I had the good fortune of visiting the Chapultapec Zoo in Mexico City today. It was an enjoyable visit and in general a good zoo. The zoo has a very different approach to displaying animals and they are arranged by biome. Whereas it seems most US zoos arrange their species by geographic location, Chapultapec arranges by biome. For example, in the desert area there are both species of camel, desert bighorn sheep, brown hyena, white-lipped peccary, and bobcats. The savanna area housed addax (an inaccurate representation) reticulated giraffes, Grevy's and Grant's zebras (not together), impala, blackbuck, red and gray kangaroos, hippos, and other species. The temperate forest area housed white-tailed deer, wapiti, raccoon dogs, black bears, brown bears, and many others. While I am not going to list every biome and all of the species, suffice it to say, It was a very interesting twist on exhibiting. I also particularly liked how detailed the signs were, even describing the sounds the animals made. The zoo itself has easy to follow loops and most of it is shaded which to the experience. It was pretty hot but animals and humans were kept pretty comfortable. I was fortunate enough to go early in the morning and so it wasn't crowded. My only complaints were that some enclosures had too much concrete. I also found it disturbing that a cop asked me if I wanted to get closer to the lions. He seemed to be asking for a bribe. I saw some other people that looked like visitors in with the guanacos. There was a keeper in there with them but the guanacos seemed uneasy. Some of the range maps depicted were also inaccurate; for example brown bears on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and coatis found well above the Arctic Circle. Complaints aside, I would recommend visiting, especially since they have species that are not found in the USA such as volcano rabbits, white-tailed gnus, white-lipped peccaries, raccoon dogs, and brown hyenas. You also cannot forget the giant panda exhibit which is well done.
Elefante, Glad you enjoyed your visit to Chapultapec zoo. I also suppose the cop wanted a bribe. The visitors with the guanacos are very strange because i have never seen guests in enclousures at Chapultepec.In August the Axolotl museum and amphibian center will finally open and the zoo will have a new addition for the first time in many years. Did you see the volcano rabbits ?
Yes, I think he wanted a bribe. I did see the volcano rabbits and will post pictures later. They were pretty active.
