I've just arrived home from a week long holiday in Adelaide, during which I visited Adelaide Zoo twice as well as Monarto Zoo, Gorge Wildlife Park and Cleland Wildlife Park. All of these zoos have been covered extensively by Hix, amongst others, so I won't do systematic reviews of each. Instead, I'll just offer some general remarks.
First, Adelaide is a wonderful city for bird fans to visit. Adelaide Zoo is, to my knowledge, the best place to see birds in captivity in Australia. There are no fewer than 37 exhibits that include birds, including 31 aviaries and 6 open-topped exhbits, with three aviaries being walk-throughs. Most are mixed species and many also mix birds with reptiles or mammals. On my second visit to the zoo I was on my own, and so free to indulge in aviary-watching without my less avian-enamoured partner there to get bored. So in a subsequent post I will probably put up my notes on what birds were in which aviary. Gorge Wildlife Park also has a decent collection on display, with many species that Adelaide Zoo lacks, though with sub-prime exhibitry.
Possibly my favourite spot in Adelaide Zoo is the elevated viewing platform where you are surrounded by possibly the best three primate enclosures in Australia. The dusky langur/Malayan tapir exhibit, with a very large Moreton Bay fig tree that the langurs have total access to, has been praised on this website before. I can only echo that praise and extend it to the two gibbon islands, both with large trees, for siamangs and white-cheeked gibbons that can be seen on the other side of the platform.
The rest of Adelaide Zoo is mostly of a high standard The very large yard for yellow-footed rock-wallabies is even more impressive in the context of a zoo that is only 8 hectares (20 acres) in size. The giant panda exhibits have been covered very well on this site and are, of course, very good, as their hefty price tag (and fiscal consequences?) demands. The very long meerkat exhibit in the giraffe yard's dry moat is one of the best I have seen, up there with Werribee. Sun bears, tigers and tree kangaroos are other quality enclosures.
Relatively few of the exhibits are worthy of criticism. Now that the lions (1.2) have between them access to all of the elderly big cat cages, they are of at least an excusable size, but I shudder to think of when they held lions, leopards AND jaguars. The tamarin house is small and becomes very noisy and unpleasant when even a small crowd is inside. Viewing the monkeys from outside is a much more pleasing experience. The sea lion pool is also old-fashioned, only large enough for the current pair and offers limited opportunities for behavioural enrichment. The only other exhibits I didn't like were for hippos and pygmy hippos. The former are poorly served by having a tiny yard, but I understand they are both in their 40s and a move would be detrimental at their age. The pygmy hippo will benefit when its older cousins pass away and it is able to take over their enclosure.
I've tagged this thread in the Adelaide Zoo sub-forum because most of my remarks in this and subsequent posts are likely to be about that zoo, but I will briefly comment on the others that I visited as well. It was hard not to compare Monarto Zoo with the zoo which it has so much in common with, Werribee. I much prefer Monarto's hop-on, hop-off bus system to Werribee's prescribed 45 minute tour, though it needs more frequent buses or you end up spending a lot of time sitting around waiting for a bus. I was there on a weekday during winter school term, however, so I'm sure that more buses are usually being used.
Monarto is held back by the same problem that Werribee has: namely, not enough small animals. Lions, giraffes, rhinos, chimps and zebras get people through the gates, but a good supporting cast of smaller exhibits slows people down and give them reason to stay longer (that in turn makes them more likely to spend money at the zoo). Monarto has only the (excellent) yellow-footed rock-wallaby walkthrough exhibit and a huge meerkat enclosure with only two meerkats (contrast this with the hive of activity that is Adelaide's dozen-strong meerkat colony!). We did take a couple of the walking tracks, but very few visitors do it seems. I think Monarto should encourage more walkers by having even an occasional small exhibit along these trails. Nothing elaborate - small bird aviaries and lizard pits come to mind, and every 300 metres or so would do.
We only spent 2 hours at Gorge, which at only 5.7hectares is easily covered in that time. An excellent bird collection (though I think many species are kept off-display) and a solid collection of native and exotic mammals (especially primates) is let down by facilities that I suspect haven't changed a great deal over the past few decades. The best enclosures were for dingoes and Tasmanian devils. The aviary-style meerkat enclosure that Hix described in his review has been replaced with a more standard open-topped pen. Feeding the larger primates - we were able to entertain capuchins, Japanese macaques, spider monkeys and lar gibbons with Brazil nuts - is good fun. Also - the "reptile house" with a couple of fish tanks, a green iguana, bearded dragon (I think - memory is a bit hazy) and a boa constrictor all with hideous fake "rainforest" theming is just plain weird. For animal encounter lovers, you can hold a koala at Gorge for free.
Cleland is a pleasure. As of a couple of weeks ago, they once again have a female numbat retired from the Perth Zoo breeding program - a species I had never seen before. The "Outback to Ocean" complex, part reptile house, part nocturnal house, part museum gallery, is excellent. So is the rest of the park. It's basically a succession of huge macropod paddocks, all wooded to some degree and most containing smaller exhibits within them for wombats, echidnas, koalas, devils and other standard native species. The three walkthrough aviaries are all good, and Cleland's waterfowl lake is notable for its size and range of species. Best of all, though, are the free-range long-nosed potoroos, which are all over the place and will eat from your hand. At one stage, we were feeding 8 at one time.
