Well to start the weather today was very good, not to hot and not to cold. This review will be in order of what I saw. Overall, a very nice zoo. I have always liked the Calgary zoo even when I visited in 2006. During that year the zoo was well underway with the construction of the Elephant Crossing.
Australia/Creatures of the Night: This building is very well done. There were a variety of animals on exhibit here. All exhibits were fairly well designed. I would add much more foalige to the Tree Kangaroo Exhibit and possibly add a water moat to minimize the glass viewing. (Something similar to the Toronto Zoo exhibit.) This building could utilize more space to add a greater variety of animals behind the wall of exhibits on one side is just a plain wall, this could be used for a new Great Barrier Reef exhibit possibly? The Koala exhibit was great, not too many people there. I wonder what will be housed there in a months time when the Koalas are gone. The Creatures of the Night exhibit I wounldn't change it at all, it was very impressive. The bats were actually flying back and forth. Again more exhibits would be great. Although the lighting in the majority of this building was not very good. The outdoor exhibits for the red kangaroo, emu and black swans was really good too, a larger pool is needed and more animals, there were only 3 red kangaroos, 1 emu and 2 black swans on exhibit. I was very impressed by the Creatures of the Night exhibit in this building.
African Savanna Building: I have always been impressed with this area of the zoo. I really like the concept with animals in this building being able to be indoors or out. The small exhibits in this building include, african porcupines, crowned cranes, red river hogs, most of this exhibits really suited the animals however the porcupine exhibit was laking foliage. I would also add foliage to the red river hogs and cranes. The outdoor red river hog exhibit was very good, but more wall covering would have been better. I was surpised they didn't have the cranes outside with the marabou storks. The giraffe exhibit is great. I also like the fact that people can walk under a bridge that the giraffes can walk overtop to the other side of the exhibit. The hippo exhibit lacks land area and the pool is very dirty. I would like to see a larger outdoor hippo exhibit. I think if the added the Toronto Zoo's hippo exhibit and the Calgary's exhibit it would creat an ideal cold climate hippo exhibit. The zebra and ostrich exhibit was nicely laid out, maybe an expansion and addition of a few more zebra's and create a breeding program there. With the viewing they have seeing a herd would look amazing. I wouldn't change the lion exhibit at all it is a good design, if I had to be picky I would add a moat and a larger pool. I did not have a chance to see the African wild dogs so I was very disipointed. Where exactly are they located? The best exhibit here was the lion exhibit.
TransAlta Rainforest: Wow, this building is hot and very humid. I thaught the Toronto Zoo was bad. This is a very good imursion building. The entrance into the building you get greated by a few tanks of African cichlids. I would add some more tanks in this oriantation area it would really take it to the next level. The building is covered in plants and it is absolutly breath taking. The gorilla exhibits are very good but more foliage is a must. Even if they added a ceder or a spruce in the outdoor exhibit it would look very neat. The smaller exhibits in this building are also very good, like the west African dwarf crocodile exhibit, etc. The columbus monkey exhibit is also very good but more foliage is a must again. I have no clue where the bongo are exhibited so I missed those to. My fav. exhibit in here has to have been the dwarf crocodile exhibit, it looked like it was cut away from an African swamp land.
South American Building: This may be a run down building but the exhibits here are fabulous. This area comes in second place with the best area being the Canadian Wilds. The spider monkey exhibit is my fav. in this area of the zoo. It is a great exhibit I would add some more trees but that would be picky. The condor exhibit was cool aswell only because these birds are huge almost to big to be able to fly. I would make there exhibit a bit bigger and add a nice pool to it as well. These birds easily have a 3 metre wing span. The white handed gibbon exhibit is good aswell again more trees, but the serow in this exhibit isn't the greatest choice he should be with the other serow in an excellent exhibit. (that is to come later) The indoor gibbon exhibits are very good aswell, some of the best I have ever seen, the complex holds about 5 different exhibits, very impressed. The other small exhibits are also great, my fav in this section would have to be the Squirrel Monkey. The Hyacinth Macaw exhibit was also very impressive.
