The museum is excellent and the dioramas are well done. A pair of Bald Eagles, a Great Horned Owl, and a Peregrine Falcon were in residence when I was there and a couple more aviaries were empty. There are 5 aviaries in total.
Snowleopard's 2014 Road Trip
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
The museum is excellent and the dioramas are well done. A pair of Bald Eagles, a Great Horned Owl, and a Peregrine Falcon were in residence when I was there and a couple more aviaries were empty. There are 5 aviaries in total.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
Has the Riverside Discovery Centre at Scottsbluff fallen off the agenda? I've always been interested in Nebraska - probably something to do with Bruce Springsteen - and was interested to hear more about this place which, going by its website, looks quite decent.
For the better part of 6 months I had always planned to tour 3 South Dakota zoos in the same day (Bear Country USA, Reptile Gardens and Bramble Park Zoo) and along with Great Plains Zoo that I toured in 2012 I would "complete the state" in terms of zoos. However, late in the agenda I switched in Riverside Discovery Center (Nebraska) due to time issues as I lost an hour that day by crossing a time zone. However, due to the fact that Bear Country USA opened at 7:30 a.m. and I was ahead of schedule I reverted back to the original plan. Riverside Discovery Center will not be toured on this trip and that is not a bad thing as the facility is under construction at the moment as a future museum/education/children's zoo complex will all be finalized.
I toured 3 North Dakota attractions yesterday (see DAY 4 on the itinerary) and I'll post mini-reviews later. In short: Dakota Zoo is a hidden gem with a trio of big cat exhibits (tiger, snow leopard, cougar) that are amongst the very best that I've ever seen. The tiger enclosure is around an acre in size and superb and the other two exhibits are equally spectacular. Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery & Aquarium was an in-and-out 25 minute tour as it is essentially 5 tanks in the visitor center and then some larger pools stocked with trout and salmon. Roosevelt Park Zoo was very disappointing (and scorching hot!) but I did see one of the very last Japanese Serow in any American zoo. Lots of small chain-link cages there.
DAY 5 is about to commence!
JBZvolunteer
Well-Known Member
This probably has to do with the fact that most americans refer to the american marten as either the american pine marten or just the pine marten.
Day 4 –Wednesday, July 30th
Music consisted of Alanis Morissette’s “Greatest Hits”, Lenny Kravitz’s “Greatest Hits”, Dave Matthews Band’s best album “Crash”, Big Sugar and Counting Crows. I began a trend of including the CD’s that I listen to and I might as well continue with the musical updates.
As usual I take at least 2-3 photos of every single exhibit and every single sign in a zoo and so if ZooChat ever allows me to upload more than a single photo at a time I’ll have a few thousand more to add to the collection.
Mini-Reviews:
Dakota Zoo – I typed up a 1,200 word review of this zoo that is 3 pages long and contains the “outstanding, good, average, poor” categories in typical “Snowleopard” fashion. I actually feel bad that I’m not posting the full reviews online as I’ve consistently done that in the past, but this time around I really want to hold them back for the book. The Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard and Cougar exhibits form an impressive trio and they are each amongst the very best of their kind in any American zoo. The $1.2 million big cat complex with the leopards and tigers (one orange, one white and one “golden”) opened in 2008 and is hugely impressive. The tiger exhibit alone is a full acre and perhaps bettered by only the Bronx and Minnesota in terms of size and scope. How a little zoo in the middle of North Dakota with 150,000 annual visitors pulled off such a coup is scarcely believable to a seasoned zoo reviewer. The Canadian Lynx and Bobcat exhibits are also fantastic while the Serval and Pallas’ Cat enclosures are fairly mediocre to round out the 7 feline species.
The entire bottom half of the zoo consists of a 1 mile (1.6 km) loop that encompasses a region that has 14 ungulate paddocks. This part of the facility is often skipped by families as it takes up almost half of the zoo’s space and contains a lot of walking with little reward in terms of easy viewing of the animals. The top part of the zoo was very busy but I was almost alone on the bottom trail. For the zoo enthusiast it is excellent and it all surrounds a Rocky Mountain Elk enclosure that is heavily wooded and must be at the very least 10 acres in size. The surrounding habitats on average are perhaps each 2-3 acres in size and here is the species list: American Cream Draft Horse, Texas Longhorn Cattle, Reindeer, White-Tailed Deer, Mule Deer, Moose, Rocky Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep, Dall Sheep, Bactrian Camel, Przewalski’s Horse, Pronghorn Antelope and Bison. In the top half of the zoo there is another 3 huge paddocks for the following species: Aoudad, Mouflon and Llama.
There is a large new Primate Center opening next year (with 7 species), a Discovery Center building with many terrariums, 6 canid species in grassy enclosures, 7 species of pheasant and many other delights. This is the best zoo in North Dakota and I’ve now seen all 4 plus an aquarium.
Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery & Aquarium – This is a non AZA-accredited facility located in Riverdale, North Dakota, and it does not take very long to tour. There are 5 tanks in the visitor center that feature these 16 local species: Bluegill, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Walleye, Yellow Perch, Northern Pike, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Common Carp, Smallmouth Buffalo, River Carpsucker, Shortnose Gar, Channel Catfish, Burbot and Pallid Sturgeon. Northern Pike are North Dakota’s state fish and a connected Tank Room contains hundreds of egg incubators for raising fish. Several million fry are shipped across the country to repopulate lakes and rivers and several large circular tanks hold growing fish. There is a Salmon Building and Sturgeon Building, both with “raceway” tanks that contain growing trout, salmon or sturgeon. A series of 64 earthen ponds stocked with fish and a number of nature trails round out the area.
Roosevelt Park Zoo – This zoo has been around for almost 100 years, has been flooded quite badly on two occasions and recently closed down for 2 full years due to flooding. This summer arguably the two most exciting species at the zoo are both off-exhibit due to construction (river otters and penguins) and there isn’t much there to start the zoo enthusiast’s heart beating faster than normal. Chain-link cages for big cats, siamangs and 2 species of lemur; paddocks for hoofstock like giraffes, zebras, bison, Scottish highland cattle, bongos, warthogs, Sika deer and Japanese serow. Grey wolves have the best exhibit in the zoo but they are seen mainly via chain-link fencing; a cool design has a terraced cage for bobcats; and a couple of grizzly bears have a badly outdated exhibit. That distills 800 words into a paragraph for a mini-review and this zoo is only open for 6 months of the year and it is one of the lesser AZA-accredited facilities that I’ve toured.
Music consisted of Alanis Morissette’s “Greatest Hits”, Lenny Kravitz’s “Greatest Hits”, Dave Matthews Band’s best album “Crash”, Big Sugar and Counting Crows. I began a trend of including the CD’s that I listen to and I might as well continue with the musical updates.
As usual I take at least 2-3 photos of every single exhibit and every single sign in a zoo and so if ZooChat ever allows me to upload more than a single photo at a time I’ll have a few thousand more to add to the collection.
Mini-Reviews:
Dakota Zoo – I typed up a 1,200 word review of this zoo that is 3 pages long and contains the “outstanding, good, average, poor” categories in typical “Snowleopard” fashion. I actually feel bad that I’m not posting the full reviews online as I’ve consistently done that in the past, but this time around I really want to hold them back for the book. The Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard and Cougar exhibits form an impressive trio and they are each amongst the very best of their kind in any American zoo. The $1.2 million big cat complex with the leopards and tigers (one orange, one white and one “golden”) opened in 2008 and is hugely impressive. The tiger exhibit alone is a full acre and perhaps bettered by only the Bronx and Minnesota in terms of size and scope. How a little zoo in the middle of North Dakota with 150,000 annual visitors pulled off such a coup is scarcely believable to a seasoned zoo reviewer. The Canadian Lynx and Bobcat exhibits are also fantastic while the Serval and Pallas’ Cat enclosures are fairly mediocre to round out the 7 feline species.
