This visit was the first time my sisters and I had been to Columbus Zoo in nearly 12 years, so we were definitely excited to see a relatively new zoo.
Adventure Cove
Admittedly, we did not see all of this exhibit, as we had just driven for 2 hours and wanted to find food and some shelter, as it had been raining for most of the drive. The Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions were much more active than we’ve seen at Cleveland, where they just swim in circles and avoid each other. I had heard this exhibit was kind of lackluster from various people on ZooChat, so I didn’t feel like we missed much.
Asia Quest
Although this exhibit is nearing 20 years old, having opened in 2006, the zoo has been doing an incredible job at keeping it from growing stale. The Amur Tiger, Red Panda, and Sloth Bear exhibits were some of the largest I’ve seen in a zoo, although they looked more barren due to it being winter. The Asian Elephant exhibit honestly rivals Cleveland, if not surpassing it size-wise (I'd have to look up sizes) The highlight of the area was the lone Pallas Cat, who strangely lives in an old Reticulated Python exhibit. Not exactly what I was expecting for the Pallas’ but I guess it could be worse. The only downsides, in my opinion, were the two smaller Tiger exhibits, one of which holds the Mexican Gray Wolves while construction is going on in North America. They aren’t bad exhibits by any means, they just feel slightly underwhelming compared to the main Tiger yard.
Australia and the Islands, North America, and Polar Frontier
Going to lump these areas together because unfortunately we didn’t get to see most of them
Australia was closed for Wildlights, which was a shame as I was hoping to see Komodo Dragons. The nocturnal house was pretty nice. It’s amazing how much more active these animals are when there’s an actual nocturnal house, not just the wing of a primate building. The Orangutan exhibit was really nice. Unfortunately they were in the way back of the exhibit and the path that would have given a nicer view was closed.
We ended up going to the North America side of the zoo last, and by the time we made it over there the Wild Lights was in full swing and the Christmas lights reflecting made seeing into any exhibits pretty much impossible. The only animals we were able to see were a Canadian Lynx and a Moose. Also we couldn’t really stop to look at the exhibits due to the construction bottleneck for the new North America exhibits.
Polar Frontier was again pretty much taken over by the Wild Lights. A shame we couldn't see the Polar Bears, but the Grizzlies were having a very intense Splash battle, which was quite fun to watch.
The Congo
I liked this area of the zoo, even with the Okapi and Gorillas not making appearances. The research hut that looks into the Gray Parrot and Colobus Monkeys was a welcome relief from the rain that started back up. African Leopards were a welcome sight, as I believe there aren't many in US zoo's nowadays, as is the case with the Bonobos. I only could see one as the others were either backstage or really good at hiding. Their exhibit was pretty nice, and seems like it provides alot of climbing opportunities for the Bonobos.
Shores, Aquarium, and Reptiles
This area of the zoo was sort of hit or miss for us, sadly. We all enjoyed the reptile house and Manatees alot more than the Aquarium, honestly.
Reptiles
Exhibits in the Reptile house were well furnished and seemed to be nicely sized for their inhabitants. The healthy collection of venomous snakes was a welcome sight as Cleveland phased venomous snakes out years ago.
Aquarium and Manatees
The Aquarium at least to us felt rather underwhelming next to the reptiles and manatee building. Maybe it's because Cleveland has such a poor aquarium section, but to us aquariums are sort of a ‘If it's there we'll see it’ exhibit. Theming was nice, though. The Humboldt Penguin exhibit near the aquarium was average, if not a little on the small side.
Manatees definitely saved the building, as they were neat to watch floating around and grabbing the lettuce off the top of the water.
Heart of Africa
Had closed by the time we made it over to that part of the zoo.
Overall, Columbus is definitely on our list to return to, and we're already planning a visit in April. When we go back we'll definitely make sure to see Heart of Africa and Islands. It's definitely more of a hike than Cleveland, with more rarities like Bonobos, African Leopards, and Polar Bears. I honestly can't say which zoo I like more.
