This review is based on my visit in April 2013. I am posting it in 2 posts due to length; the first post will include the introduction and a description of the features in the half of the zoo called ZooNorth. The second post will include a description of the features in the half of the zoo called Wilds of Africa/Giants of the Savanna, and the conclusion.
Dallas Zoo is a major zoo located three miles from downtown Dallas, Texas. Its collection is not geographically comprehensive; it has a very fine collection of African animals, and significantly smaller collections of animals native to other areas. It is also the home of a fantastic reptile collection. The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area is home to several other animal attractions however, so this zoo’s shortcomings are minimized with visits to nearby collections. The Fort Worth Zoo (30 miles away) is home to a comprehensive North American collection; it also has an equally stunning reptile collection, housed in a far more impressive complex than the one at Dallas. The Dallas World Aquarium (3 miles away) has a comprehensive collection of smaller Central and South American species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles; the reptile collection there is also nice, making the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area the finest one in the United States for reptiles in my opinion. Of course, the aquarium also has fish, which the zoo lacks. In addition, the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park (5 miles away, and operated by the Zoological Society of Dallas) and Grapevine SEALIFE Aquarium (20 miles away) house many other fish. Butterflies are also showcased in their own attraction, The Butterfly House at Texas Discovery Gardens (5 miles away). Of all these area attractions, the Dallas Zoo is my favorite, even though its exhibit quality is uneven. Specifically, the zoo property is divided into two halves by a railroad right-of-way through which a line of the city’s light rail system travels (there is a light rail stop right in front of the zoo, always a bonus for those of us that do not drive). The older half of the zoo, called ZooNorth, is a rather motley assortment of mostly older exhibit complexes, although not unpleasant. The newer half of the zoo is connected to the older half through a long tunnel beneath the rail line and was developed in the last 25 years; it contains the majority of the African animal collection in two very fine exhibit complexes, Wilds of Africa (1990) and Giants of the Savanna (2010). This lopsided distribution of quality is similar to the Kansas City Zoo, which also has a very fine and extensive African-themed exhibit complex separated from an average main campus. The two halves almost feel like separate facilities; if the Dallas Zoo was only composed of its newer half, it would still rank highly in my list of zoo facilities I have visited.
My review will be divided into two halves, just as the zoo is organized. I will begin with ZooNorth first, describing it in a roughly clockwise direction from the entrance; then I will proceed under the tunnel to Wilds of Africa/Giants of the Savanna, describing the former first in a roughly clockwise direction and then the latter in a roughly counter-clockwise direction. The zoo map given to visitors is fairly clear for navigation, but is one of the most amateur-looking and cartoonish ones I have seen for a major zoo; this is a shame since the majority of the species identification signs around the zoo are nice (even though their styles vary greatly from area to area). Judging from the rounded fonts and bright simple style used, some of the newer signs were created by the same graphic artist as the map, but with a more successful outcome.
ZOONORTH:
ZOO ENTRANCES: (1 Exhibit)
The zoo has two entrances and both connect to the junction between ZooNorth and the tunnel to Wilds of Africa. Both entrances lead from parking lots on each side of the property. The Main Entrance adjoins the Main Parking Lot as well as the light rail stop. It is not an especially attractive entrance; in fact the ticket booths are located beneath an elevated road overpass, with a very large Dallas Zoo sign attached to the concrete side of the roadway. The entry plaza just beyond the ticket booths is consistently lined with low stone masonry seating walls and a map kiosk and entry gate; the same stone is also used on the columns of an open-air pavilion for the Carousel, a building for the shop called Zoofari Market and restrooms, an information booth, and an average walled yard with a perch for:
Green-winged macaw
Nearby is a nice exhibit for lemurs near the tunnel to Wilds of Africa; since it is a more modern construction and acts as the gateway to the other half of the zoo, I will describe it later in that section. A path leads to the smaller nondescript South Entrance from here that adjoins the South Parking Lot. Just inside that entrance is a very plain yard contained with wood fencing for dromedary camel rides, although no permanent exhibit of the species exists at the zoo. Nearby is a building that is a relic of midcentury design; it was once the zoo entry building and is a textbook example of a curved edifice topped with a folded-plate or accordion roof. It has a covered breezeway between the two halves of the building, which houses administration. The breezeway becomes a wide bridge that crosses a natural creek ravine and connects to the rest of ZooNorth.