The entire bottom half of the zoo consists of a 1 mile (1.6 km) loop that encompasses a region that has 14 ungulate paddocks. This part of the facility is often skipped by families as it takes up almost half of the zoo’s space and contains a lot of walking with little reward in terms of easy viewing of the animals. The top part of the zoo was very busy but I was almost alone on the bottom trail. For the zoo enthusiast it is excellent and it all surrounds a Rocky Mountain Elk enclosure that is heavily wooded and must be at the very least 10 acres in size. The surrounding habitats on average are perhaps each 2-3 acres in size and here is the species list: American Cream Draft Horse, Texas Longhorn Cattle, Reindeer, White-Tailed Deer, Mule Deer, Moose, Rocky Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep, Dall Sheep, Bactrian Camel, Przewalski’s Horse, Pronghorn Antelope and Bison. In the top half of the zoo there is another 3 huge paddocks for the following species: Aoudad, Mouflon and Llama.
There is a large new Primate Center opening next year (with 7 species), a Discovery Center building with many terrariums, 6 canid species in grassy enclosures, 7 species of pheasant and many other delights. This is the best zoo in North Dakota and I’ve now seen all 4 plus an aquarium.
Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery & Aquarium – This is a non AZA-accredited facility located in Riverdale, North Dakota, and it does not take very long to tour. There are 5 tanks in the visitor center that feature these 16 local species: Bluegill, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Walleye, Yellow Perch, Northern Pike, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Common Carp, Smallmouth Buffalo, River Carpsucker, Shortnose Gar, Channel Catfish, Burbot and Pallid Sturgeon. Northern Pike are North Dakota’s state fish and a connected Tank Room contains hundreds of egg incubators for raising fish. Several million fry are shipped across the country to repopulate lakes and rivers and several large circular tanks hold growing fish. There is a Salmon Building and Sturgeon Building, both with “raceway” tanks that contain growing trout, salmon or sturgeon. A series of 64 earthen ponds stocked with fish and a number of nature trails round out the area.
Roosevelt Park Zoo – This zoo has been around for almost 100 years, has been flooded quite badly on two occasions and recently closed down for 2 full years due to flooding. This summer arguably the two most exciting species at the zoo are both off-exhibit due to construction (river otters and penguins) and there isn’t much there to start the zoo enthusiast’s heart beating faster than normal. Chain-link cages for big cats, siamangs and 2 species of lemur; paddocks for hoofstock like giraffes, zebras, bison, Scottish highland cattle, bongos, warthogs, Sika deer and Japanese serow. Grey wolves have the best exhibit in the zoo but they are seen mainly via chain-link fencing; a cool design has a terraced cage for bobcats; and a couple of grizzly bears have a badly outdated exhibit. That distills 800 words into a paragraph for a mini-review and this zoo is only open for 6 months of the year and it is one of the lesser AZA-accredited facilities that I’ve toured.
It surprises me that the least-visited state in the nation has three AZA-accredited zoos, whereas South Dakota has only two and we have none in Wyoming, even though Casper and Cheyenne are bigger than Minot and Cheyenne is an easy drive to the Front Range Corridor. Chain link fencing is less than ideal in a zoo. The Hogle Zoo has some exhibits designed this way and it is distracting.
Thanks for posting your reviews! I hope you're enjoying your trip over "flyover country."
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
Finally some decent music SnowLeopard!
Nothing better than belting out some Alanis on the open road. Although do be wary of Counting Crows - I totalled my first car to Mr Jones. 
Keep the great blog and reviews coming, the mini format is in many ways ideal for this sort of thread, easy to read and digest, and we can ask questions when we want more info (and obviously buy the book!).
Which brings me to my first question - what does Bear Country USA do with all the bears it breeds??? Surely it can't indefinitely house and feed that number? And other parks will only take so many? Is there any form of bear farming in America?
Day 5 –Thursday, July 31st
Musical highlights include Counting Crows again, Alanis Morissette, 54-40 (a local Vancouver band) and Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” album. All great stuff!
A few trends to comment on:
- Very few American zoos have fishers and yet I’ll see 3 zoos with the species in the space of a few days.
- Very few American zoos have Sichuan Takin but I saw 2 zoos with the species within hours of each other.
- Dall Sheep are everywhere in this part of the United States.
- Two zoos with walk-through tortoise yards leave a bad taste in my mouth as I saw tortoises getting poked and prodded and at Chahinkapa Zoo there wasn’t even a zoo staff member supervising the activity of visitors.
Red River Zoo – This very small zoo took me forever to find and I spent 45 minutes driving all over tarnation and then only 45 minutes actually inside the facility. Grrrr! My GPS was useless due to a lot of new developments in the area, plus a couple of construction zones failed to help matters. On 4 different occasions I got out of my car to ask people for directions and twice I followed zoo signs only to end up driving endlessly searching for something to aid my passage. It was like there was a zoological Bermuda Triangle stopping me from progressing and the city of Fargo, North Dakota, is divided into quadrants so the first time I stopped for help a man cheerfully informed me that I was in the Northeast zone and I needed to be in the Northwest zone. That means a street (like 25th Ave South, which I wanted) actually continued on the opposite side of the interstate. What kind of insanity is that? The man told me that it takes 5 years to truly understand the road system in Fargo and the same applies to the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Roads can start in the Southwest quadrant and then continue into the Southeast quadrant but as a tourist passing through how the hell is anyone supposed to know that? You could drive around for hours, finding the correct road in the process, but end up in the wrong quadrant.
The good news is that even though the zoo took less than an hour to see it is a fantastic little zoological establishment and just about all of the exhibits are above average. The zoo only opened in 1999 and so 15 years later everything feels fresh and clean, with modern animal habitats and nicely manicured lawns. After a glass-fronted exhibit in the entrance building (white-faced saki, six-banded armadillo, two-toed sloth) the rest of the zoo specializes in cold-weather creatures and is neatly divided into North American and Asian sections. North America has these species: Grey Wolf (huge exhibit), River Otter (brand new), Grey Fox, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Golden and Bald Eagles (in a gorgeous open-fronted aviary), Mule Deer, White-Tailed Deer and Porcupine. “Scales and Tails” is a small Reptile House with about 20 species including an albino Tiger Salamander and an albino Alligator Snapping Turtle. The Asian zone is very impressive and has the following species: Red Panda (the zoo has bred at least a dozen in the past decade or so), Bactrian Camel, Reeve’s Muntjac, a walk-through aviary, Brown-Eared Pheasant, Russian Red Squirrel, Pallas’ Cat (two exhibits), White-Naped Crane and Sichuan Takin (really nice enclosure). There are only about 16 outdoor exhibits in total plus about 20 indoor terrariums but everything is new, top-notch and hugely impressive. A great little gem of a zoo but one that can be seen in a flash. I’d love to see them add Amur Tigers, Amur Leopards or Snow Leopards to fit the Asian theme and provide visitors with a big cat to see. In the next few months the zoo is opening a so-called “Baviary”, which is a large building that will have birds, bats and small animals.
Chahinkapa Zoo – A fairly poor zoo that is reminiscent of Roosevelt Park and in love with chain-link fencing. There is a lot of advertising for “North Dakota’s first ever great ape”, which is a hybrid male orangutan by himself in a large metal cage that is Howletts-style in appearance. It is more than adequate but the hype is not worth it. Tigers, grizzly bears, cougars, bobcats and a snow leopard all have cages that are less than impressive but at least chain-link works well for primates (3 lemur species plus gibbons and spider monkeys) as they can use the fencing for rapid movement. Bison, elk, Dall sheep and llamas have spacious yards, a Tortoise Town area encourages visitors to touch the “gentle giants” and there are 200 animals of 70 species in this rather disappointing zoo.
RECAP:
North Dakota – Dakota Zoo, Red River Zoo, Roosevelt Park Zoo and Chahinkapa Zoo are all AZA-accredited and I loved the first two and was disappointed in the last two. The Garrison Dam Aquarium only qualifies as an aquarium by the slimmest of margins.
South Dakota – Great Plains Zoo and Bramble Park Zoo are both AZA-accredited although the former is much more impressive. Reptile Gardens (immense collection of snakes) and Bear Country USA are not accredited but still worth a visit.
Hemker Park & Zoo – This attraction is a non-AZA-accredited facility (but ZAA accredited) located in Freeport, Minnesota, and it opened in 1977. Mark Hemker and his wife Joan founded the establishment and it has remained a family-run institution ever since. Originally known as Hemker Game Farm it first opened to the public in 1994 as Hemker Wildlife Park and only became Hemker Park & Zoo in 2008. There are over 50 species and 200 animals in this small establishment and the average annual attendance is around 50,000.
