And just for fun: 1. Southwick 2. RWP 3. Capron 4. Stone 5. FPZ 6. Buttonwood 7. Beardsley 8. York 9. Lupa 10. Forest Park Have not visited LEO Ranch in CT. Only zoological facility I have not visited in New England. Also doesn't include aquariums which NEA and Mystic rank among my top 10 in the country
I Just read BWPZ's master plan and wow I am so happy because the elephants are getting a new home and when they pass indian rhinos. The zoo is evolving and i'm so happy for it.
Unfortunately RWP dropped the ball on preserving the elephants their. All 3 girls could have been impregnated AI but the zoo didnt want to put the money or time into it. They will keep them until at least 2 pass but soon New England will have no more elephants in any New England institute. Though, all three species of rhino in captivity will probably be represented.
Also Southwick never owned the elephants. They were leased. And personally knowing all the owners of those elephants, none were mistreated by the zoo or owners. Dhondi, the elephant that was probably the one that activists claimed was abused, was not. She had around the clock care during her illness and was incurable.
As much as I do like elephants and will miss there being African Bush Elephants in the Northeast (seriously is there any other zoo in the Northeast US with African other than RWPZ? It seems everyone else has Asian, which makes sense as I think they're more cold-weather tolerant) I really don't think any New England zoo has the proper space for them. RWPZ's outdoor yard is perfectly fine but their indoor barn for both them and giraffes suck. I'm not entirely sure what their master plan is outside of the soon to open rainforest house, reptile house, ANOTHER kangaroo walkthrough, tigers, and the seal/sea lion/penguin complex but I do hope that once the elephants leave, we see a new barn be built with the elephant yard being converted into a Masai Giraffe/antelope yard and the current giraffe yard be converted for Southern White Rhinoceros. I only say white because I don't think the yard is suitable enough for a pair of Black and I don't like the idea of keeping Black if they can't be bred unless it's a surplus animal. I do agree the zoo should have AIed their elephants, though. It's funny, I've never visited Capron, Buttonwood, or York and have never really had much interest in them but now you're all telling me they're better than Beardsley (well, except York- which idt I've ever heard of tbh) and now I sort of want to visit. As for Beardsley, yes it's smaller atm but they have some good future plans and have a lot of space to expand. You can also thank them for Southwick's getting Vicuna, as it was Beardsley's planned import which inspired the import. Where did they get them anyhow? LA and Beardsley were both supposed to import animals from Europe but the move was shut-down. Beardsley even built an enclosure and housing for them (now holds Giant Anteater). I don't think anyhow has visited LEO on here and I doubt anyone will unfortunately. @loxodonta have you been to the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Connecticut? It's a great little bird zoo. ~Thylo
I didn't know that I remember reading a article on the girl. The article stated that she was being mistreated. Now that I know this info I think the article was just people sharing fake news. And does southwick's have a master plan. Also I previously said York should get the elephants but I feel like I want to change my opinion but before I do what New england zoo do u guys think the elephants should go to?
None. As I said no zoo in New England has the space or visitation to properly house elephants. RWPZ is the only one that comes close but, as I said, their house is pretty awful. I think African Bush Elephants are a species that one would have to house indoors for a longer period of time during the winter than most other species including Asian Elephant (which is probably why they're much more common in the Northeast) and as such they would need a really big indoor pen (probably multiple pens) and I don't think any zoo here can provide that unfortunately. And yes I know bringing in elephants would likely increase visitation to any zoo with them but I still don't see any others having the space for that. Perhaps we'll see an Asian Elephant complex done properly up here one day, but for now I see only rhinos and giraffes being the mega-herbivore stars of New England zoos going into the future. ~Thylo
I agree that we might see a well done asian elephant complex. I think i'd like a asian elephant complex at FPZ maybe where the giraffes are currently. Also I might like to see one at southwick's zoo maybe where their rhinos are currently.
Caribbean Coast was nice. The main area is an aviary containing the flamingos, Scarlet Ibis, macaws and the Jamaican Iguanas. As you enter the flamingo pool is right there there is 2 places with posts for the macaws. There is 3 species on exhibit but on the day I was there only the Scarlet Macaws were on exhibit. The iguanas are on the left side of the path in their own area. After you leave the aviary you come to the bushdog exhibit, it seemed decent and the dogs were quite active.
Thanks for mentioning the Leo Ranch and Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. I had never heard of either.It doesn't seem like I was be going to the Leo Ranch any time soon if ever ( I wish I could they have some interesting species) , I will be planning on going to Livingston Ripley in the fall once the waterfowl are in better plumage.
I'm not the biggest fan of capron park zoo. It's small and the last time I was their the exhibits were a bit small. Some of the animals I kinda hope go to other zoos. I kinda hope that the lions if they are given the chance would go to stone because I think they would be able to handle them.
@ThylacineAlive if you want to visit Capron or Buttonwood (actually both can be done in one day) I would be happy to show you them
I might be doing a small zoo tour in October of the Rhode Island and southeast Mass zoos if the weather is still fine enough to properly see them and I have enough funds so I will let you know ~Thylo
Really? I have only seen Bush Dogs twice, that was during my two visits to the Saint Louis Zoo. The Bush Dogs were sleeping both times.
