Elmwood Park Zoo A very nice small zoo

Z

Zoo Visitor

Well-Known Member
I should have listed this zoo as #10 on my Top Ten list (that's the trouble with Top Ten lists - there are always more than 10 that pop into your mind.)

Anyway, this is a very nice small zoo (15 sq. acres) in Norristown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia, PA.

It has a very good selection of birds and animals: eagles, turkey vultures (including wild ones who make the Zoo there home, too), peregrine falcons, cranes, burrowing owls, buffalo, Roosevelt elk, prairie dogs, fishers, pronghorned antelope, bighorn sheep, alligators (including an albino one on exhibit this summer only), howler monkeys, cougars, jaguars, tamarins, peccaries, rheas, and more!

My only complaint is that this zoo only exhibits animals from North and South America.

Also, as of January 2009, the Zoo has a new director, Bill Konstant, formerly of the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Houston Zoo (not as director in either zoo).

One very good thing I have noticed about this zoo is that it is always peaceful. Even when the parking areas are full and overflowing into the surrounding neighborhood, it never seems crowded!

(The Philadelphia Zoo is much better, though, and STILL my favorite, I don't care what any of you say!):p
 
Zoo Visitor said:
I should have listed this zoo as #10 on my Top Ten list (that's the trouble with Top Ten lists - there are always more than 10 that pop into your mind.)

Anyway, this is a very nice small zoo (15 sq. acres) in Norristown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia, PA.

It has a very good selection of birds and animals: eagles, turkey vultures (including wild ones who make the Zoo there home, too), peregrine falcons, cranes, burrowing owls, buffalo, Roosevelt elk, prairie dogs, fishers, pronghorned antelope, bighorn sheep, alligators (including an albino one on exhibit this summer only), howler monkeys, cougars, jaguars, tamarins, peccaries, rheas, and more!

My only complaint is that this zoo only exhibits animals from North and South America.

Also, as of January 2009, the Zoo has a new director, Bill Konstant, formerly of the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Houston Zoo (not as director in either zoo).

One very good thing I have noticed about this zoo is that it is always peaceful. Even when the parking areas are full and overflowing into the surrounding neighborhood, it never seems crowded!

(The Philadelphia Zoo is much better, though, and STILL my favorite, I don't care what any of you say!):p
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It is a cute little zoo. My friends and I in college had a fun time there on weekends since we were only 45 minutes away. It's not a 'real' zoo in the sense of spending hours there (I think last time I went I was there for an hour or two) but it's nice. It reminds me a lot of the Queens Zoo (which is only North American collection).

I still want to know why you like Philly :P.
 
tigertiger said:
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I still want to know why you like Philly :P.
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I love the number and variety of animals, the beautiful landscaping, and the overall atmosphere at the Philadelphia Zoo. Also, I notice the tendency of most visitors to pay more attention to the animals than they do at other zoos, even though there are distractions there, too, like rides, and occasional special events, as there are at most zoos now.

If you have not visited the Philadelphia Zoo lately, and you have a chance to look at my YouTube channel devoted to it, that may help you really understand what I love about the Zoo.
 
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Zoo Visitor said:
I love the number and variety of animals, the beautiful landscaping, and the overall atmosphere at the Philadelphia Zoo. Also, I notice the tendency of most visitors to pay more attention to the animals than they do at other zoos, even though there are distractions there, too, like rides, and occasional special events, as there are at most zoos now.

If you have not visited the Philadelphia Zoo lately, and you have a chance to look at my YouTube channel devoted to it, that may help you really understand what I love about the Zoo.
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I've visited the zoo countless times (most recently in March) but I'll be sure to check out your channel. How do you not pay attention to animals at a zoo? That seems an odd thing to like about any zoo--I'd assume people are THERE to see the animals, no? Last time I was there they only had a handful of rides and they never did anything for me. The zoo does have great landscaping but it also has a good amount of terrible exhibits--and again, this is from someone who loves the Cincinnati Zoo the way you love Philly while everyone else hates that zoo with a passion lol. I suppose to each their own but especially if you've been to zoos like Bronx or Columbus or SD, I don't see how anyone can even rank that in the top tier. I mean, I love Elmwood and it's always been a great time for me. But in my mind that's not even in the same category of zoo as Bronx, you know?
 
Goodness! I'm really surprised that you have visited the Philadelphia Zoo often, and as recently as in March, and that you don't like it. (We are talking about the Philadelphia Zoo, aren't we - I'm sorry if I confused you by replying to the last part of your reply to my Elmwood Park Zoo post.)

Are you a Philadelphia resident? I remember when I first moved to Philadelphia, I was surprised to find so many long-time residents who didn't like anything about their city.

It amazes me, too, when I see zoo visitors not paying close attention to the animals when they are in a zoo. But I have noticed that a lot of visitors focus on other things since zoos started adding so many other attractions to attract more visitors. I guess many of the ones attracted are not true animal lovers.

Well, if you can, check out my Philadelphia Zoo YouTube channel. (YouTube - ZooVisitorMM's Channel) But I guess there isn't much hope that I am going to change your mind about my favorite zoo any time soon.

I will keep trying, though!

And, regarding the Elmwood Park Zoo, I know it can only legitimately be compared to others of its size. But for a small zoo, I think it is very nice.
 
okapikpr said:
When will the [Elmwood Park] zoo start expanding across the stream?
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I can't speak for the Zoo, but I believe the new director wants to keep the area as "wild" as possible and is thinking of ways to do that while still including it as part of the zoo.

The new director, Bill Konstant, took over just a few months ago (in January 2009).
 