Final grade - ☆☆☆☆ ⅘ stars.
Adventure Cove
Admittedly, we did not see all of this exhibit, as we had just driven for 2 hours and wanted to find food and some shelter, as it had been raining for most of the drive. The Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions were much more active than we’ve seen at Cleveland, where they just swim in circles and avoid each other. I had heard this exhibit was kind of lackluster from various people on ZooChat, so I didn’t feel like we missed much.
Asia Quest
Although this exhibit is nearing 20 years old, having opened in 2006, the zoo has been doing an incredible job at keeping it from growing stale. The Amur Tiger, Red Panda, and Sloth Bear exhibits were some of the largest I’ve seen in a zoo, although they looked more barren due to it being winter. The Asian Elephant exhibit honestly rivals Cleveland, if not surpassing it size-wise (I'd have to look up sizes) The highlight of the area was the lone Pallas Cat, who strangely lives in an old Reticulated Python exhibit. Not exactly what I was expecting for the Pallas’ but I guess it could be worse. The only downsides, in my opinion, were the two smaller Tiger exhibits, one of which holds the Mexican Gray Wolves while construction is going on in North America. They aren’t bad exhibits by any means, they just feel slightly underwhelming compared to the main Tiger yard.
Australia and the Islands, North America, and Polar Frontier
Going to lump these areas together because unfortunately we didn’t get to see most of them
Australia was closed for Wildlights, which was a shame as I was hoping to see Komodo Dragons. The nocturnal house was pretty nice. It’s amazing how much more active these animals are when there’s an actual nocturnal house, not just the wing of a primate building. The Orangutan exhibit was really nice. Unfortunately they were in the way back of the exhibit and the path that would have given a nicer view was closed.
We ended up going to the North America side of the zoo last, and by the time we made it over there the Wild Lights was in full swing and the Christmas lights reflecting made seeing into any exhibits pretty much impossible. The only animals we were able to see were a Canadian Lynx and a Moose. Also we couldn’t really stop to look at the exhibits due to the construction bottleneck for the new North America exhibits.
Polar Frontier was again pretty much taken over by the Wild Lights. A shame we couldn't see the Polar Bears, but the Grizzlies were having a very intense Splash battle, which was quite fun to watch.
The Congo
I liked this area of the zoo, even with the Okapi and Gorillas not making appearances. The research hut that looks into the Gray Parrot and Colobus Monkeys was a welcome relief from the rain that started back up. African Leopards were a welcome sight, as I believe there aren't many in US zoo's nowadays, as is the case with the Bonobos. I only could see one as the others were either backstage or really good at hiding. Their exhibit was pretty nice, and seems like it provides alot of climbing opportunities for the Bonobos.
Shores, Aquarium, and Reptiles
This area of the zoo was sort of hit or miss for us, sadly. We all enjoyed the reptile house and Manatees alot more than the Aquarium, honestly.
Reptiles
Exhibits in the Reptile house were well furnished and seemed to be nicely sized for their inhabitants. The healthy collection of venomous snakes was a welcome sight as Cleveland phased venomous snakes out years ago.
Aquarium and Manatees
The Aquarium at least to us felt rather underwhelming next to the reptiles and manatee building. Maybe it's because Cleveland has such a poor aquarium section, but to us aquariums are sort of a ‘If it's there we'll see it’ exhibit. Theming was nice, though. The Humboldt Penguin exhibit near the aquarium was average, if not a little on the small side.
Manatees definitely saved the building, as they were neat to watch floating around and grabbing the lettuce off the top of the water.
Heart of Africa
Had closed by the time we made it over to that part of the zoo.
Overall, Columbus is definitely on our list to return to, and we're already planning a visit in April. When we go back we'll definitely make sure to see Heart of Africa and Islands. It's definitely more of a hike than Cleveland, with more rarities like Bonobos, African Leopards, and Polar Bears. I honestly can't say which zoo I like more.
Final grade - ☆☆☆☆ ⅘ stars.
