Date: May 25, 2019 Each bullet indicates an enclosure. Species that were seen are marked in bold, unseen species are in regular text. Species that were seen but unsigned are marked in italics. I have made notes comparing the lineup and organization to my previous trip in July 2015, about 4 years prior. Total Species (by signage or sight): 59 Mammals: 16 Birds: 12 Reptiles: 22 Amphibians: 4 Fish: 0 Invertebrates: 5 Pens Between New and Old Entrance Bald Eagle Red Wolf (pen significantly reduced in size from 2015) Outside Pens and Cage Between Entrance and Herp Building Pen: Chilean Flamingo, American White Pelican Pen: Red-necked Wallaby, Emu Pen: Galapagos Giant Tortoise Cage: Ring-tailed Lemur Roundhouse Gazebo along path to Herp Building, 2 cages, 2 pens (1 empty) Pen: empty (formerly contained Capybara) Pen: Guinea Pig Cage: Linne's Two-toed Sloth (C. didactylus) Cage: Golden Lion Tamarin (formerly contained Barn Owl) South American Loop between Entrance and Herp Building Cage: Laughing Kookaburra (forrmerly contained Golden Lion Tamarin) Adjoining Cage: Toco Toucan (used to be small walk-through aviary with a few species, including Kookaburra, pheasants and Cattle Egret, now only toucans separated from visitors by mesh) Cage: Spider Monkey (species unknown) (forrmerly home to Coati) Cage: Black Howler Monkey (1.2.1) (formerly home to Spider Monkeys) Former Cage home to Lady Ross's Turaco now gone Pen Outside Herp Building Leopard Tortoise, 1 unsigned tortoise species Herp Building (contained almost 50% of species in zoo) Naked Mole Rat Argus Monitor Blue Tree Monitor Leopard Gecko Egg-eating Snake (Dasypeltis fasciata) European Glass Lizard Painted Turtle Desert Rosy Boa Red-eyed Crocodile Skink Pueblan Milk Snake Tentacled Snake Ornate Horned Frog African House Snake Woma Python Honduran Milk Snake Three-toed Amphiuma Solomon Islands Leaf Frog Northern Map Turtle Axolotl Blood Python Green Tree Python Burmese Python Boa Constrictor Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula Chilean Rosehair Tarantula Gooty Sapphire Tarantula (2 adjoining cages, new species since 2015) Asian Forest Scorpion Madagascar Hissing Cockroach At least 2 empty and unsigned enclosures: a long vertical one (previous inhabitant unknown) and a large open-topped exhibit with low glass wall (previous inhabitant: Rhinoceros Iguana) Pens Between Herp Building and Petting Zoo Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk (don't remember this from last visit, not sure if missed or new since 2015) Plains Zebra Cheetah Bactrian Camel Empty (used to contain White-tailed Deer) Aquatic Exhibit Between Row of Pens and Petting Zoo Humboldt Penguin Row of Pens Between Entrance and Petting Zoo, across from Lawn Gray Crowned Crane (formerly also held unsigned turtle) Chinese Tufted Deer American Alligator Black-tailed Prairie Dog Meerkat Cages Next to Petting Zoo Eastern Screech Owl Red Panda Red Panda Lady Ross's Turaco (was under construction in 2015) Overall the zoo has seen a downsize in species from 4 years ago, with a couple of enclosures sitting empty, the loss of a small walk-through aviary (although none of its inhabitants were rare or noteworthy), and a few empty exhibits in the Herp Building where all or nearly all used to be occupied. Besides a new cage for turacos, no new exhibits or enclosures have been constructed, and the net gain is zero because the old turaco cage was torn down rather than repurposed. The red wolf exhibit was also significantly reduced in size due to the construction of a fenced-off gravel road leading through the woods down to the lake. However, the addition of Gooty Sapphire Tarantulas was a surprise, although frustratingly I could not find one in either cage (there was spider silk, so they are definitely present). It took me 1 hour to view the facility with minimal backtracking, but it can be done in less (I spent time watching the young howler and playing with the friendly turacos). Entry fee was $7, which for today's rates is reasonable. I will post photos that I took in the Media gallery as well, including their new map.
June 2021 Updated Species List: Forested enclosures Bald Eagle Grey Wolf Grassy area with small pond American White Pelican (Signed, not seen) Chilean Flamingo Row of grassy enclosures Emu (Signed, not seen) Red-Necked Wallaby Galapagos Tortoise South American hut Two-Toed Sloth Golden Lion Tamarin Guinea Pig Row of Cages Kookaburra Spider Monkey (Unspecified, but probably Brown-headed/ Ateles fusciceps) Black and Gold Howler Monkey A Madagascar area, with a cage for the lemurs and turtles around it Radiated Tortoise Aldabra Tortoise Ring-Tailed Lemur Tortoise area outside the 'Herpaquarium' Gopher Tortoise Red-Footed Tortoise Leopard Tortoise Herpaquarium (Reptile Building) Naked Mole Rat Argus Monitor Leopard Gecko Egg Eating Snake (Signed, not seen) Desert Rosy Boa (Signed, not seen) Rhinoceros Iguana Tentacled Snake Goldfish (Unsigned) Plecostomus (Unsigned) African House Snake Ornate Horned Frog (Signed, not seen) Honduran Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis) Axolotl Solomon Island Leaf Frog Three-toed Amphiuma European Glass Lizard (Scheltopusik) Woma Python Pueblan Milk Snake Catfish (Unsigned) Blood Python Green Tree Python Boa Constrictor (Signed, not seen) Burmese Python Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula Gooty Sapphire Tarantula Asian Forest Scorpion Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Pen next to zebras Red-Tailed Hawk (Signed, not seen) Turkey Vulture Large grass exhibits for larger animals Plains Zebra East African Crowned Crane Bactrian Camel Cheetah Row of enclosures for forest animals Eastern Screech Owl Red Panda Lady Ross’s Turaco (Signed, not seen) Scoville Farm Guinea Hog Domestic Cattle Domestic Goat Domestic Chicken Domestic Duck Free roaming, with roost above the Turaco's enclosure Common Peafowl Very nice new Humboldt Penguin enclosure Humboldt Penguin Row of small enclosures Meerkat (Signed, not seen) Black-Tailed Prairie Dog American Alligator I'll upload some pics shortly. It seems that more species have been lost, which is unfortunate. The Reptile house and Penguin exhibit are still probably the highlights.
Looking at your list, it appears that the following species has been lost: Chinese Tufted Deer Toco Toucan Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula Red-eyed Crocodile Skink Blue Tree Monitor Painted Turtle Northern Map Turtle with a regular species returned (Rhinoceros Iguana) and one new addition (Radiated Tortoise). It's disappointing, but not as bad as it could be considering a year of pandemic troubles. Between my 2016 and 2019 visits, they lost a mixed-species aviary, capybara, coati, and another deer species; comparatively, this list looks almost the same as the one from two years ago.
I agree, It could have been worse, and some of the losses may have been unavoidable. Hopefully the reptile building can start filling in some of the empty spots, as there are starting to be too many.
On a side note, through Internet research I found that the spider monkeys (which the signage does not identify to species level) are apparently Black-headed Spider Monkey, Ateles fusciceps.
