I was able to spend a few hours here on a hot Saturday morning this past weekend. This is a small, but decent community zoo outside of Orlando Florida. I had been to this zoo once back in 2009 or so, but not since.
Overall the zoo ranges from pretty decent to sadly out dated. It seems they are making strides to improve the habitats. Most of the zoo is seen from wooden walkways, not always elevated more than a few inches, but I would imagine this is due to the low lying elevation of the entire property.
Newer and/or nicer habitats:
Cheetah, reptile habitats in general but the Grand Cayman iguana and crocodile monitor in particular, Warthogs, Florida black bear, small bird aviaries.
Warthogs:
Cheetah yard:
Florida black bear:
Grand Cayman iguana:
Decent habitats:
Astoundingly large bald eagle habitat (but terrible use of space) for a bird that cannot fly, peccary, tortoises in general, fossa, clouded leopard, African porcupine, petting zoo area, generic giraffe.
Clouded leopard:
Embarrassing habitats/cages:
Mongoose lemur, ring tailed lemur, lesser spot-nosed guenon, Amur leopard, Indian rhino, cougar.
Indian rhino:
Mongoose lemur:
Ring Tailed Lemur:
Copious use of black fencing and wood are the primary means of containment. Admittedly that colors my view of a habitat, even if it is an OK habitat. In particular the lemur and guenon cages are far too small and are in desperate need of enlargement or replacement. The same could be said of the cougar cage.
The Amur leopard habitat is in the process of being upgraded and expanded. Well, they are raising the money to do that, no work has been started at this time.
The Indian rhino habitat is just a open dirt yard with a pool. It could be far worse, but it could be a lot better too.
Viewing angles for almost all of the animals are at eye level, there are only a few habitats where one is separated from the animals via elevation.
It is clear that they really are improving the place when one sees the new habitats, but some really need to be replaced sooner than later. At this moment I think that Wild Florida is a better value if you are looking for a zoo in the area, or Brevard Zoo if you are in that direction.
That said, we were looking for a zoo to spend the morning at before going to our hotel, and this really fit well. The CFLZ is an AZA member, so we were able to enjoy 50% off admission. At that price it is a good deal and worth the 40 minute drive from the Disney area if you like zoos.
Overall the zoo ranges from pretty decent to sadly out dated. It seems they are making strides to improve the habitats. Most of the zoo is seen from wooden walkways, not always elevated more than a few inches, but I would imagine this is due to the low lying elevation of the entire property.
Newer and/or nicer habitats:
Cheetah, reptile habitats in general but the Grand Cayman iguana and crocodile monitor in particular, Warthogs, Florida black bear, small bird aviaries.
Warthogs:
Cheetah yard:
Florida black bear:
Grand Cayman iguana:
Decent habitats:
Astoundingly large bald eagle habitat (but terrible use of space) for a bird that cannot fly, peccary, tortoises in general, fossa, clouded leopard, African porcupine, petting zoo area, generic giraffe.
Clouded leopard:
Embarrassing habitats/cages:
Mongoose lemur, ring tailed lemur, lesser spot-nosed guenon, Amur leopard, Indian rhino, cougar.
Indian rhino:
Mongoose lemur:
Ring Tailed Lemur:
Copious use of black fencing and wood are the primary means of containment. Admittedly that colors my view of a habitat, even if it is an OK habitat. In particular the lemur and guenon cages are far too small and are in desperate need of enlargement or replacement. The same could be said of the cougar cage.
The Amur leopard habitat is in the process of being upgraded and expanded. Well, they are raising the money to do that, no work has been started at this time.
The Indian rhino habitat is just a open dirt yard with a pool. It could be far worse, but it could be a lot better too.
Viewing angles for almost all of the animals are at eye level, there are only a few habitats where one is separated from the animals via elevation.
It is clear that they really are improving the place when one sees the new habitats, but some really need to be replaced sooner than later. At this moment I think that Wild Florida is a better value if you are looking for a zoo in the area, or Brevard Zoo if you are in that direction.
That said, we were looking for a zoo to spend the morning at before going to our hotel, and this really fit well. The CFLZ is an AZA member, so we were able to enjoy 50% off admission. At that price it is a good deal and worth the 40 minute drive from the Disney area if you like zoos.
