Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park Santa Ana Zoo News

Lori Patton said:
@BenFoxster -- I'm curious whether you have visited the Santa Ana Zoo before or will your pending visit in June be your first time? Your ideas for a South American-themed zoo are definitely interesting and ambitious and you obviously have a great zeal for zoo exhibit planning. However, I generally concur with everything that @Westcoastperson has said in reply.

My first visit to the Santa Ana Zoo was last year and I liked it so well that I decided to take a break from membership at the L.A. Zoo to support Santa Ana instead. My reasons for doing this included many of the things that you mentioned you were not in favor of in terms of the species collection and theming. Specifically, the following animals/areas:
  • Crean Family Farm -- The children's zoo has a very well-executed farm area with delightful buildings and a fun assortment of animals. The rides give it a county fair feeling and there is a fantastic new Goat Encounter (the goats have elevated ramps so they can walk above visitors). At a time when the L.A. Zoo has closed its petting zoo and all but abandoned its own children's zoo, I really appreciate the Santa Ana Zoo's ongoing investment in this area.
  • Butterfly "Flight" Exhibit -- The butterfly house is easily the best I've been to and is quite a bit larger than the nearest one to Los Angeles at the Natural History Museum.
  • Camels -- I'm thrilled that there are camels at the zoo! I rank camels right up there in my top 10 zoo animals and I haven't seen them at the L.A. Zoo since the year 2000.
  • Bald Eagle -- Our national bird isn't very accessible for most Americans to see unless you are in certain areas of the country. Also, due to laws preventing bald eagles from being kept in captivity unless they are unable to fly, people aren't likely to see them in zoos. Until six months ago, I had never seen a bald eagle and I'm no spring chicken myself! Spirit, the zoo's eagle, is a gorgeous bird that you can view incredibly close up within only a few feet. If you want to see harpy eagles, there is a good exhibit at the L.A. Zoo.
Also, I do take issue with your notion that the Santa Ana Zoo should have an exclusive South American theme due to the large Hispanic population in the city. Although I'm not Hispanic myself, I did grow up in the San Fernando Valley and attended schools with a predominantly Hispanic student body. As @Westcoastperson stated, most Hispanics in the SoCal area are from Mexico or Central America, so there is no reason that a South American themed zoo would be anymore appealing to them than an African, Asian, or Australian themed collection. I can assure you that kids are kids no matter what their ethnic background is and that they want to see lions, tigers, bears, etc.

I hope that you will visit the Santa Ana Zoo and get a chance to go on the rides and see all the animals. It's a charming little zoo that is doing its best to build new exhibits for the local community.
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Real nice perspective, having not seen any of the mentioned exhibits myself in person, they sound really great. I had no clue bald eagles were not allowed in captivity unless they were rescues, no wonder I haven't seen flighted ones in aviaries. I guess it was just a misunderstanding, as the site itself calls itself a " 20-acre zoo focusing on the animals and plants of Central and South America." which gave me the impression that it was primarily SA themed.

As long as my family is still fine with going to Disneyland this June then I'll definitley try to give Santa Ana Zoo a visit for sure!
 
A new blog video talking about their upcoming River’s Edge habitat. A couple key points mentioned:
  • They expect to receive their animals for the habitat during Fall. The habitat still has an unknown opening date so far.
  • It appears the zoo director mention the primate habitat will display spider monkeys, not specific about subspecies.
  • Interpretive elements are being installed including what looks like Mata Mata statue and iridescent Arapaima statue.
 
Yesterday I visited the Santa Ana Zoo and have the following news/updates on the Children's Zoo area:
  • The Chinese alligator habitat has been completed, but is still awaiting a gator for the exhibit. The pond is beautifully landscaped and an employee confirmed that the zoo is still planning to get a Chinese alligator and not another crocodilian species.
  • Three white peafowl and two radiated tortoises are on exhibit. When I visited the Children's Zoo last year, that section had been closed off during construction of the gator exhibit.
  • The cow sculpture that kids could pretend to milk has been removed from the barn.
  • A prehensile-tailed skink terrarium is now inside the barn.
  • A Virginia opossum is now on exhibit between the spectacled owl and prehensile-tailed porcupine.
  • A handwashing station has been installed by the Goat Encounter.
  • The facades of some of the buildings have been repainted with bright candy-colored hues. For example, although most of the barn is still dark red, one side is now magenta. I think the more traditional colors looked better, but at least the zoo is continuing to invest in improvements to the area.
I also had the opportunity to take the train ride around the Children's Zoo and Tierra de las Pampas habitat and it was better than I expected offering a different perspective of the exhibits. The engineer also gives a narration throughout the ride with interesting tidbits about the animals, such as the blue-and-yellow macaw being 43-years-old! There are giant animal crackers along part of the route, which were part of the former Heimlich's Chew Chew Train ride at Disney's California Adventure theme park in the defunct Bug's Land. Train passengers can also see a habitat for a black domestic rabbit that I was unable to find later when I looked for it so I'm not sure if the exhibit can be seen otherwise. The ride costs an extra $6, but is worth it to do once.
 
Santa Ana Zoo has started having extended hours during July on weekends and selected Wednesdays. I visited this last Wednesday and have some commentary on the extended hour program, the current state of the zoo, and general updates to the animal collection.

