I had a bit of time on a day trip to Austin so I used it to stop by the Austin Zoo. The weather was cold and drizzly, not the best time to go to a zoo, but it was still a good opportunity. I actually lived in Austin for a bit back in 2014, but I never made it to the zoo at that time.
This is probably the worst "real zoo" that I have been to, second worst facility after Gatorama. That is not to say that it is all bad (or that Gatorama is all bad), but on my personal list this would be the bottom. There are a mix of a lot of pretty rough cages for birds and small monkeys, and also a handful of pretty decent enclosures for larger animals as well as a surprisingly nice reptile house.
The map is not quite correct any longer as they have moved animals around. It seems like overall that has been a good thing as the cougars have a larger habitat, as do the bears. However, the new cheetahs are in the old tiger habitat, and it looks like they split one of the lion habitats in half to accommodate the tiger and lions on the same block.
The weather made the dirt/gravel path a mess, but that is what it is.
Entrance:
One enters and pays at a trailer beside the chain-link fence/gate. The entry fee as of today is $16.95 for an adult, which is a bit steep for this place, but as it subsists on donations I am OK with that.
Front of the Zoo:
Immediately you are faced with several cages with monkeys, lemur and colobus. The front of the zoo is also where the two grey wolf yards are located. The yards were OK, the cages are outdated and small for all the primates. The patas monkeys had the best cages, but they were barely adequate. There are also several cages for green iguana and a yard for the "wolf hybrid", which according to the map the wolf-hybrid used to be in the back of the zoo.
Colobus monkey:
Patas monkey:
The front also has the "Primate Palace", which is a old zoo style row of cages for capuchin monkeys and lemurs. Honestly the cages were not terrible, they had enrichment items and were not super small, but they were pretty depressing.
Middle of zoo:
Leaving the primate palace takes you to the tortoise yards and onwards to the cats. The tortoise yards are fine, but they are a pretty easy animal to enclose. The middle is dominated by a massive yard for capybara with a large pond. The bear habitats are fine, and they are constructing a much larger black bear habitat now that seems to be nearly complete:
Contrasting the bear habitats we have some pretty bad primate cages again, in this case for common squirrel monkey:
The middle also contains nice habitats for bobcats, armadillo, prairie dogs, and other small animals and primates.
Back of zoo:
The back of the zoo is primarily for cats and birds. The big cats had OK sized enclosure with enrichment items and decent structures. I don't have a lot to complain about in this area, they are actively making things better with construction by the cougars and bears.
Corn crib style cages dominate for the various birds such as macaw and cockatoo. Most all of the birds seem to be animals that were given up to the zoo by private people or seized by authorities for one reason or another.
Two of the lions they keep are male "Transvaal lions" that came from Reid Park Zoo, they also have at least one female lion as well as "Bengal" tigers. The tigers were in the night house as the keepers were cleaning their cage. It seems they have moved the tigers from their old location onto the main big cat block as their two female cheetahs now occupy the old tiger habitat. The tigers share 1/3 of the big cat block and the lions occupy the other two cages. According to old maps the tigers had the front 1/2 of the block, but now they have been moved to the back 1/3.
The cougar habitat was quite nice, I believe it was the old leopard habitat. There is also a smaller habitat for another cougar, but it was still pretty decent in size.
Across from the cougar habitats is a cage for binturong, which was a pretty sad little cage.
Binturong cage (no-show):
Hoofstock and Petting Zoo area:
The last section is devoted to a large petting zoo with various domestics as well as yards for grevy's zebra and ostrich as well as a mixed yard with llama, alpaca, white-tailed deer and axis deer. Also found here are the pond for American alligator, scale train, and the Reptile House.
Hoofstock yard with llama, alpaca, and deer:
The Reptile House was done nicely for a small place. Various tanks for snakes, lizards, and a few amphibians. Overall everything was common, but the tanks were done well. The Green tree boa was signed to have come from Como Park zoo. The only venomous herp was the Gila monster.
Leaving:
You leave through a plaza with some food trucks, the education building, and the gift shop. I did not peruse the gift shop, but it was a decent size for the zoo.
Thoughts:
This is an OK zoo for what it is. It is lacking for a city the size of Austin, but it is also not a "city zoo", but rather a private ZAA zoo doing an OK job for it's funding situation. Could it be better? Probably, but as it is it is not a bad stop if you are in the area. I would not travel from any distance to go here, and if you happened to be in Austin but did not make it there, you would not really be missing anything. I would go back if the weather were nice and I had some time, but I would also not be disappointed if I happened to never be able to return.
They are making improvements it seems, so perhaps in another 5-10 years things will look nicer here. Right now there are far too many corn crib cages. There is a lot of welding work going on to place black iron fences around the public walkways, which is nice looking. Conversely there is currently a lot of green construction style plastic fencing in many areas.
*edit*
Upon reflection I can definitely see myself returning here. I go to Austin several times a year, and it makes a pretty quick stop to see a zoo. It would be interesting to keep up on their updates and changes as the city grows. Some of my views of the zoo are likely colored by the abysmal weather when I was there.
