San Diego Zoo Where can you actually see a tuatara in the US?

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I just saw a cool picture of the tuatara at the Chester Zoo in England and now have extreme tuatara envy.

The San Diego Zoo has a graphic on its reptile house that essentially says "We have tuataras! They are very special reptiles that few zoos in the world have! You can't see them! Ha ha!"

If you are listening San Diego Zoological Society, please build an actual tuatara exhibit where we can see them. I understand that husbandry demands that some species aren't on public display, but my membership money is paying for this and I want to see a @#!$%ing tuatara without having to go to New Zealand.

In the meantime does anyone know if there is a US zoo with tuataras that actually lets its visitors see them?
 
ISIS lists San Diego, Dallas, Saint Louis and Toledo as being the 4 American zoos with tuataras, and I think that the only chance of seeing one would be either a behind-the-scenes tour or perhaps Toledo still has a couple on display in their 1930's WPA-era Reptile House.
 
snowleopard said:
ISIS lists San Diego, Dallas, Saint Louis and Toledo as being the 4 American zoos with tuataras, and I think that the only chance of seeing one would be either a behind-the-scenes tour or perhaps Toledo still has a couple on display in their 1930's WPA-era Reptile House.
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Last time I was in Dallas' excellent reptile house there was a large, nicely planted exhibit that--according to the graphics--housed tuatara. However, no animals were actually visible....so I satisfied my need to see reptile rarities by moving down the hallway to watch the only Perentie in any US zoo!
 
Tuatara exhibit at Dallas has recently been redone and usually all 3 animals are visible at once. Plus the perenties are still next door...
 
jbnbsn99 said:
Tuatara exhibit at Dallas has recently been redone and usually all 3 animals are visible at once. Plus the perenties are still next door...
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@jbnbsn99: When I visited Dallas part of the Reptile House was under construction, but do you have a species count at the moment? I've heard from an anonymous source that the zoo has one of the most impressive range of herps in all of North America, including an unbelievable collection of off-exhibit venomous snakes. Would you be able to post a list of on-exhibit species? (like I was doing in my road trip reviews)
 
DavidBrown said:
I just saw a cool picture of the tuatara at the Chester Zoo in England and now have extreme tuatara envy.

The San Diego Zoo has a graphic on its reptile house that essentially says "We have tuataras! They are very special reptiles that few zoos in the world have! You can't see them! Ha ha!"

If you are listening San Diego Zoological Society, please build an actual tuatara exhibit where we can see them. I understand that husbandry demands that some species aren't on public display, but my membership money is paying for this and I want to see a @#!$%ing tuatara without having to go to New Zealand.

In the meantime does anyone know if there is a US zoo with tuataras that actually lets its visitors see them?
Click to expand...

when I was at the zoo last tuesday I saw two of the animals. One is usually in a dark hiding spot. Although it is dark in there you can see its silhouette. I'm wondering if any of these zoos breed Tuatara?
 
jbnbsn99 said:
Tuatara exhibit at Dallas has recently been redone and usually all 3 animals are visible at once. Plus the perenties are still next door...
Click to expand...

I have never previously considered Dallas as a vacation destination, but with tuataras, the new world-class giraffe and elephant exhibits, and older Africa exhibits that I haven't seen but sound cool (monorail tour), I need to reconsider that.

Thanks for the info everyone.
 
I see the tuataras at Chester frequently - as do most regular visitors (perhaps it was one of my photos that DavidBrown saw).
Their enclosure is part of the Tropical Realm, but it is beside the main door and is cooler than the rest of the building (by design).
The tuataras come out of their burrows to bask and are easier to see in the afternoon, but I don't think I have ever seen more than four at once (there are six in all) and you might have to be very patient if you wanted to see one actually move.
I think the secret of getting a good view of a reptile in a display is to keep returning to the exhibit during your visit. I try to visit a Reptile House at least three times during the day if there is species I really want to watch and photograph.

Alan
 
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@snowleopard The on exhibit collection changes all the time for the herps. I have been told numerous times that only 1/5 of the whole collection is actually on exhibit. I could try and get a list, but there are well over 100 species on exhibit.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
@snowleopard The on exhibit collection changes all the time for the herps. I have been told numerous times that only 1/5 of the whole collection is actually on exhibit. I could try and get a list, but there are well over 100 species on exhibit.
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The Dallas Zoo herp collection is indeed of a world class nature with most behind the scenes at the best of times.
 
