Hello Everyone,
This morning I visited this zoo for the first time and will be writing down my impressions of this zoo.
- As entering the zoo, my first impression had nothing to do with animals, but instead the absolutely gorgeous historical architecture. Many of the zoo's buildings are a historic brick, which is an aesthetic I personally enjoy.
- The first exhibit I saw was the Sea Lion Cove. After seeing the pool at Aquarium of Niagara yesterday, it was very refreshing to see a habitat that gives sea lions ample room both in water and on land. The underwater viewing was closed so I couldn't get the best view of the sea lions, but a good exhibit nonetheless.
- Behind the Sea Lion Cove was Otter Creek. Like the sea lion exhibit, this was a very good exhibit, with plenty of land room and a decent pool.
- Arctic Edge was the next exhibit I saw. The bald eagle lived in a habitat that was decent, although nothing compared to my local bald eagle exhibit at Roger Williams. The polar bear exhibit was also adequate, with a nice pool and large land area. By no means the same quality as Columbus or Detroit, but still a respectable polar bear exhibit for a medium-sized zoo. Both the arctic fox and canada lynx had beautiful habitats that were well-planted and a very good size.
- The zoo's black rhino lived in a decent habitat, although by no means excellent. A decent sized yard, but not a fantastic exhibit. Definitely too small for elephants.
- The zoo also has Indian Rhinos. They supposedly share their very large exhibit with some axis deer, but I did not see any. This was an excellent habitat, although I do think the zoo should have put another sign on the other side of the habitat, as when seeing the first habitat (without a sign), I had no clue what I was looking at.
- While most of the zoo exhibits are at least adequate, there are three that I felt were too small. The first of these was the giraffe habitat, which contained three giraffes on a very small field. Hopefully the zoo plans to either phase out giraffes or expand their exhibit in the near future.
- The zoo also had a decent habitat for spotted hyenas, although it was not anything extraordinary. I saw one hyena in it. There were very good viewing opportunities and it was a good size.
- Along the edge of the zoo, there are three decent-sized paddocks for hoofstock. The nicest of these was the first one, holding addax (a no-show) and roan antelope. My one criticism of this habitat is that it seemed too densely planted for a desert antelope. The other yards were smaller, but still adequate for the gemsbok and zebra they held. Both gemsbok and roan antelope were lifers for me.
- One of the zoo's nicest habitats was the Rainforest Falls building. While there were many no-shows, all of the habitats were very nice and this small building makes me wish Roger Williams built a nicer Rainforest Building. Both primate habitats were very nice, and the bat cave was a nice touch. Unfortunately the second floor was closed leading to me seeing very few birds. I was happy to see black-capped squirrel monkeys and brown capuchins though, two lifers for me.
- After the Rainforest, I saw the Vanishing Animals area. Red pandas had a nice habitat, snow leopards had an okay habitat (albeit slightly small for my preference), and Maned wolves had a habitat that I found a lot too small. It was still incredible to see the wolf, as it was a lifer for me, but it shouldn't be kept in that small a cage. I noticed an empty habitat near the lions, perhaps this could make a better Maned wolf habitat?
- At this point I headed indoors. Inside, their was viewing to the lion habitat, which I found to be very good, and three habitats for small mammals. Both sand cats and dama wallabies (another lifer) had very good habitats, and the South American habitat was good as well, although I'm personally not a fan of golden lion tamarin habitats that lack natural light. I also saw the lion habitat from the outside, where I was impressed by the amount of viewing for it there was.
- After the lions, I went to the other side of Vanishing Animals, where I saw adequate habitats for japanese macaque, ring-tailed lemur, and american bison.
- The third inadequate habitat I saw was the indoor gorilla habitat. I saw at least five gorillas in a habitat that is probably half the size of Franklin Park's habitat. I'm not one to claim gorillas need outdoor habitats, as I find the habitat at Franklin Park to be very good. However, this habitat was way too small to hold five gorillas and should either be expanded or converted into a habitat for a smaller primate.
- On the other side of the building was the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Center. This building was a decent reptile house with a standard collection and very large habitats. I wouldn't call the building an incredible Reptile house, but definitely a very respectable exhibit.
- Another lifer species for me was the rocky mountain bighorn sheep, of which I saw eight. The zoo keeps them on a very spacious mock rock mountain, of which my only complaint is that it didn't provide the animals a choice of substrate.
Overall, I found Buffalo to be a very nice zoo. Its biggest strength is it's rare mammals, including Maned Wolf, multiple antelope species, brown capuchin, black-capped squirrel monkey, and bighorn sheep. My biggest criticism is that the bird collection was definitely lacking. I only saw four bird species in the entire zoo, (roseate spoonbill, green-winged macaw, bald eagle, laughing kookaburra). Adding some more birds to the zoo would be much appreciated. I do know there were more species I missed in Rainforest Falls, however they wouldn't show and the Aviary area definitely seemed empty. Adding some more birds would be a positive change, especially if they added some Waterfowl in the large water area. Overall, I look forward to seeing where this zoo goes from here. There are only three weak habitats, and the rest are all very nice. It is a very gorgeous, well-manicured zoo that hopefully has a very bright future, as I enjoyed my visit very much.