FLAMINGO POND & ZOOFARI FOOD COURT: (3 Exhibits)
The first large exhibit in ZooNorth is a very large yard dominated by a large concrete-lined shallow pool for pinioned aquatic birds. A stone wall with a stylized waterfall spills into one side of the pond, clearly a construction of about 50 years ago. The yard is partially shaded by large trees, and has nice planted areas around it with some grassy slopes. Visitors can walk around most of the perimeter, on a walkway with attractive steel railings that have cut-out panels with a reed design. The walkway is elevated several feet above the ground level of the yard. The highest point for visitors to view the exhibit is on the far side, on a deck with dining tables that adjoins ZooNorth’s cafeteria-style dining facility called Zoofari Food Court (originally called The Prime Meridian Food Court when it was first opened). The food court is housed in a nice large modern building (it appears that part of it might be a refurbishment of an older stone masonry building) with plenty of indoor seating surrounding a taller circular volume where the food stations are concentrated. The circular part has a skylit strip in its ceiling running from East to West; a 360-degree mural of animals is painted on the upper portion of the walls, and letters are posted to mark each of the cardinal directions. This café is attractive, large enough to accommodate crowds, and refreshingly modern; the food ain’t bad either, for zoo food. Residents of the nearby Flamingo Pond are:
Caribbean flamingo, Chilean flamingo, Black-necked swan, Bar-headed goose, Hooded merganser, North American ruddy duck, Laughing gull, Crested screamer, Great egret (I saw Brown pelican too)
Scarlet macaw, Military macaw (on a perch structure near the walkway around the pond)
Blue and yellow macaw (on a perch structure near the walkway around the pond)
BUG U!: (46 Exhibits)
Bug U! is the zoo’s arthropod house and is comprised of a nice collection of mostly local species. It is housed in an historic small stone building built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937, although its interior was obviously refurbished in the last 20 or so years to house the current theme. The exhibits occupy a single room, and nearly all of them are permanently built-in rather than standard store-bought terrariums. They are located in several themed zones of the room; one zone is a simulated desert sandstone outcrop, another is a simulated rustic shack, and another is the bow of a boat. The theming is not fantastic but the setting of some of the exhibits in themed props is occasionally clever. Although the signs are just paper ones slid into acrylic sleeves, many are truly informative. Although this building does not compare to the arthropod facilities of Cincinnati Zoo or St. Louis Zoo, it is a nice comprehensive feature that many other zoos lack for this type of animal. The exhibits contain:
Desert millipede, darkling beetle, and velvet ant
Texas giant centipede
Greenhouse camel cricket
Striped scorpion
Cactus longhorn beetle
Cochineal
Brown scorpion
Daddy long-legs
Cellar spider
Texas brown tarantula
Vinegarroon
European honey bee
Striped hermit crab
Warty sea anemone
Fiddler crab and marsh periwinkle
Rock louse
Giant predaceous diving beetle (2 exhibits)
Water strider (2 exhibits)
Wheel bug
Aquatic beetles
Texas gray crayfish
Texas leafcutter ant
Cuban green banana roach
Wolf spider
Texas ironclad beetle and daddy long-legs
Western spitting walkingstick
Subterranean termite
Common paper wasp
White lipped globe snail, decollate snail, chocolate snail, and brown globe snail
Overwintering bugs (various species)
Land isopod
Black widow spider
House centipede
Dermestid beetle
Crevice weaver spider
American cockroach
Smoky brown cockroach
False black widow spider
Yellow mealworm beetle
Brown recluse spider
Sheet-web weaving spider
Big-headed ant
Rainbow scarab dung beetle
Carolina mantis
TEXAS CATS: (4 Exhibits)
Across from Bug U! is the most historic part of the zoo, Cat Green. It is a large grassy park shaded by trees, has a picnic pavilion and tables scattered throughout, and is lined by stone masonry walls similar to the stone of the Bug U! building. One of the raised walls is a sign that reads “Welcome to the Dallas Zoo at Marsalis Park, Est. 1888.” A nearby historic marker clarifies that the site where the zoo is now was not established in 1888; it was at two different sites until after 1910. One side of Cat Green is occupied by a long row of connected ancient cages that compose Texas Cats. The cages (many of which were probably combined over the years to make larger long habitats) are simple chainlink-enclosed rectangles with fairly nice simulated rock back walls. The ground is simulated rock in the first two, while the much smaller second two have grassy substrate. Interior furnishings are fairly minimal, and these obsolete exhibits are certainly some of the poorer ones at the zoo. From North to South they contain:
Cougar
Bobcat
Ocelot (2 exhibits)
WINGS OF WONDER: (8 Exhibits)
The birds of prey aviaries that comprise this area form an arc on one side of the walkway on a side of Cat Green and were built sometime in the modern era. They are all the same height and adjoin one another, although their sizes vary. They are all constructed of simple steel supports painted green that support vertical mesh walls and ceilings for containment. They are not fantastic exhibits but they have some nice furnishings including bare tree trunks for perching and some vegetation. Several also have rocky pools and low waterfalls. They are large enough for very short flight, but just barely. It is a nice small collection; from Northeast to Southwest the exhibits contain:
Audobon’s crested caracara and blue jay
Greater roadrunner
Verreaux’s eagle-owl
Harpy eagle
African fish-eagle
Andean condor
Bald eagle
King vulture
PICNIC RIDGE: (5 Exhibits)
This exceedingly unexciting area is mostly a grassy park that was established in the last few years resulting from the demolition of several obsolete exhibit complexes: The Snout Route (some yards for mammals with interesting noses) and the Large Mammal Building (the former home of elephants and giraffes until the opening of Giants of the Savanna). Now that most of the exhibits are gone (a good thing), this area is ripe for redevelopment. The lawns, awning-covered picnic area, and Safari Express Train (actually a paved path for a wheeled vehicle that looks like a train but is not on rails) that exist here now can be considered as temporary offerings to replace the destruction. A cluster of average mismatched exhibits still exists on its South side:
Galapagos tortoise (a large plain grassy yard contained with a wood fence connects to a smaller walled yard)
Red-crowned crane (a long sloped yard contained with wood-and-wire fencing)
Wreathed hornbill (2 adjacent exhibits in a nice large wood-and-wire aviary)
Giant anteater (it was not yet open when I visited but looked like a horrid refurbishment of an old moated yard)
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS: (112 Exhibits)
