Bronx Zoo Review - 7 hours (Zoo/Aquarium # 9 for the road trip)
My wife and I arrived at the zoo just before it opened, and so at exactly 10 a.m. we bought our tickets and ventured inside. Then 7 hours later the entire place was basically shut down for the night, and that was when we left the establishment. It's tough to start a review with a complaint, but being open for only 7 hours doesn't bode well for the hardcore zoo fan. We stopped for lunch in a great location (Baboon Reserve), but had to speed through the last few buildings in order to fit everything in. As it was we skipped the children's zoo and the butterfly garden, as well as the Skyfari ride because it has apparently been closed for about a week due to mechanical complications. If only this great zoo was open an hour earlier, and perhaps an hour later, then I would have still seen everything but wouldn't have had to rush through some of the buildings.
This review will be long and comprehensive, as I realize that many fellow ZooBeaters have visited the Bronx Zoo in the past. Those that haven't actually been to this fabulous zoo are sitting there wishing that they could visit it. I think that the Bronx Zoo is a fantastic zoo with many outstanding exhibits, and the diversity of the animal collection is bested only by San Diego in North America. The Bronx is the second best zoo that I've ever visited, as I still would place the San Diego Zoo at #1. Is that a contentious statement? I suppose that I'll find out after people post responses (whether private or public) to this review.
The fact that San Diego is open for 11 hours in the summer, in comparison to the Bronx's 7 (or 7.5 on the weekend), allows for time to savour the collection at a fairly reasonable pace. I walked around the Bronx today and found it difficult not to think of San Diego, which has an amazing set of exhibits, a huge collection of animals, much better aviaries, giant pandas, and outdoor enclosures rather than many "houses" or "pavilions". The idea of being able to drop into San Diego any day of the year, and apart from the Reptile House be outdoors the entire time, is massively appealing. At the Bronx there are at least 8 major animal buildings, and I know from past visitors that in winter the experience is nowhere near as exciting.
Review:
Congo Gorilla Forest - the best set of habitats at the zoo, and just about the best single set of exhibits that I've ever seen. Detroit Zoo's "Arctic Ring of Life" has perhaps been vanquished. In my 60 or so zoos and aquariums that I've visited (including those that I'll be seeing on this trip) I've rarely been immersed in the surroundings as I was in this Congo forest complex. The 7 minute film was informative, and when the curtains pulled aside to review the best gorilla habitat I've ever seen there were gasps from behind me. The 24 apes were a blast to watch, and if the zoo only remained open for longer hours then I could have stayed there all afternoon. Every other gorilla complex now pales in comparison to this one, and to top it off the DeBrazza's monkey/mandrill/red river hog enclosure is equally brilliant. The okapi exhibit, interactive signs and various tanks and aquariums were all outstanding. No wonder this section of the zoo is so highly regarded around the world. All you Aussies who have raved about the Melbourne Zoo's gorilla habitat (which is very good) might as well bulldoze it now, as the Bronx's apes are in paradise in comparison.
JungleWorld - brilliant rain forest building, but with several faults. The malayan tapir/turtle/ white-cheeked gibbon/prevost's squirrel habitat is beautiful to gaze upon. The small-clawed otters, including 4 babies, were a delight to watch, and the silvery leaf monkeys were active and inquisitive. However, the black panther (leopard) exhibit is too small, and the ebony langurs were crammed into a space that didn't have a lot of actual land space. At first glance they were in a gorgeous exhibit, but then take away the large expanse of water, the mural on the wall, the hot-wired side plants...and the space is too tiny for them. This building is slightly better than Brookfield's TropicWorld, perhaps because it is much more realistic.
Tiger Mountain - very good tiger exhibits, and amongst the best of their kind for the siberians that inhabit them. There are wonderful opportunities to view the tigers up close, either swimming in their pool or lounging by the wide windows.
Madagascar! - excellent renovation job of the 1903 lion house. The spongey floor and beautiful signs (the best signage in the zoo) are outstanding, and all of the exhibits are colourful and attractive. The spiny forest section with ring-tailed and collared lemurs is unique in the zoo world just because it is so damn good, and the sifaka's were a delight in a smallish enclosure. The pair of nile crocodiles and the two fossas were fantastic to see, and the building as a whole is expertly done. Perhaps this could challenge Minnesota Zoo's "Russia's Grizzly Coast" for the AZA Exhibit Award? I'd like to see Minnesota win, as that zoo's new set of habitats is brilliant and they could use the acclaim more than the Bronx.
Wild Asia - this monorail ride is so-so, and alike so many others of its kind. It is frustrating to see asian elephants for perhaps 1 minute, indian rhinos for maybe 45 seconds, red pandas for 35 seconds, etc. The guide kept mentioning the breeding record of the Bronx Zoo, and yet there are 2 female asian elephants (but the zoo is phasing out elephants anyway), 2 female indian rhinos, 2 female babirusa, and 4 female mongolian wild horses. Where is the breeding going to come from? The paddocks in this section of the zoo are all spacious and naturalistic, but there is understandable frustration at seeing amazing animals for mere seconds at a time. Someone mentioned something on ZooBeat about how there might be a reworking of this area in the future, but how does an old zoo reinvent a 40-acre section of the zoo? There could be many more walking trails incorporated into the Asian area, but the zoo already takes an entire day to see and so any more trails would turn the establishment into a 2-day adventure.