This morning I visited this zoo for the first time and will be writing down my impressions of this zoo.
- As entering the zoo, my first impression had nothing to do with animals, but instead the absolutely gorgeous historical architecture. Many of the zoo's buildings are a historic brick, which is an aesthetic I personally enjoy.
- The first exhibit I saw was the Sea Lion Cove. After seeing the pool at Aquarium of Niagara yesterday, it was very refreshing to see a habitat that gives sea lions ample room both in water and on land. The underwater viewing was closed so I couldn't get the best view of the sea lions, but a good exhibit nonetheless.
- Behind the Sea Lion Cove was Otter Creek. Like the sea lion exhibit, this was a very good exhibit, with plenty of land room and a decent pool.
- Arctic Edge was the next exhibit I saw. The bald eagle lived in a habitat that was decent, although nothing compared to my local bald eagle exhibit at Roger Williams. The polar bear exhibit was also adequate, with a nice pool and large land area. By no means the same quality as Columbus or Detroit, but still a respectable polar bear exhibit for a medium-sized zoo. Both the arctic fox and canada lynx had beautiful habitats that were well-planted and a very good size.
- The zoo's black rhino lived in a decent habitat, although by no means excellent. A decent sized yard, but not a fantastic exhibit. Definitely too small for elephants.
- The zoo also has Indian Rhinos. They supposedly share their very large exhibit with some axis deer, but I did not see any. This was an excellent habitat, although I do think the zoo should have put another sign on the other side of the habitat, as when seeing the first habitat (without a sign), I had no clue what I was looking at.
- While most of the zoo exhibits are at least adequate, there are three that I felt were too small. The first of these was the giraffe habitat, which contained three giraffes on a very small field. Hopefully the zoo plans to either phase out giraffes or expand their exhibit in the near future.
- The zoo also had a decent habitat for spotted hyenas, although it was not anything extraordinary. I saw one hyena in it. There were very good viewing opportunities and it was a good size.
- Along the edge of the zoo, there are three decent-sized paddocks for hoofstock. The nicest of these was the first one, holding addax (a no-show) and roan antelope. My one criticism of this habitat is that it seemed too densely planted for a desert antelope. The other yards were smaller, but still adequate for the gemsbok and zebra they held. Both gemsbok and roan antelope were lifers for me.
- One of the zoo's nicest habitats was the Rainforest Falls building. While there were many no-shows, all of the habitats were very nice and this small building makes me wish Roger Williams built a nicer Rainforest Building. Both primate habitats were very nice, and the bat cave was a nice touch. Unfortunately the second floor was closed leading to me seeing very few birds. I was happy to see black-capped squirrel monkeys and brown capuchins though, two lifers for me.
- After the Rainforest, I saw the Vanishing Animals area. Red pandas had a nice habitat, snow leopards had an okay habitat (albeit slightly small for my preference), and Maned wolves had a habitat that I found a lot too small. It was still incredible to see the wolf, as it was a lifer for me, but it shouldn't be kept in that small a cage. I noticed an empty habitat near the lions, perhaps this could make a better Maned wolf habitat?
- At this point I headed indoors. Inside, their was viewing to the lion habitat, which I found to be very good, and three habitats for small mammals. Both sand cats and dama wallabies (another lifer) had very good habitats, and the South American habitat was good as well, although I'm personally not a fan of golden lion tamarin habitats that lack natural light. I also saw the lion habitat from the outside, where I was impressed by the amount of viewing for it there was.
- After the lions, I went to the other side of Vanishing Animals, where I saw adequate habitats for japanese macaque, ring-tailed lemur, and american bison.
- The third inadequate habitat I saw was the indoor gorilla habitat. I saw at least five gorillas in a habitat that is probably half the size of Franklin Park's habitat. I'm not one to claim gorillas need outdoor habitats, as I find the habitat at Franklin Park to be very good. However, this habitat was way too small to hold five gorillas and should either be expanded or converted into a habitat for a smaller primate.
- On the other side of the building was the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Center. This building was a decent reptile house with a standard collection and very large habitats. I wouldn't call the building an incredible Reptile house, but definitely a very respectable exhibit.
- Another lifer species for me was the rocky mountain bighorn sheep, of which I saw eight. The zoo keeps them on a very spacious mock rock mountain, of which my only complaint is that it didn't provide the animals a choice of substrate.
Overall, I found Buffalo to be a very nice zoo. Its biggest strength is it's rare mammals, including Maned Wolf, multiple antelope species, brown capuchin, black-capped squirrel monkey, and bighorn sheep. My biggest criticism is that the bird collection was definitely lacking. I only saw four bird species in the entire zoo, (roseate spoonbill, green-winged macaw, bald eagle, laughing kookaburra). Adding some more birds to the zoo would be much appreciated. I do know there were more species I missed in Rainforest Falls, however they wouldn't show and the Aviary area definitely seemed empty. Adding some more birds would be a positive change, especially if they added some Waterfowl in the large water area. Overall, I look forward to seeing where this zoo goes from here. There are only three weak habitats, and the rest are all very nice. It is a very gorgeous, well-manicured zoo that hopefully has a very bright future, as I enjoyed my visit very much.