The rather nondescript building that houses this complex was built in 1966 as the Bird & Reptile Building; in the past few years the bird exhibits have been removed. This is a good thing. Most of the bird exhibits appeared to have been cramped, and the fantastic reptile collection needed to expand. The facility is not the showcase that the collection deserves, but it is still a delight to see so many species in one concentrated place. The collection is dominated by snakes, with turtles and tortoises noticeably lacking. The building has a flat roof and simple brick exterior, partly decorated with a tile mural depicting the evolutionary link between reptiles and birds. An angular archway frames the glass entrance doors. If a visitor has ever seen one of the countless mundane mid-century school buildings erected in the U.S. then he will feel right at home. Before entering, the only outdoor exhibit of the complex is viewed: it is a large half-circular pit for iguanas with a large rockpile dotted with agaves. It is contained with a glass-paneled railing around its curve and the brick wall of the building. It is occupied in the warm months and was empty during my visit so no species signs were posted. Immediately inside the building is a foyer between two sets of glass entrance doors, and there is one small room-sized rocky exhibit here behind a floor-to-ceiling glass viewing window. Beyond the doors is the central space of the building, a glass-ceilinged atrium with several exhibits. It is the space from which three exhibit spaces branch. To the left are two dark dead-end halls of reptile and amphibian exhibits; straight ahead are two more dark dead-end halls of reptile exhibits (these were formerly for birds); and to the right is Ghosts from the Bayou, a large glass-ceilinged room that was formerly a walk-through aviary but is now a mediocre swamp-shack environment where the down-home aspect is poured on thick, showcasing American alligators. All of the exhibits in the dark hallway areas are set in the walls behind glass and are small, with occasional feature exhibits being slightly larger. Interiors of the exhibits have mostly average detailing, and artificially lit. The signage is fairly consistent, with unlit signs in the first two dark halls and backlit graphic panels in the other two dark halls. One of the great one-two punches for zoo nerds is in one of the dark halls: a larger exhibit for perentie monitor (the only one in the United States, I believe) is adjacent to a nicer but similarly-sized exhibit for tuatara (one of only a handful of U.S. zoos that display this species)! However, the elation soon fades when visitors look across the hall to the worst exhibit for Komodo dragon I have seen: it is small, undetailed, and ugly. Overall, the presentation of the house is static and typical of reptile houses of the era; it would be great if the facility was replaced by one with a much more dynamic layout and detailing, such as the new one across the metro area at Fort Worth Zoo! The exhibits in Dallas contain:
Exterior exhibit:
Empty (iguanas in warm season)
Foyer:
Unsigned lizard
Atrium lobby:
Unsigned chameleon
Panther chameleon
Veiled chameleon
First dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Crocodile monitor (a nice larger exhibit)
Black-headed python
Fierce snake
Green bush viper
Sahara horned viper
Common death adder
Long-nosed viper
Coral cobra
Rinkhal’s cobra
Banded pitviper
Palestine viper
Borneo pitviper
Banded rock rattlesnake
Moroccan cobra
Red spitting cobra
Black mamba
Cape cobra (2 exhibits)
Mexican beaded lizard (a larger exhibit)
American bullfrog
Empty
Barton Springs salamander
Golden poison dart frog
Solomon Island leaf frog
Bumble bee dart frog
Fire salamander
Houston toad
Tiger salamander
Black-spotted newt
Panamanian golden frog
Mexican axolotl
Puerto Rican crested toad
Hellbender (a larger exhibit)
Second dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
African bullfrog
Golden poison dart frog
Surinam toad
Fire salamander
Kaiser newt
Blue poison dart frog
Bumble bee dart frog
African clawed frog
Painted mantella frog
Solomon Island leaf frog
Black-eared mantella frog
Splashback poison dart frog
Mandarin newt
Black-leg poison dart frog
Mossy frog
Asian yellow-spotted climbing toad
Blue-tailed firebelly newt
Sailfin lizard (a larger exhibit)
Timber rattlesnake
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
Western diamondback rattlesnake
Broad-banded copperhead
Slender hognosed pitviper
Speckled rattlesnake
Grey-banded kingsnake
Taylor’s cantil
Texas coral snake
Gila monster
Green tree skink
Collared lizard
Gila monster
Taylor’s shield-tailed lizard
Bush viper
Burmese python (a larger exhibit)
Reticulated python (a larger exhibit)
Third dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Perentie monitor (a larger exhibit)
Tuatara (a nice larger exhibit)
Argentine racer
Fiji Island banded iguana
Green tree python
Emerald tree boa
Black tree monitor
Samar cobra
Caiman lizard
Bushmaster (a larger exhibit)
Sharp nosed viper
Tentacled snake
Rainbow boa
Chaco lancehead
Moellendorff’s ratsnake
Green bush ratsnake
Temple viper
Wetar Island viper
Beautiful pitviper
McGregor’s viper
Mangrove viper
Sri Lankan pitviper
Komodo dragon (a larger exhibit, but still painfully small for this species)
Fourth dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Eyelash viper
Neotropical rattlesnake
Speckled forest pitviper
Terciopelo
West African green mamba
Black-breasted leaf turtle
Cape cobra
Eastern green mamba
King cobra (a larger exhibit)
Nursery (various species, 4 terrariums in one window)
Ghosts From The Bayou:
Chinese alligator (a long narrow habitat behind glass in the atrium at the entry to the exhibit room)
American alligator (a large rock waterfall spills into an average-sized pool in the center of a skylit swamp-themed room with a vistor boardwalk on 3 sides)
Cottonmouth (a wall terrarium)
Texas rat snake (a wall terrarium)
Red-eared slider and green anole (a wall terrarium)
Unsigned snake (a wall terrarium)
OTTER OUTPOST & TIGER HABITAT: (2 Exhibits)
These two single exhibits are adjacent to one another, and must have been built at the same time (in the recent past) and share the same fine quality, so I will describe them together. They are the best exhibits in ZooNorth. Otter Outpost is a large yard with natural substrate and some trees and bamboo, and a rocky stream gently flows down through its center. The stream originates in a large shallow rocky pool on one side. The yard is contained with convincing rocky streambank walls in the back, and glass viewing panels in the front. A rocky outcrop on the side of the pool frames an underwater viewing window (it is too small for larger groups to view the activity) as well as a small window into a dark den. A large Southeast-Asian themed open-air wood shelter covers these two window viewing areas and has extensive education panels on one side of it. The exhibit contains:
Asian small-clawed otter
Tiger Habitat is a large, long, mostly flat grassy yard shaded by many trees with a slope on one side. It is dominated by a shallow pool, which leads to a small stream down to a smaller boulder-lined pool located in front of a small viewing pavilion with a glass panel on one end of the habitat. From the pavilion, visitors follow a lush path along another small stream; the path becomes a boardwalk that has several views into the length of the habitat through closely-set tall simulated vertical bamboo poles that allow close proximity to the cats without danger. The boardwalk continues through a small themed wood archway into a compound of two large wood pavilions raised on stilts, both of them a matching Southeast-Asian style and similar to the pavilion described previously at Otter Outpost. However, these two buildings are fully enclosed: one is an education classroom or meeting room that is closed to casual visitors, while the other is a nice viewing room at one end of the habitat. Since it is raised, its long wall of viewing windows looks down into the tiger exhibit. The interior of this pavilion features extensive educational graphics and a large wood relief carving on the wall at the entrance; the architecture is a hybrid of modern simplicity and cultural theming, augmenting a tasteful and satisfying exhibit experience. The habitat contains:
