@David Brown: I am not keeping track of all the species I see and have never been a "species spotter". I'm sure that you are correct about the abundance of raccoons, ring-tailed lemurs and llamas...plus I see at least a couple of bobcats every day along with black vultures circling overhead as I drive. I suspect that the vultures are waiting for me to drop dead with exhaustion so that they can pick my bones clean! Just joking, as I feel quite refreshed today and ready to see all that the Dallas area can provide. @ANyhuis: the smoking regulations in Canada, much like the free health care, is a wonderful example of what is great about my native country. I go into gas stations every single day on this road trip to hydrate and I'm not impressed to see rows of cigarette packages sitting directly behind the cashier. Another thing that is different is that there are now quite a few shops selling e-cigarettes along with booze in regular convenience stores. @Sooty Mangabey: It would have been far more practical to fly to Texas and then start my trip in a rented car but that would have been FAR more expensive. I'm not sure what the daily charge would have been as I have not looked into car rentals in Texas, but on top of gas there would have been a significant output of cash in terms of insurance coverage. I'd be curious to know if anyone wishes to look it up! I paid less than $300 in gas to drive for those first 5 really long days and a flight would have been FAR more plus the extra money for the car rental. I know that many Canadians drive across Canada to Toronto (which is a 5 day trip) and it is likely $300 or so in gas. A flight to Toronto can easily cost $1,000 and so by driving and taking the 5 full days it can save a person $700. It might be a similar savings for me by driving to Texas. In the future I'd love to go to Florida and spend 20 or so days in that state touring zoos as there are at least 85 "zoos" there. However, for that trip I'd consider flying as it would be significantly farther to drive in comparison to Texas. "Joe Exotic" is a rather odd character (to say the least!) and I was desperately hoping to meet him to see if his public persona was all an act or if he was genuinely unique in the zoo world. I know that his park has had all sorts of problems with authorities, from a worker being badly mauled, a visiting child being bitten, a million-dollar lawsuit for propaganda against Florida's Big Cat Rescue, for the sheer volume of tigers that the place produces, etc. Joe Exotic is covered in tattoos, he paints his nails, he has long blonde hair and a hair-trigger temper judging from various TV interviews...but is part of it an act? He is a country and western singer with CD's for sale at the zoo and his own music playing on a soundtrack around the zoo. In a couple of his music videos he is associating with scantily clad women and there are many images of him with much younger women in the zoo's gift shop. However, he is a gay 50 year-old man with the same partner for ten years and so his public image might be slightly exaggerated. I would have loved to have met him and we could have discussed ligers, ligons and music!
I will attempt to make a connection in the recent threads by tying together the aforementioned cigarette talk with zoo talk. Most big name (big city) zoos in USA have banned smoking altogether in just the last few years. I would be curious to know if Snowleopard has noted how many of these smaller zoos he is visiting have a similar ban? Personally I think it should be illegal altogether. The irony in USA is that while smoking tobacco is increasingly banned, smoking marijuana is increasingly legalized. I am not sure if this statistic is currently accurate, but many years ago in college a professor said that just in terms of lung damage one joint is the equivalent of seven cigarettes. As for the superiority of Canada to my home country just south of their border, there may be something to it. The Reputation Institute (however they are) has ranked Canada the most reputable country in the world. They have also ranked it here four out of the last six years, listing it as the second most reputable country those other two years. The good old USA, by comparison, is number 22 just ahead of Poland. Here is the link for those Canadians who wish to gloat in their superiority: The World's Most Reputable Countries, 2015
DAY 6: Saturday, July 18th Every zoo nerd knows that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a must-visit location as those two famous zoos have an extraordinary number of reptiles and amphibians between them (over 200 terrariums plus loads off-show) and Dallas World Aquarium has a tremendous amount of rarities to make all zoo enthusiasts salivate. I’ll be visiting those 3 behemoths of the zoo world later on, but today I toured 5 zoos that many people are not very familiar with. Each of the 5 was in a different city/suburb surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth area and they added to the already strong contingent of zoos in the area. One highlight of the day was meeting ZooChatter “jbnbsn99” (aka Bret from Dallas) as he and I toured Sea Life Grapevine together and then went out for dinner at a nearby burger joint named Fuddruckers. Bret has not been to many zoos but he is extremely knowledgeable about everything from zoos, wildlife, books, classical music, etc, and we had already met back in 2010 and so it was nice to