multiple viewing points, but those points cannot be seen from each other. The first section is South American, with a sunken yard for bush dogs. The exhibit is of average size, but has a nice pool. Behind the dogs is a giant anteater/capybara exhibit. This too has a pool, and is a very nice size. This is it for South America, but next is the largest zone, Africa. Black rhinos, who share their exhibit with sacred ibises, are visible from a bridge, as well as a couple of other points. The exhibit is large, lush, and even has a small stream. This may be the best black rhino exhibit in the country. Up ahead is a large and muddy bat-eared fox/red river hog exhibit, across the path from a large but ugly carmine bee-eater aviary. There is a dead impala in the tree suggesting the presence of a leopard. Up ahead is Hippo Harbour, with underwater viewing of hippos. The area is not too big for the 4? Hippos, but designed nicely. On my most recent visit, there was construction going on in that exhibit, so the hippos weren’t out. Next are two more African carnivores. Cheetahs have a huge yard, but weren’t out. On the other side is an average yard for spotted hyenas. A much smaller carnivore, the dwarf mongoose, lives in a very grassy exhibit in front of the cheetahs. It’s nice to see a non meerkat mongoose have a nice exhibit, and this exhibit is up there with the great meerkat exhibits at zoos like Sedgwick County. Next is Asia, with three nice-sized beautiful yards for Asian elephants. As I stated before, this would look much better when the foliage is lusher, as the fake rock dominated the barren landscape. The exhibits are all very nice, and each has a fairly large pool for the elephants to swim in. The last section is Missouri, with a nice Missouri river aquarium in a cave. Species are: golden-eye herring, sauger, red-eared slider, largemouth bass, American eel, black crappie, shad, softshell, paddlefish, bluegill perch, black buffalo, blue catfish, flathead catfish, and sturgeon. It is wonderful exhibit, and every enclosure is top-notch. The cheetah, dwarf mongoose, Asian elephant, black rhinoceros, and red river hog/bat-eared fox exhibits are some of the best of their kind in the U.S., and the others aren’t far off. Historic Hill is home to three classical Mediterranean style buildings, as well as the Chain of Lakes exhibit. It is, as the name suggests very hilly. The Chain of Lakes located at the bottom of the hill is home to North American River otters, black-necked swans, and alligator snapping turtles, all in very nice and natural exhibit. At the end is a California sea lion pool that has been destroyed and they are building a new, huge one. One of the buildings is a Herpetarium, with Mediterranean style. The interior also has this theme, but the exhibits are very nice and large. It is mostly split into two hallways on each side of the building. In the back are five larger exhibits, there is also a small downstairs with most of the large reptiles, and a turtle pool in the center of the building. The east side of the building mostly houses native North American animals. Exhibits are: a Sonoran desert exhibit for San Estaban Island chuckwalla, crevice spiny lizard, Sonoran spiny-tailed iguana blue spiny lizard, banded gila monster, and chuckwalla, Occelate mountain viper, Bolkar viper, Mexican beaded lizard, an Australian exhibit for frilled lizard and shingleback skink, Aruba island rattlesnake, black mamba, and exhibit for African pancake tortoise and Warren’s Girdled lizard, Armenian viper, Szechwan speckled pitviper, Northeast African saw-scaled viper, leaf-nosed viper, Mountain Mang pitviper, Caucasus viper, western lesser siren, three-toed amphiuma, Bornean eared tree frog, Fea’s viper Ozark hellbender, Panamanian golden frog, side-striped palm-pitviper, an Ozark Plateau exhibit for fence lizard, grey tree frog, map turtle, spiny softshell turtle, northern water snake, common musk turtle, and western pygmy snake, western cottonmouth, a Missouri Glades exhibit with eastern collared lizard, western slender glass lizard, eastern garter snake, and bog turtle, and an exhibit for black rat snake, Osage copperhead, and timber rattlesnake. At the back of the reptile house are large exhibits for reticulated and Burmese pythons, and exhibits for dwarf caimans, radiated tortoises, and Komodo dragons with skylights. In the center are two nice turtle pools with plenty of fake rock. One exhibit is for yellow-headed temple turtle and Arakan forest turtle, and the other is for pig-nosed turtle and Southeast Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle. The west side of the building has more exotic reptiles. Exhibits are: tentacle snake, golden mantellas, New Caledonian giant gecko, green tree python, tomato frog, sawu python, king cobra, one for eastern diamondback rattlesnake and corn snake, Madagascar tree boa, rhinoceros viper, West African gabon viper, Fiji banded iguana, Central American bushmaster, giant waxy tree frog, emerald tree boa, Dunn’s hognosed pitviper, Fan-Si-Pan horned pitviper, New Guinea crocodile skink, speckled forest pitviper, one for giant anole and galliwasp, mountain chicken, McCord’s box turtle, Solomon Island prehensile-tailed skink, tuatara (off exhibit), Jamaican boa, Garido’s crested anole, Madagascar crested anole, and Jamaican iguana. Some of the larger exhibits downstairs are for Madagascar tree and ground boa, caiman lizard, green anaconda, Aldabra tortoise, and false gharial. Outside are very large exhibits for Chinese alligator, Aldabra giant tortoise, and American alligator. The alligator yards are lushly planted. This is by far the best reptile house I’ve ever seen. Across from the Herpetarium is a primate house. It is similarly designed, but doesn’t succeed to the level of the reptile house. The exhibits are covered in fake rock and too dark and small. These are as good as any other indoor monkey exhibit as I’ve seen though. A loop leads around the lush center, and passes by these exhibits: ring-tailed lemur, Francois langur