Sumatran tiger
KOALA WALKABOUT: (5 Exhibits)
This small area is home to several Australian exhibits. It is at the end of a dead-end path that used to lead further to The Hill, a circle of average hoofstock yards (and a cheetah exhibit) that is now closed off. While I lament the closure of hoofstock exhibits, this zoo has more hoofstock exhibits than most, and they are located in the newer Wilds of Africa and Giants of the Savanna complexes on the other side of the zoo described later. Koala Walkabout is not impressive but is a pleasant assembly of a few random enclosures that are adjacent; the signage and graphics details (such as Aboriginal pictographs on rocks and stylized wall panels) lend enough exoticism to make them stick together. The largest enclosure, called Australian Outback, is a mixed-species yard that is mostly grass with some sandy areas contained with stone curbs. It is surrounded by tall wood fencing and shaded by some large trees. It is viewed through continuous glass panels in a small wood shelter at a lower level, and through continuous glass panels at an unsheltered and slightly higher level. It is a fairly utilitarian yard and contains:
Red kangaroo, Bennett’s wallaby, Emu
Between the two viewing areas of the previous exhibit is a very small wooden aviary. During my previous visit in 2009, I believe this space was a small open yard for the perentie monitor that now resides in the Reptile & Amphibians building. The aviary contains:
Laughing kookaburra
Koala Walkabout is also the name of a small building in the complex, and visitors enter it to view two identical rectangular small room exhibits behind glass. The exhibits are skylit and are rather bare except for eucalyptus branch structures. These are for:
Koala
Lorikeet Landing is a nearby walkthrough aviary for feeding birds, contained within a tall netted enclosure supported by hefty round steel posts and beams. It is bare inside, except for some small branch structures for the birds to perch; most of the ground is a walkway for visitors. This enclosure is actually the last in a line of the connected exhibits that compose Primate Place, described next, so it was refurbished for this use. This enclosure contains:
Lorikeets? I did not note the species
PRIMATE PLACE & TAMARIN TREETOPS: (7 Exhibits)
These two average adjacent exhibit complexes form a line of exhibits along one side of a shady walkway. Primate Place has 5 exhibits and is probably about 20 years old. Although each exhibit has a different-sized ground area, they are similar in shape (rectangular) and similar in height (a tall sloping volume enclosed by wire that is supported by hefty round steel posts and beams). At one time, there were 6 of these connected exhibits, but the last one has been converted to Lorikeet Landing described previously. The interiors of the exhibits have sufficient deadfalls and branches, but most are not tall enough to take advantage of the heights of the spaces. The groundplane in most is flat and grassy, with only a few small bushes to add interest, resulting in average exhibits that contain:
Black and white colobus monkey
Allen’s swamp monkey and Mona monkey
White-cheeked gibbon
Bolivian gray titi monkey and white-faced saki monkey
Central American spider monkey (the largest space)
Tamarin Treetops is nearby and appears to be newer than Primate Place; it is composed of two smaller adjacent exhibits enclosed with wire and steel posts and beams, with a stone masonry back wall that is one side of an older building. They contain:
Cotton-top tamarin
Golden lion tamarin
CHILDREN’S ZOO: (21 Exhibits?)
This exhibit complex was built in 2000 and is above average in quality, with a few exhibits that appeal to adults as well as the wee ones. A single twisting entry path leads through an attractive landscape of low simulated rocky outcrops adorned with small bronze statues of various animals. This leads to a large circular clearing, around which the other features of the Children’s Zoo are arranged. The clearing is a play zone, with similar low rockwork containing a very shallow stream and terraces that step down a gentle slope. In addition to this play feature, various structures are scattered around the clearing, including play sculptures shaped like a spider web and caterpillar and tree trunk and bird’s nest and eggs and tortoise shells. Several large awning structures also dot this landscape, shaped like butterflies and flowers. To one side is a low modern curved building that contains an education room, party room, and snack bar. Next to it is Discovery House, a small building styled after a farm house that has an education room dominated by a simulated tree growing inside! It contains:
Virginia Opossum (in a small plain room behind glass)
About 5 terrariums of various sizes (I did not note the species, one was an aquarium)
The Farm, as the name implies, is the usual section of domestic animals. I did not note most of the species and did not count exactly how many yards and stalls are there, as it is my habit to bypass these areas. However, it is a nicely crafted subsection of the Childrens’s Zoo and contains these features:
Duck pond
Koi pond (housed in a raised cistern with an open top and underwater windows)
Goat yard
Donkey yard
Maybe another yard
Barn with pony stalls (and a nearby yard for pony rides)
Barn Owl (in a small aviary in the barn)
Domestic rabbit (in a small room in the barn)
The Underzone is a nice indoor exhibit housed in a low rustic wood building that appears to be a prairie edifice. Inside are 5 small exhibits set within rustic timber walls, and 1 larger outdoor feature exhibit viewed through large windows; this last one is contained within a netted aviary, and has a long child-sized crawl tunnel beneath it with several pop-up dome windows. The exhibits are:
Naked mole rat (many small windows reveal their tunnel system)
Scorpion (unspecified) (this small exhibit is integrated with the naked mole rat windows so that it appears they share the same tunnel system)
Costa Rican zebra tarantula (in a terrarium housed in a themed prop that looks like a crate)
Ball python (in an average-sized wall terrarium)
Shield-tailed agama (in an average sized wall terrarium)
Dwarf mongoose, Jackson’s hornbill (in the larger outdoor feature exhibit)
Birds Landing is a nice medium-sized walk-through aviary for feeding a wide variety of very tame birds. It is housed in a netted enclosure supported by steel beams and contains a lushly planted habitat surrounding a paved walkway with scattered boulders, perfect for sitting and waiting for the birds to land on arms and shoulders! It is a delightful attraction and should not be missed. Although no species signs were posted, the inhabitants I could identify were:
African gray parrot, blue jay, racket-tailed roller, blue-bellied roller, pied imperial pigeon, guira cuckoo
SOAR:
An attractive outdoor amphitheater called Wildlife Theater near the Children’s Zoo is the location of Soar, a bird show. I did not see the show however.