The best part of the 20-acre zoo is a long gravel trail that leads around a series of large hoofstock yards that are all quite spacious and similar in size and scope. The species list includes: Musk Ox, Sichuan Takin, Sitatunga, Greater Kudu, Beisa Oryx, Alpine Ibex, White-Tailed Deer, Grant’s Zebra, Bighorn Sheep, Mouflon, Bactrian Camel, Reindeer, Pronghorn Antelope, Rhea, Emu and Red Kangaroo. The worst part of the zoo is a row of outdated cement and metal cages from a bygone era. They are all badly in need of a bulldozer and that is exactly the zoo’s plan in the next year or two. The species list includes: Coati, New Guinea Singing Dog, Ring-Tailed Lemur, White-Faced Capuchin, Black-Capped Capuchin, Black-Handed Spider Monkey and Reeve’s Muntjac. In a separate area African Crested Porcupines and Patagonian Cavies are also found in ugly metal cages.
One of the highlights of this entire trip was today when I met Marcus and Jackie Hemker, a brother and sister team who together with two other sisters run the family-owned zoo. How they’ve managed to have Sichuan Takin, Musk Ox, Beisa Oryx and New Guinea Singing Dogs out on a farm in the middle of nowhere is beyond my imagination. An annual attendance of 50,000 doesn’t seem like much but Freeport, Minnesota, is a town of 650 people and the home-made zoo has become a beloved local attraction. Jackie and I had a brief conversation about how many zoos I’d visited when I purchased my entrance ticket and then she told her brother Marcus who tracked me down and we had a great half-hour chat in the middle of the zoo. He is a 22 year-old guy who essentially runs the zoo as he is the collections manager, exhibit builder, zookeeper and everything else in between while his 3 sisters each specialize in the education, finance and concession departments. With a couple of hundred exotic animals there is a home for several rarities that other zoos either don’t want or if there are plans to phase out a specific species. Marcus and I had a good chuckle as he was recently on the phone with a representative at Greater Vancouver Zoo in Canada, approximately 15 minutes from my home, plus he is always chatting with a long list of zoo curators and directors and he mentioned a few names that I recognized. He said that the ZAA zoos often band together to form partnerships when it comes to exchanging animals.
Upon leaving I had another long talk with Marcus and Jackie and she knew of “Snowleopard” from ZooChat and I know that she follows this thread. They were both conscious of the fact that what I write is read by many zoo nerds but also folks in the industry. Marcus kept asking what my opinion was on exhibits at his zoo and what improvements I would recommend and he must have thanked me at least 4-5 times for going out of my way to visit. I received a really good vibe from him and I kept thanking him for taking the time out of his day to be able to geek out over zoos. I’ve never worked in the industry in my life but I’ve extensively photographed and reviewed so many zoos that I guess folks think that I’ve become some sort of zoo visitor expert. I was very honest in my assessment and if the row of small animal exhibits were eliminated then that would be a massive improvement. If anything I’m a tad envious of Marcus as he is young, full of energy and he has a 15-year plan to become AZA-accredited. I wish him and his sisters luck as they welcome an arrival of a male giraffe in the near future and then begin the job of dismantling the old-fashioned cages in favour of a more modern primate complex. This is a zoo for many discarded animals and a zoo like Hemker Park (and others of its kind) could one day be the last place of residence for species such as Sitatunga or New Guinea Singing Dog. I wish Marcus and Jackie well and if I’m ever in the state of Minnesota again then I’ll certainly stop by and pay them a visit. They seem like genuinely good-natured, hard-working individuals and hopefully the future is bright for them and their zoo.
Musical highlights include Counting Crows again, Alanis Morissette, 54-40 (a local Vancouver band) and Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” album. All great stuff!
A few trends to comment on:
- Very few American zoos have fishers and yet I’ll see 3 zoos with the species in the space of a few days.
- Very few American zoos have Sichuan Takin but I saw 2 zoos with the species within hours of each other.
- Dall Sheep are everywhere in this part of the United States.
- Two zoos with walk-through tortoise yards leave a bad taste in my mouth as I saw tortoises getting poked and prodded and at Chahinkapa Zoo there wasn’t even a zoo staff member supervising the activity of visitors.
Red River Zoo – This very small zoo took me forever to find and I spent 45 minutes driving all over tarnation and then only 45 minutes actually inside the facility. Grrrr! My GPS was useless due to a lot of new developments in the area, plus a couple of construction zones failed to help matters. On 4 different occasions I got out of my car to ask people for directions and twice I followed zoo signs only to end up driving endlessly searching for something to aid my passage. It was like there was a zoological Bermuda Triangle stopping me from progressing and the city of Fargo, North Dakota, is divided into quadrants so the first time I stopped for help a man cheerfully informed me that I was in the Northeast zone and I needed to be in the Northwest zone. That means a street (like 25th Ave South, which I wanted) actually continued on the opposite side of the interstate. What kind of insanity is that? The man told me that it takes 5 years to truly understand the road system in Fargo and the same applies to the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Roads can start in the Southwest quadrant and then continue into the Southeast quadrant but as a tourist passing through how the hell is anyone supposed to know that? You could drive around for hours, finding the correct road in the process, but end up in the wrong quadrant.
The good news is that even though the zoo took less than an hour to see it is a fantastic little zoological establishment and just about all of the exhibits are above average. The zoo only opened in 1999 and so 15 years later everything feels fresh and clean, with modern animal habitats and nicely manicured lawns. After a glass-fronted exhibit in the entrance building (white-faced saki, six-banded armadillo, two-toed sloth) the rest of the zoo specializes in cold-weather creatures and is neatly divided into North American and Asian sections. North America has these species: Grey Wolf (huge exhibit), River Otter (brand new), Grey Fox, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Golden and Bald Eagles (in a gorgeous open-fronted aviary), Mule Deer, White-Tailed Deer and Porcupine. “Scales and Tails” is a small Reptile House with about 20 species including an albino Tiger Salamander and an albino Alligator Snapping Turtle. The Asian zone is very impressive and has the following species: Red Panda (the zoo has bred at least a dozen in the past decade or so), Bactrian Camel, Reeve’s Muntjac, a walk-through aviary, Brown-Eared Pheasant, Russian Red Squirrel, Pallas’ Cat (two exhibits), White-Naped Crane and Sichuan Takin (really nice enclosure). There are only about 16 outdoor exhibits in total plus about 20 indoor terrariums but everything is new, top-notch and hugely impressive. A great little gem of a zoo but one that can be seen in a flash. I’d love to see them add Amur Tigers, Amur Leopards or Snow Leopards to fit the Asian theme and provide visitors with a big cat to see. In the next few months the zoo is opening a so-called “Baviary”, which is a large building that will have birds, bats and small animals.
Chahinkapa Zoo – A fairly poor zoo that is reminiscent of Roosevelt Park and in love with chain-link fencing. There is a lot of advertising for “North Dakota’s first ever great ape”, which is a hybrid male orangutan by himself in a large metal cage that is Howletts-style in appearance. It is more than adequate but the hype is not worth it. Tigers, grizzly bears, cougars, bobcats and a snow leopard all have cages that are less than impressive but at least chain-link works well for primates (3 lemur species plus gibbons and spider monkeys) as they can use the fencing for rapid movement. Bison, elk, Dall sheep and llamas have spacious yards, a Tortoise Town area encourages visitors to touch the “gentle giants” and there are 200 animals of 70 species in this rather disappointing zoo.
RECAP:
North Dakota – Dakota Zoo, Red River Zoo, Roosevelt Park Zoo and Chahinkapa Zoo are all AZA-accredited and I loved the first two and was disappointed in the last two. The Garrison Dam Aquarium only qualifies as an aquarium by the slimmest of margins.
South Dakota – Great Plains Zoo and Bramble Park Zoo are both AZA-accredited although the former is much more impressive. Reptile Gardens (immense collection of snakes) and Bear Country USA are not accredited but still worth a visit.
Hemker Park & Zoo – This attraction is a non-AZA-accredited facility (but ZAA accredited) located in Freeport, Minnesota, and it opened in 1977. Mark Hemker and his wife Joan founded the establishment and it has remained a family-run institution ever since. Originally known as Hemker Game Farm it first opened to the public in 1994 as Hemker Wildlife Park and only became Hemker Park & Zoo in 2008. There are over 50 species and 200 animals in this small establishment and the average annual attendance is around 50,000.
