Coming to America

Oaklahoma Zoo,

B - The new Elephant exhibit is huge and the public viewing areas are built over the elephant barns, this combined with ramps for access has meant that the timber tructure dominates the landscape. A baby girl malee naturally sired while the zoos two elephants wre housed at Tulsa zoo father called Snezzy!

A - zoozeum a great exhibit showcasing the history of the zoo.

A - fruit bat display an exhibit about the size of a large car parking space a classed in and in a nocturnal house, very active and interesting display.

B - good side bear exhibits, however the bears showed stereotype behaviour :( they just had a much bigger pattern, rather than a 10-30 second loop they followed a 3-8 minute loop. Is the answer a more proactive nrichment program????

Comment overall a zoo of contrast from the great Elephant exhibit and very well themed noth american exhibits to some very boring aviaries, hoof stock and very small cat enclosures.

A baby chimp with only one arm, apparently a mature female accidentally injured the arm when the chimp was very young and the only solution was to amputate.

the Gorilla exhibits outdoor were of a very good size as long as they rotate these exhibits as one was on the small size while the other was huge.
 
Dallas Zoo

A- African penguin exhibit a reasonable size and with a half circle glass viewing pool very popular with the public.

B - Giants of the savannah, I thought Oaklahomas new elephant exhibit was good this was even better, although for some reason they did not build shade structures close to the viewing platforms so all the elephants were way up the back. They do have a service that provides telescopic lenses to the public so they can photograph the elephants very good idea l wonder if these were an afterthought?

Comment
The monorail staff have all been retrenched by the new zoo supervisor replacing them with low cost in experienced staff :(

An exhibit with 5-6 black handed spider monkeys, l Have never seen this many together before in a single exhibit.

It was a very hot day and did not stay long, l did see the whole zoo and thought the African half of the zoo good the rest fairly average.
 
Thanks for posting the latest mini-reviews, and both Oklahoma City and Dallas are excellent zoos that I'd place in America's top 15. Oklahoma City has improved dramatically in the past decade, and there are ambitious plans for a large Asian zone in the future. Dallas has the brilliant Giants of the Savanna (part of the larger Wild Africa zone) and while many people call the rest of the zoo average I personally think that it is still quite good with a terrific Reptile House, Children's Zoo, and then a hodgepodge of other areas.

It is great to see you visiting many southern-based zoos, and you've certainly seen some cool ones on this trip.
 
Wow, zooman, I am in awe of your roadtrip. It seems like you're having a good time and getting to see a lot of different zoos. I'm glad you are having good interactions with people you're meeting along the way so you'll take back to Australia a good impression of us Americans. :) I hope you have a safe trip on the rest of your journey and I look forward to seeing your photos when you're able to post them.
 
The Bronx zoo

Baboon exhibit cost effective, huge and great public viewing opportunities.

The natural substructure to the NY area is rock and lots of it (apparently this is one of the reasons NY had so many sky's rappers built at the start of last century.
The rock is used very well throughout the zoo particularly in the brown bear exhibit as the bears have access to the top of this rock and it acts ass the backdrop to there very much above average exhibit in booth size and enrichment opportunities.
The zoo is also built within a forest of very tall beautifully trees, creating both shade/enrichment and again a wonderful backdrop to showcase many of the animals.

Allot has been written about Congo Gorilla exhibit and it is very very Good.
Personally l think allot of people miss how god it is for the gorillas as they have many opportunities to position themselves out of the public view, something most gorilla exhibits do not provide.
Interestingly like allot of zoos visited on this trip there were no young gorillas and no immediate plans for breeding.
I am wondering what can be done to allow for Gorilla groups to be allowed the opportunity to have young in there exhibits more frequently as experience has shown this is the best form of enrichment.

Private facilities like Gorilla Haven in Georgia can provide the care and space required for surplus males and or females and ami,y groups, however the zoo community has not embraced this organisation?
 
Okay,

I have been sidetracked by a week in NY and loved every minute of it.

For the record the people of America but in particular NY have been very accommodating.

In NY all l had to do was pull out my map and people would offer Assitance.

Now on my way to San Francisco and Sacramento Zoo to see the shiffka's.
 
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Oakland zoo.

Sun bear enclosure huge! With abundant enrichment, the only fault would be that you look down on the 3 bears. Interestingly a elevated climbing structure allowed the bears to get within a few feet of the viewing public.

Huge fruit bat enclosure, the enclosure is visible from most points of the zoo and l was wondering what animal it housed as l got closer l was sure primates.
Listening to the general public the response to the exhibit was hugely popular as there is a enclosed walk in area of the exhibit letting the average jo very close to the bats.

Small amphibian / reptile house with large mixed species frogs and boa's exhibits again very popular with the public and refreshing to see large exhibits for frogs and boa's. Also at the entrance and exit of the house a very popular child size door next to the regular door, and again hugely popular with young kids.

Lion enclosure, the largest l have seen at a city zoo. The enclosure is a natural valley surrounded by cyclone fencing with a couple of viewing opportunities, unfortunately could not actually see the lions.

A surprising 9 giraffe in a medium side moated enclosure. How much space do giraffe need?

Large elephant enclosure with multiple paddocks, however l question how much of the space they actually use as some areas were heavily grassed.

Comment, A above average zoo providing some good sized enclosures for the animals. The zoo does give a perception of being very old and a little outdated.

Sacramento zoo.

I went to this zoo primarily to see the sifaka and was hugely disappointed with the zoo and the sifaka

1 single female sifaka who seemed lonely ( constantly looking into the mirrors provided and looking around for something? I wonder how Long she has been on her own...

The rest of the zoo was one bad enclosure after another particularly for the primates and cats.
 
I wrote in my 2011 review that Sacramento was a "dud zoo" and I see that you agree, although the sifaka exhibit there is quite good. Nice comments about Oakland and in general I agree with everything that you wrote. I also loved the lion exhibit but failed to actually see any of the cats.
 
Hi jbnbsn,

Of course you are right as l was with you while at the two missing zoos LOL.

Dallas World aquarium.
Did not really want to post a review as l am confronted by the size of many of the exhibits however l am also incredibly impressed by the facility and its presentation of animals to the general public.

DWA also appears to be a very successful financially judging by the attendance on the day and the set up of the entrance that was geared towards large numbers.

DWA is definitely worth a visit and l am sure would inspire many people looking to start a zoo!

Fort Worth Zoo
Again not allot of good to say about this facility, practically the indoor gorilla exhibit.
So l thought best to say nothing at all.

However MOLA was generally very good in particular the Gharial exhibit.
 
20 zoos

3200 Miles

30 days

An amazing holiday, and great to meet up with other zoo chatters along the way.

Now back to work to get the $$$ to get my zoo.
 
I am shocked at how many forum regulars do not like Fort Worth Zoo. Definitely in my top 20. Great apes are the low spot, but overall quite a good zoo.
 
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