Other than the fairly new "Big Cat Falls" set of exhibits the Philadelphia Zoo is not known for its fantastic animal enclosures. I've never visited, but I've seen enough photos and read enough reviews to be surprised if this establishment was even in the top 40 American zoos. There are loads of better ones all throughout the nation.
Other than the fairly new "Big Cat Falls" set of exhibits the Philadelphia Zoo is not known for its fantastic animal enclosures. I've never visited, but I've seen enough photos and read enough reviews to be surprised if this establishment was even in the top 40 American zoos. There are loads of better ones all throughout the nation.
@mweb08: good point, although "Asia Trail", "Amazonia" and the small mammal building are all excellent at the National Zoo. Maybe Philadelphia would indeed crack the top 40 zoos in the United States, but I'm not sure if many people would rate it much higher than that. There are far too many other zoos to contend with.
@mweb08: good point, although "Asia Trail", "Amazonia" and the small mammal building are all excellent at the National Zoo. Maybe Philadelphia would indeed crack the top 40 zoos in the United States, but I'm not sure if many people would rate it much higher than that. There are far too many other zoos to contend with.
I wouldn't call Amazonia or the small mammal building excellent, both good though. The new aviary at the Philadelphia zoo is quite good, as is Carnivore Kingdom, and the exhibit in this picture. They also have pretty good nocturnal house/small mammal buildings, some better than average bear exhibits, a good rhino/zebra exhibit, good giraffe exhibit, and a lot of average or so exhibits. There's not many poor exhibits other than the old elephant area. The collection is also good.
I would rank the National Zoo higher, but not by much, so if that's a top 20 zoo which I've seen people say, this is probably top 30. But of course I haven't been to nearly as many zoos as you
My impression is that it is a siginificant collection of importance, one I certainly want to visit. But the gorilla and orang utan outdoor exhibits, for example show a complete lack of creativity and imagination and in this case they aren't held back by old or unsuitable enclousres from the past which makes it more disappointing.
