@DavidBrown That's a bit disappointing as the rhino/hoofstock, elephant, lion and cheetah exhibits seem to be state-of-the-art. Is this the best African section you have seen?
@GraysonDP I think the best Africa section I have seen anywhere is DAK. The San Diego Wild Animal Park is of similar quality, but not as naturalistic. I have not seen the new Africa areas at Omaha or Dallas, but by reputation they are of very high quality.
Kansas City Zoo also has a great Africa area. I think Fresno is comparable to KC Zoo, but more compact. The Fresno area is also not finished as there is a major African wetlands exhibit coming with hippos, crocodiles, and other species - that might make it more like DAK.
The giraffe area isn't disappointing, just not as big as the adjoining multi-species savanna and elephant area. I don't know if there is thought of eventually having the giraffes range out into the main savanna area - that might be built into the plans.
@DavidBrown Thank you! I concur completely about DAK being more naturalistic than SDWAP (except for the lion exhibit, which is far superior at SDWAP) but similar quality. I have been to Dallas and would actually put it as the same level of naturalism as Animal Kingdom, although I much prefer Dallas as an exhibit since you can watch the animals for as long as you'd like. Two others I have seen and think very highly of are Columbus (Heart of Africa is the best savanna exhibit I have ever seen and the lion/vervet monkey/watering hole exhibits are also top notch although the Congo section besides the excellent bonobo exhibit is pretty standard) and Bronx (Congo Gorilla Forest and Baboon Reserve are amazing and the African Plans while older is very good especially the giraffe exhibit.) I am visiting Omaha and Kansas City this summer so should know how those compare and hope to see Fresno in the next few years.
