Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden My Review of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botancial Garden-Look here!

- The new africa exhibits look excellent from the pictures that I have seen. Jungle trails and the manatee exhibit also look great, but certain places in the zoo are very outdated. The reptile house has some of the smallest tanks in any american reptile house. Exhibits like night hunters have species like aardwolf and small cat species in tiny box's and it looks like they are not going anywhere as they were recently updated. From the photos the vast majority of the zoo is average like the hoofstock exhibits and small elephant exhibit. Most of these exhibits should be 60's to 70's not getting a perfect score. You seem to hold this zoo as one of the best in the nation, which many people do with there local zoo but the exhibits are not up to that standard. I do the same thing except my home zoo is the Bronx zoo.

 

I don't want to sound defensive as I know I am as well but the pictures and reviews do no justice to the quality of Night Hunters. They are not tiny tanks. The eagle owl exhibit is small but when it is taken off it is able to fly freely. During the renovation the ceilings and the walls were extended in all directions of a majority of the habitats. The aardwolves have a nice space (one of the three largest exhibits) and get plenty of care from the keepers. The vampire bats have an enormous exhibit for their size. The animals that I wish were taken out are the Burmese pythons, caracal, bat-eared foxes, and bobcat. Otherwise the building is alright. I wish that natural substrate would be added but someone told me that can cause bacteria to spread if it is in an indoor exhibit likes this. Is this all true? Overall the habitats have a suited size for nearly all the species but the only thing missing is natural attributes.

The elephants do have small space but they do receive wonderful care. The keepers are with them almost 50-60% of the day.