Visited in August:
A few notes:
- The nocturnal house is a huge improvement from my last visit in 2014. In there I managed to successfully see all the species kept (I think?) with relative ease. The exhibits are also much more spacious and suitable for the animals which is nice.
Species I saw in there were:
- Lowland Paca
- Grey-Legged Douroucouli
- Kinkajou
- Linnaeus's Two-Toed Sloth
- Gray Mouse Lemurs
- Southern Tamandua
- Yellow Armadillo
- Southern Three Banded Armadillo
- Lesser Hairy Armadillo
- Larger Hairy Armadillo
- Either Pygmy slow loris or greater slow loris but unsure.
One thing I must admit though is that the signage in the nocturnal house is appalling. A mere slide-show for the armadillos that was way up high in the corner of the ceiling and didn't actually show which armadillo was which (its quite difficult to I'd them when it's dark!)
This is also the reason I'm u sure of which loris I saw. It could even have been both as it was too dark I couldn't tell what species it was.
The exhibit for the Capybara, Greater Rhea and Brazilian Tapir is stil, quite lacklustre. There is little enrichment, very little water (especially for tapir and caybara) and they're essentially in a field with very little grass. Space-wise it's adequate. But there are no trees, no shrubs and just some logs. As a result the animals were pretty much all indoors resting with only the rhea outside sitting in the middle of the empty paddock.
The Greater Flamingo/Scarlet Ibis/Cape Thick-Knee exhibit has improved somewhat from my last visit, but it is still far from adequate. No pond, little space and a concrete floor in some places. This is probably the exhibit most in need of a renovation. I also didn't manage to see the little egret.
A few new additions since my last visit were a Bennett's Wallaby Walkthrough which was okay, but I've seen better. Little enrichment but there was a small fence which the wallabies could get through to you but you couldn't walk past to them so they had the option to stay away from people which is nice.
Another addition was the African Penguin exhibit. This is a nice Improvement from my last visit - a larger pool, little shelters and some foliage they could forage in were all pleasing to see. Although I must admit, this is probably the only time I've seen penguins be so inactive! I saw one penguins head peaking out of a shelter and that was it
Also, the Giant Anteater exhibit remains the same. A weird combination of a garden with a brick shed with cat flaps for the anteaters. It hasn't plenty of cover though, I just think it could be a little bigger. Space is clearly an issue at this zoo in this area. Also, are the Azara's Agouti kept in this exhibit? Because I've yet to see them on either trip.
Speaking of space, one other gripe is the Ocelot exhibit. I know they've had great breeding success in the past but the exhibit is very narrow and cramped. It's not very tall either. This is also seen in the Ring-Tailed Coati, White-Faced Saki and Red-Ruffed Lemur exhibits.
They have acquired some red pandas since the last time I visited too. It just so happened that a talk was about to start when I reached them, so I got a little bit of info on them. They're sisters and so they get along well. They're exhibit was quite small though, with a large brick wall surrounding them. They had about as much space as the meerkats between them.
More positive notes:
- Very modern and attractive looking meerkat exhibit, right next to the picnic area and food stand. They seem to have been very smart in placing the 'popular' exhibits in this area, with the penguins, squirrel monkeys, wallaby walk through, meerkats and red pandas all in this part of the zoo.
- Saw some nice rarities I missed last visit, like the plate-billed mountain toucan.
- Also, they've since acquired a pair of Black Howler Monkeys. They share the exhibit with the Squirrel Monkeys and I don't think they appreciated being right next to the outdoor food court too much.
- The Sclater's crowns pigeons were still there (always a favourite!) and were in the Sulcatta tortoise pen area, along with a very noisy Blue and Gold Macaw. Think this area is relatively new.
- The Ring-Tailed Lemur Walkthrough was pleasantly surprising. although the red-ruffeds had been move out? They even checked your bag for food or drink and made you leave it outside before entering which was interesting, but I suppose it's all in the safety of the animals. One female had a tiny baby on her, a nice surprise
Well that's about it for my update! I must admit they've done some hefty renovations since my last visit, but there's certainly still a long way to go! The Ocelots, Coatis, Red-Ruffeds, Flamingos, Red Pandas and Capybara/Tapir/Rhea exhibit could do with some changes. But I do feel one thing this zoo lacks is space. Especially in the outdoor area. The indoor exhibits are good for the most part, the nocturnal hous is fab too - just needs some better signage. A theme present in most of the zoo but definitely in there.
