Best Gorilla Zoos in the U.S

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RellaZoo

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If you had the opportunity to visit 6 - 8 zoos in the US, specifically to see Gorilla exhibits, where would you go and why? From an animal management/welfare and visitor experience point of view. Potentially a November visit.
 
RellaZoo said:
If you had the opportunity to visit 6 - 8 zoos in the US, specifically to see Gorilla exhibits, where would you go and why? From an animal management/welfare and visitor experience point of view. Potentially a November visit.
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Geographically, looking at America's top gorilla exhibits, it could be a bit of a logistical nightmare to see a half-dozen of the best examples. There is Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo in the state of New York with its approximately 20 gorillas, Disney's Animal Kingdom far south in Florida, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is also found in Florida, Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri, San Diego Zoo in California, Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, Houston Zoo and its fairly new gorilla complex in Texas, Dallas Zoo and its lush gorilla exhibit in the same state, Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina, Woodland Park Zoo in the Pacific Northwest in the state of Washington, Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois, Zoo Atlanta in the state of Georgia with its approximately 20 gorillas, North Carolina Zoo in North Carolina, and even Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas with its gorillas that aren't afraid to jump into their water-filled moat.

I gave you 14 of the very best gorilla exhibits in American zoos and I've visited all of them in the past decade. However, if you wanted to narrow down the list then I'd probably go with Disney's Animal Kingdom, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Zoo Atlanta because they are all in the Florida/Georgia region (and Jacksonville could be added in), and then you could fly to Texas and visit Dallas, Houston and Gladys Porter...among many other excellent zoos in that region. To visit only the top 6-8 gorilla exhibits would likely involve many plane trips to a long list of different states.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I'm not sure I would include Gladys Porter's in a list of the best..

~Thylo
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For sure not the greatest exhibit from an aesthetic viewpoint, but a wonderful exhibit in terms of seeing lots of active gorillas that aren’t afraid to enter the water. There are also some of the apes that have a brownish-black appearance that is interesting.
 
birdsandbats said:
How is Columbus not among the best?
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Are you being sarcastic? (It is sometimes difficult to detect sarcasm online) I have a print-out of the last Master Plan from Columbus Zoo and it calls the gorilla exhibit "outdated" and there are plans for a new/expanded gorilla habitat in 2025. If I had to make a list of the best gorilla exhibits in American zoos then Columbus would be clearly in the bottom half...but still above places like Buffalo and Brookfield. :p Each to their own opinion, but the gorilla exhibit at Columbus is one of the failings of the zoo...and it's not a surprise that it will look dramatically different in the future.
 
snowleopard said:
Are you being sarcastic? (It is sometimes difficult to detect sarcasm online) I have a print-out of the last Master Plan from Columbus Zoo and it calls the gorilla exhibit "outdated" and there are plans for a new/expanded gorilla habitat in 2025. If I had to make a list of the best gorilla exhibits in American zoos then Columbus would be clearly in the bottom half...but still above places like Buffalo and Brookfield. :p Each to their own opinion, but the gorilla exhibit at Columbus is one of the failings of the zoo...and it's not a surprise that it will look dramatically different in the future.
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I wasn't, but to be fair I haven't seen most of the exhibit on your list. Columbus has a lot of gorillas - and the exhibit looks amazing to me, but I am used to seeing Milwaukee and Brookfield's exhibits.
 
I haven't seen most of @snowleopard's list and therefore didn't common on most of their placements. I know looks can sometimes be deceiving when it comes to primate enclosures (see Howletts giant gorilla cage). From photos, though, the outdoor enclosure looks unique, innovative, and better than the flat grassy yards many US zoos keep their gorillas in. Their indoors looks rather poor from photos, though. Still, I say Columbus deserves a spot on the list over, say, San Diego's (not to say it's bad-- it's not-- and it's definitely above average I just wouldn't call it standout).

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I haven't seen most of @snowleopard's list and therefore didn't common on most of their placements. I know looks can sometimes be deceiving when it comes to primate enclosures (see Howletts giant gorilla cage). From photos, though, the outdoor enclosure looks unique, innovative, and better than the flat grassy yards many US zoos keep their gorillas in. Their indoors looks rather poor from photos, though. Still, I say Columbus deserves a spot on the list over, say, San Diego's (not to say it's bad-- it's not-- and it's definitely above average I just wouldn't call it standout).

~Thylo
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I thought so too - lots of climbing space.
 
RellaZoo said:
If you had the opportunity to visit 6 - 8 zoos in the US, specifically to see Gorilla exhibits, where would you go and why? From an animal management/welfare and visitor experience point of view. Potentially a November visit.
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I'd suggest staying away from buffalo:p
 
TZDugong said:
I'd suggest staying away from buffalo:p
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I've gotta admit that after all the years I visited the zoo, I'd say they need a new exhibit. I'm thinking of converting one of the cat grottoes (or possibly other unused space [doubtable])for the gorillas as an outdoor enclosure.
 
Como Zoo in Minnesota has a nice habitat that is still pretty new. They have a bachelor group and a family group as well. Compared to the others zoos mentioned above though, Como is much smaller so I wouldn't recommend going there unless you truly are only interested in the Gorilla habitats and not the rest if the zoo.

I would echo @snowleoprd in saying Sedgwick County and Lincoln Park Zoo have top level exhibits. I wasn't all that impressed with St. Louis' exhibit. It wasn't bad, it just didn't stand out to me, but it is definitely better than many others. The other one I would mention is the exhibit at the Louisville Zoo. I thought both their exhibits were very good. Those 4 are the ones that have stood out to me out of the zoos I've been to.
 
My top ten would be:
Bronx Zoo
Houston Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Zoo Atlanta
Sedgwick County Zoo
Busch Gardens
Lincoln Park Zoo
Dallas Zoo
San Diego Zoo

Runner-Ups: Jacksonville Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, Riverbanks Zoo
 
Having visited Dallas recently I can say that Dallas's Gorilla exhibit(s) is brilliant; I haven't visited enough of the best Gorilla exhibits to say where it would rank, but I could easily see it being a top 3-5 exhibit in the nation. Unfortunately I can't say the same about Fort Worth...:p
 
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