Dont forget that San Diego has the species guentheri which no-one else has,sadly they are off display at the reptile mesa but it is possible by prior arrangement to see them..or perhaps someone coming all the way from the UK is taken more seriously-i dont know.There are some huge off-show herp collections in the U.S. at St Louis,Dallas,Knoxville,Fort Worth,Sedgwick County,plus some choice species at Oklahoma.Los Angeles has a big number but these are mostly for public exhibition in LAIR[due Jan next year].It would be incorrect to say that Dallas has 80% of its inventory off show..that is a gross exaggeration particularly since the collection moved into the former bird portion of the house-there are probably around 50 species behind the scenes.
 
Oh and Atlanta has some very interesting off show herps including two ssp of Beaded Lizard[alvarezi and charlesbogerti] that i havent seen anywhere else,nor must i forget Gladys Porter where director Pat Burchfield is a herp man at heart- some really good work going on with breeding even if the off-show collection is fairly modest.
 
Tim Brown said:
Dont forget that San Diego has the species guentheri which no-one else has,sadly they are off display at the reptile mesa but it is possible by prior arrangement to see them..or perhaps someone coming all the way from the UK is taken more seriously-i dont know.There are some huge off-show herp collections in the U.S. at St Louis,Dallas,Knoxville,Fort Worth,Sedgwick County,plus some choice species at Oklahoma.Los Angeles has a big number but these are mostly for public exhibition in LAIR[due Jan next year].It would be incorrect to say that Dallas has 80% of its inventory off show..that is a gross exaggeration particularly since the collection moved into the former bird portion of the house-there are probably around 50 species behind the scenes.
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I'm not one to argue, but the number referred to number of specimens not total species.
 
Tim Brown said:
Oh and Atlanta has some very interesting off show herps including two ssp of Beaded Lizard[alvarezi and charlesbogerti] that i havent seen anywhere else,nor must i forget Gladys Porter where director Pat Burchfield is a herp man at heart- some really good work going on with breeding even if the off-show collection is fairly modest.
Click to expand...

I would list SD, St. Louis, Fort Worth, Dallas and Brownsville in one breath. You are right that the tuatara in SD are guntheri species unrelated to the others. I am not quite sure how long SD has had them, but it seems that they are still to young / immature to even contemplate a breeding attempt. It might be worthwhile indeed for SD to build an on-show climate controlled tuatara exhibit. Chester's exhibit is phenomenal by all accounts and probably the best outside NZ.
 
Possibly "phenomenal" is a bit strong for Chesters exhibit although its very nice..Berlins is just as good.Would be nice if SD came up with an exhibit, but New Zealand have some strange conditions under which zoos receive Tuataras- and it could be that they are for study and research only.
 
reduakari said:
Last time I was in Dallas' excellent reptile house there was a large, nicely planted exhibit that--according to the graphics--housed tuatara. However, no animals were actually visible....so I satisfied my need to see reptile rarities by moving down the hallway to watch the only Perentie in any US zoo!
Click to expand...

I have been to Saint Louis and had the same exact experience as you, minus the Perentie. I went to Australia before to see those.

In regards to the Tuatara exhibit, I have seen it and seen the tuataras. The exhibit is basically a large enclosed pit with dirt and plants and piping for their burrows. Really not fitted for viewing but it is perfect for husbandry. Climate controlled and everything.

Maybe I could find some pictures...
 
I saw the tuatara at the Toledo zoo.


I wish i would've took a picture of the exhibit it was nice,big,foresty.
 
gentle lemur said:
The tuataras come out of their burrows to bask and are easier to see in the afternoon, but I don't think I have ever seen more than four at once (there are six in all) and you might have to be very patient if you wanted to see one actually move.
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if you want to see them move, find out when they're going to be fed. They can put on a surprising turn of speed when after their prey. Otherwise they don't move much unless they are in mating mode.
 
I was at the Dallas zoo last week and saw one very close to the window. I see one about one out of every three visits. Also anyone coming to Dallas will see a zoo that we can be very proud of now, Also Fort Worth, Tyler and Waco are not that far away.
 
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