see him a second time years later. Frank Buck Zoo: Frank Buck Zoo is a non-AZA accredited zoo in Gainesville, Texas, and it was originally founded in 1930. There are 70,000 annual visitors to the current location in Leonard Park (since 1962) and the name of the facility comes from the legendary wild animal collector Frank Buck. “Bring ‘em back alive” was his slogan and claim to fame, and he was a famous native of Gainesville. Leonard Park has a total of 30 acres and the zoo and its 130 animals takes up a small portion of that space. To be honest I was rather disappointed with this zoo, but that was due partly to recent events. Earlier this year a flood swept through sections of the zoo and did enough damage to actually close the zoo for several months. The initial lane of exhibits has been impacted and I’m not sure whether it was before or after the flood but the Nilgai and Axis Deer fencing has been completely removed and those exhibits are history. The two bear enclosures are sitting empty (a good thing as they are shocking); a large field enclosure is now devoid of animal life; and a couple of smaller exhibits are also empty. To have a handful of poor quality enclosures and then a handful of empty enclosures all along one long row makes the zoo appear to be struggling. The multi-acre African Savanna yard is very nice and I always enjoy wooden boardwalks, but that is essentially the only decent section in the entire zoo. I had taken loads of photos and seen it all after less than an hour, and the Frank Buck merchandise in the gift shop was arguably more interesting than the entire zoo. A couple of rarities (Clouded Leopard and Geoffrey’s Cat) could not salvage the visit and the signage in places is dreadful. The zoo is only an hour from Dallas but with 70,000 annual visitors it seems as if no one bothers to visit it. C.A.R.E. - Center for Animal Research & Education: C.A.R.E. - Center for Animal Research & Education is a non-AZA accredited facility located in Bridgeport, Texas, and it is situated on 20 acres of land. There are approximately 45 animals at the center and the establishment used to be a boarding house for a big cat travelling show before it became a sanctuary in 2003. This facility is a "rescue sanctuary" with a couple of llamas, 8 ring-tailed lemurs and almost 40 big cats (almost all tigers). Other than the black panther exhibit all of the enclosures are of a fair size and I was impressed. The hour and a half tour is excellent and the cats have all come from abusive situations to live out the rest of their lives at this establishment. Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch: Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch is a non-AZA accredited facility located in Pilot Point, Texas, and it is situated on a sprawling 126 acres. There are approximately 130 animals and the establishment is only open on weekends and throughout 9 months of the year. To be honest this place is rather ghastly, with a couple of rescued American Black Bears the star attraction due to the daily bear feeding presentation. The bear enclosure is actually quite large and full of natural substrate if one overlooks the gigantic steel cage that is the exterior. How this place has 5 lemur species is beyond me but sure enough Red Ruffed, Black and White Ruffed, the ubiquitous Ring-Tailed, Brown and Black are all present. Camels, zebras, 4 species of marsupial and a Two-Toed Sloth are more examples of animals at this establishment. The good news is that there are plans for new exhibits for binturongs and lemurs, which are badly needed as the current accommodation consists of tiny metal cages. Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary: Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is a non-AZA accredited facility located in McKinney, Texas, and it was founded in 1967. Philanthropist Bessie Heard is the namesake who helped supply the 289 acre site and now more than 100,000 visitors tour the establishment each year. A series of metal cages in the outdoor “Animals of the World” section creates a mini zoo on the grounds. The species list includes: Cusimanse, White-Nosed Coati, Raccoon, White-Tailed Deer, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Gray Fox and Capybara. Indoors the museum is not the greatest as it needs to update many of its displays. Rooms with themes (natural history, sea shells, taxidermy specimens) are all mildly disappointing, although for zoo enthusiasts there is a group of arachnid terrariums and a small room with snake-filled terrariums with these 13 species: Diamond-Backed Water Snake, Blotched Water Snake, Desert Kingsnake, Prairie Kingsnake, Speckled Kingsnake, Eastern Coachwhip, Checkered Garter Snake, Sonoran Gopher Snake, Broad-Banded Copperhead, Timber Rattlesnake, Texas Ratsnake, Baird’s Ratsnake and Western Cottonmouth. Sea Life Grapevine: Sea Life Grapevine is an AZA accredited facility located in Grapevine, Texas, and it opened to the public in 2011. There are over 5,000 animals within the 45,000 sq. ft. of the establishment that is owned by the Merlin Entertainment conglomerate. It took Bret and I only 30 minutes to see everything and while the exhibit quality is decent and what you would expect from a Sea Life, spending $21.50 and leaving after half an hour is not impressive. Having said that, the line-up of families entering the facility was enormous and Merlin is making money hand over fist with this franchise.
