Indian Creek Zoo Indian Creek Zoo
- Thread starter Pantheraman
- Start date
On July 19th, 2018, I visited the zoo and I was not at all impressed. Hopefully it has improved considerably during the past 3 years. Here is the review from my Snowleopard's 2018 Road Trip thread:
Only about 30 minutes from Toledo, Ohio, and in southern Michigan, is a fairly new zoo that just opened in 2014. The Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville, MI) is a home-made, hodgepodge of exhibits and even though almost everything is practically brand-new, the whole place is a shambles and there are some disgraceful enclosures. Naturally, being a non-accredited facility there were some rarities showcased and in the space of a few minutes I saw a Pig-tailed Macaque, a Rhesus Macaque, a couple of Mona Monkeys, an Olive Baboon and a Tayra. All 5 of those taxa are rare and only the Pig-tailed Macaque had a decent exhibit as the other enclosures were all piss-poor. The Rhesus Macaque was in a cement bunker with no logs, branches, or damn near anything except a cement floor and iron bars. It is frustrating to see a brand-new zoo build such a monstrosity and I asked two different keepers (neither of whom knew what a Mona Monkey was even though they were feeding it food!) and apparently at least a couple of the monkeys are ex-circus animals. Still, if you don't even know what species you have in your collection and you put it in a bare cage then I just have to shake my head and leave.
The rest of the zoo resembles a construction site, with a new 'Tropical House' being built, a 'Sloth House' almost finished (which admittedly does look pretty cool), a single Reticulated Giraffe together with an Alpaca in a decently-sized paddock, and the usual mixture that I see every day. Grey Wolves, a Bobcat, domestic goats, Bald Eagles, Barred Owls, loads of Emus, Red Kangaroos, Bennett's Wallabies, Red-tailed Hawks, etc. A couple of Plains Bison shared an enclosure with a domestic cow and there are few barriers (other than yellow police tape!) to stop someone petting the animals. The whole place can be seen in an hour and it really is a shambles. There are wires sticking out of cages and it appears that in the past 4 years the owners have assembled a zoological establishment out of duct tape and baling wire.
Only about 30 minutes from Toledo, Ohio, and in southern Michigan, is a fairly new zoo that just opened in 2014. The Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville, MI) is a home-made, hodgepodge of exhibits and even though almost everything is practically brand-new, the whole place is a shambles and there are some disgraceful enclosures. Naturally, being a non-accredited facility there were some rarities showcased and in the space of a few minutes I saw a Pig-tailed Macaque, a Rhesus Macaque, a couple of Mona Monkeys, an Olive Baboon and a Tayra. All 5 of those taxa are rare and only the Pig-tailed Macaque had a decent exhibit as the other enclosures were all piss-poor. The Rhesus Macaque was in a cement bunker with no logs, branches, or damn near anything except a cement floor and iron bars. It is frustrating to see a brand-new zoo build such a monstrosity and I asked two different keepers (neither of whom knew what a Mona Monkey was even though they were feeding it food!) and apparently at least a couple of the monkeys are ex-circus animals. Still, if you don't even know what species you have in your collection and you put it in a bare cage then I just have to shake my head and leave.
The rest of the zoo resembles a construction site, with a new 'Tropical House' being built, a 'Sloth House' almost finished (which admittedly does look pretty cool), a single Reticulated Giraffe together with an Alpaca in a decently-sized paddock, and the usual mixture that I see every day. Grey Wolves, a Bobcat, domestic goats, Bald Eagles, Barred Owls, loads of Emus, Red Kangaroos, Bennett's Wallabies, Red-tailed Hawks, etc. A couple of Plains Bison shared an enclosure with a domestic cow and there are few barriers (other than yellow police tape!) to stop someone petting the animals. The whole place can be seen in an hour and it really is a shambles. There are wires sticking out of cages and it appears that in the past 4 years the owners have assembled a zoological establishment out of duct tape and baling wire.
There's a bunch of threads like that if you scroll back/do a search. They tend to get repetitive and annoying after so many species.