I like to think of the Utica Zoo as my second hometown zoo seeing how I live in between Syracuse NY and Utica NY, with Utica being a slightly longer drive for me. Utica is a small zoo in the small city of Utica which is actually somewhat amazing to still have one here as the city only has about 65-67K residents and the metro area just under 300K. However the zoo is on the small side and somewhat outdated in many aspects, they have continued to try and revitalize the zoo to its former glory under new leadership. Since about 2010 the zoo has been getting better every year with minor improvements and new animals each year. The zoo is not really divided into themed areas but more or less has some geographical relations to each exhibit. There's a decent children's zoo, a walking trail with North American Animals in the woods, a section now known as African Alley, the Asian Domain as well as 2 buildings; one featuring reptiles and other small animals, and a second housing some Primates. The zoo also features a small gift shop which doubles as the ticket booth and has a small eatery that is run by a local restaurant. One thing that Utica has always had are incredible gardens, the volunteers the zoo has does a wonderful job each spring and summer keeping the zoo looking beautiful and it is supposedly home to the world's largest Watering can. The zoo has two seasons Spring/Summer and Winter/Fall so depending on when you go will dictate what you can see, many animals are not on view in the Fall/Winter depending on the weather, however you can get in for half price and the zoo even offers snowshoe rentals. My review is based on if you go during the spring or summer as that is always the best time to visit. If you have trouble with hills or have someone who uses a wheelchair, this is not the friendliest of zoos, some paths are not wheelchair accessible and there are many steep grades. The zoo is however on the smaller side so what you have to walk in hills is reduced by the small footprint of the overall zoo. The first area is somewhat branched off in the lower zoo area, the Children's zoo is just that, an area that has goats and sheep that can be fed and pet as well as a playground and smaller animals and a Barn. Visitors can spot Emus, Beavers, Alpacas, Wallabies, Porcupines, some raptors and several typical barnyard animals. The real stars however are the California Sea Lions, which also treat guest to daily demonstrations except on Tuesdays. Unfortunately the exhibit is severely outdated like many at the zoo, it is large enough but barely and features very little land and no underwater viewing. This is one exhibit the zoo desperately wants to improve if they can secure the funding. Opposite direction from the Children's zoo is the so-called Asian Domain which features a handful of exhibits. the first being a small deck walkway that gives visitors an incredible view of the Mohawk Valley and Utica, its also the spacious yard for the Bactrian Camels. There is also a small bridge over a pond that has waterfowl on one side and a recent addition of Chinese Alligators on the other, the zoo originally had American Alligators before the new changes. They also feature Blackbuck from India in the old Wild Boar exhibit. Moving uphill is the Bald Eagle exhibit, a modest sized mesh flight cage for them on the hillside. Further up is the walking trail thru the woods which features several North American Animals among the trees. Residents include Snowy Owls, Lynx and Mexican Wolves. These are somewhat newer exhibits and it shows as they are more spacious and naturalistic. After leaving the woods along the trail is the area now known as African Alley, which was once an extension of the North American exhibits. Along here are the newest residents to the zoo in several exhibits; Serval, Rung Tailed Lemurs, Hartman's Zebra and a Male Ostrich. A little further down is what use to be the old Bear Grotto that has recently been revamped into an exhibit for Vultures and African Crested Porcupines. The zoos second crown jewel is the African Lion Exhibit on the hillside next to the Vultures. This exhibit is roughly 1 acre in overall size and has viewing from the lower area to above the exhibit on the walking trail. Currently home to 3 sibling lions, the zoo originally built this exhibit for a pair of Amur Tigers. Easily the nicest and most naturalistic environment at the zoo, even if it does look more like the NY woods than an African Savannah. The Zoo has two buildings right in the middle of everything, the Primate House and the Wildlife Hall. The later features an attached classroom area as well as the Zoos Vet and administration. The Animals are heavily concentrated in the main hall area featuring primarily reptiles and amphibians among others in several exhibits of all different sizes. On the left side after entering are 5 mid-sized exhibits featuring snakes, lizards and even a kinkajou in natural displays. The right side has two large exhibits with three small terrariums in between. The first thing you will see the large Burmese Python exhibit that at one point was the American Alligator's winter quarters. The best exhibit is the largest on the end of a South American Rainforest featuring Golden-Headed Lion Tamarins and Rhinoceros Iguanas. a small staircase to the right of the entry leads to several small tanks of lizards and insects surrounding a large octagonal exhibit of Cotton-Top Tamarins. These monkeys seem to love people as they sit right up next to the glass and interact with everyone. Across the way is the old Primate building which unfortunately is incredibly outdated, and just outside is a small Red Panda Exhibit that allows guests a close up view of these creatures. The Primate house only has a few residents these days including, smaller all-indoor exhibits of Golden Lion Tamarins and Vampire Bats as well as larger cages for Spider Monkeys and White Handed Gibbons. And when I say cages that describes it perfectly, these are very outdated and feature no natural design other than ropes and bars to swing and climb on, and they are also very small by today's standards. In the summer they do have outdoor access but this isn't much better as they are essentially chain link fence enclosures. Thankfully the second half of this building which many years ago was the Cat building was closed down aside from some outside exhibits for snow leopards (they no longer have them). The goal has always been to open the old cat building up as a new Rainforest building and home for it's primates, and the closed door leading to that side is cracked open enough that you can see inside that they have the exhibits up and walls painted. Funding is tough to come by however and they are trying to raise enough money to someday finish and open them to the public. All in all its not the worst zoo in the country and the keepers do take very good care of the animals, unfortunately in such a small market it is very difficult to bring in enough visitors and secure enough funding. Hopefully down the road the zoo will be able to regain it's AZA membership and renovate the old exhibits. Until then thus will always be a mediocre zoo, in a small city but still worth the visit.