I did six in a day a couple of weeks ago! I was helped by some very sensible opening times... Started out at Decin Zoo (in the Czech Republic), for a very enjoyable couple of hours - a very nice, medium-sized zoo. Then 500 yards down the road to the Decin Vivarium: quite impressive, but you'd be hard pressed to spend more than 30 minutes there. An hour's drive to Liberec Zoo, which needed about three hours to see - I could probably have done with more, but the Czech Republic was in the midst of a heat wave, so time to get on to the road, and head north. An unscheduled stop in in Germany (but a stone's throw away from the Polish and Czech borders) for the very small, pleasant but unremarkable Zittau Tierpark. Then another hour north to the border town of Gorlitz, where there is a small but perfectly formed Vivarium in the basement of the natural history museum, and then on to the Gorlitz Zoo, for an hour before closing time: not a massive collection, but one of my favourite small German zoos, and somewhere to which I will try to return when I am in the area. I'm sure that - like many others - I've managed six or more when 'doing' the various tiny bird parks between Frankfurt and Karlsruhe, as well.
The best I've ever done is three: Hanau Wildpark, Frankfurt Zoo, and Opel Zoo back in 2002. Five and six is pretty impressive.
My record is seven, around Pattaya (Thailand) in 2013. In a day I visited small collections, a few of which were around the same site: Pattaya Dolphin World Nong Nooch Botanical Gardens Underwater World Pattaya Monster World Chang Siam Crocodile Farm Monkey Show I also managed five and six on a few occasions that trip, including on the road to Mae Rim (near Chiang Mai, Thailand) which seems to be lined with small zoos and other odd attractions including an elephant poo paper museum and some controversial 'Karen villages' where Burmese ladies wearing neck rings live and are visited by tourists to have their photos taken. My record for the UK is five, visiting four small collections followed by dinner with friends and then an evening visit to the aquarium. I do regret not spending longer at the British Wildlife Centre that day (or at least not visiting later in the day). @Pleistohorse, I guess it's only really impressive if you're not compromising too much on the quality or the experience of the zoo visit.
I think some Dutch zoo nerds have done over 10 on one day, so that would be very close to the limit of what is possible... Thanks for all the reviews and small sidetrips SL
My record is eight - as you suggest, done in 'tiny bird park land' in 2010. Only Luisenpark felt a little rushed, and then only a little. Since that trip I don't think I've been beyond three. A bit of doubling-up is good fun for filling out a day, though - particularly in summer, with longer opening hours. My eight were: Vogelpark Reilingen Vogelpark Oberhausen SeaLife Centre Speyer Vogelpark Schifferstadt Vogelpark Birkenheide Luisenpark Vogelpark Heddesheim Vogelpark Viernheim
The best I've done in one day is 3 in the Netherlands -- Amersfoort, Ouwehands, and Burgers. But obviously SnowLeopard (and some of you others) are hitting significantly smaller establishments than I usually go to.
Is our friend SnowLeopard OK? No Sunday update! I'm guessing he was in a motel with either spotty or no internet access. I know the feeling.
My best is 3 in a day and all done on public transport (bus)! Birmingham Sea Life - 1 hour BNC - 1 and half hours Dudley - 2 and half hours That's was done with using buses only but I have to say that I'm familiar with all 3 collections and the transport links between them. I wouldn't try it on a transport system that I'm not used to!
True. I was think maybe someone in New York City could get six without leaving town and thought one of those six would be the Bronx Zoo and no....can't really pull that off. Looking back though there were many days where two or three in Belgium, Netherlands, or Germany were done...but usually these were a midsize urban zoo and a couple outlying wild parks. Let me take this opportunity to praise again German (European really I guess) Wildparks, they were awesome and one or two "world class" in my book.