The best part of the 20-acre zoo is a long gravel trail that leads around a series of large hoofstock yards that are all quite spacious and similar in size and scope. The species list includes: Musk Ox, Sichuan Takin, Sitatunga, Greater Kudu, Beisa Oryx, Alpine Ibex, White-Tailed Deer, Grant’s Zebra, Bighorn Sheep, Mouflon, Bactrian Camel, Reindeer, Pronghorn Antelope, Rhea, Emu and Red Kangaroo. The worst part of the zoo is a row of outdated cement and metal cages from a bygone era. They are all badly in need of a bulldozer and that is exactly the zoo’s plan in the next year or two. The species list includes: Coati, New Guinea Singing Dog, Ring-Tailed Lemur, White-Faced Capuchin, Black-Capped Capuchin, Black-Handed Spider Monkey and Reeve’s Muntjac. In a separate area African Crested Porcupines and Patagonian Cavies are also found in ugly metal cages.
One of the highlights of this entire trip was today when I met Marcus and Jackie Hemker, a brother and sister team who together with two other sisters run the family-owned zoo. How they’ve managed to have Sichuan Takin, Musk Ox, Beisa Oryx and New Guinea Singing Dogs out on a farm in the middle of nowhere is beyond my imagination. An annual attendance of 50,000 doesn’t seem like much but Freeport, Minnesota, is a town of 650 people and the home-made zoo has become a beloved local attraction. Jackie and I had a brief conversation about how many zoos I’d visited when I purchased my entrance ticket and then she told her brother Marcus who tracked me down and we had a great half-hour chat in the middle of the zoo. He is a 22 year-old guy who essentially runs the zoo as he is the collections manager, exhibit builder, zookeeper and everything else in between while his 3 sisters each specialize in the education, finance and concession departments. With a couple of hundred exotic animals there is a home for several rarities that other zoos either don’t want or if there are plans to phase out a specific species. Marcus and I had a good chuckle as he was recently on the phone with a representative at Greater Vancouver Zoo in Canada, approximately 15 minutes from my home, plus he is always chatting with a long list of zoo curators and directors and he mentioned a few names that I recognized. He said that the ZAA zoos often band together to form partnerships when it comes to exchanging animals.
Upon leaving I had another long talk with Marcus and Jackie and she knew of “Snowleopard” from ZooChat and I know that she follows this thread. They were both conscious of the fact that what I write is read by many zoo nerds but also folks in the industry. Marcus kept asking what my opinion was on exhibits at his zoo and what improvements I would recommend and he must have thanked me at least 4-5 times for going out of my way to visit. I received a really good vibe from him and I kept thanking him for taking the time out of his day to be able to geek out over zoos. I’ve never worked in the industry in my life but I’ve extensively photographed and reviewed so many zoos that I guess folks think that I’ve become some sort of zoo visitor expert. I was very honest in my assessment and if the row of small animal exhibits were eliminated then that would be a massive improvement. If anything I’m a tad envious of Marcus as he is young, full of energy and he has a 15-year plan to become AZA-accredited. I wish him and his sisters luck as they welcome an arrival of a male giraffe in the near future and then begin the job of dismantling the old-fashioned cages in favour of a more modern primate complex. This is a zoo for many discarded animals and a zoo like Hemker Park (and others of its kind) could one day be the last place of residence for species such as Sitatunga or New Guinea Singing Dog. I wish Marcus and Jackie well and if I’m ever in the state of Minnesota again then I’ll certainly stop by and pay them a visit. They seem like genuinely good-natured, hard-working individuals and hopefully the future is bright for them and their zoo.
Finally some decent music SnowLeopard!
Keep the great blog and reviews coming, the mini format is in many ways ideal for this sort of thread, easy to read and digest, and we can ask questions when we want more info (and obviously buy the book!).
Which brings me to my first question - what does Bear Country USA do with all the bears it breeds??? Surely it can't indefinitely house and feed that number? And other parks will only take so many? Is there any form of bear farming in America?
Thanks for the comments and on this particular road trip I've been getting less feedback and it probably has to do with the fact that I'm visiting some pretty tiny zoos. When I went to places like Toronto, Omaha or San Diego in the past then everyone wants complete species lists and questions poured in. Now folks are probably scratching their heads and saying "he's going to what zoo?"
I have no idea what Bear Country USA does with its plethora of bears but they breed them like rats and I guess that once they hit 100+ some get shipped elsewhere. I'm as intrigued as you are.
RAD (Reptile & Amphibian Discovery) Zoo is a non AZA-accredited facility located in Owatonna, Minnesota, and it opened in 2009. The establishment is an hour south of the bustling metropolis of Minneapolis and it is located in an old warehouse. The collection is impressive, especially when it comes to turtles and tortoises, but the exhibits are very much home-made and as basic as it gets. Almost all of the enclosures are average-sized terrariums and some of the crocodilians and snakes have exhibits that leave little to the imagination.
Species List (138 species):
Snakes (46 species): Yellow Anaconda, Green Anaconda, Amazon Tree Boa, Tatari Sand Boa, Kenyan Sand Boa, Rough-Scaled Sand Boa, Rosy Boa, Cuban Boa, Boa Constrictor, Burmese Python, Ball Python, African Rock Python, Jungle Carpet Python, Woma Python, Eastern Corn Snake, Eastern Corn Snake, Mangrove Snake, Brown Snake, Common Garter Snake, Black-Neck Garter Snake, Plains Garter Snake, Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racer, Bullsnake, Taiwan Beauty Snake, Javan File Snake, Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake, Western Hognose Snake, Eastern Hognose Snake, Honduran Milk-Snake, Eastern Milk-Snake, Fox Snake, California Kingsnake, Florida Kingsnake, Everglades Ratsnake, Texas Ratsnake, Black Ratsnake, Great Plains Ratsnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Prairie Rattlesnake, Sidewinder, Western Cottonmouth, Trans-Pecos Copperhead, Eyelash Viper, Sri Lankan Palm Viper, White-Lipped Tree Viper and Beautiful Tree Viper.
Lizards (25 species): Frilled Lizard, Chinese Tree Dragon, Bearded Dragon, Asian Water Monitor, Graceful Chameleon, Veiled Chameleon, Leopard Gecko, Mediterranean House Gecko, Madagascar Giant Day Gecko, Green Basilisk, Banded Brown Basilisk, Mountain Horned Lizard, Desert Spiny Lizard, Schneider’s Skink, Southeastern Five-Lined Skink, Blue-Tongued Skink, Saharan Uromastyx, Mali Uromastyx, Plated Lizard, Green Anole, Brown Anole, Green Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Desert Iguana and Sheltopusik.
Crocodilians (6 species): American Alligator, Spectacled Caiman, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Smooth-Fronted Caiman, Yacare Caiman and Desert Crocodile (Crocodylus suchus).
Amphibians (28 species): Pig Frog, Chubby Frog, Green Frog, Wood Frog, Northern Leopard Frog, Vietnamese Black-Webbed Gliding Frog, Vietnamese Mossy Frog, Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Squirrel Tree Frog, Green Tree Frog, White’s Tree Frog, Red-Legged Walking Frog, American Bullfrog, African Bullfrog, African Clawed Frog, Dyeing Poison Dart Frog, Blue Poison Dart Frog, Bumblebee Poison Dart Frog, Cane Toad, Southern Toad, Sonoran Desert Toad, American Toad, Great Plains Toad, European Green Toad, Eastern Tiger Salamander, Spotted Salamander, Blue-Spotted Salamander and Hong Kong Warty Newt.
Turtles and Tortoises (28 species): Alligator Snapping Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle, African Mud Turtle, Helmeted Sideneck Turtle, Siebenrock’s Snake-Necked Turtle, Fly River Turtle, Murray River Turtle, False Map Turtle, Florida Red Belly Turtle, Florida Softshell Turtle, Spiny Softshell Turtle, Western Painted Turtle, Peninsula Cooter, Diamondback Terrapin, Red-Eared Slider, Indian Spotted Turtle, Reeve’s Turtle, Striped Mud Turtle, Common Musk Turtle, Wood Turtle, Spot-Legged Wood Turtle, Painted Wood Turtle, Yellow-Footed Tortoise, Elongated Tortoise, African Spurred Tortoise, Russian Tortoise, Pancake Tortoise and Red-Footed Tortoise.
