Caldwell Zoo
For those of you who have read my review of the Houston Zoo, fear not this will not be the 3 page epic post that that one was.
Right now, sight unseen for the remainder of the Texan zoos, the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler gets my vote for the best in the state. It is a fairly small zoo, similar in size to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco that I've already reviewed. While it may be small what they do, they do well. While I say that they are a small zoo, that's not entirely correct. The developed portion is fairly small, but they have room to expand - a lot of room.
It is a beautiful setting in the Piney Woods of East Texas with the best entry-way that I have yet seen. There are three main areas of the zoo: North America, South America, and East Africa. I will start off with the smaller section - South America. Just as you enter the zoo, there is a wonderful mixed species exhibit. This at first glance is a water bird area with ducks, pelicans, and some others, but if you look hard enough, you can find Squirrel Monkeys. There are only a few other exhibits here mostly large meshed aviaries for birds like Scarlet Ibis, Spoonbills, King Vultures, etc. One of the two big areas (the one with King Vultures) has Capybara and Giant Anteater. Nothing truly spectacular here, and not unlike anything you could see at any other zoo. There are also some smaller enclosures for parrots, tamarins, and toucans. So far nothing spectacular in the South American section.
On to the North American section. As you walk toward this section, a huge exhibit opens up. It is probably 3-4 acres and houses a huge herd of White-Tailed Deer, Bison, Turkeys, Sandhill Cranes, Texas Longhorn Cattle, and various water birds. It is a wonderful exhibit with lots of areas along the walking path to view them from. So that huge exhibit is on the left-hand side of the walking path while on the right hand side are several smaller habitats. Here are good exhibits for Coati, River Otters, Red Fox, and Birds of Prey (Caracara, Hawk, Owl and maybe some others I think). There are bigger exhibits in between these and the next viewing area for the large open area. This part I found out from a keeper will eventually become "Cats of the World." I think it was originally for just North American carnivores, but with two non-NA animals a different approach is being taken. First on the list is a decent to good Mountain Lion exhibit. Lots of hiding room and fairly spacious with lots of rock work for climbing. Next is a smaller area for Bobcats. There were 3 or 4 cats here, nothing too spectacular, but not horrible either. Next was a similar sized area for Servals. This was the first time I had seen Servals and they were quite active. This is where I got to talk with a keeper. Evidently, they are very new to the zoo only having been there a few weeks. I think that they are quite young too. Anyway, the next exhibit is one of only two let downs for the zoo. White Tigers. I really don't like White Tigers being held in zoos. I would much rather see a subspecies of conservation importance being held here rather than a mutant mongrel. That said, the exhibit is fairly small for 2 tigers, but not terrible. The tigers when I got there were playing tag with each other according to the keeper. Evidently this was a fairly common occurrence. From here there was a small Reptile House/Aquarium. This may be one of the only Texan Zoos not to have a superb reptile collection. All of the animals here (reptiles, amphibians, fish, and inverts) are native Texan animals. Leaving the Reptile House you get back to the large paddock for the deer and bison. Next up is an aviary for Attwater's Prairie Chickens. One of the rarest native birds and only seen at a few zoos (here, Houston, Fossil Rim and a few others). Next up is a great Alligator exhibit. In East Texas you don't have to do much to have a great alligator exhibit, as you are in their native home. Gators were underwater, and I only caught a glimpse of one, but watched some of the native birds like Green Night Herons.