This is probably the worst "real zoo" that I have been to, second worst facility after Gatorama. That is not to say that it is all bad (or that Gatorama is all bad), but on my personal list this would be the bottom. There are a mix of a lot of pretty rough cages for birds and small monkeys, and also a handful of pretty decent enclosures for larger animals as well as a surprisingly nice reptile house.
The map is not quite correct any longer as they have moved animals around. It seems like overall that has been a good thing as the cougars have a larger habitat, as do the bears. However, the new cheetahs are in the old tiger habitat, and it looks like they split one of the lion habitats in half to accommodate the tiger and lions on the same block.
The weather made the dirt/gravel path a mess, but that is what it is.
Entrance:
One enters and pays at a trailer beside the chain-link fence/gate. The entry fee as of today is $16.95 for an adult, which is a bit steep for this place, but as it subsists on donations I am OK with that.
Front of the Zoo:
Immediately you are faced with several cages with monkeys, lemur and colobus. The front of the zoo is also where the two grey wolf yards are located. The yards were OK, the cages are outdated and small for all the primates. The patas monkeys had the best cages, but they were barely adequate. There are also several cages for green iguana and a yard for the "wolf hybrid", which according to the map the wolf-hybrid used to be in the back of the zoo.
Colobus monkey:
Patas monkey:
The front also has the "Primate Palace", which is a old zoo style row of cages for capuchin monkeys and lemurs. Honestly the cages were not terrible, they had enrichment items and were not super small, but they were pretty depressing.
Middle of zoo:
Leaving the primate palace takes you to the tortoise yards and onwards to the cats. The tortoise yards are fine, but they are a pretty easy animal to enclose. The middle is dominated by a massive yard for capybara with a large pond. The bear habitats are fine, and they are constructing a much larger black bear habitat now that seems to be nearly complete:
Contrasting the bear habitats we have some pretty bad primate cages again, in this case for common squirrel monkey:
The middle also contains nice habitats for bobcats, armadillo, prairie dogs, and other small animals and primates.
Back of zoo:
The back of the zoo is primarily for cats and birds. The big cats had OK sized enclosure with enrichment items and decent structures. I don't have a lot to complain about in this area, they are actively making things better with construction by the cougars and bears.
Corn crib style cages dominate for the various birds such as macaw and cockatoo. Most all of the birds seem to be animals that were given up to the zoo by private people or seized by authorities for one reason or another.
Two of the lions they keep are male "Transvaal lions" that came from Reid Park Zoo, they also have at least one female lion as well as "Bengal" tigers. The tigers were in the night house as the keepers were cleaning their cage. It seems they have moved the tigers from their old location onto the main big cat block as their two female cheetahs now occupy the old tiger habitat. The tigers share 1/3 of the big cat block and the lions occupy the other two cages. According to old maps the tigers had the front 1/2 of the block, but now they have been moved to the back 1/3.
The cougar habitat was quite nice, I believe it was the old leopard habitat. There is also a smaller habitat for another cougar, but it was still pretty decent in size.
Across from the cougar habitats is a cage for binturong, which was a pretty sad little cage.
Binturong cage (no-show):
Hoofstock and Petting Zoo area:
The last section is devoted to a large petting zoo with various domestics as well as yards for grevy's zebra and ostrich as well as a mixed yard with llama, alpaca, white-tailed deer and axis deer. Also found here are the pond for American alligator, scale train, and the Reptile House.
Hoofstock yard with llama, alpaca, and deer:
The Reptile House was done nicely for a small place. Various tanks for snakes, lizards, and a few amphibians. Overall everything was common, but the tanks were done well. The Green tree boa was signed to have come from Como Park zoo. The only venomous herp was the Gila monster.
Leaving:
You leave through a plaza with some food trucks, the education building, and the gift shop. I did not peruse the gift shop, but it was a decent size for the zoo.
Thoughts:
This is an OK zoo for what it is. It is lacking for a city the size of Austin, but it is also not a "city zoo", but rather a private ZAA zoo doing an OK job for it's funding situation. Could it be better? Probably, but as it is it is not a bad stop if you are in the area. I would not travel from any distance to go here, and if you happened to be in Austin but did not make it there, you would not really be missing anything. I would go back if the weather were nice and I had some time, but I would also not be disappointed if I happened to never be able to return.
They are making improvements it seems, so perhaps in another 5-10 years things will look nicer here. Right now there are far too many corn crib cages. There is a lot of welding work going on to place black iron fences around the public walkways, which is nice looking. Conversely there is currently a lot of green construction style plastic fencing in many areas.
*edit*
Upon reflection I can definitely see myself returning here. I go to Austin several times a year, and it makes a pretty quick stop to see a zoo. It would be interesting to keep up on their updates and changes as the city grows. Some of my views of the zoo are likely colored by the abysmal weather when I was there.
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