Dallas Zoo is a major zoo located three miles from downtown Dallas, Texas. Its collection is not geographically comprehensive; it has a very fine collection of African animals, and significantly smaller collections of animals native to other areas. It is also the home of a fantastic reptile collection. The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area is home to several other animal attractions however, so this zoo’s shortcomings are minimized with visits to nearby collections. The Fort Worth Zoo (30 miles away) is home to a comprehensive North American collection; it also has an equally stunning reptile collection, housed in a far more impressive complex than the one at Dallas. The Dallas World Aquarium (3 miles away) has a comprehensive collection of smaller Central and South American species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles; the reptile collection there is also nice, making the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area the finest one in the United States for reptiles in my opinion. Of course, the aquarium also has fish, which the zoo lacks. In addition, the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park (5 miles away, and operated by the Zoological Society of Dallas) and Grapevine SEALIFE Aquarium (20 miles away) house many other fish. Butterflies are also showcased in their own attraction, The Butterfly House at Texas Discovery Gardens (5 miles away). Of all these area attractions, the Dallas Zoo is my favorite, even though its exhibit quality is uneven. Specifically, the zoo property is divided into two halves by a railroad right-of-way through which a line of the city’s light rail system travels (there is a light rail stop right in front of the zoo, always a bonus for those of us that do not drive). The older half of the zoo, called ZooNorth, is a rather motley assortment of mostly older exhibit complexes, although not unpleasant. The newer half of the zoo is connected to the older half through a long tunnel beneath the rail line and was developed in the last 25 years; it contains the majority of the African animal collection in two very fine exhibit complexes, Wilds of Africa (1990) and Giants of the Savanna (2010). This lopsided distribution of quality is similar to the Kansas City Zoo, which also has a very fine and extensive African-themed exhibit complex separated from an average main campus. The two halves almost feel like separate facilities; if the Dallas Zoo was only composed of its newer half, it would still rank highly in my list of zoo facilities I have visited.
My review will be divided into two halves, just as the zoo is organized. I will begin with ZooNorth first, describing it in a roughly clockwise direction from the entrance; then I will proceed under the tunnel to Wilds of Africa/Giants of the Savanna, describing the former first in a roughly clockwise direction and then the latter in a roughly counter-clockwise direction. The zoo map given to visitors is fairly clear for navigation, but is one of the most amateur-looking and cartoonish ones I have seen for a major zoo; this is a shame since the majority of the species identification signs around the zoo are nice (even though their styles vary greatly from area to area). Judging from the rounded fonts and bright simple style used, some of the newer signs were created by the same graphic artist as the map, but with a more successful outcome.
ZOONORTH:
ZOO ENTRANCES: (1 Exhibit)
The zoo has two entrances and both connect to the junction between ZooNorth and the tunnel to Wilds of Africa. Both entrances lead from parking lots on each side of the property. The Main Entrance adjoins the Main Parking Lot as well as the light rail stop. It is not an especially attractive entrance; in fact the ticket booths are located beneath an elevated road overpass, with a very large Dallas Zoo sign attached to the concrete side of the roadway. The entry plaza just beyond the ticket booths is consistently lined with low stone masonry seating walls and a map kiosk and entry gate; the same stone is also used on the columns of an open-air pavilion for the Carousel, a building for the shop called Zoofari Market and restrooms, an information booth, and an average walled yard with a perch for:
Green-winged macaw
Nearby is a nice exhibit for lemurs near the tunnel to Wilds of Africa; since it is a more modern construction and acts as the gateway to the other half of the zoo, I will describe it later in that section. A path leads to the smaller nondescript South Entrance from here that adjoins the South Parking Lot. Just inside that entrance is a very plain yard contained with wood fencing for dromedary camel rides, although no permanent exhibit of the species exists at the zoo. Nearby is a building that is a relic of midcentury design; it was once the zoo entry building and is a textbook example of a curved edifice topped with a folded-plate or accordion roof. It has a covered breezeway between the two halves of the building, which houses administration. The breezeway becomes a wide bridge that crosses a natural creek ravine and connects to the rest of ZooNorth.
FLAMINGO POND & ZOOFARI FOOD COURT: (3 Exhibits)
The first large exhibit in ZooNorth is a very large yard dominated by a large concrete-lined shallow pool for pinioned aquatic birds. A stone wall with a stylized waterfall spills into one side of the pond, clearly a construction of about 50 years ago. The yard is partially shaded by large trees, and has nice planted areas around it with some grassy slopes. Visitors can walk around most of the perimeter, on a walkway with attractive steel railings that have cut-out panels with a reed design. The walkway is elevated several feet above the ground level of the yard. The highest point for visitors to view the exhibit is on the far side, on a deck with dining tables that adjoins ZooNorth’s cafeteria-style dining facility called Zoofari Food Court (originally called The Prime Meridian Food Court when it was first opened). The food court is housed in a nice large modern building (it appears that part of it might be a refurbishment of an older stone masonry building) with plenty of indoor seating surrounding a taller circular volume where the food stations are concentrated. The circular part has a skylit strip in its ceiling running from East to West; a 360-degree mural of animals is painted on the upper portion of the walls, and letters are posted to mark each of the cardinal directions. This café is attractive, large enough to accommodate crowds, and refreshingly modern; the food ain’t bad either, for zoo food. Residents of the nearby Flamingo Pond are:
Caribbean flamingo, Chilean flamingo, Black-necked swan, Bar-headed goose, Hooded merganser, North American ruddy duck, Laughing gull, Crested screamer, Great egret (I saw Brown pelican too)
Scarlet macaw, Military macaw (on a perch structure near the walkway around the pond)