DAY 7: Sunday, July 19th I visited 5 zoos yesterday and another 4 today. What did you do with your weekend? Oh, I just happened to tour 9 zoos…. Dallas World Aquarium: Dallas World Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility but it is a unique destination and one could argue that is it not really an aquarium at all but rather an immense zoo rainforest. There are plenty of non-aquatic animals in this for-profit establishment that opened in 1992 and the level of rarities is almost unparalleled in the United States. A lot has already been written about DWA (both positive and negative) and I posted a long review back in 2010 and so this time around I’ll simply point out a few highlights and what I think are two major flaws at the facility. Highlights: - Red Howler Monkeys (at least 6 of them) being incredibly active. The exhibit is very difficult to view but it was a huge treat to see them as they were off-exhibit in 2010. - Sawfish and Brown Sharks in the Cenote underwater tunnel. - Brown-Throated Three-Toed Sloth right next to me. - 10 New World primate species in various stages of activity. - Rarely exhibited species: Jabiru Stork, Bearded Saki, Red-Handed Tamarin, Antillean Manatee, at least 7 Arapaima, Orinoco Crocodile, Giant River Otter, Goliath Bird Eating Spider, etc. Two Major Flaws: - The signage is appalling in places. Having 4 terrariums and only one touch screen for everyone to fight over is ridiculous for an established, notable aquarium. Assuming the screen works then a list of species eventually comes up…but which animal is in which terrarium? Insane concept that drives me bonkers every time and those that have been reading my road trip threads in the past are well aware of how I despise DWA’s signs. Touch screens in all directions and as I’ve said many times before if the #1 attended aquarium in the nation with the #1 most species (Shedd has 3 million visitors and 1,500 species) can have minimal touch screens then DWA can do it as well. - Small exhibits abound at Dallas World Aquarium. Jaguar, Little Penguin, Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo, Giant Anteater, Pygmy Marmoset, Giant River Otter and the list goes on. Some of those popular species have almost enough space but in every circumstance I struggle to name a zoo with smaller exhibits for those species. DWA has crammed in as many species as it can squeeze into the space available and things get tight at times. - The Dwarf Caiman exhibit is only 5 feet wide; the Blue-Bellied Roller Bird glass tank is perhaps 6 feet wide; the Radiated Tortoise exhibit is perhaps 6 feet wide for 3 large tortoises!; the Pygmy Marmoset exhibit is perhaps 5 feet wide; the African and Little Penguin exhibits are far too small; the Barred Owl dark cave is perhaps 4 feet wide and a narrow enclosure; the list could go on. Dallas World Aquarium is a fantastic place and I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around. It is not large and many families were leaving after just over an hour, but one could stay all day if they wanted to spot birds high up in the canopy. There are a lot of positives about the facility and I think that if one was to count it as an aquarium then it would be in the top 15 in America. However, the terrible touch screen signage and the long list of exhibits that are all a bit on the small side taints the overall experience. Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park: Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park is an AZA-accredited facility located in Dallas, Texas, and it opened to the public in 1936 as part of the Texas Centennial Exposition. The facility has 6 areas: Freshwater Zone, Intertidal Zone, Shore Zone, Near Shore Zone, Offshore Zone and Stingray Bay. The building is 46,600 sq. ft. in size and the establishment is managed by the nearby Dallas Zoo. I really enjoyed my time here although it was a struggle to spend even an hour at the aquarium as it is not very large and it basically has two indoor wings and a covered outdoor section. It is a small facility indeed but one that has carved out a niche for itself with some enjoyable highlights and a few rather interesting species. - The outdoor Stingray Bay touch tank is nicely done, and the large shark tank adjacent to it has the following species: Loggerhead Sea Turtle, White-Spotted Bamboo Shark, Blacktip Reef Shark, Bonnethead Shark and Zebra Shark. - Many of the tanks go back 6 feet and are rather large. There aren’t many “jewel tanks” here. - Many cool species: American Alligator (white), Rhinoceros Iguana, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Chambered Nautilus, Frogfish, Walking Batfish (how crazy are those things?), Archerfish, Mudskipper, Ornate Wobbegong, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Queensland Grouper, Purplemouth Moray Eel, Electric Eel and three species of Lionfish in the same tank. Texas Discovery Gardens: Texas Discovery Gardens is a non-AZA accredited facility located within Fair Park in Dallas, Texas, and it is near the Children’s Aquarium. The establishment is set on 7.5 acres but for zoo enthusiasts the main attractions would be the central building (21 species on display), the walk-through Butterfly House (anywhere from 500-700 butterflies flying around at any given time) and a brand-new section called Snakes of Texas. An existing small