Animal Collection
  • Pygmy marmosets are on exhibit in the main zoo where the prehensile-tailed skink was formerly displayed. The pair of marmosets are absolutely adorable, but there are some viewing challenges due to glare on the tilted glass window.
  • The violet turaco, which was held adjacent to the marmoset/former skink exhibit, has passed away according to the Friends of Santa Ana Zoo website. There is nothing currently in the exhibit.
  • A Mexican box turtle is now located in the Exploration Outpost where the boa constrictor used to be held. The snake passed away last fall according to a sign I saw posted during a prior visit.
  • Two black-and-white colobus monkeys and a coppery titi monkey have also died per the website. I didn't see any titi monkeys during my visit and only saw a glimpse of a colobus through a covered fence as those monkeys are currently off-exhibit due to construction.
  • The "Flight!" butterfly house is open and unlike last year there is a poster showing the various species on exhibit.
  • The only animals I saw in the Exploration Outpost were the box turtle and golden poison dart frogs. The other terrariums had the lights off and looked empty.
  • There was only one Victoria crowned pigeon whereas last year there were two.
Extended Hours Program
  • Very few people were present for the extended hours on July 2, which lasted until 7:30 p.m. The butterfly exhibit was open and no virtual queue was necessary, which was a plus. However, the aviary was closed even though I had called the day before and confirmed it would be open.
  • There were not many animals out due to the ongoing Primate Forest construction and the fact that animals have a choice to be in their exhibit or off-view holding areas. I did not see the ocelots, black howler monkeys, emperor or golden-headed lion tamarins, ring-tailed lemurs, sloth, blue-and-yellow macaws, white-faced saki, or red-rumped agouti.
  • Alert: Make sure you return to the exit at least ten minutes before the grounds close. There was a message on the loudspeaker at 7:10 p.m. that the gates were closing at 7:30 p.m., however, when I arrived back at the front entrance just prior to that no one was there and the gates were closed! I almost got locked in the zoo!!! Fortunately, I saw a light on in the gift shop and went inside and started calling "Hello!" A man came out from the back and said he had been given the all-clear to close the gate from his supervisor because no one was left in the zoo. He also said that they do not have staff there all night so it's lucky he was still there to open the gate. They need to do a much better job of clearing the zoo at the end of the day and make sure they do another announcement on the loud speaker before they close the gates.
State of the Zoo
  • There is a lot of construction going on in the main zoo so not a lot of animals are on display.
  • The new River's Edge exhibit is open to walk through, but no animals are expected until the fall. The exhibit is beautifully landscaped with state-of-the-art design and should be spectacular when it fully opens.
  • The new lar gibbon and crested capuchin exhibits are completed and are very nice. They appear bigger and less cagey-looking with plants in the exhibits and more climbing opportunities.
  • I spent about two hours in the main zoo area and saw about 13 animal species (not counting butterflies). I didn't go to the children's zoo this time as I did that very recently, but there are about another dozen there, too. I haven't been in the aviary yet this year, but there used to be about 8 species inside. The zoo needs to do a better job of filling empty enclosures, especially in the Exploration Station because that seems to be an easy and inexpensive way they could get more animals.
 
Another video update for the month of August regarding the construction of Amazon River’s Edge complex. According to zoo director Ethan, the exhibit should debut by the end of the year. 3 primate habitats and 1 otter habitat comprise of the complex. As for species announce, here are the following:
  • Giant Otters
  • Mexican Spider Monkeys
  • Golden Lion Tamarins
  • Howler Monkeys
 
Julio C Castro said:
Another video update for the month of August regarding the construction of Amazon River’s Edge complex. According to zoo director Ethan, the exhibit should debut by the end of the year. 3 primate habitats and 1 otter habitat comprise of the complex. As for species announce, here are the following:
  • Giant Otters
  • Mexican Spider Monkeys
  • Golden Lion Tamarins
  • Howler Monkeys
Click to expand...
Nice species selection, I wasn’t expecting both howlers AND spider monkeys to make it in, I thought it would be a one or the other type scenario, so this is a nice surprise. I also definitely didn’t expect to see golden lion tamarins here so that’s fantastic news.
 
BenFoxster said:
Nice species selection, I wasn’t expecting both howlers AND spider monkeys to make it in, I thought it would be a one or the other type scenario, so this is a nice surprise. I also definitely didn’t expect to see golden lion tamarins here so that’s fantastic news.
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Honestly I assumed at least the howlers would be part of it since when they started the primary primate habitat, they began working on two others behind the otter habitat. I’ve seen the space they are working with and it’s certainly a welcoming surprise to see tamarins getting an upgrade :)
 
Very good to hear. I always hoped they’d improve to the point that they could achieve it, they’re technically my most local actual zoo so I’ve been going since I was small. Excited for River’s Edge to be sure (can I get lucky enough that they get some fish? maybe a river stingray or two? ;)).
 
Thomas said:
What videos?

Next Month as in December?
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Sorry it’s been mentioned in videos posted by the zoos YouTube and in the articles mentioned above that the exhibit will be ready to open before the end of 2025, so either this month or next.
 
Local_Shark said:
Very good to hear. I always hoped they’d improve to the point that they could achieve it, they’re technically my most local actual zoo so I’ve been going since I was small. Excited for River’s Edge to be sure (can I get lucky enough that they get some fish? maybe a river stingray or two? ;)).
Click to expand...

No fish, just these following animals.

Julio C Castro said:
Another video update for the month of August regarding the construction of Amazon River’s Edge complex. According to zoo director Ethan, the exhibit should debut by the end of the year. 3 primate habitats and 1 otter habitat comprise of the complex. As for species announce, here are the following:
  • Giant Otters
  • Mexican Spider Monkeys
  • Golden Lion Tamarins
  • Howler Monkeys
Click to expand...
 
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