Blue and yellow macaw (on a perch structure near the walkway around the pond)
BUG U!: (46 Exhibits)
Bug U! is the zoo’s arthropod house and is comprised of a nice collection of mostly local species. It is housed in an historic small stone building built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937, although its interior was obviously refurbished in the last 20 or so years to house the current theme. The exhibits occupy a single room, and nearly all of them are permanently built-in rather than standard store-bought terrariums. They are located in several themed zones of the room; one zone is a simulated desert sandstone outcrop, another is a simulated rustic shack, and another is the bow of a boat. The theming is not fantastic but the setting of some of the exhibits in themed props is occasionally clever. Although the signs are just paper ones slid into acrylic sleeves, many are truly informative. Although this building does not compare to the arthropod facilities of Cincinnati Zoo or St. Louis Zoo, it is a nice comprehensive feature that many other zoos lack for this type of animal. The exhibits contain:
Desert millipede, darkling beetle, and velvet ant
Texas giant centipede
Greenhouse camel cricket
Striped scorpion
Cactus longhorn beetle
Cochineal
Brown scorpion
Daddy long-legs
Cellar spider
Texas brown tarantula
Vinegarroon
European honey bee
Striped hermit crab
Warty sea anemone
Fiddler crab and marsh periwinkle
Rock louse
Giant predaceous diving beetle (2 exhibits)
Water strider (2 exhibits)
Wheel bug
Aquatic beetles
Texas gray crayfish
Texas leafcutter ant
Cuban green banana roach
Wolf spider
Texas ironclad beetle and daddy long-legs
Western spitting walkingstick
Subterranean termite
Common paper wasp
White lipped globe snail, decollate snail, chocolate snail, and brown globe snail
Overwintering bugs (various species)
Land isopod
Black widow spider
House centipede
Dermestid beetle
Crevice weaver spider
American cockroach
Smoky brown cockroach
False black widow spider
Yellow mealworm beetle
Brown recluse spider
Sheet-web weaving spider
Big-headed ant
Rainbow scarab dung beetle
Carolina mantis
TEXAS CATS: (4 Exhibits)
Across from Bug U! is the most historic part of the zoo, Cat Green. It is a large grassy park shaded by trees, has a picnic pavilion and tables scattered throughout, and is lined by stone masonry walls similar to the stone of the Bug U! building. One of the raised walls is a sign that reads “Welcome to the Dallas Zoo at Marsalis Park, Est. 1888.” A nearby historic marker clarifies that the site where the zoo is now was not established in 1888; it was at two different sites until after 1910. One side of Cat Green is occupied by a long row of connected ancient cages that compose Texas Cats. The cages (many of which were probably combined over the years to make larger long habitats) are simple chainlink-enclosed rectangles with fairly nice simulated rock back walls. The ground is simulated rock in the first two, while the much smaller second two have grassy substrate. Interior furnishings are fairly minimal, and these obsolete exhibits are certainly some of the poorer ones at the zoo. From North to South they contain:
Cougar
Bobcat
Ocelot (2 exhibits)
WINGS OF WONDER: (8 Exhibits)
The birds of prey aviaries that comprise this area form an arc on one side of the walkway on a side of Cat Green and were built sometime in the modern era. They are all the same height and adjoin one another, although their sizes vary. They are all constructed of simple steel supports painted green that support vertical mesh walls and ceilings for containment. They are not fantastic exhibits but they have some nice furnishings including bare tree trunks for perching and some vegetation. Several also have rocky pools and low waterfalls. They are large enough for very short flight, but just barely. It is a nice small collection; from Northeast to Southwest the exhibits contain:
Audobon’s crested caracara and blue jay
Greater roadrunner
Verreaux’s eagle-owl
Harpy eagle
African fish-eagle
Andean condor
Bald eagle
King vulture
PICNIC RIDGE: (5 Exhibits)
This exceedingly unexciting area is mostly a grassy park that was established in the last few years resulting from the demolition of several obsolete exhibit complexes: The Snout Route (some yards for mammals with interesting noses) and the Large Mammal Building (the former home of elephants and giraffes until the opening of Giants of the Savanna). Now that most of the exhibits are gone (a good thing), this area is ripe for redevelopment. The lawns, awning-covered picnic area, and Safari Express Train (actually a paved path for a wheeled vehicle that looks like a train but is not on rails) that exist here now can be considered as temporary offerings to replace the destruction. A cluster of average mismatched exhibits still exists on its South side:
Galapagos tortoise (a large plain grassy yard contained with a wood fence connects to a smaller walled yard)
Red-crowned crane (a long sloped yard contained with wood-and-wire fencing)
Wreathed hornbill (2 adjacent exhibits in a nice large wood-and-wire aviary)
Giant anteater (it was not yet open when I visited but looked like a horrid refurbishment of an old moated yard)
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS: (112 Exhibits)
The rather nondescript building that houses this complex was built in 1966 as the Bird & Reptile Building; in the past few years the bird exhibits have been removed. This is a good thing. Most of the bird exhibits appeared to have been cramped, and the fantastic reptile collection needed to expand. The facility is not the showcase that the collection deserves, but it is still a delight to see so many species in one concentrated place. The collection is dominated by snakes, with turtles and tortoises noticeably lacking. The building has a flat roof and simple brick exterior, partly decorated with a tile mural depicting the evolutionary link between reptiles and birds. An angular archway frames the glass entrance doors. If a visitor has ever seen one of the countless mundane mid-century school buildings erected in the U.S. then he will feel right at home. Before entering, the only outdoor exhibit of the complex is viewed: it is a large half-circular pit for iguanas with a large rockpile dotted with agaves. It is contained with a glass-paneled railing around its curve and the brick wall of the building. It is occupied in the warm months and was empty during my visit so no species signs were posted. Immediately inside the building is a foyer between two sets of glass entrance doors, and there is one small room-sized rocky exhibit here behind a floor-to-ceiling glass viewing window. Beyond the doors is the central space of the building, a glass-ceilinged atrium with several exhibits. It is the space from which three exhibit spaces branch. To