Invertebrates (2 species): Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and Emperor Scorpion.
Birds (2 species): Rainbow Lorikeet and Zebra Finch.
Fish (1 species): False Percula Clownfish.
Species List (138 species):
Snakes (46 species): Yellow Anaconda, Green Anaconda, Amazon Tree Boa, Tatari Sand Boa, Kenyan Sand Boa, Rough-Scaled Sand Boa, Rosy Boa, Cuban Boa, Boa Constrictor, Burmese Python, Ball Python, African Rock Python, Jungle Carpet Python, Woma Python, Eastern Corn Snake, Eastern Corn Snake, Mangrove Snake, Brown Snake, Common Garter Snake, Black-Neck Garter Snake, Plains Garter Snake, Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racer, Bullsnake, Taiwan Beauty Snake, Javan File Snake, Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake, Western Hognose Snake, Eastern Hognose Snake, Honduran Milk-Snake, Eastern Milk-Snake, Fox Snake, California Kingsnake, Florida Kingsnake, Everglades Ratsnake, Texas Ratsnake, Black Ratsnake, Great Plains Ratsnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Prairie Rattlesnake, Sidewinder, Western Cottonmouth, Trans-Pecos Copperhead, Eyelash Viper, Sri Lankan Palm Viper, White-Lipped Tree Viper and Beautiful Tree Viper.
Lizards (25 species): Frilled Lizard, Chinese Tree Dragon, Bearded Dragon, Asian Water Monitor, Graceful Chameleon, Veiled Chameleon, Leopard Gecko, Mediterranean House Gecko, Madagascar Giant Day Gecko, Green Basilisk, Banded Brown Basilisk, Mountain Horned Lizard, Desert Spiny Lizard, Schneider’s Skink, Southeastern Five-Lined Skink, Blue-Tongued Skink, Saharan Uromastyx, Mali Uromastyx, Plated Lizard, Green Anole, Brown Anole, Green Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Desert Iguana and Sheltopusik.
Crocodilians (6 species): American Alligator, Spectacled Caiman, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Smooth-Fronted Caiman, Yacare Caiman and Desert Crocodile (Crocodylus suchus).
Amphibians (28 species): Pig Frog, Chubby Frog, Green Frog, Wood Frog, Northern Leopard Frog, Vietnamese Black-Webbed Gliding Frog, Vietnamese Mossy Frog, Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Squirrel Tree Frog, Green Tree Frog, White’s Tree Frog, Red-Legged Walking Frog, American Bullfrog, African Bullfrog, African Clawed Frog, Dyeing Poison Dart Frog, Blue Poison Dart Frog, Bumblebee Poison Dart Frog, Cane Toad, Southern Toad, Sonoran Desert Toad, American Toad, Great Plains Toad, European Green Toad, Eastern Tiger Salamander, Spotted Salamander, Blue-Spotted Salamander and Hong Kong Warty Newt.
Turtles and Tortoises (28 species): Alligator Snapping Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle, African Mud Turtle, Helmeted Sideneck Turtle, Siebenrock’s Snake-Necked Turtle, Fly River Turtle, Murray River Turtle, False Map Turtle, Florida Red Belly Turtle, Florida Softshell Turtle, Spiny Softshell Turtle, Western Painted Turtle, Peninsula Cooter, Diamondback Terrapin, Red-Eared Slider, Indian Spotted Turtle, Reeve’s Turtle, Striped Mud Turtle, Common Musk Turtle, Wood Turtle, Spot-Legged Wood Turtle, Painted Wood Turtle, Yellow-Footed Tortoise, Elongated Tortoise, African Spurred Tortoise, Russian Tortoise, Pancake Tortoise and Red-Footed Tortoise.
Invertebrates (2 species): Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and Emperor Scorpion.
Birds (2 species): Rainbow Lorikeet and Zebra Finch.
Fish (1 species): False Percula Clownfish.
Thanks for the comments and on this particular road trip I've been getting less feedback and it probably has to do with the fact that I'm visiting some pretty tiny zoos. When I went to places like Toronto, Omaha or San Diego in the past then everyone wants complete species lists and questions poured in. Now folks are probably scratching their heads and saying "he's going to what zoo?"
I have no idea what Bear Country USA does with its plethora of bears but they breed them like rats and I guess that once they hit 100+ some get shipped elsewhere. I'm as intrigued as you are.
I'm also curious what happens to the baby raccoons, skunks, coyotes, etc. in Babyland. They won't stay babies forever so what does the facility do with them?
Late as ever looking at the internet but it all seems to be going well,shame I couldn't do part of the trip with you as we originally planned, but musically you would have done much better with Sooty Mangabey [tho he is strange in every other way]...all those white folks aint my style and I believe,even then,that black music finished on the 31st December 1979!Anyway back to zoos and I will restrain myself from commenting on a 101 different things.Just two - re Reptile Gardens,Moscow is probably the herp record holder at the moment with 277 taxa,Tula in the same country held much allure for a few years with an amazing 600 or so but the herp collection has been greatly diminished to around 180 in recent years. American Marten at Bramble Park... a mammal species ive never EVER seen,and surprisingly uncommon in captivity.a pity im not there [music apart].Very interesting to read about some of these smaller places - im quite looking forward to the book myself!
Day 6 –Friday, August 1st
Musical highlights include Pearl Jam (“Vs.”), John Mellencamp (“The Lonesome Jubilee”), David Bowie’s “Greatest Hits” and Paul Simon’s “Greatest Hits”. I have no time for Simon and Garfunkel but Paul Simon’s solo stuff has some true gems. He is a wonderful songwriter and the 1986 album “Graceland” is a bona fide classic.
My days have settled into a rhythm and each zoo is unique and cool in its own way but there is a routine established in the way that I go about my day. I usually wake up at around 7:00 each morning and putter around with my zoo reviews and browsing the internet while I get ready to start. I hit my first zoo and then on average drive a couple of hours to the next zoo; cruise through a fast-food restaurant for lunch; tick off a second zoo; drive another couple of hours; see zoo #3 for the day and then drive for two more hours before stopping for gas, food and a motel. At night I spend about 45 minutes on Skype with my wife (and sometimes my 3 kids if they are still up) before settling in for a night of 4-5 hours of typing up full-length zoo reviews and then mini-reviews to post on ZooChat. I go to sleep at around 12:30 (far later than I ever would at home) and the next day begins!
Breakfast is gluten-free cornflakes as I brought 4 large bags from home as well as a bowl and spoon and so that has been my morning routine. I’ve somewhat amazingly yet to eat at a zoo and even if I wanted to many of the smaller ones have bare-bones facilities for concession. Lunch is always a fast-food drive-thru as I simply want to hit the open road and keep on moving forward. The United States is ridiculously cheap for food as any number of combos at McDonald’s (burger, fries and drink) goes for $5 in any state which is a lot cheaper than in Canada. At Dairy Queen I had a bacon burger, fries, drink and strawberry sundae for $5 and it is a great way to eat on the fly and to save money. At night I’ve stopped quite often at Subway and bought a large, delicious salad with two heated grilled chicken breasts, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spinach and onions. It helps me balance out the burger and fries lunch.
Mini-Reviews:
Minnesota Zoo – This is perhaps one of America’s best dozen zoos and I have typed up a 1,500 word review with many intricate details that you'll find in a future book. I’m a bit nostalgic for this zoo as it was the very first review that I ever typed up, back in the summer of 2008. Since then there will have been 200+ zoo visits in the space of 6 years and Minnesota has made a number of changes in that time. A stylish, brand-new entrance and Education Center (including a private vignette view of penguins); Penguins of the African Coast; Target Learning Center (the former beluga pool and now a slick indoor presentation space); Faces of the African Forest (Colobus Monkey, De Brazza's Monkey, Red River Hog and Rock Hyrax); Dhole (former wolf exhibit), Woodland Adventure (nature play area in Central Plaza); American Black Bear exhibit on the Minnesota Trail; seasonal Big Bugs exhibit; and Conservation Carousel. Does this zoo stop to breathe? Under construction: Wild Woods Nature-based play area; Hawaiian Monk Seal rescue center (former dolphin pools); and South American aviary (Tropics Trail). A revamp of the Japanese Macaque exhibit is also 2-3 years away from happening and to keep attendance hovering around 1.3 million people the zoo needs to continually re-invest in excellence. I should note that the “Big Bugs” seasonal exhibit is free and it features massive animatronic critters that move, issue forth steam and even squirt water. I would give it an A+ in terms of innovation and sheer delight. There are also live insects in that part of the zoo and 18 species can be found in average-sized terrariums.
