Entering the third round of the competition, primates will be the category that these two seeds go against each other with. Bronx has the spectacular Congo Gorilla Forest and Baboon Rerserve as highlights as well as habitats in Jungle World. Omaha has above average gorilla and orangutan habitats and several primate habitats in the Lied Jungle, including free ranging golden lion tamarins.
On the one hand there is Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, a world-class facility and what I consider the 2nd best zoo (after San Diego) out of the hundreds that I've visited. I'll actually be in Omaha next month to see all of the splendors on offer at this Nebraskan establishment and it will be my 3rd visit in a decade. Not bad for a Canadian! In terms of primates, there are the 4 gorilla exhibits that are interesting but nothing above average, a couple of huge netted orangutan/gibbon habitats that are in fact quite impressive in terms of height, plus a myriad of monkey species in the Lied Jungle rainforest building. There are squirrel monkeys in the new Children's Zoo, spider monkey islands, possibly still some primates in Kingdoms of the Night (the world's largest Nocturnal House) plus Expedition Madagascar. Someone else might be able to provide a species list but the zoo is stacked with primates in mainly good exhibits. Then there is the Bronx Zoo, with the truly outstanding Congo Gorilla Forest complex that still holds up well almost 20 years later. Gorillas, mandrills and other primates can be found there, plus some excellent primate exhibits in Jungle World. Madagascar and especially Baboon Reserve are both brilliant and in this particular category I think that it is safe to say that Bronx wins in terms of exhibit quality. No other zoo comes close to raising dollars for conservation than the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and the extra cost to tour Congo Gorilla Forest goes towards conservation initiatives. My vote goes towards this New York institution. When it comes to the Bronx Zoo then the topic of conservation is clearly appropriate.
I've voted for Bronx, probably the first time I've gone mainly for aesthetics and not so much on collection. I mean look at Ethiopian Highlands and CGF, they look stunning. Even the indoor enclosures in Madagascar, Jungle World and The Mouse House seem quite well done, especially in comparison to the same/similar species equivalents in Omaha. You keep dropping these subtle hints SL but what's going on with your Summer Road Trip? No thread yet?
I leave on July 12th and after road trips in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017 this will be the 8th 'Snowleopard Road Trip' to grace ZooChat. It is arguably the least exciting road trip yet but even so it will last 16 days and 40+ zoos will be toured and reviewed. I'll mainly be visiting a whole bunch of small places in Michigan and Wisconsin, with a couple of truly great American zoos that I've toured in the past (Omaha and Detroit) on the itinerary. When the dust settles on this one then I'll have visited at least 415 different zoos/aquariums in my lifetime.
Only someone like you could call 40+ zoos anything other than fantastic! So when are you starting up a thread? (Hint hint)
Will one of the Wisconsin zoos be the International Crane Foundation's headquarters? They keep all known crane species.
I'm not going to Brookfield, Lincoln Park, Minnesota, Milwaukee County or the International Crane Foundation as I've seen them all before. As I said earlier, I'm visiting many smaller zoos and primarily in Michigan and Wisconsin because there are around 60 zoological facilities between those two states. I don't wish to derail this thread any more than it has already been, but beginning on July 12th then folks can follow along with the 8th 'Snowleopard Road Trip' report. The goal is to have visited approximately 415-418 different zoos in my lifetime by the time this latest trek is over.