the left are two dark dead-end halls of reptile and amphibian exhibits; straight ahead are two more dark dead-end halls of reptile exhibits (these were formerly for birds); and to the right is Ghosts from the Bayou, a large glass-ceilinged room that was formerly a walk-through aviary but is now a mediocre swamp-shack environment where the down-home aspect is poured on thick, showcasing American alligators. All of the exhibits in the dark hallway areas are set in the walls behind glass and are small, with occasional feature exhibits being slightly larger. Interiors of the exhibits have mostly average detailing, and artificially lit. The signage is fairly consistent, with unlit signs in the first two dark halls and backlit graphic panels in the other two dark halls. One of the great one-two punches for zoo nerds is in one of the dark halls: a larger exhibit for perentie monitor (the only one in the United States, I believe) is adjacent to a nicer but similarly-sized exhibit for tuatara (one of only a handful of U.S. zoos that display this species)! However, the elation soon fades when visitors look across the hall to the worst exhibit for Komodo dragon I have seen: it is small, undetailed, and ugly. Overall, the presentation of the house is static and typical of reptile houses of the era; it would be great if the facility was replaced by one with a much more dynamic layout and detailing, such as the new one across the metro area at Fort Worth Zoo! The exhibits in Dallas contain:
Exterior exhibit:
Empty (iguanas in warm season)
Foyer:
Unsigned lizard
Atrium lobby:
Unsigned chameleon
Panther chameleon
Veiled chameleon
First dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Crocodile monitor (a nice larger exhibit)
Black-headed python
Fierce snake
Green bush viper
Sahara horned viper
Common death adder
Long-nosed viper
Coral cobra
Rinkhal’s cobra
Banded pitviper
Palestine viper
Borneo pitviper
Banded rock rattlesnake
Moroccan cobra
Red spitting cobra
Black mamba
Cape cobra (2 exhibits)
Mexican beaded lizard (a larger exhibit)
American bullfrog
Empty
Barton Springs salamander
Golden poison dart frog
Solomon Island leaf frog
Bumble bee dart frog
Fire salamander
Houston toad
Tiger salamander
Black-spotted newt
Panamanian golden frog
Mexican axolotl
Puerto Rican crested toad
Hellbender (a larger exhibit)
Second dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
African bullfrog
Golden poison dart frog
Surinam toad
Fire salamander
Kaiser newt
Blue poison dart frog
Bumble bee dart frog
African clawed frog
Painted mantella frog
Solomon Island leaf frog
Black-eared mantella frog
Splashback poison dart frog
Mandarin newt
Black-leg poison dart frog
Mossy frog
Asian yellow-spotted climbing toad
Blue-tailed firebelly newt
Sailfin lizard (a larger exhibit)
Timber rattlesnake
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
Western diamondback rattlesnake
Broad-banded copperhead
Slender hognosed pitviper
Speckled rattlesnake
Grey-banded kingsnake
Taylor’s cantil
Texas coral snake
Gila monster
Green tree skink
Collared lizard
Gila monster
Taylor’s shield-tailed lizard
Bush viper
Burmese python (a larger exhibit)
Reticulated python (a larger exhibit)
Third dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Perentie monitor (a larger exhibit)
Tuatara (a nice larger exhibit)
Argentine racer
Fiji Island banded iguana
Green tree python
Emerald tree boa
Black tree monitor
Samar cobra
Caiman lizard
Bushmaster (a larger exhibit)
Sharp nosed viper
Tentacled snake
Rainbow boa
Chaco lancehead
Moellendorff’s ratsnake
Green bush ratsnake
Temple viper
Wetar Island viper
Beautiful pitviper
McGregor’s viper
Mangrove viper
Sri Lankan pitviper
Komodo dragon (a larger exhibit, but still painfully small for this species)
Fourth dark dead-end hall, clockwise:
Eyelash viper
Neotropical rattlesnake
Speckled forest pitviper
Terciopelo
West African green mamba
Black-breasted leaf turtle
Cape cobra
Eastern green mamba
King cobra (a larger exhibit)
Nursery (various species, 4 terrariums in one window)
Ghosts From The Bayou:
Chinese alligator (a long narrow habitat behind glass in the atrium at the entry to the exhibit room)
American alligator (a large rock waterfall spills into an average-sized pool in the center of a skylit swamp-themed room with a vistor boardwalk on 3 sides)
Cottonmouth (a wall terrarium)
Texas rat snake (a wall terrarium)
Red-eared slider and green anole (a wall terrarium)
Unsigned snake (a wall terrarium)
OTTER OUTPOST & TIGER HABITAT: (2 Exhibits)
These two single exhibits are adjacent to one another, and must have been built at the same time (in the recent past) and share the same fine quality, so I will describe them together. They are the best exhibits in ZooNorth. Otter Outpost is a large yard with natural substrate and some trees and bamboo, and a rocky stream gently flows down through its center. The stream originates in a large shallow rocky pool on one side. The yard is contained with convincing rocky streambank walls in the back, and glass viewing panels in the front. A rocky outcrop on the side of the pool frames an underwater viewing window (it is too small for larger groups to view the activity) as well as a small window into a dark den. A large Southeast-Asian themed open-air wood shelter covers these two window viewing areas and has extensive education panels on one side of it. The exhibit contains:
Asian small-clawed otter
Tiger Habitat is a large, long, mostly flat grassy yard shaded by many trees with a slope on one side. It is dominated by a shallow pool, which leads to a small stream down to a smaller boulder-lined pool located in front of a small viewing pavilion with a glass panel on one end of the habitat. From the pavilion, visitors follow a lush path along another small stream; the path becomes a boardwalk that has several views into the length of the habitat through closely-set tall simulated vertical bamboo poles that allow close proximity to the cats without danger. The boardwalk continues through a small themed wood archway into a compound of two large wood pavilions raised on stilts, both of them a matching Southeast-Asian style and similar to the pavilion described previously at Otter Outpost. However, these two buildings are fully enclosed: one is an education classroom or meeting room that is closed to casual visitors, while the other is a nice viewing room at one end of the habitat. Since it is raised, its long wall of viewing windows looks down into the tiger exhibit. The interior of this pavilion features extensive educational graphics and a large wood relief carving on the wall at the entrance; the architecture is a hybrid of modern simplicity and cultural theming, augmenting a tasteful and satisfying exhibit experience. The habitat contains:
Sumatran tiger
KOALA WALKABOUT: (5 Exhibits)
