On September 16, 2016, I visited this small zoo in Dutchess County, New York, and quite enjoyed myself. The zoo is only 6-acres in size and is owned and operated by the Millbrook School, making it the only zoo owned by a high school in the country (possibly the world?). The location is quite in the middle of nowhere and, while the setting is very peaceful, do not expect any cell service. The admission is listed as $6 but no one collected any money from me or any of the other three visitors there that day. A visit takes no more than an hour or two to visit at maximum so it can easily be fit into a day with other activities. The zoo is AZA accredited and has a pretty decent collection for its small size. The layout is more or less a simple loop with a few enclosures branched off. There are three small buildings in the form of the Tropical Building, the vet clinic/secondary tropics house, and the Meigs Education Center. The zoo is split up into six zones on the map (Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, Central America, South America) but in reality the collection is mostly a random mix of species from all over the “zones” with really only most of the North American and Asian species being found in the same sections of the zoo. The main entrance was under renovation during my visit so I came in through the staff entrance, but normally when you enter you cross a large wooden bridge. While crossing the bridge, to your right is a large enclosure for North American River Otter, Lontra canadensis, and to your left is a very large waterfowl pond home to mostly wild geese but also a pair of White-Naped Cranes, Grus vipio, and a pair of Snow Geese, Chen caerulescens. The NARO enclosure is sunken down and, while large, is mostly barren dirt with a dark brown-colored pool. Immediately after the bridge is the first building, the Tropical Building. There are two sets of doors to the building and upon entering the first there's an empty average pet store turtle tank with a sign saying this will be the future home of their Bog Turtles. After the second set of doors, the building is broken up into two sections: a diurnal area, and a nocturnal/aquarium area. The diurnal section contains the indoor housing for Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur, Varecia variegata variegata, and Ring-Tailed Lemur, Lemur catta, as well as Coconut Lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus, Lilac-Crowned Amazon, Amazona finschi, Congo Grey Parrot, Psittacus erithacus, Orton's Boa, Boa constrictor ortonii, Red-Eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, Blanding's Turtle, Emys blandingii, and Three-Toed Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina triunguis. The enclosures are all pretty small and bare with concrete floors with the exception of the turtle enclosure, which is large and has several pools as well as varying elevations. It actually looks more suited for the birds with its height and vegetation. The lemur enclosures are especially bad with their small size, little substrate, and little to no climbing opportunities at all. There’s also virtually no signage anywhere in here with is a bit disappointing. Passing into the next room, if you're wondering how a nocturnal room clashes with multiple fish tanks with regular lighting, the answer is not necessarily as bad as one might initially think. There are only a few tanks spread randomly throughout the room: one holding Banded Archerfish Toxotes jaculatrix, one with “Lake Victoria Cichlids”, and one with Kaiser’s Spotted Newts, Neurergus kaiseri. They’re each individually lit in the dark room and generally positioned in a spot where they don’t shine towards the two nocturnal inhabitants: Garnett’s Galago Otolemur garnettii and Kinkajou Potos flavus. Both of these enclosures are of a pretty decent size and have good climbing opportunities for the animals. To exit the Tropical Building, one has to double back and exit out the same two sets of doors. Outside of the building are two enclosures for the lemurs, which are decent but a bit small. Heading past these towards the staff entrance I came through, there are small cages for Long-Tailed Chinchilla, Chinchilla lanigera, and Domestic Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. Past these are fairly nice outdoor enclosures for Golden Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia, Geoffroy’s Marmoset, Callithrix geoffroyi, and Common Marmoset, Callithrix jacchus. Backtracking a bit, one can enter into the vet clinic/secondary tropics building. The vet areas are all off-exhibit bar a small window peaking in while the public area holds the indoor enclosures for the tamarins and marmosets as well a nice enclosure for Taveta Golden Weavers, Ploceus castaneiceps, and an unidentified cichlid. The indoor monkey enclosures are decent, though are on the smaller side. I found that the building had a very nauseating odor, though I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Ahead begins the general North American zone. This zone begins by heading through a covered wooden tunnel with openings on all sides to view several birds of prey. These aviaries, for the most part, are quite large and well done with a lot of natural vegetation and space for a limited amount of flying. They were certainly one of my favorite aspects of the zoo. The species present are Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus virginianus, Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii, Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, and