@USZOOfan42 On my Snowleopard's 2018 Road Trip thread, I have a whole series of reviews. Funnily enough, I toured Wilderness Walk Zoo that same trip and said "it is a disaster of a zoo, with enclosures that probably are at the bare minimum to obtain a zoo license." As for Wilderness Trails Zoo, here's what I typed out on my thread:
Another 30-minute drive south and I arrived at Wilderness Trails Zoo (Birch Run, MI) and this place is an enigma. There are some huge ungulate paddocks that are quite gorgeous in places, with massive trees and the enclosures are very long, rectangular, and the animals do fine in them with loads of youngsters in all directions. There are very spacious aviaries, a handful of adequate primate chain-link cages, then some simply dreadful exhibits for large carnivores. The White Tiger exhibit has a tall chain-link fence surrounding it but zero hotwire across the bottom, zero hotwire across the top and no overhang. What is stopping the tiger from getting out other than its own body weight? The Grizzly Bear and American Black Bear enclosures are like mini-prisons straight out of the previous century. Ugh.
Then there is the Reptile Sanctuary, which is amazing. It truly shocked me as all of the 26 exhibits are OUTSIDE. Other than when I toured some Australian zoos back in 2007, I've never seen so many reptiles in enclosures that are exposed to the elements. To top things off, the Reptile Sanctuary is designed like an old Western town and so an exhibit will be the Jail, another will be the Sheriff's Office, another will be the saloon, etc. Wonderfully original and eccentric at the same time! Also, this obscure zoo in Michigan had some choice species but they are only out from mid-June to early September and then there is an off-show Reptile House that is used the rest of the year.
Species List: American Alligator, Morelet's Crocodile, Sulcata Tortoise, Russian Tortoise, Leopard Tortoise, Red-footed Tortoise, Yellow-footed Tortoise, Grand Cayman Hybrid Blue Iguana, Cuban Rock Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Black-throated Monitor, White-throated Monitor, Water Monitor, Savanna Monitor, Blue Tongue Skink, Sudan Plated Lizard, Gila Monster, Argentine Black-and-White Tegu, Ball Python, Burmese Python (regular, granite and albino) and Boa Constrictor (imperial). All of those animals are outside and one of the Burmese Pythons is in a corn crib cage...extraordinary!
