Watertown NY seems like the last place a zoo would ever be located with a population of only a little over 27K and a county pop. of about 116K, but up in the great White north of Jefferson County you can find the NYS Zoo at Thompson park. The park itself is worth a visit, a Frederick Law Olmstead park features an 18 hole golf course, public pool, hiking trails and of course a zoo. The zoo is on the small side and features primarily outdoor exhibits. The other stipulation of this zoo that makes it unique is that it only has animals that are or were native to NY state at some point in time (aside from the domestics). Similar to Hershey's ZooAmerica, only animals that are local to NYS or once were live here, with many still found in the state. The zoo has a nice visitor center that serves as it's main hub. It features a small gift shop, a small cafe and some reptile and amphibian exhibits. Some residents here include Timber Rattlesnakes, Eastern Hellbenders, and a few other non-native reptiles (the only other exception). They even have a working beehive in the summer that guests can view. The only other building with exhibits is the small North Country Nights, which as the name would suggests is home to New York's nocturnal inhabitants. Highlights include several well designed exhibits of Porcupines, Bullfrogs, a Skunk, Flying Squirrels and a nice bat exhibit. The zoo did a very nice job reusing what was once an exhibit featuring the North Country's rivers and ponds and even took the old fish tanks and converted them into the bat exhibits. The zoo features a small barnyard that is home to Alpacas, Donkeys pigs, goats and some chickens. Guests can pet but there is no actual petting area. It also features a small playground for kids. Overall the zoo is on a level terrain and has some wooded areas and other more open spaces. There are 13 main exhibits outdoors, many which feature naturalistic environments for their inhabitants and great viewing opportunities for guests without disturbing the animals. Highlights include an excellent Gray Wolf exhibit, Mountain Lion, Lynx, Bobcat, Bald and Golden Eagles. The zoo also features two exhibits in the back of animals dubbed "Phantoms of New York State" due to their extinction in these parts. The two exhibits share a small cabin viewing area and has a small exhibit for the zoos fisher and a larger exhibit of Wolverines, the later is very well designed and features small hills and brush with a large pond and waterfall. Another popular animal is the Zoos Black Bear, with multiple viewing areas in a natural enclosure. The newest exhibit on the trail is the amazing River Otter exhibit, it appears as if to have been built without even touching the natural area and has several pools and streams to play in including a underwater viewing area to watch the otters glide thru the water. The NYS zoo may be small but it is a favorite in the Northern Area of New York seeing how the nearest major zoo is in Syracuse which is about 90 min. to 2 hours away from most so it fills it's niche well. The zoo is nit currently accredited with the AZA but has been in its past and looks to return some day and wants to continue expanding. Some future plans have even included a Moose Exhibit. If your ever up in the St. Lawrence or northern NY, make sure to take the time to visit you wont regret it.
Thanks for the great review of a zoo that most of us probably weren't aware of, Cusezoofan. It sounds like a nice zoo. Do you think that you could do more reviews of the zoos of New York state? The Bronx and Central Park Zoos are discussed here often, but New York is a zoo-rich state and there are several other zoos to learn about.
Thanks, I also have one for the Utica Zoo but I also plan on reviewing all the zoos and Aquariums I have been too, which includes the upstate NY Zoos.