I've seen Bush Dogs in four zoos and they've always been very active, even more so when kept in big groups. ~Thylo
I found pictures of baby black bears at york's and that made me remember seeing them but at my most recent visit they weren't their. Does anybody have any info on that.
As native New Englander of a certain age...Benson’s Wild Animal Park in Hudson, New Hampshire was pretty exciting when I was a kid. Closed since the mid-1980’s I believe. Squam Lake in New Hampshire and The Maine Game Farm in Maine, exhibit native species. Some zoos I remember have been closed since the very early 1980’s or late 1970’s. From back in an era when many small cities had small (sometimes not very pleasant by our standards) zoos. Mohegan Park Zoo in Norwich, CT. New London Zoo also in Connecticut. The Houlton Game Farm in Maine. I can remember Buttonwood Park being a very small (and free zoo) a few blocks from my uncle’s house. Massachusetts seems to have kept it’s small zoos. I think Forest Park in Springfield is the only one that closed down for a significant number of years before being reopened. In the 1970’s my grandparents lived in Bristol, CT and we visited Forest Park when it was a traditional brick and steel zoo with bears and big cats. I took my niece there in 2003. It was a pleasant little zoo then...but I think it’s actually gone a bit downhill. Franklin Park and Beardsley I don’t think ever closed down, but both Stone Zoo and Roger Williams Park closed for a few years while they renovated themselves. For a couple years Zoological Attraction in New England meant two institutions: The Mystic Aquarium and The New England Aquarium. When I was a kid living in Groton, CT, Mystic displayed Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Dall Porpoise, Beluga Whales, California Sea Lions, Stellar Sea Lions, Northern Fur Seals, Harbor Seals, and a Walrus. As for today, I think the Beardsley Zoo is being underrated here. I’d say it’s the third (maybe fourth depending upon your opinion of Franklin Park’s Rainforest Building) best Zoo in New England. Taken together as Zoo New England, Stone and Franklin Park still probably fall behind Roger Williams and maybe even Southwicks. Dividing up Zoo New England and only ranking the collections I’ve visited, I’d rate New England’s Zoos thus: 1) Roger Williams Park Zoo: first time I ever saw Lions. Vastly improved since 1978. AZA accredited. The Polar Bear Exhibit in 1990 was pretty good. 2) Southwick’s Zoo: first visited in 1992, last in 2005. Good collection, so-so but improving exhibits? 3) Beardsley Zoo: Nice Wolf exhibits. Love the comparison of the Red Wolves and Grey Wolves. They should exhibit Coyotes too. The Carousel is THE Zoo Carousel (in my opinion—although San Antonio’s is nice...but not nearly the first in the “modern zoo age”. That would be Beardsley). 4) Buttonwood Park Zoo. The last great small city zoo in New England. 5) Stone Zoo. Points for exhibiting a natural prey species for the Snow Leopard. Big points. 6) Franklin Park Zoo. Boston could do better. 7) York’s Wild Kingdom. A lot of animals. Expensive. I last visited when I was staying with my Step-Dad and his wife in Sanford, Maine. Maybe it was the family dynamic...but three visits between 1991-1996 and the place never really appealed to me. But it has been 22 years now so who knows. 8) Forest Park Zoo. The very first Zoo I ever visited as a child. Winter 1976, my Uncle (a couple years older than me) convinced me they could not play hockey on the park pond because of the Hammerhead Sharks living beneath the thin icy surface. Jaws had come out the year before and was still being shown in theaters as a second or third run feature. We were obessed with it.
Mystic still keeps Beluga Whale, Steller's Sea Lion, California Sea Lion, Northern Fur Seal, Harbor Seal (two subspecies), and occasionally Grey Seal in their rehabilitation center. They also keep a Spotted Seal now and sometime keep Harp Seal in the rehabilitation center. Not the best aquarium I've ever been to but certainly up there. @Pleistohorse I would love to hear more about the Mohegan Park Zoo and New London Zoo. One zoo no one has mentioned is Action Wildlife in Goshen, CT, which is fine as it's definitely towards the bottom of the list. They list a series of exotic hoofstock on their website, but it's almost entirely domestics in fenced-in glassy paddocks. It's also all drive around, and their "drive-through" is just another enclosure one drives around the outside of. It's also super expensive. ~Thylo
So I just moved house a few days ago and I have just realized that I'm only about 40 minutes from Forest Park and just under an hour from Lupa. I see those zoos are at the bottom of several people's lists and I'm curious as to why. Are these zoos worth me taking a day to go and see or are they too poor to bother? As a side note I'm a bit surprised to see almost all of Massachusetts' are more towards the southeastern portion of the state with there not seeming to be any further north than Boston or further west than Springfield (Magic Wings might be but that's a butterfly garden as oppose to a proper zoo; and I suppose Springfield isn't southeast but still) ~Thylo