Russia’s Grizzly Coast, Northern Trail and Minnesota Trail are 3 outstanding zones and most zoos don’t even have one wonderful complex. Russia’s Grizzly Coast, even with only 4 species, is one of the very best set of exhibits I’ve ever seen and I took a lot of photos of the area right as the zoo opened. I saw an Amur Tiger in each of the massive exhibits and the 3-acre tiger complex is a contender for the best of its kind. The Grizzly Bear exhibit with phenomenal underwater viewing gives Woodland Park a run for its money in terms of the greatest of its kind and I could go on all day. The Minnesota Trail with its wolves, coyotes, fishers, wolverines, river otters, beavers, black bears, etc, was better than I remembered and the attention to detail is spectacular.
The new Penguin exhibit is tastefully done and hugely popular as penguins are true zoo superstars; the new entrance is terrific and was much-needed; the snow monkey exhibit is also enormously popular but will only get better in the future; and the Tropics Trail (which I found hit-and-miss in 2008) is much improved and looking slick with vegetation and hidden interactive elements in a variety of places. A few key changes (like no more sun bears) have helped enormously. Discovery Bay is quite disappointing and a bit of a wasted space (sea dragons aside) but the addition of Hawaiian Monk Seals will make it much more exciting in the future.
I should mention that I spent 2.5 hours with the Director/CEO of Minnesota Zoo, Lee Ehmke, and he is also President of WAZA and thus a very busy man! Since we had exchanged the odd message every 6 months or so for the past few years it was nice to meet him in person and we had a wonderfully long chat in his office. There is nothing quite like sitting around with a knowledgeable individual talking about great zoos, crappy zoos and everything zoological in between. Naturally the entire 2.5 hours we spent discussing zoos cannot be repeated here as Lee is a very candid individual, but we did also walk through the Tropics Trail and Minnesota Trail together and go behind the scenes in a couple of areas. Later on I redid those two zones by myself in order to get hundreds of photos but I truly enjoyed spending time with a gracious man who is remembered for not only transforming the Minnesota Zoo into one of the nation’s best but he will forever be tied to the creation of Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo.
RAD (Reptile & Amphibian Discovery) Zoo – I already posted a short critique of this facility and I included the very impressive species list.
Sea Life Minnesota – Do I really need to review a Sea Life aquarium? Even though most zoo enthusiasts scorn the Sea Life aquariums (while also visiting new ones all the time!) even the most cynical visitor must admit that the large walk-through tunnels are rather outstanding. Deep within the bowels of the enormous Mall of America lies the 300-foot long Ocean Tunnel and it is broken up into 4 distinct zones. Rainbow Reef and Atlantis Temple include species such as Sandbar Shark, Blacktip Reef Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Nurse Shark, Ornate Wobbegong Shark, Zebra Shark, Shark Ray, Southern Stingray, Green Sawfish, Red Drum, Golden Trevally, Red Grouper, Horse-Eye Jack, Permit, Goliath Grouper, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, Green Sea Turtle and Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Everything in this section of the Ocean Tunnel grows to a minimum of 3 feet and upwards to 10 feet and beyond.
The Amazon section of the tunnel features huge South American fish and the species list includes Arapaima, Black Pacu, Silver Arowana, Ripsaw Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, Motoro Stingray, Giant Musk Turtle and Redfin Prochilodus. The final section is called Sturgeon Lake and features these species: Longnose Gar, Alligator Gar, Lake Sturgeon, Common Carp, Mukellunge and Red-Eared Slider.
That makes 6 days done and 16 zoos reviewed and completed. Due to my insane schedule and late evenings of sitting on the computer the future zoo book inches ever closer to reality although late 2015 is still the tentative publication date for all of you who have been asking. All good things come to those who wait.
Musical highlights include Pearl Jam (“Vs.”), John Mellencamp (“The Lonesome Jubilee”), David Bowie’s “Greatest Hits” and Paul Simon’s “Greatest Hits”. I have no time for Simon and Garfunkel but Paul Simon’s solo stuff has some true gems. He is a wonderful songwriter and the 1986 album “Graceland” is a bona fide classic.
My days have settled into a rhythm and each zoo is unique and cool in its own way but there is a routine established in the way that I go about my day. I usually wake up at around 7:00 each morning and putter around with my zoo reviews and browsing the internet while I get ready to start. I hit my first zoo and then on average drive a couple of hours to the next zoo; cruise through a fast-food restaurant for lunch; tick off a second zoo; drive another couple of hours; see zoo #3 for the day and then drive for two more hours before stopping for gas, food and a motel. At night I spend about 45 minutes on Skype with my wife (and sometimes my 3 kids if they are still up) before settling in for a night of 4-5 hours of typing up full-length zoo reviews and then mini-reviews to post on ZooChat. I go to sleep at around 12:30 (far later than I ever would at home) and the next day begins!
Breakfast is gluten-free cornflakes as I brought 4 large bags from home as well as a bowl and spoon and so that has been my morning routine. I’ve somewhat amazingly yet to eat at a zoo and even if I wanted to many of the smaller ones have bare-bones facilities for concession. Lunch is always a fast-food drive-thru as I simply want to hit the open road and keep on moving forward. The United States is ridiculously cheap for food as any number of combos at McDonald’s (burger, fries and drink) goes for $5 in any state which is a lot cheaper than in Canada. At Dairy Queen I had a bacon burger, fries, drink and strawberry sundae for $5 and it is a great way to eat on the fly and to save money. At night I’ve stopped quite often at Subway and bought a large, delicious salad with two heated grilled chicken breasts, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spinach and onions. It helps me balance out the burger and fries lunch.
Mini-Reviews:
Minnesota Zoo – This is perhaps one of America’s best dozen zoos and I have typed up a 1,500 word review with many intricate details that you'll find in a future book. I’m a bit nostalgic for this zoo as it was the very first review that I ever typed up, back in the summer of 2008. Since then there will have been 200+ zoo visits in the space of 6 years and Minnesota has made a number of changes in that time. A stylish, brand-new entrance and Education Center (including a private vignette view of penguins); Penguins of the African Coast; Target Learning Center (the former beluga pool and now a slick indoor presentation space); Faces of the African Forest (Colobus Monkey, De Brazza's Monkey, Red River Hog and Rock Hyrax); Dhole (former wolf exhibit), Woodland Adventure (nature play area in Central Plaza); American Black Bear exhibit on the Minnesota Trail; seasonal Big Bugs exhibit; and Conservation Carousel. Does this zoo stop to breathe? Under construction: Wild Woods Nature-based play area; Hawaiian Monk Seal rescue center (former dolphin pools); and South American aviary (Tropics Trail). A revamp of the Japanese Macaque exhibit is also 2-3 years away from happening and to keep attendance hovering around 1.3 million people the zoo needs to continually re-invest in excellence. I should note that the “Big Bugs” seasonal exhibit is free and it features massive animatronic critters that move, issue forth steam and even squirt water. I would give it an A+ in terms of innovation and sheer delight. There are also live insects in that part of the zoo and 18 species can be found in average-sized terrariums.
Russia’s Grizzly Coast, Northern Trail and Minnesota Trail are 3 outstanding zones and most zoos don’t even have one wonderful complex. Russia’s Grizzly Coast, even with only 4 species, is one of the very best set of exhibits I’ve ever seen and I took a lot of photos of the area right as the zoo opened. I saw an Amur Tiger in each of the massive exhibits and the 3-acre tiger complex is a contender for the best of its kind. The Grizzly Bear exhibit with phenomenal underwater viewing gives Woodland Park a run for its money in terms of the greatest of its kind and I could go on all day. The Minnesota Trail with its wolves, coyotes, fishers, wolverines, river otters, beavers, black bears, etc, was better than I remembered and the attention to detail is spectacular.
