Join our zoo community

Queens Zoo Review

Discussion in 'United States' started by uszoo, 13 Jan 2013.

  1. uszoo

    uszoo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2 Feb 2012
    Posts:
    430
    Location:
    Somewhere
    - I visited the Queens Zoo for the first time in over a year yesterday and would like to write a review on this small but high quality zoo. Due to its small size I will go by each individual exhibit.

    - The first exhibit you see when you enter is a large but quaint duck pond. It must cover around a acre and is home to many wild birds and also some rehabilitated birds such as a pair of swans.


    - Across from the duck pond is a small exhibit for Sandhill Cranes. It is about half land and half water and is nicely planted. During the summer this exhibit holds a few American Alligators.

    - The former sandhill crane exhibit at the end of the duck pond now holds the zoos Bald Eagle's. The exhibit is very large for this single flightless bird and has a lot of water and perching areas.

    - After these bird exhibits is the zoos two feline species. The first habitat is for the zoos 3 Canadian Lynx's. The exhibit is very large for a small cat species and is viewed through wire only. This exhibit would be improved if another glass viewing window was added. I do not have a photograph of the Mountain Lion exhibit due to it being closed off but from a distince I could see the two cats.

    - A exhibit for snowy owl is next but is far to small for flight and other natural behaviors. Behind this exhibit is a very large field for the zoos small herd of Roosevelt Elk.

    - The zoos premier exhibit the Aviary is next. The aviary is a leftover from the 1964 worlds fair and is in the shape of a geodesic dome. Inside the aviary are species such as Wild Turkey, Macaws and Egrets. You get multiple views as the path goes up to a height of 40 feet.

    - The zoos Coyote group is kept in a large well planted exhibit. You view the exhibit from a open air log cabin like structure. It is very natural and has many places for the coyotes to hide.

    -A medium sized California Sea Lion pool follows and is just average due to its lack of underwater viewing.

    - The zoos largest exhibit is the Bison and Pronghorn exhibit. It is about an acre and a half in size and is grassy with a stream recently added that improves the look of the exhibit. Both species were not on exhibit when I visited but I saw the pronghorn in there off exhibit area.

    - A small exhibit for a pair of pudu is next and followed by the new Chacoan Peccary exhibit. They are held in half of the former bald eagle. The other hal of the exhibit is a prime area to either expand the average sized peccary exhibit or hold a new species.

    - The second to last exhibit is a very large aviary for the zoos Thick Billed Parrots and Roadrunner. It is very nicely planted and has plenty of nesting boxes.

    - The final exhibit is a grassy exhibit for 2 Andean Bears. It has a large climbing structure, cave and a large pond.

    - Though there are very few exhibits along with a large farmyard there are no bad exhibits. Over the past year it seems like they have planted hundreds of trees around the zoo to improve the landscaping and experience. I hope that they will eventually add the rumored new Jaguar exhibit in the place of the playground. I would recomend this zoo to anyone who would is visiting new york as it only takes about 2 hours to tour.
     
  2. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    10 Dec 2012
    Posts:
    17,723
    Location:
    fijnaart, the netherlands
    Sounds like a small, nice collection ! Howmany Thick-billed parrots do they have and have they bred them ?
     
  3. BeardsleyZooFan

    BeardsleyZooFan Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    24 Jul 2011
    Posts:
    3,709
    Location:
    CT, United States
    uszoo- Thank you very much for this review of Queens Zoo. Not many people here have seemed to visit it, but your review plus how close it is to me is encouraging me to visit sometime this year.
    vogelcommando- I don't know how many parrots they have, but they have bred them in the recent past. I don't know the current breeding situation.
     
  4. uszoo

    uszoo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2 Feb 2012
    Posts:
    430
    Location:
    Somewhere
    Hello, Vogelcommando I do not know the exact number of Thick Billed Parrots but would estimate it around 20 birds. I dont know if they bred them this year but in the year 2010 they had 6 parrots born.
     
  5. iluvwhales

    iluvwhales Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    4 May 2011
    Posts:
    746
    Location:
    The Isle of Long
    I interned there one day and they showed them to me. It was quite exciting