building, the Natural Learning Center, has been renovated just this year to become the permanent Snakes of Texas building with 17 species on display. Species List in main building (21): Diamond-Backed Water Snake, Checkered Garter Snake, Corn Snake, Poison Dart Frog, Green Anole, Common Snapping Turtle, Red-Eared Slider, Forest Scorpion, Brazilian Black and White Tarantula, Garden Snail, Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Giant Cave Cockroach, Bumble Bee Millipede, Giant Water Bug, Harlequin Fruit Chafer, Pillbug, Jungle Nymph, Spiny Devil, Northern Two-Stripe Stick Insect, Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect and Western Two-Striped Walking Stick Insect. Snakes of Texas (17): Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake, Northern Black-Tailed Rattlesnake, Prairie Rattlesnake, Mottled Rock Rattlesnake, Western Pygmy Rattlesnake, Western Massasauga, Desert Massasauga, Southern Copperhead, Broad-Banded Copperhead, Western Cottonmouth, Blotched Water Snake, Broad-Banded Water Snake, Speckled King Snake, Prairie King Snake, Central Plains Milk Snake, Texas Rat Snake and Texas Night Snake. In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center: In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center is a non-AZA accredited facility located in Wylie, Texas, and it was founded in 2000. It is a non-profit organization that takes in abused and unwanted animals. I have a newfound respect for some of these “sanctuaries” as each and every animal at Insync Exotics has its story told on a sign that hangs outside the cages. It is a bit depressing to go around and read them all but I do recall learning about a Eurasian Lynx with only one eye, an Ocelot with only one leg; an African Lion that was resting upon nine inches of feces in a 10-foot long metal cage in someone’s garage. A poor tiger was in a cage within an open area that invited jokesters to perform cruel tricks on the animal and in fact its sibling was killed by pranksters. These sob stories have happy endings as animals are rescued from unfortunate situations and they then flourish at Insync Exotics with the help of many volunteers and a trained staff. All of the enclosures are ugly metal cages but in some cases there is actually quite a bit of space for the animals. The big cats have access to grass and piles of play toys, and some of the climbing cats (for example the cougars) have intricate sets of ramps that go 20 feet high into their cages. The complete animal list was posted and as of right now the facility has the following animals: As is the norm in Texas there are loads of tigers: 28 Tigers (Amur, Sumatran, Bengal, Indochinese plus many “zoo” tigers, including White ones and a “Golden” tiger). Also…10 Bobcats, 9 Cougars, 9 African Lions, 4 Servals, 4 Eurasian Lynx, 2 Cheetahs, 2 Ring-Tailed Lemurs, 1 Ocelot, 1 African Leopard and 1 Coati.
@SL: Have you ever heard of Noah's Lost Ark in Berlin Center, Ohio? Noah's is similar to this, with stories about how the animals got there- it is a sanctuary with lots of lions, tigers, etc. (there is even a half-housecat, half-jungle cat hybrid and a blind cat named Alfie!). If you ever go to Ohio again, swing by Noah's.
The two cheetahs at InSync would certainly not be rescue animals, so I assume they acquired them because they wanted them for education purposes. Also interesting that they claim to have Indochinese tiger since there are none in the United States (and probably not anywhere outside Asia). There are Malayan tigers in the United States, which were previously lumped with the Indochinese subspecies, but these are all controlled by AZA (and highly desirable) so I find it difficult to believe one would end up in a rescue center. Out of Africa (not AZA or ZAA) also claims to have an Indochinese tiger, so I wonder what the source and pedigree of these cats is?
The two cheetahs were the only cats that I did not see as their section was cut off from the public (possibly due to construction in that part of the park). The Indochinese Tiger is named "Sheba" and was born on Nov. 16th, 2004 and was rescued and shifted to Insync on Feb. 16th, 2014. That is a recent date and maybe the tiger really is Indochinese...who knows? Out of Africa, Insync and DeYoung Family Zoo are three facilities that all currently claim to have an Indochinese tiger and I wouldn't be surprised if there are more examples out there in the American zoo world. On a side note, I think that I have probably seen 10 "golden" tigers over the years as there seems to be more of those than I would have guessed. Are the golden ones just Bengal tigers with a recessive gene?
The golden tabby is a recessive gene just like the white tiger. And both are only known to occur in the Indian (aka Bengal) subspecies, although of course many of those in captivity have a percentage of Siberian (aka Amur) blood. To the best of my knowledge, the first golden tigers in USA were born to two normal parents at a private Florida breeding center run by Josip Marcan (spelling?). Goldens are popular in the circus world but not so much in the zoo world.
And as many of you know, you can have golden and white and normal cubs all in the same litter. There was a popular documentary years ago about just such a litter born at Dreamworld in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWvlJMiUxI
