Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary Austin Zoo trip report - December 20 2023

[SwampDonkey]

I tend to go to Austin this time of year for work, but I found myself at the Austin Zoo exactly one year from my last visit, trip report thread HERE. Last year I ended my thread by stating:

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.

and

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.

Well, the weather was MUCH better yesterday. It was largely sunny with a few clouds and the temps were in the high 50s when I was there.

I arrived as the zoo was opening, so I largely had it to myself. I stayed about an hour an a half and saw the entire zoo, returning to the carnivore area for additional pictures.

There have actually been a lot of positive changes over the last year. Some of the old cages are vacant, some animals have been moved around, and construction that was in progress has been finished. Below is a list of the changes that I noticed;

• Colobus have been replaced by white fronted lemur from the Metro Richmond zoo.
• Terrible squirrel monkey cage is now for a pair of un-signed amazon parrots. The squirrel monkeys have been moved into a much larger cage near the front of the zoo that was formerly for ring tailed lemur.
• Black iron fencing for public restraint has been completed throughout the zoo, it looks great and should last a long time.
• The black bear habitat expansion is complete.
• Cheetahs have been moved into the old black bear habitat.
• A pair of (1) white and (1) orange generic tigers are in the former cheetah habitat (which was originally for tigers anyway).
• The binturong cage is now for a pair of elderly black spider monkeys.
• Axis and fallow deer are no longer in the hoofstock area. That yard now only has llama, alpaca, and white tailed deer.
  
• Green iguana in large cage near the train station.
• I think they do not have any more ring tailed lemurs except in the "Primate Palace" the other two cages are empty or no squirrel monkeys.

Here are some comparison pictures from last year to this year:
Common squirrel monkey:
(2022):

(2023):

Former Cheetah yard now tigers again:

Black spider monkey (former binturong):

Completed black bear:

Part of new cheetah yard (former black bear):

New green iguana (former osprey per @nczoofan )

Final thoughts:
This place is evolving, and in a good way. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but largely things are getting better. I can see myself here again in the future, probably around a year from now. Entry is $18.95 for adults, which is a little steep but not bad. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there this time, the layout leaves something to be desired as I found myself back tracking a few times just to see everything, but that's OK as the place is not really that big. They really seem to have a close relationship with Metro Richmond Zoo as there are quite a few animals from there, including the two cheetahs, white fronted lemur, some herps, and a couple of others that I did not take note of.