This small area is home to several Australian exhibits. It is at the end of a dead-end path that used to lead further to The Hill, a circle of average hoofstock yards (and a cheetah exhibit) that is now closed off. While I lament the closure of hoofstock exhibits, this zoo has more hoofstock exhibits than most, and they are located in the newer Wilds of Africa and Giants of the Savanna complexes on the other side of the zoo described later. Koala Walkabout is not impressive but is a pleasant assembly of a few random enclosures that are adjacent; the signage and graphics details (such as Aboriginal pictographs on rocks and stylized wall panels) lend enough exoticism to make them stick together. The largest enclosure, called Australian Outback, is a mixed-species yard that is mostly grass with some sandy areas contained with stone curbs. It is surrounded by tall wood fencing and shaded by some large trees. It is viewed through continuous glass panels in a small wood shelter at a lower level, and through continuous glass panels at an unsheltered and slightly higher level. It is a fairly utilitarian yard and contains:
Red kangaroo, Bennett’s wallaby, Emu
Between the two viewing areas of the previous exhibit is a very small wooden aviary. During my previous visit in 2009, I believe this space was a small open yard for the perentie monitor that now resides in the Reptile & Amphibians building. The aviary contains:
Laughing kookaburra
Koala Walkabout is also the name of a small building in the complex, and visitors enter it to view two identical rectangular small room exhibits behind glass. The exhibits are skylit and are rather bare except for eucalyptus branch structures. These are for:
Koala
Lorikeet Landing is a nearby walkthrough aviary for feeding birds, contained within a tall netted enclosure supported by hefty round steel posts and beams. It is bare inside, except for some small branch structures for the birds to perch; most of the ground is a walkway for visitors. This enclosure is actually the last in a line of the connected exhibits that compose Primate Place, described next, so it was refurbished for this use. This enclosure contains:
Lorikeets? I did not note the species
PRIMATE PLACE & TAMARIN TREETOPS: (7 Exhibits)
These two average adjacent exhibit complexes form a line of exhibits along one side of a shady walkway. Primate Place has 5 exhibits and is probably about 20 years old. Although each exhibit has a different-sized ground area, they are similar in shape (rectangular) and similar in height (a tall sloping volume enclosed by wire that is supported by hefty round steel posts and beams). At one time, there were 6 of these connected exhibits, but the last one has been converted to Lorikeet Landing described previously. The interiors of the exhibits have sufficient deadfalls and branches, but most are not tall enough to take advantage of the heights of the spaces. The groundplane in most is flat and grassy, with only a few small bushes to add interest, resulting in average exhibits that contain:
Black and white colobus monkey
Allen’s swamp monkey and Mona monkey
White-cheeked gibbon
Bolivian gray titi monkey and white-faced saki monkey
Central American spider monkey (the largest space)
Tamarin Treetops is nearby and appears to be newer than Primate Place; it is composed of two smaller adjacent exhibits enclosed with wire and steel posts and beams, with a stone masonry back wall that is one side of an older building. They contain:
Cotton-top tamarin
Golden lion tamarin
CHILDREN’S ZOO: (21 Exhibits?)
This exhibit complex was built in 2000 and is above average in quality, with a few exhibits that appeal to adults as well as the wee ones. A single twisting entry path leads through an attractive landscape of low simulated rocky outcrops adorned with small bronze statues of various animals. This leads to a large circular clearing, around which the other features of the Children’s Zoo are arranged. The clearing is a play zone, with similar low rockwork containing a very shallow stream and terraces that step down a gentle slope. In addition to this play feature, various structures are scattered around the clearing, including play sculptures shaped like a spider web and caterpillar and tree trunk and bird’s nest and eggs and tortoise shells. Several large awning structures also dot this landscape, shaped like butterflies and flowers. To one side is a low modern curved building that contains an education room, party room, and snack bar. Next to it is Discovery House, a small building styled after a farm house that has an education room dominated by a simulated tree growing inside! It contains:
Virginia Opossum (in a small plain room behind glass)
About 5 terrariums of various sizes (I did not note the species, one was an aquarium)
The Farm, as the name implies, is the usual section of domestic animals. I did not note most of the species and did not count exactly how many yards and stalls are there, as it is my habit to bypass these areas. However, it is a nicely crafted subsection of the Childrens’s Zoo and contains these features:
Duck pond
Koi pond (housed in a raised cistern with an open top and underwater windows)
Goat yard
Donkey yard
Maybe another yard
Barn with pony stalls (and a nearby yard for pony rides)
Barn Owl (in a small aviary in the barn)
Domestic rabbit (in a small room in the barn)
The Underzone is a nice indoor exhibit housed in a low rustic wood building that appears to be a prairie edifice. Inside are 5 small exhibits set within rustic timber walls, and 1 larger outdoor feature exhibit viewed through large windows; this last one is contained within a netted aviary, and has a long child-sized crawl tunnel beneath it with several pop-up dome windows. The exhibits are:
Naked mole rat (many small windows reveal their tunnel system)
Scorpion (unspecified) (this small exhibit is integrated with the naked mole rat windows so that it appears they share the same tunnel system)
Costa Rican zebra tarantula (in a terrarium housed in a themed prop that looks like a crate)
Ball python (in an average-sized wall terrarium)
Shield-tailed agama (in an average sized wall terrarium)
Dwarf mongoose, Jackson’s hornbill (in the larger outdoor feature exhibit)
Birds Landing is a nice medium-sized walk-through aviary for feeding a wide variety of very tame birds. It is housed in a netted enclosure supported by steel beams and contains a lushly planted habitat surrounding a paved walkway with scattered boulders, perfect for sitting and waiting for the birds to land on arms and shoulders! It is a delightful attraction and should not be missed. Although no species signs were posted, the inhabitants I could identify were:
African gray parrot, blue jay, racket-tailed roller, blue-bellied roller, pied imperial pigeon, guira cuckoo
SOAR:
An attractive outdoor amphitheater called Wildlife Theater near the Children’s Zoo is the location of Soar, a bird show. I did not see the show however.