The new Penguin exhibit is tastefully done and hugely popular as penguins are true zoo superstars; the new entrance is terrific and was much-needed; the snow monkey exhibit is also enormously popular but will only get better in the future; and the Tropics Trail (which I found hit-and-miss in 2008) is much improved and looking slick with vegetation and hidden interactive elements in a variety of places. A few key changes (like no more sun bears) have helped enormously. Discovery Bay is quite disappointing and a bit of a wasted space (sea dragons aside) but the addition of Hawaiian Monk Seals will make it much more exciting in the future.
I should mention that I spent 2.5 hours with the Director/CEO of Minnesota Zoo, Lee Ehmke, and he is also President of WAZA and thus a very busy man! Since we had exchanged the odd message every 6 months or so for the past few years it was nice to meet him in person and we had a wonderfully long chat in his office. There is nothing quite like sitting around with a knowledgeable individual talking about great zoos, crappy zoos and everything zoological in between. Naturally the entire 2.5 hours we spent discussing zoos cannot be repeated here as Lee is a very candid individual, but we did also walk through the Tropics Trail and Minnesota Trail together and go behind the scenes in a couple of areas. Later on I redid those two zones by myself in order to get hundreds of photos but I truly enjoyed spending time with a gracious man who is remembered for not only transforming the Minnesota Zoo into one of the nation’s best but he will forever be tied to the creation of Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo.
RAD (Reptile & Amphibian Discovery) Zoo – I already posted a short critique of this facility and I included the very impressive species list.
Sea Life Minnesota – Do I really need to review a Sea Life aquarium? Even though most zoo enthusiasts scorn the Sea Life aquariums (while also visiting new ones all the time!) even the most cynical visitor must admit that the large walk-through tunnels are rather outstanding. Deep within the bowels of the enormous Mall of America lies the 300-foot long Ocean Tunnel and it is broken up into 4 distinct zones. Rainbow Reef and Atlantis Temple include species such as Sandbar Shark, Blacktip Reef Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Nurse Shark, Ornate Wobbegong Shark, Zebra Shark, Shark Ray, Southern Stingray, Green Sawfish, Red Drum, Golden Trevally, Red Grouper, Horse-Eye Jack, Permit, Goliath Grouper, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, Green Sea Turtle and Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Everything in this section of the Ocean Tunnel grows to a minimum of 3 feet and upwards to 10 feet and beyond.
The Amazon section of the tunnel features huge South American fish and the species list includes Arapaima, Black Pacu, Silver Arowana, Ripsaw Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, Motoro Stingray, Giant Musk Turtle and Redfin Prochilodus. The final section is called Sturgeon Lake and features these species: Longnose Gar, Alligator Gar, Lake Sturgeon, Common Carp, Mukellunge and Red-Eared Slider.
That makes 6 days done and 16 zoos reviewed and completed. Due to my insane schedule and late evenings of sitting on the computer the future zoo book inches ever closer to reality although late 2015 is still the tentative publication date for all of you who have been asking. All good things come to those who wait.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, the idea of Alanis Morrisette, U2 and Guns n Roses makes me feel rather queasy. I think Scott would be better off with....
...I've heard it's very good!
Would love to hear Lee's comments on no longer displaying any cetaceans and if they ever will again. I was very disappointed with MN Zoo's decision to close dolphin exhibit and would love to see a cetacean exhibit open in another Midwest zoo such as Omaha or MN.
Lee and I talked extensively about the dolphin program but here is MY OPINION on the matter. That ship has sailed. With only 2 zoos in the nation still with dolphins (Indianapolis and Brookfield) and judging by Indy's horrible record with the species it would seem logical that years from now there will be zero zoos with dolphins in the United States. I personally think that the chance of Minnesota Zoo ever having dolphins or whales again would be 0%. The zoo's Master Plan for the next 20 years makes no mention of dolphins and Omaha's Master Plan for the next 20 years also makes no reference to dolphins. It will never happen.
Day 7 – Saturday, August 2nd
Musical highlights include Paul Simon’s “Greatest Hits” album that is actually called “Shining Like a National Guitar” and it was released in 2000. I have played it to death over the years as there are 19 songs on it and just about all of them are classics. Up next was R.E.M’.s last record and those guys just retired and then were promptly voted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame on the first ballot (no mean feat). “Accelerate” was their last disc and it is a rock-heavy one as they certainly went out with a bang. James Brown’s “Greatest Hits” was next, in honour of the new biopic that opened in theatres the night before all throughout the United States.
I also did some minor chores today such as taking my little Toyota Echo through a car wash and then going to a separate hand-held car wash to spray off the billion little bugs that had crashed into the front of the silver vehicle. A Laundromat beckoned and I spent 2 hours there as a garbage bag full of stinky clothes was all washed and dried. A full week has been finished and my clothes and car are now all brand-new and set for the next wave of zoo tours.
Mini-Reviews:
Pine Grove Zoo – This extremely tiny zoo can be seen by an individual in less than 45 minutes. Even including the farmyard zone there are only 18 species in the entire zoo and it is a wonder that the establishment even manages to survive as the financial burden must be difficult with fairly low visitor numbers. Species list includes American Black Bear, Cougar, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Arctic Wolf, Grey Wolf, Rocky Mountain Elk, American Bison, Pronghorn Antelope, Bobcat, Amur Tiger, African Spurred Tortoise, Budgerigar, Grant’s Zebra, Yak, Emu plus cows, sheep and donkeys. That is the entire species list of 18 varieties and the park has been there for 100 years but the zoo did not become a proper zoological establishment until the 1990’s.
I then drove 3 hours north to Duluth, Minnesota, which is a city of about 85,000 people right on the bottom of Lake Superior. The lake is the largest one in North America and the largest on the planet in terms of surface area and there are lots of puny little towns that one passes on the way north. I drove through cities with these population numbers (69, 190 and 262) as well as a couple with 2,000 or so denizens. In one small town there was a special event day and I think that I saw the entire city pass by my car window as I hurtled on past. Upon reaching Duluth I was presently surprised to see that a Maritime Museum and a couple of enormous ships in the harbor were enticing visitors in that direction and I visited both the zoo and aquarium as they are only 10 minutes apart from each other. Let’s look at them now, shall we?
Lake Superior Zoo – In preparing for this trip I visited the websites of all 60 zoos and aquariums multiple times but usually I was tracking opening hours, admission rates and animal numbers as I didn’t want to know absolutely everything about a zoo beforehand as that would take away the element of surprise. Imagine my shock when I arrived at this 16-acre zoo to find that in their collection they had a Central Chinese Goral as well as a Large-Spotted Genet! Both those species were easy for me to see and I’m not sure that there are more than 3-4 zoos with either of them anywhere across the United States. Not only that but this zoo has a Nocturnal House (8 exhibits and 11 species), another dying breed in North America as so many zoos have closed their Nocturnal Houses down forever.
In 2012 a severe flood struck the zoo that resulted in the permanent closure of the Polar Shores complex, which had only just been constructed in 1990. There were 14 animals that lost their lives throughout the zoo (mainly domestics) as up to 10 inches of rain washed through most of the park. That means that two years later there is a huge polar bear, harbour seal, fox, eagle complex sitting empty right in the middle of the zoo. Elsewhere there is a nice Aussie zone with a sandstone-themed indoor area; Asian Caravan has Amur Tiger, Snow Leopard, Eurasian Lynx and White-Naped Crane exhibits as well as the previously-mentioned Chinese Goral. Northern Territory has both a Grizzly Bear and Kodiak Bear (huge subspecies) in a rocky grotto amongst 5 other exhibits; a Primate Conservation Center has 5 species; and a Learning Center has 36 species mainly in terrariums and 4 species of odd-looking geckos are the highlight there. I spent an hour and a half at this hilly, interesting little zoo.
Ten minutes down the road:
Great Lakes Aquarium – Last night I typed up a 1,000 word review with an extensive list of species found in this two-level aquatic facility but I’ll attempt to distill that total into a couple of paragraphs. I spent a very enjoyable hour in this establishment and 90% of the species on display are found in Lake Superior and that alone is a highly commendable fact as the local fauna consists mainly of various types of trout and salmon. A major draw is the river otters but there are some impressive mock-rock backdrops to many of the large exhibits. A walk-through aviary with 7 bird species and 5 turtle species is quite nice; an enormous two-storey wall of water greets visitors when they first enter the facility; Isle River is the largest of 1,600 islands in massive Lake Superior and there is an exhibit devoted to it; Baptism River and St. Louis River are a couple more of the local waterways highlighted and I suspect that a few species here might not be common in many other aquariums.