I have visited this zoo yesterday, and it is indeed a nice small zoo. The first exhibit (which directly borders the zoo perimeter fence) can be seen even from a parking lot - a basic paddock with barn for 2 giraffes and 2 Hartmann's zebras. Once you enter the zoo proper, the first thing you see is a well-planted open-top exhibit for eagles (presumably all flightless). It has a few trees, many bushes, boulders, and a fish pond. The residents were bald eagles (I saw at least 5) and golden eagles (I saw 2), but many wild black vultures also hang out there, and there are more of them than the eagles. Nearby is another view of giraffes/zebras paddock and there is also a usual feeding platform for giraffes to be fed at extra charge. Next to them is a medium-sized enclosure for timber wolf (I only saw 1). Close by is an exhibit for red pandas (I saw 2 of them, very active) with an outdoor and indoor compartments (both viewed through glass), an older style cougar cage (with plenty of hiding spaces, so I never really saw a resident), older style cages for red fox and red-tailed hawk/turkey vulture. More to follow
 
Attached to the cougar's cage is a small pavilion called The Bayou, which is housing most of the indoor collection. In the first room there are two relatively large glass-fronted enclosures - one contained a pair of black howlers and a male white-faced saki, while the other had 1 prehensile-tailed porcupine, 2 golden lion tamarins, and 1 green iguana. The same room also had two small terrariums - one with 3 speices of dart frogs (blue, Golfo Dulce, and bumblebee) and another with Panamanian golden frogs and green-and-black dart frogs. The second room is a darkened hallway, on one side of which are the glassy-fronted exhibit for American alligator (the Alligator was outside yesterday, and the exhibit was empty, even the pool was emptied of water), two cages for unlabeled Amazon parrots (which I suppose also stay outside in summer), and several small terrariums for Puerto Rican crested toad, northern pine snake, eastern box turtle, stinkpot turtle, diamondback terrapin, black rat snake, and western hognose snake (the largest specimen I've ever seen, I did not even know that they grow this big). On the other side of the hallway is a glass-fronted exhibit for African straw-colored fruit bats. The howlers also have an outdoor enclosure connected to their indoor holding.
 
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Outside, again, there is an older exhibit for jaguars (I saw 2) - which is really a series of 3 older cages linked together. The zoo is currently building a new exhibit for Jaguars, which is stated to open in Fall 2016 (but when I visited yesterday it did not seem as almost complete to me). That exhibit is also stated to house Ocelots and Jaguarundis in the future, and I am very excited about the latter species (which I haven't seen since early 2000s when both Smithsonian National Zoo and Philadelphia had a specimen). Nearby is a pond with an island housing 2 capybaras, 1 mute swan, 1 domestic muscovy duck, and some mallards (probably wild). The indoor holding for capybaras is attached and has a large window, so the animals can still be viewed indoors. Behind that pond is a cage for common squirrel-monkeys (I saw 3), which is attached to an indoor holding with window, and a pen for Chacoan peccaries (I saw 2).
 
One more exhibit complex looks like a big walk-through aviary with four sub-divisions inside, and a central yard for Chilean flamingos (of which I saw 3). The boardwalk goes around the flamingo enclosure and past each of the for sub-divisions. Two of the sections are open-top and only separated from each other and the boardwalk by low walls: one has a pool and houses 2 North American river otters, and other one has a climbing structure for North American porcupines (I saw at least 3, but there could have been more). The other 2 sections are completely enclosed by wire fence and house bobcat (I saw 1) and an American alligator (which is apparently housed in the Bayou pavilion in winter). Before entrance to this complex is a small yard with several parrot sticks. No parrots were there yesterday, but the sign listed green-winged macaw, blue-and-gold macaw, yellow-naped amazon, and yellow-crowned amazon.
Speaking of parrots, the zoo also has a parrot-feeding aviary. However, unlike most other similar facilities which house rainbow lorikeets or budgies, this one does something different and has a flock of sun conures.
 
Finally, in the far end of the zoo (not really that far, since the zoo is very small and can be crossed from end to end in just a few minutes) are enclosures for prairie species. I was quite impressed by bison exhibit. I saw 4 specimens (including 1 very massive bull) in an average side paddock, which is nothing special. However, the paddock has railroad tracks along one side, and an old "Union Pacific" railroad car is right next to it. Inside, the car has educational stands on extermination on bison, and the bison can also be viewed from the car windows (though there are better viewing opportunities outside). The whole idea is to tell the story about how the expansion of railroads almost brought the species to extermination in the 1800s, and I think this is a quite creative way to present bison. The zoo also allows visitors to feed bison through a fence for an extra fee. Nearby is a paddock for wapiti - they had 2 females and 1 bull with impressive rack of antlers, however a bull was housed in a separate yard, which was almost off exhibit (I could see the bull, but could not get close enough to take pictures). Finally there is a small open exhibit for prairie-dogs, and attached to that is a small adobe-style building with two small glass-fronted exhibits: one for burrowing owl and another one for black-footed ferret. Unfortunately I failed to photograph a ferret, as it also has a tunneling system underneath the exhibit, and though part of the system can be looked at through two windows, there are others where I suppose it can hide completely. The ferret was awake and active when I got to his exhibit, but before I could take a picture it disappeared in the tunnels and I haven't seen it again, despite coming back on at least 5 occasions. But at least I saw it, and since I've photographed the species elsewhere last year I wasn't too disappointed.
And this wraps up the review of this little zoo. It is definitely worth visiting if you're nearby, and I definitely plan to visit again, once they get jaguarundis.
 
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