Philadelphia Zoo Thylo's Philadelphia Zoo Review!

None of the Small Mammal House is currently under renovation. As zoo_enthusiast says above, the nocturnal wing now is just for vampire bats. The diurnal hall has two-toed sloth, agouti, meerkat, aardvark (to see some good activity, visit at the beginning or end of the day), northern tree shrew, pygmy marmoset, fat-tailed gerbil, Eurasian harvest mouse, and perhaps another one or two species. Pygmy slow loris is at the zoo (and on the website, last I checked) but not on exhibit. The other main nocturnal exhibit is the pair of aye-aye exhibits (sometimes open, leaving just one exhibit) in PECO Primate Reserve, which now also hold Malagasy giant jumping rat. I have yet to see the rat in there but nearly always see the aye-ayes.

 

Good review. A couple notes:

- The gibbons and orangutans do also share the indoor space.

- While their could be more climbing opportunities in Big Cat Falls, there certainly are opportunities in each of the rotating exhibits.

 

Can anyone give me a 2017 list of all of the birds in the McNeil aviary? I know this might be a lot to ask but it would be really helpful.

 

So I revisited the zoo with @jayjds2 on November 11 and figured I'd comment on some bits of my previous review. Spoiler alert, I did not enjoy the zoo as much this time around.

So this house has declined a lot since 2014. As most of you know, the nocturnal hall was closed down some time ago and I found that all of the species kept in it bar the vampire bats have gone. The entrance into the section was walled off and replaced by a single bat enclosure- which is much better than the old one to be fair. I also found that all the enclosures on the right-side of the house were all empty and covered over and only Degu, Pygmy Marmoset, Northern Tree-Shrew, and African Pygmy Hedgehog inhabit the rows of enclosures. The Aardvark/Meerkat and sloth/agouti remain unchanged, though there's only one elderly Aardvark left and the Meerkats have an outdoor enclosure now as well. The Okapi has left the collection and the hogs moved to African Plains. Their enclosures were combined and are now home to the kangaroos and some Emus, while the old kangaroo enclosure sits empty.

This house has gone relatively unchanged since my visit, though giant rats were moved to the PECO Primate Reserve, the colobus is gone, the parrot as well as its enclosure are gone, and the mongoose enclosure has been renovated for a pair of Pancake Tortoises. The Emu enclosure is now also home to Domestic Turkeys. The mangabey and douc langur are still alive and both were actually more active this visit than my previous one.

Not much has changed here and the house is still very nice, though I now consider LA's reptile house to be much better. It's worth mentioning that the Nile Crocodiles turned out to be Desert Crocodiles, and the Bog Turtle and Central American River Turtle are both unfortunately gone (or at least not on-exhibit). I also got to see the giant tortoises inside, and as I suspected it's a very cramped set-up.

Within the past year, this exhibit underwent a series of bizarre changes. For one, the penguin flock was moved to a much smaller section and and their old enclosure is now home to a single swan... An Emu now lives here also. Aside from this most of the other species I noted are gone and much of this exhibit sits empty.

This exhibit has gone more or less unchanged since my last visit, though the occupants have changed slightly. The black bear died shortly before my visit, meaning all the bear species can be out at once as before one always had to be off-exhibit with their only being three enclosures (I forgot to mention that in my previous review). The zoo is down to one Polar Bear, who is apparently the oldest one in America. The zoo also now has a mixed pair of Sri Lankan and Indian Sloth Bear.

This exhibit continues to disappoint and the previously very good gazelle enclosure has now been destroyed to an extent with the Red River Hogs now living here. The zoo is also down to a single gazelle (which makes her the last Mhorr Gazelle in an AZA zoo), though she was once again off-exhibit. This makes the third time I've failed at seeing the species The Addax and Secretary Bird are gone now, as well.

This exhibit has changed very little, though there are now two combined Red Panda enclosures and the zoo keeps both subspecies (not mixed) and the Black-Footed Cats have been replaced by Fossa. The pelican was still a no-show, and the zoo is down to a single elderly mongoose.

The eagle enclosure present during my visit now sits empty and a newer, much larger eagle enclosure was built by the Cheetahs as was a Barn Owl aviary. The ibises are gone and replaced by the Turkey Vultures and Red-Breasted Geese.

This house was still very enjoyable and a lot more birds seemed to be present, though many of the rare ones from my last visit (ie amakihi, fincebill, bulbul, tinamou, tanager) were gone. The amakihi actually died a month after my original visit. The South American aviary seemed to be a bit more mixed with random species, and the trio of enclosures that previously focused on island birds just had a random mix of different animals, though the Guam enclosure remained the same. The African enclosure had a lot more birds present.

The Spectacled Langurs have gone and the Aye-Aye enclosure is now also home to the zoo's remaining Malagasy Giant Rats. There's also a very nice Coquerel's Sifaka enclosure in a separate section of the house from the rest of the animals which I believe I missed last time.

The only change here is the zoo no longer holds Jaguars, which still means they keep one more species than can be displayed.


It was sad to see that the zoo had lost so many of its rarities since my last visit and several of the exhibits had declined in quality, especially the mammal house. When I first visited the zoo, I had it placed in my Top 5 collections I've visited and have kept it there ever since. However, after this visit I'd say it's dropped out of that spot, though it still is a very nice zoo with a great collection and well worth a visit.

~Thylo

 

Were both red panda exhibits in use during your trip this time? The zoo only has one subspecies now and for the past few months, the open air exhibit has been empty. They plan to put a mesh barrier around it soon.

Also, the zoo still has jaguars. The male usually comes out at the end of the day so is often missed. Lately during the day the exhibit is used for the older male and female lion or an Amur leopard. I think I have heard rumors they are planning to get a female jaguar to come to the zoo to breed with him.

 

Kesho, the Okapi that lived in that enclosure passed away in November of last year. It's sad to see how the African Plains portion has just been so under-maintained as well as the odd decision to move the penguins from their beautiful habitat to a smaller pit.

 

I do not recall. Jay was the one who told me during the visit that they kept both ssp of Red Panda and that the Jaguar had left.

Good to hear they still keep Jaguar and plan to breed them, I just wish they had enough enclosures for all the species they hold. On both of my visits the Cougars have always been in the trail system but not the actual enclosures.

~Thylo

 

The second enclosure was not in use but was signed for the other subspecies, I believe. I had believed the jaguar was gone because there is no signage about jaguars that I recall, and I haven’t seen one in 3-4 visits over the last two years. Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to visit the complex during the end of the day on my next visit.

 

Yes, I believe he's shy so they do not have him out a lot. I know a zoo regular who is a jaguar enthusiast so she's kept me updated. I have tried to catch him myself, but I still haven't been able to manage it. A side note to @ThylacineAlive, I agree, even with the rotation system I often wonder if all the big cats are getting enough time on exhibit. All my recent visits, the cougars have been in the trail system or off exhibit. Juvenile lions or Grom the Amur tiger in the lion exhibit, usually an Amur leopard in one of the trails, but access to leopard exhibit, snow leopard in cougar exhibit, and rotation of tigers in Amur tiger exhibit.

You are correct about the old signage still at the red panda exhibit, where the other subspecies was housed. I know they are supposed to do construction on Carnivore Kingdom soon so hopefully they will finally modify that exhibit. Although I will miss it was open air and easier to photograph. I bet when it's completed the male will live on one side and the female and cubs (until they leave) on the other.

 

I am a volunteer here and I love it.