Monkey House - ancient building with a large number of small monkeys in so-so exhibits. The zoo as a whole has a bewildering collection of marmosets, tamarins and other small monkeys, and perhaps there is no other zoo in North America with such diversity of tiny monkeys. In terms of apes there are only one species of gibbon and the gorillas, but in terms of monkeys few zoos can compete with the Bronx.
Himalayan Highlands - 4 snow leopards in 3 different exhibits of varying quality. One was large and one of the best that I've ever seen, one was average, and one was terribly small and disappointing. The red pandas were nowhere in sight, but the exhibit is very lushly planted and full of sneaky hiding spots.
African Plains - the greatest exhibits stand the test of time, and this 1941 set of enclosures still holds up fairly well. Giraffe, Grevy's zebra, blesbok, lions, african wild dogs (a newer enclosure), and various species of antelope all are in spacious and attractive paddocks. The one major flaw is the puny size of the giraffe indoor quarters. Do these magnificent animals spend 50% of their lives in a tiny, concrete barn? Do they spend days and weeks on end inside during the winter? What they wouldn't give to be transferred to a zoo in a warmer climate...
World of Darkness - nocturnal house that is very well done. Not the best that I've ever seen (that would be the Alice Springs Desert Park in the middle of Australia), but this is one of the better nocturnal houses around.
World of Reptiles - fairly standard exhibits, although to be fair many of the tanks were bigger than what is shown in the majority of zoos. The many poisonous snakes, including several species of cobra, were a highlight.
Baboon Reserve - gelada baboons, rock hyrax and nubian ibex in a massive hilltop enclosure. Lunch at the Somba Village Cafe while watching the baboons graze (I found out today that geladas mainly eat grass!) was a real treat. Such a simplistic enclosure, and yet highly effective for both animal and visitor.
Mouse House - what an absolute delight! Rodents that are normally crammed into nooks and crannies at other zoos are given an entire building to themselves. Huge cloud rats, tiny egyptian mice, etc are all loaded in stylish tanks. A unique environment and a set of habitats that totally caught me off-guard. There is no other zoo that I know of that has such a diverse collection of rodents. Some people might scoff at the notion of glancing at rodents, but they are quite entertaining.
Major disappointments at the Bronx Zoo:
Bear grottoes - there are so many wonderful exhibits at this zoo, and yet they only have 2 of the world's 8 bear species and those unfortunate animals have crappy bear pits. There was a grizzly bear pacing in a mainly concrete grotto, while the polar bear "exhibit" is as bad as any other in an American zoo. How does such a great zoological institution have such a god-awful polar bear concrete prison? Hopefully the two bear grottoes will be bulldozed in the near future, because this zoo is too good to showcase great animals in such atrocities. I might sound harsh, but after hours of seeing marvellous enclosures it was depressing to see the polar bear lying in utter boredom in an exhibit that would even be regarded as poor in Japan.
Birds - the collection at the Bronx Zoo is one of the most diverse that I've ever seen, but there are countless average to below-average cages. The "Birds of Prey" section are typically tiny metal cages. The row of pheasant aviaries are ugly, tiny, metal cages. The "Aquatic Bird House" is average at best. The "World of Birds" is an antiquated building that doesn't have a single standout exhibit. The "Sea Bird Aviary" was the best of the lot, but the handful of penguins and other sea birds still didn't have the best surroundings. My wife and I aren't really huge bird fans to begin with, but it is truly puzzling that the zoo has hundreds of different species of birds and arguably nothing but discouraging habitats. Where's the innovation for featherered animals? I do have to admit that the two flamingo pools and some of the waterfowl and stork/crane outdoor habitats were pleasant to look at, but more should be done for the birds.
Overall:
The Bronx Zoo is a fabulous zoo and the second best in North America. I believe that the San Diego Zoo has poor exhibits in Bear and Cat Canyons, but other than that almost the entire zoo down in southern California is unbeatable. The Bronx Zoo has the Congo Gorilla Forest, which is arguably better than any other zoo exhibit in existence, and many other outstanding and spacious enclosures. But San Diego's vast bird aviaries, sun bear forest, hippo pool, monkey trails and forest tales, gorilla tropics, bonobos, koalas and Australian animals, polar bear plunge, Ituri forest, upcoming Elephant Odyssey, reptile house & reptile mesa, etc, all are the equal or better than many of the Bronx's stellar habitats. I was swept off my feet by many exhibits at the Bronx Zoo (Congo Gorilla Forest, Madagascar!, JungleWorld, Tiger Mountain) but I feel that San Diego has more on offer and edges it ever so slightly in "the battle of the great zoos". If my wife and I do travel up the coast of California on this road trip then maybe I'll have a chance to see my favourite zoo once again.
Forgive the final comparison with the San Diego Zoo, but there aren't any other zoos that are in the same league as these two in North America. I love the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, as 80% of the exhibits there are excellent, but the collection is quite small. Calgary and Toronto in Canada are both worthwhile, but neither is in the same ballpark as the Bronx or San Diego. The Denver Zoo has an enormous collection and a bright future, but for now they too are in the second banana position. Detroit is a great zoo, but still can't compete with the big guns financially. The Sydney and Melbourne Zoos in Australia are the best that country has to offer, but they also aren't even close to the Bronx or San Diego.
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