@DavidBrown The elephant yard was definitely the crown jewel of the zoo. It was one of the most impressive elephant exhibits I've seen, especially since the zoo keeps a bachelor herd only if I'm not mistaken. The nice bird collection was also another highlight.
Unfortunately the zoo does have a few weaknesses like a poor all-indoor Orangutan exhibit (second worst I've personally seen, ahead of only Pittsburgh), an outdated small carnivore house, a small lion enclosure and some pretty barren yards for larger hoofstock.
I think Birmingham is a decent zoo overall and I enjoyed my visit enough, but considering its a mid/large-sized AZA-accredited facility its definitely had some disappointing areas. I actually liked the non-AZA Montgomery Zoo a bit more, even though Birmingham's Boma Yard was easily the most impressive exhibit between the two zoos.
