A large beaver pool with underwater viewing (and pop-up bubbles) was closed on my visit due to the beavers forcing a crack in the glass, and river otters have an equally large and impressive exhibit with underwater viewing at the far end of the building. In between is a tank filled with local fish that are regularly caught to be eaten (such as largemouth bass); a spacious turtle tank with 4 species (northern diamondback terrapin, red-eared slider, western spiny softshell and common snapping turtle); a water snake tank with 3 species (diamond-backed, yellow-belly and broad-banded); an Amphibian tank with 3 species (spotted salamander, red salamander, southern leopard frog); an aviary with 3 species (American goldeneye, black-neck stilt and black-crowned night heron); and there are several other terrariums with various reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
The whole area is superbly detailed, from the fake tree branches covering the entire ceiling with greenery to the popular choices in mammal species to the tree trunks coming out of the walls. It is a pity that many other sections of the zoo are so badly outdated and in need of a drastic modernization similar to the Mississippi Wilderness zone.
This looks very nice. Am I to take it from your post that this is a zoo that [like many] are modernising at a realistic pace, or is it just a case of some nice exhibits, some not so nice?
If they can bring the bad exhibits up to this standard then it will be a zoo I'd very much like to visit
This looks very nice. Am I to take it from your post that this is a zoo that [like many] are modernising at a realistic pace, or is it just a case of some nice exhibits, some not so nice?
If they can bring the bad exhibits up to this standard then it will be a zoo I'd very much like to visit
It has an interesting history because in 100 years there has been exactly 5 directors, but lately attendance has been going down each year and in 2011 only 126,000 people visited the zoo. There is a wide range of quality in terms of exhibits and the zoo sent its elephants away in the past couple of years (like many zoos with only 2 elephants).