Elephant Crossing and Eurasia: The Elephant Crossing complex is very well done. It looks really nice with about 4 exhibits total it houses both asian elephants and bactrian camels. The Stingray exhibit is still there but they were putting up a wall when I walked in today. The sloth bear exhibit looks like there is always something to do. They was a lot of enrichment. I would add some more foilage to the exhibit. I wonder what the zoos plans are for this species as there is only one bear and he was only out for about 1 second. The Japansese Serow exhibit looks really good, it looks like it was cut out from the wild. I wouldn't add anything new here. The snow leopard exhibit was fairly large. I would again add some tall trees to the exhibit though and maybe some more rock. The Eurasian Marsh exhibit is very cool. There are only ducks and other waterfowl runnning around here. The red panda and muntjac exhibit is a neat mix. Again I would add some tall trees to allow the pandas to climb higher but it is a fairly nice exhibit, and I would also expand the pool. The Siberian tiger exhibit is also very ideal with 2 small pools that would make it the only fall back, I would upgrade this exhibit to have one large pool and have a waterfall going into it and again add some more foilage. The Markhor and Ibex exhibit was the worst in my opinion only because the size of the exhibit is to small and zoos can exhibit these species with much more ability then they have done. The Siberian tiger exhibit was my fav. in this area.
Dinosaur Park: A very unique exhibition, although the space could be used for other purposes, especially an animal expansion. With the Royal Tyrrell Museum an hour away the space can be used for more animals. With all the rockwork used there it would also cut back on the construction costs.
Canadian Wilds: This is my fav. part of the zoo. It is well developed and the zoo could do a lot more to this section. All of the exhibits in this area are excellent with the exception of 2. The Swift fox exhibit needs to be enlarged, and the bison exhibit. All the exhibits could use more foilage and pools.
Overall: This zoo is one of a kind and has even more potential for future construction. With the Elephant Crossing being a great addition I can't wait to see the future penguin and other animal exhibits. There are only a handful of exhibits that need to be fixed but other then that this zoo is high on my list.
Australia/Creatures of the Night: This building is very well done. There were a variety of animals on exhibit here. All exhibits were fairly well designed. I would add much more foalige to the Tree Kangaroo Exhibit and possibly add a water moat to minimize the glass viewing. (Something similar to the Toronto Zoo exhibit.) This building could utilize more space to add a greater variety of animals behind the wall of exhibits on one side is just a plain wall, this could be used for a new Great Barrier Reef exhibit possibly? The Koala exhibit was great, not too many people there. I wonder what will be housed there in a months time when the Koalas are gone. The Creatures of the Night exhibit I wounldn't change it at all, it was very impressive. The bats were actually flying back and forth. Again more exhibits would be great. Although the lighting in the majority of this building was not very good. The outdoor exhibits for the red kangaroo, emu and black swans was really good too, a larger pool is needed and more animals, there were only 3 red kangaroos, 1 emu and 2 black swans on exhibit. I was very impressed by the Creatures of the Night exhibit in this building.
African Savanna Building: I have always been impressed with this area of the zoo. I really like the concept with animals in this building being able to be indoors or out. The small exhibits in this building include, african porcupines, crowned cranes, red river hogs, most of this exhibits really suited the animals however the porcupine exhibit was laking foliage. I would also add foliage to the red river hogs and cranes. The outdoor red river hog exhibit was very good, but more wall covering would have been better. I was surpised they didn't have the cranes outside with the marabou storks. The giraffe exhibit is great. I also like the fact that people can walk under a bridge that the giraffes can walk overtop to the other side of the exhibit. The hippo exhibit lacks land area and the pool is very dirty. I would like to see a larger outdoor hippo exhibit. I think if the added the Toronto Zoo's hippo exhibit and the Calgary's exhibit it would creat an ideal cold climate hippo exhibit. The zebra and ostrich exhibit was nicely laid out, maybe an expansion and addition of a few more zebra's and create a breeding program there. With the viewing they have seeing a herd would look amazing. I wouldn't change the lion exhibit at all it is a good design, if I had to be picky I would add a moat and a larger pool. I did not have a chance to see the African wild dogs so I was very disipointed. Where exactly are they located? The best exhibit here was the lion exhibit.
TransAlta Rainforest: Wow, this building is hot and very humid. I thaught the Toronto Zoo was bad. This is a very good imursion building. The entrance into the building you get greated by a few tanks of African cichlids. I would add some more tanks in this oriantation area it would really take it to the next level. The building is covered in plants and it is absolutly breath taking. The gorilla exhibits are very good but more foliage is a must. Even if they added a ceder or a spruce in the outdoor exhibit it would look very neat. The smaller exhibits in this building are also very good, like the west African dwarf crocodile exhibit, etc. The columbus monkey exhibit is also very good but more foliage is a must again. I have no clue where the bongo are exhibited so I missed those to. My fav. exhibit in here has to have been the dwarf crocodile exhibit, it looked like it was cut away from an African swamp land.
South American Building: This may be a run down building but the exhibits here are fabulous. This area comes in second place with the best area being the Canadian Wilds. The spider monkey exhibit is my fav. in this area of the zoo. It is a great exhibit I would add some more trees but that would be picky. The condor exhibit was cool aswell only because these birds are huge almost to big to be able to fly. I would make there exhibit a bit bigger and add a nice pool to it as well. These birds easily have a 3 metre wing span. The white handed gibbon exhibit is good aswell again more trees, but the serow in this exhibit isn't the greatest choice he should be with the other serow in an excellent exhibit. (that is to come later) The indoor gibbon exhibits are very good aswell, some of the best I have ever seen, the complex holds about 5 different exhibits, very impressed. The other small exhibits are also great, my fav in this section would have to be the Squirrel Monkey. The Hyacinth Macaw exhibit was also very impressive.
Elephant Crossing and Eurasia: The Elephant Crossing complex is very well done. It looks really nice with about 4 exhibits total it houses both asian elephants and bactrian camels. The Stingray exhibit is still there but they were putting up a wall when I walked in today. The sloth bear exhibit looks like there is always something to do. They was a lot of enrichment. I would add some more foilage to the exhibit. I wonder what the zoos plans are for this species as there is only one bear and he was only out for about 1 second. The Japansese Serow exhibit looks really good, it looks like it was cut out from the wild. I wouldn't add anything new here. The snow leopard exhibit was fairly large. I would again add some tall trees to the exhibit though and maybe some more rock. The Eurasian Marsh exhibit is very cool. There are only ducks and other waterfowl runnning around here. The red panda and muntjac exhibit is a neat mix. Again I would add some tall trees to allow the pandas to climb higher but it is a fairly nice exhibit, and I would also expand the pool. The Siberian tiger exhibit is also very ideal with 2 small pools that would make it the only fall back, I would upgrade this exhibit to have one large pool and have a waterfall going into it and again add some more foilage. The Markhor and Ibex exhibit was the worst in my opinion only because the size of the exhibit is to small and zoos can exhibit these species with much more ability then they have done. The Siberian tiger exhibit was my fav. in this area.
Dinosaur Park: A very unique exhibition, although the space could be used for other purposes, especially an animal expansion. With the Royal Tyrrell Museum an hour away the space can be used for more animals. With all the rockwork used there it would also cut back on the construction costs.
Canadian Wilds: This is my fav. part of the zoo. It is well developed and the zoo could do a lot more to this section. All of the exhibits in this area are excellent with the exception of 2. The Swift fox exhibit needs to be enlarged, and the bison exhibit. All the exhibits could use more foilage and pools.
Overall: This zoo is one of a kind and has even more potential for future construction. With the Elephant Crossing being a great addition I can't wait to see the future penguin and other animal exhibits. There are only a handful of exhibits that need to be fixed but other then that this zoo is high on my list.
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