Origins: Fire, Ice & The Rise of Life – This is the first thing that visitors see after they rise up an escalator and begin their tour and it is an informational overload as the evolution of life in the region is explored in minute detail. It is all rather fascinating, from the small volcano seemingly emitting lava to the focus on evolution and how it has impacted the landscape of Lake Superior. There are panels on insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals and as this is a factual institution (and at the risk of offending some ZooChatters) I was happy to see a thorough examination of the progress of life on Earth without any mention of anyone with beards in flowing robes or anything else that is perhaps more fiction than fact. I’m a devout atheist but please don’t hold it against me as I find that most zoo fans are of the same belief system anyway. One knock on the aquarium is that it is similar to Virginia Aquarium as there is too much of a museum-style appearance at times and the public would surely rather see a few more fish tanks. Odd species seen that are not always in American aquariums: Common Octopus, Muskellunge, Coaster Brook Trout, American Eel, Fox Snake, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Sea Lamprey, Arctic Grayling, Brown-Headed Cowbird, South American Lungfish, Banjo Catfish and Chambered Nautilus.
Next up is Como Park Zoo in Minnesota (my 8th zoo in that state on this trip) before I travel to Wisconsin for another 8 zoos. Interestingly enough I will have seen 9 zoos in Wisconsin after this trip (I toured Milwaukee County Zoo in 2010) and that state does not have an aquarium. Other than a few tanks in a Science Center in Milwaukee (which don’t really count) and some aquatic displays at Milwaukee County Zoo, the state has at least 9 zoos but no aquarium. Is Sea Life beckoning? Ha!
Musical highlights include Paul Simon’s “Greatest Hits” album that is actually called “Shining Like a National Guitar” and it was released in 2000. I have played it to death over the years as there are 19 songs on it and just about all of them are classics. Up next was R.E.M’.s last record and those guys just retired and then were promptly voted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame on the first ballot (no mean feat). “Accelerate” was their last disc and it is a rock-heavy one as they certainly went out with a bang. James Brown’s “Greatest Hits” was next, in honour of the new biopic that opened in theatres the night before all throughout the United States.
I also did some minor chores today such as taking my little Toyota Echo through a car wash and then going to a separate hand-held car wash to spray off the billion little bugs that had crashed into the front of the silver vehicle. A Laundromat beckoned and I spent 2 hours there as a garbage bag full of stinky clothes was all washed and dried. A full week has been finished and my clothes and car are now all brand-new and set for the next wave of zoo tours.
Mini-Reviews:
Pine Grove Zoo – This extremely tiny zoo can be seen by an individual in less than 45 minutes. Even including the farmyard zone there are only 18 species in the entire zoo and it is a wonder that the establishment even manages to survive as the financial burden must be difficult with fairly low visitor numbers. Species list includes American Black Bear, Cougar, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Arctic Wolf, Grey Wolf, Rocky Mountain Elk, American Bison, Pronghorn Antelope, Bobcat, Amur Tiger, African Spurred Tortoise, Budgerigar, Grant’s Zebra, Yak, Emu plus cows, sheep and donkeys. That is the entire species list of 18 varieties and the park has been there for 100 years but the zoo did not become a proper zoological establishment until the 1990’s.
I then drove 3 hours north to Duluth, Minnesota, which is a city of about 85,000 people right on the bottom of Lake Superior. The lake is the largest one in North America and the largest on the planet in terms of surface area and there are lots of puny little towns that one passes on the way north. I drove through cities with these population numbers (69, 190 and 262) as well as a couple with 2,000 or so denizens. In one small town there was a special event day and I think that I saw the entire city pass by my car window as I hurtled on past. Upon reaching Duluth I was presently surprised to see that a Maritime Museum and a couple of enormous ships in the harbor were enticing visitors in that direction and I visited both the zoo and aquarium as they are only 10 minutes apart from each other. Let’s look at them now, shall we?
Lake Superior Zoo – In preparing for this trip I visited the websites of all 60 zoos and aquariums multiple times but usually I was tracking opening hours, admission rates and animal numbers as I didn’t want to know absolutely everything about a zoo beforehand as that would take away the element of surprise. Imagine my shock when I arrived at this 16-acre zoo to find that in their collection they had a Central Chinese Goral as well as a Large-Spotted Genet! Both those species were easy for me to see and I’m not sure that there are more than 3-4 zoos with either of them anywhere across the United States. Not only that but this zoo has a Nocturnal House (8 exhibits and 11 species), another dying breed in North America as so many zoos have closed their Nocturnal Houses down forever.
In 2012 a severe flood struck the zoo that resulted in the permanent closure of the Polar Shores complex, which had only just been constructed in 1990. There were 14 animals that lost their lives throughout the zoo (mainly domestics) as up to 10 inches of rain washed through most of the park. That means that two years later there is a huge polar bear, harbour seal, fox, eagle complex sitting empty right in the middle of the zoo. Elsewhere there is a nice Aussie zone with a sandstone-themed indoor area; Asian Caravan has Amur Tiger, Snow Leopard, Eurasian Lynx and White-Naped Crane exhibits as well as the previously-mentioned Chinese Goral. Northern Territory has both a Grizzly Bear and Kodiak Bear (huge subspecies) in a rocky grotto amongst 5 other exhibits; a Primate Conservation Center has 5 species; and a Learning Center has 36 species mainly in terrariums and 4 species of odd-looking geckos are the highlight there. I spent an hour and a half at this hilly, interesting little zoo.
Ten minutes down the road:
Great Lakes Aquarium – Last night I typed up a 1,000 word review with an extensive list of species found in this two-level aquatic facility but I’ll attempt to distill that total into a couple of paragraphs. I spent a very enjoyable hour in this establishment and 90% of the species on display are found in Lake Superior and that alone is a highly commendable fact as the local fauna consists mainly of various types of trout and salmon. A major draw is the river otters but there are some impressive mock-rock backdrops to many of the large exhibits. A walk-through aviary with 7 bird species and 5 turtle species is quite nice; an enormous two-storey wall of water greets visitors when they first enter the facility; Isle River is the largest of 1,600 islands in massive Lake Superior and there is an exhibit devoted to it; Baptism River and St. Louis River are a couple more of the local waterways highlighted and I suspect that a few species here might not be common in many other aquariums.
Origins: Fire, Ice & The Rise of Life – This is the first thing that visitors see after they rise up an escalator and begin their tour and it is an informational overload as the evolution of life in the region is explored in minute detail. It is all rather fascinating, from the small volcano seemingly emitting lava to the focus on evolution and how it has impacted the landscape of Lake Superior. There are panels on insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals and as this is a factual institution (and at the risk of offending some ZooChatters) I was happy to see a thorough examination of the progress of life on Earth without any mention of anyone with beards in flowing robes or anything else that is perhaps more fiction than fact. I’m a devout atheist but please don’t hold it against me as I find that most zoo fans are of the same belief system anyway. One knock on the aquarium is that it is similar to Virginia Aquarium as there is too much of a museum-style appearance at times and the public would surely rather see a few more fish tanks. Odd species seen that are not always in American aquariums: Common Octopus, Muskellunge, Coaster Brook Trout, American Eel, Fox Snake, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Sea Lamprey, Arctic Grayling, Brown-Headed Cowbird, South American Lungfish, Banjo Catfish and Chambered Nautilus.
Next up is Como Park Zoo in Minnesota (my 8th zoo in that state on this trip) before I travel to Wisconsin for another 8 zoos. Interestingly enough I will have seen 9 zoos in Wisconsin after this trip (I toured Milwaukee County Zoo in 2010) and that state does not have an aquarium. Other than a few tanks in a Science Center in Milwaukee (which don’t really count) and some aquatic displays at Milwaukee County Zoo, the state has at least 9 zoos but no aquarium. Is Sea Life beckoning? Ha!
Either you mean a 1,000 word review or you are the fastest bloody typer on the planet
assuming 6 hours of solid typing that would come to a shade under 3 pages a minute!