and spectacled langur, black lemur and black and white ruffed lemur, black lemur, lion-tailed macaque, black and white colobus monkey, Coquerel's sifaka (including a baby), lion-tailed macaque, Allen’s swamp monkey, cotton-top tamarin, black-handed spider monkey, black and white ruffed lemur, and finally one for pygmy marmoset, golden-headed lion tamarin, and white faced saki. Outside are ugly metal cages for various lemur species. Overall the exhibit is about average, but not much more. This, however, is one of only two exhibits at Saint Louis that aren’t very good. Up next is Big Cat Country. It is seven exhibits of two types. The first type is large open top pits for African lion, Amur tigers, and jaguars. These exhibits are all very large, covered in grass, and the jaguar and tiger exhibits have pools. There are four much smaller pit-like exhibits, one for puma, one for snow leopard, and two for Amur leopards. There exhibits are covered in large nets to prevent the climbing cats from escaping. There is plenty of climbing opportunities, making these exhibits above average. Red Rocks is a series of 21 yards full of all kinds of hoofstock, as well as bids and even a few marsupials. There are of average quality, but the collection here is what makes it outstanding. Called red rocks because the walls separating the exhibits are made of red rocks. All exhibits are separated from visitors by moats, allowing for good photo opportunities. Exhibits are grevy’s zebra, Bactrian camel, Somali wild ass, banteng, Sichuan takin, Central Chinese goral/Chinese muntjac/Sichuan takin, tammar wallaby/red kangaroo, soemmering’s gazelle, Speke’s gazelle, babirusa, Visayan warty pig, Chacoan peccary, emu, lowland nyala/white stork/grey crowned crane, blue crane/okapi/red-flanked duiker, bongo, lesser kudu/saddle-billed stork, reticulated giraffe, and wattled crane/dama gazelle. This exhibit lacks the hills of the other areas, so a walk around here is very pleasant. The Birds of the zoos are split mainly between three exhibits. The oldest one is a 1904 flight cage built for the Saint Louis World Fair. It is built to replicate a cypress swamp. A path winds between water and several tall trees. Birds in here include buffleheads, ruddy ducks, yellow-crowned night heron, redheads, and double-crested cormorants, among others, as well as common snapping turtles. Also nearby is the Bird Garden, a path weaves through aviaries, as well as an exhibit for white-naped cranes. Aviaries are for Collie’s jay/helmeted curassow, laughing kookaburra, horned guans, Cabot’s tragopan, and one for golden pheasant, as well as a walk-through aviary with Cabot’s tragopan, speckled pigeon, and white-crested laughing thrush. It is a beautiful walk. Also behind the bird house are raptor cages for cinereous vultures, king vultures, Bateleur eagles, bald eagles, and spectacled owls. The inside of the bird house is beautiful and well done like the Herpetarium. A loop goes around a central exhibit for red-crested cardinal, sunbittern, white-faced whistling duck, ringed teal, horned guan, and blue-crowned motmot. The exhibits are caged by harp wire, and are these: tawny frogmouth, black-naped fruit dove/grosbeak starling, red-legged seriema, golden white-eye, jambu fruit dove, burrowing owl, red-billed toucan, plush-crested jay/wattled starling/buff-crested bustard, guira cuckoo, bearded barbet, Congo peafowl, cape thick-knee/superb starling, sunbittern , Luzon bleeding heart dove/magpie robin, great Indian hornbill, Carmine bee-eater/white-headed buffalo weaver/buff-crested bustard, white-cheeked turaco, blacksmith plover/white-headed buffalo weaver, crested wood partridge/Bali mynah, Guam kingfisher, vulturine guineafowl, Palawan peacock pheasant, white-cheeked bulbul/superb starling, and chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. A side hallway has these species: rhinoceros hornbill, African pygmy falcon, grey-winged trumpeter, king vulture, Bateleur eagle, spectacled owl, magnificent ground pheasant, and hyacinth macaw. The bird house is beautiful, and like many other exhibits is a perfect mix of old and new. Fragile Forest is a set of three huge exhibits for western lowland gorillas, Sumatran orangutans, and chimpanzees. The exhibits are huge and hilly, contain climbing structures and waterfalls. They are defiantly of top quality, and the viewing is very nice, from up high, behind mesh, and across moats. The orangutan exhibit is especially nice and has many climbing structures. The indoor Jungle of the Apes is like a small indoor rainforest, with plants and boardwalks. The exhibits are all very tall, but nothing special. This is a great ape complex (pardon the pun) and defiantly lives up to the standard of this zoo’s exhibits. The bear grottos are the worst part of the zoo, and the only truly bad exhibit. There are four below average exhibits for sun, grizzly, sloth, and spectacled bears. There actually used to be five grotto, but one was converted to Humboldt haven, an outdoor exhibit for Humboldt penguins and brown pelicans. However, this is not nearly as good as the indoor Penguin and Puffin coast. The penguin is exhibit is brilliant with three foot glass walls on each side, with water almost to the top. There is land around the exhibit, and tunnels lead between the two side of the exhibit. The ceiling resembles the dark Antarctica, as does the freezing temperature. The species of penguins are king, gentoo, and rockhopper. Up ahead is Puffin Coast, with a tall rocky cliff for horned and tufted puffins, as well as king eiders. A revolving door leads guests through the gift shop. As stated above, this is my favorite zoo, even above Omaha. It also has a bright future, as it is currently renovating its sea lion habitat, which looks to be very large. No one can say that have been to the great zoos of the world without visiting this one. It is that good. I will upload some photos to the gallery, but the majority are found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nvarvel...7626169753151/