Overall, I will definitely visit Adelaide Zoo the next time I am in the city, and probably Cleland if time permitted. Monarto I am likely to visit again when their plans for the 500 hectare free-range enclosure are realised. I wouldn't expect to visit Gorge again in the near future, but you never know.
First, Adelaide is a wonderful city for bird fans to visit. Adelaide Zoo is, to my knowledge, the best place to see birds in captivity in Australia. There are no fewer than 37 exhibits that include birds, including 31 aviaries and 6 open-topped exhbits, with three aviaries being walk-throughs. Most are mixed species and many also mix birds with reptiles or mammals. On my second visit to the zoo I was on my own, and so free to indulge in aviary-watching without my less avian-enamoured partner there to get bored. So in a subsequent post I will probably put up my notes on what birds were in which aviary. Gorge Wildlife Park also has a decent collection on display, with many species that Adelaide Zoo lacks, though with sub-prime exhibitry.
Possibly my favourite spot in Adelaide Zoo is the elevated viewing platform where you are surrounded by possibly the best three primate enclosures in Australia. The dusky langur/Malayan tapir exhibit, with a very large Moreton Bay fig tree that the langurs have total access to, has been praised on this website before. I can only echo that praise and extend it to the two gibbon islands, both with large trees, for siamangs and white-cheeked gibbons that can be seen on the other side of the platform.
The rest of Adelaide Zoo is mostly of a high standard The very large yard for yellow-footed rock-wallabies is even more impressive in the context of a zoo that is only 8 hectares (20 acres) in size. The giant panda exhibits have been covered very well on this site and are, of course, very good, as their hefty price tag (and fiscal consequences?) demands. The very long meerkat exhibit in the giraffe yard's dry moat is one of the best I have seen, up there with Werribee. Sun bears, tigers and tree kangaroos are other quality enclosures.
Relatively few of the exhibits are worthy of criticism. Now that the lions (1.2) have between them access to all of the elderly big cat cages, they are of at least an excusable size, but I shudder to think of when they held lions, leopards AND jaguars. The tamarin house is small and becomes very noisy and unpleasant when even a small crowd is inside. Viewing the monkeys from outside is a much more pleasing experience. The sea lion pool is also old-fashioned, only large enough for the current pair and offers limited opportunities for behavioural enrichment. The only other exhibits I didn't like were for hippos and pygmy hippos. The former are poorly served by having a tiny yard, but I understand they are both in their 40s and a move would be detrimental at their age. The pygmy hippo will benefit when its older cousins pass away and it is able to take over their enclosure.
I've tagged this thread in the Adelaide Zoo sub-forum because most of my remarks in this and subsequent posts are likely to be about that zoo, but I will briefly comment on the others that I visited as well. It was hard not to compare Monarto Zoo with the zoo which it has so much in common with, Werribee. I much prefer Monarto's hop-on, hop-off bus system to Werribee's prescribed 45 minute tour, though it needs more frequent buses or you end up spending a lot of time sitting around waiting for a bus. I was there on a weekday during winter school term, however, so I'm sure that more buses are usually being used.
Monarto is held back by the same problem that Werribee has: namely, not enough small animals. Lions, giraffes, rhinos, chimps and zebras get people through the gates, but a good supporting cast of smaller exhibits slows people down and give them reason to stay longer (that in turn makes them more likely to spend money at the zoo). Monarto has only the (excellent) yellow-footed rock-wallaby walkthrough exhibit and a huge meerkat enclosure with only two meerkats (contrast this with the hive of activity that is Adelaide's dozen-strong meerkat colony!). We did take a couple of the walking tracks, but very few visitors do it seems. I think Monarto should encourage more walkers by having even an occasional small exhibit along these trails. Nothing elaborate - small bird aviaries and lizard pits come to mind, and every 300 metres or so would do.
We only spent 2 hours at Gorge, which at only 5.7hectares is easily covered in that time. An excellent bird collection (though I think many species are kept off-display) and a solid collection of native and exotic mammals (especially primates) is let down by facilities that I suspect haven't changed a great deal over the past few decades. The best enclosures were for dingoes and Tasmanian devils. The aviary-style meerkat enclosure that Hix described in his review has been replaced with a more standard open-topped pen. Feeding the larger primates - we were able to entertain capuchins, Japanese macaques, spider monkeys and lar gibbons with Brazil nuts - is good fun. Also - the "reptile house" with a couple of fish tanks, a green iguana, bearded dragon (I think - memory is a bit hazy) and a boa constrictor all with hideous fake "rainforest" theming is just plain weird. For animal encounter lovers, you can hold a koala at Gorge for free.
Cleland is a pleasure. As of a couple of weeks ago, they once again have a female numbat retired from the Perth Zoo breeding program - a species I had never seen before. The "Outback to Ocean" complex, part reptile house, part nocturnal house, part museum gallery, is excellent. So is the rest of the park. It's basically a succession of huge macropod paddocks, all wooded to some degree and most containing smaller exhibits within them for wombats, echidnas, koalas, devils and other standard native species. The three walkthrough aviaries are all good, and Cleland's waterfowl lake is notable for its size and range of species. Best of all, though, are the free-range long-nosed potoroos, which are all over the place and will eat from your hand. At one stage, we were feeding 8 at one time.
Overall, I will definitely visit Adelaide Zoo the next time I am in the city, and probably Cleland if time permitted. Monarto I am likely to visit again when their plans for the 500 hectare free-range enclosure are realised. I wouldn't expect to visit Gorge again in the near future, but you never know.