Barred Owl, Strix varia. Turning right, there’s a short dead end path that ends with Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, kept in a nicely sized enclosure. Heading left down the main path, there’s a very large Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, enclosure. Next to this, there is a small enclosure for Common Raven, Corvus corvax. Across the path on the left is a smallish but nice enclosure for a Bobcat, Lynx rufus. Concluding the North America zone is a very large and very naturalistic enclosure for Red Wolf, Canis rufus. The enclosure has a nice mix of natural shrubbery which provides plenty of cover for the wolves should they choose to hide or shade themselves. Crossing into the general Asia zone, the path branches off from the main loop and first there’s a nice enclosure for a pair of Western Red Pandas, Ailurus fulgens fulgens. After this, there is a large but fairly concrete and barren aviary for Kea, Nestor notabilis, which is listed as being in the Australia zone on the map (not that Kea are from Australia to begin with). After this is where one can find the zoo’s highlight species and the reason for my visit: the Japanese Serow, Capricornis crispus. The zoo currently has 2.1 serows consisting of a breeding pair and their young kid. Following the path back down to the main loop, there’s a large fenced in field home to a single Japanese Sika Deer, Cervus nippon nippon, a single Reeves’s Muntjac, Muntiacus reevesi, with a large scar running down its back, and a younger pair of cranes. Once back on the main path, to the right is a single enclosure representing the South America zone, home to Alpaca, Vicugna pacos, and Greater Rhea, Rhea americana. To the left is a single enclosure representing the rest of the Australia zone, home to Red-Necked Wallaby, Macropus rufogriseus, and Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae. Next to the Alpaca/rhea enclosure is an enclosure for White-Nosed Coati, Nasua narica molaris, which represents the entire Central America zone. Concluding the main loop and the zoo is the Meigs Education Center. This is a large building filled with lots of educational devices for younger visitors and very few animals. To one side, there's a series of very small and poor reptile terrariums home to Ball Python, Python regius, Children’s Python, Antaresia childreni, Common Leopard Gecko, Eublepharis macularius, Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, and Inland Bearded Dragon, Pogona vitticeps. There’s also a small tropical fish tank home to Checkerboard Wrasse, Halichoeres hortulanus and Potter’s Angelfish, Centropyge potteri, among some others. On my visit, an office door was cracked open to show an extremely noisy Eclectus Parrot, Eclectus roratus. Overall I’d say Trevor Zoo is a fairly nice small zoo, with a decent collection of species for both the average visitor and the zoo nerd. There is definitely room for improvement, though, and I wish this tiny zoo well as it certainly has potential and is quite an interesting place. ~Thylo
Very nice review of this unique collection. Now if only you could finish your Bronx zoo walk through everything would be complete...
I've thought about revisiting that it's just that it's so outdated now so I'm not sure how to proceed. I also need to finish my UK trip thread since I was there exactly a year ago! ~Thylo
I visited the zoo again yesterday and noted a few changes: -There are no Bog Turtles to be found and the tank that was signed for them has been removed. There is a sign about how the zoo participates in the local conservation of the species but nothing to suggest it actually has any. -Both the Blanding's Turtle and Children's Python appear to be gone, as is the fish tank in the education building. -There are now unidentified poison dart frogs in the education building. -The raven is gone and replaced by a North American Porcupine. -There are now two muntjac, but I only saw one serow. ~Thylo
Visited the zoo for the third time today and noted even more changes: -The otter enclosure is undergoing renovations on the fencing. -Several Muscovy Ducks have joined the cranes and Snow Geese out on the pond. -The lorikeet and Orton's Boa are gone, with the latter having been replaced by a single Inland Bearded Dragon. -Three Dumeril's Boas are now present in the Tropical Building. -The Common Marmosets appear to be gone, with the number of Geoffroy's Marmosets having increased to at least five or six animals. -There are two Red-Footed Tortoises in a small temporary outdoor pen, though they appear to also have an indoor set-up in the weaver enclosure. -The Red-Tailed Hawks have all been moved to the enclosure that originally held raven and then porcupine. This enclosure is significantly smaller than their previous aviary, which has been filled with a pair of Snowy Owls. -A large herd of sheep now live with the Wild Turkeys. -The Kea enclosure is now much more furnished and nice-looking, and is now inhabited by a pair. -The poison dart frogs in the education building are Green-and-Black and Blue. -The education building reptile displays now consist of Ball Python, California Kingsnake, Green Anole, and at least seven enclosures for Common Leopard Gecko. The Eclectus Parrot appears to be gone as well -A new marine coral tank as been installed, though it currently only houses two unspecified clownfish (probably A. percula). -The last Japanese Serow is still kicking, though it is showing its age a bit now. ~Thylo
