Vallazoo VallaZoo, Valladolid: Full Species List

ralph

ralph

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I visited the Yucatan last month. The only zoo I visited was VallaZoo near Valladolid.
It's quite a new zoo, and therefor, barely information was to be found about it online.
There's not even a Zoochat gallery for it
(If an admin reads this, please make one so I can add the photo's I made of the enclosures and animals)

Not knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. The enclosures were all quite adequate, some even better than many European zoos, the zoo was very clean and tidy, and the animals looked healty. I saw NO stereotypical behavior whatsoever.

Anyway, since most people would be most intersted in a species list, I made one.
I think it's 100% accurate as of my visit (July 24th).
I will also try to add the number of individuals seen for most species.

SPECIES LIST VALLAZOO, VALLADOLID. JULY 24TH 2019

A selection of Domesticated animals (Pigs, horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, muscovy ducks)

Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) (female with at least 4 youngsters)

Black-handed spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) (5)

Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine (Sphiggurus mexicanus) (NOT SEEN)
Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) (6)
Lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) (+/- 8)

Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) (2)
Northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) (1)

Grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) (2)
Coyote (Canis latrans) (3)
White-nosed coati (Nasua narica) (4)
Raccoon (Procyon lotor) (6)
Kinkajou (Potos flavus) (2)
Greater Grison (Galictis vittata) (2)
Tayra (Eira barbara) (1)

Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) (2)
Margay (Leopardus wiedii) (3)
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) (mother and cub)
Cougar (Puma concolor) (2)
Jaguar (Panthera onca) (2)

White-lipped peccari (Tayassu pecari) (7 or 8)
Collared peccari (Pecari tajacu) (+/- 10)
Yucatan brocket deer (Mazama pandora) (2)
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (+/- 10)

Plain chachalaca (Ortalis vetula) (1)
Crested guan (Penelope purpurascens) (3)
Great curassow (Crax rubra) (3)
Occelated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) (2)

Black-bellied whistling-duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) (+/- 5)

Northern crested caracara (Caracara cheriway) (1)

White-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica)

Great green macaw (Ara ambiguus)
Scarlet macaw (Ara macao)
White-fronted amazon (Amazona albifrons)
Yellow-headed parrot (Amazona oratrix)

Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) (1)
Central American river turtle (Dermatemys mawii) (1)
Meso-American slider (Trachemys venusta)
Furrowed wood turtle (Rhinoclemmys areolata)

Green iguana (Iguana iguana) (over 20)

Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) (+/- 5)
American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) (1)
 
Thanks, did not know about that!

Also, some former holdings just for fun:
Guatemalan black howler (Alouatta pigra) (enclosure empty, crossed off map)
Bairds tapir (Tapirus bairdii) (enclosure empty, crossed off map)
Hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus sp) (crossed off map, replaced by opossum)
 
This looks like a very interesting place. I am going to Yucatan in December and will stay in Playa del Carmen outside of Cancun. I wonder how easy is it to get to this zoo from there. It appears to be a 2 hours drive, but I won't have a car.
 
zoo_enthusiast said:
This looks like a very interesting place. I am going to Yucatan in December and will stay in Playa del Carmen outside of Cancun. I wonder how easy is it to get to this zoo from there. It appears to be a 2 hours drive, but I won't have a car.
Click to expand...
Google tells me that there are frequent buses to Valladoid from Playa del Carmen (with ADO) which stop in the centre of town, then you can get a taxi out to the zoo.

I see on Google also, that there is a hotel right by the zoo (Natural Reserve Cabanas VallaZoo) which seems relatively cheap.
 
Kinda offtopic, but Playa del Carmen is not the best place to stay. I wonder why you picked this place as your base. It is very touristy, VERY expensive thanks to rich American tourists (restaurant prices are more than double than for example Rio Lagartos).I stayed in 7 different places in the Yucatan, and PdC was my least favourite by far. I only stayed there at the end because it is close to the airport and I had an early flight back and because there's where the ferry from Cozumel arrives.

Valladolid is quite nice, I would recommend staying there at least 2 nights. It's also close to Chichen Itza, which is must visit. I visited VallaZoo by taxi from Valladolid. Taxi's are very affordable for short distances.

Also, renting a car there is very cheap and easy. The roads are good, but there's barely any traffic.
Busses are cheap too. I would recommend ADO, as they are the best company out there.

In conclusion, I agree with Chlidonias. ADO bus, then taxi.
Try to arrive at 9. All carnivores, the tamanduas and the armadillos were very active after opening, but almost all were sleeping at 11.
 
We'll stay in Playa del Carmen for family vacation. We have been to Chichenitza last year (and had dinner in Valladolid during that trip) so staying in Valladolid for 2 nights is not an option:( Unfotunately, I did not know anything about the Valla Zoo until I read your post, otherwise I might have planned things a little differently. Honestly, I am not even sure if I'll be able to go to Valla Zoo this year (my kids really want to go to Xcaret, which is much easier to get to but will be a return visit for me, so I am not as excited about that) but we will most likely go to Yucatán again next year (it's been an annual vacation for us for the past several years, as my family loves it). If I am able to go to Valla Zoo in December, I'll make sure to arrive before 9, as the carnivores (especially grison, tayra, jaguarundi, and margay) and tamandua will be my main targets, and also paca, porcupine, howlers, and white-lipped peccaries.
 
I have visited VallaZoo yesterday and spent couple hours there. The collection did not change much, though I did not see caracara and the porcupine apparently was taken off exhibit.
 
I just visited VallaZoo again, after 3 years. The collection remains similar. They now have a young 1.0 howler (Alouatta pigra). On the other hand, the armadillos, tamandua, and porcupine are gone. There is only 1.0 brocket deer. The 2 opossums that I saw appear to be Didelphis marsupialis species, not the virginiana.
 
They also have a small flock of American flamingos and a keel-billed toucan. The turtles are mostly unsigned, so I cannot confirm if the species lineup is the same. I don’t think I’ve seen a Dermatemys mawii today…
 
zoo_enthusiast said:
The 2 opossums that I saw appear to be Didelphis marsupialis species, not the virginiana.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Did you manage to get a photograph? What did the signage say?
The signage said virginiana in 2019 (took a pic of the sign) but it could have been wrong ofcourse.
I did not get a great look at the adult female, I only saw the youngsters and I couldn't personally tell what species they're from based on just the joeys.
 

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ralph said:
Interesting. Did you manage to get a photograph? What did the signage say?
The signage said virginiana in 2019 (took a pic of the sign) but it could have been wrong ofcourse.
I did not get a great look at the adult female, I only saw the youngsters and I couldn't personally tell what species they're from based on just the joeys.
Click to expand...
I did take a few photos of one (the other was asleep and I did not get a good look), will post them once we get home next week. I did not photograph the sign, unfortunately… Since their lifespan is quite short, it is possible that I saw different individuals
 
I have posted some of the photos from my December Vallazoo visit, including a photo of the opossum.
 
That one is 100% Didelphis marsupialis.

I'm starting to believe the possums I saw in 2019 were this species as well. The face pattern of the joeys matches better with D. marsupialis than it does with virgianus. I think the signage was just off.
 
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