Walking along the path you leave North America and head to Africa. First up is a great exhibit for East African Bongo, Yellow-Backed Duiker, and Colobus Monkeys. There were lots of trees for the monkeys to climb on, plenty of room for the antelope to wander around and a few pools the cool off in. Incidentally, I think that these pools would be great for Pygmy Hippos, but that's just me. Nestled into this exhibit is a smaller exhibit for Leopards. Now I had to go onto ISIS to figure out what kind are here as the signage was confusing. One sign said Panthera pardus pardus while another said Panthera pardus orientalis. Checking ISIS confirms that these are Amur Leopards. I wish the zoo would acknowledge this. From here these is a fairly long expanse where nothing can be see, except for a few hints of animals through the trees off to the right. Then the Savanna open up. This is a breath taking view. You first see the Savanna at the lion habitat. There was a single male lion in a well designed habitat. Beyond this, seemingly in the same exhibit, is the bulk of the Savanna. Here are groups of Grevy's Zebra, Wildebeest, Greater Kudu, Impala, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Sacred Ibis, Ostrich, and East African Crowned Crane. Seeing Grevy's in a mixed species habitat is fascinating, no other zoo I know of has had success doing this (I'm sure that a lot of other people know of plenty of examples of this). I know that warthogs have also been in the mix, but I did not seen any yesterday (ISIS says they have 0.3 so they may have been hiding). Beyond this you could glimpse the first view of the Elephants and maybe the Giraffes. Going along the path you come to a building that houses smaller African animals and lots of birds. Two exhibits inside. One is a mixed species with lots of birds (starlings, parrots, and others) tortoises, and a Günther's Dik-Dik. This is the above part, down below are hundreds if not thousands of ciclids. Next to this is an area for Black-Footed Penguins. It is very similar to Fort Worth's new Penguin area, with underwater viewing. The first time I went to Caldwell back in 1996 (when I was in 8th grade I think) I vaguely recall this being an area for Nile Crocodiles, maybe it was the whole building, I just can't remember that far back. All through this building there are windows that look out onto the Savanna, and the lone Ostrich stayed near these windows all the time. Outside of this building was a Meerkat exhibit. I've seen a lot of Meerkat area, and nearly all are quite good, but I did quite like this one. I think this is the area the used to hold Jackals - sorry Loxodonta. The trail continues along with more viewing areas for the Savanna. At the top of a hill is a lookout onto the Savanna where you finally get to see the Giraffes (Reticulateds). This is a fairly small area for them. I think that they originally had access to the whole Savanna and it is only blocked off by some logs that separate them from the rest of the animals. From here you can get a great view of the Elephants. The path that leads down to the main Elephant viewing area was closed by a gate. On that gate there was a sign saying something to the effect that "Whenever the bull elephant is in the yard this area must be closed off as his trunk is much longer than the females." I don't think that this area was designed for a bull as big as this one. From what I've read it is the biggest Elephant in North America, and he is impressive. His tusks are not long, but damn, they are think. I had only seen African cows before this, and he was considerably bigger than them. I do however have some complaints about the Elephant area. It is small, maybe only .75 acres, and housed 1.3 animals. Surrounding this was a steep moat that separates them from the big Savanna and the Giraffes. This is one of only two complaints that I have about Caldwell (this and the White Tigers). Continuing along you pass by a cafe and what I think is a meeting room. The Giraffe barn is accessible to the public and not too big, able to hold only about 3 Giraffes. Going along you get to the first Cheetah exhibit. There are two areas for Cheetahs, the first one I saw was small, but not too bad, but the second one was huge and by far the biggest area for Cheetahs that I've seen. There is nothing special in design here, just space, lots of space. Near here is the Black Rhinos. The day I visited, all 5 rhinos were off exhibit as there was some construction going on in the habitat. I still got to see the rhinos though as the barn is accessible to the public (in fact the last 2 times I've been to Caldwell I could only see the rhinos inside). One of the rhinos was quite playful trying to play catch with himself with a large ball in his pen. I think he was getting restless being inside for a few days. The two rhinos yards are decent in size, although pretty barren (although that's what the construction was for to install new shade structures).
We're nearly through. Last there is a small area for Lemurs (Ring-Tailed and Red Ruffed I think). I didn't see too many Lemurs here, but it was quite an aesthetically quite nice area. Before leaving the zoo there are perches for 5 species of Macaws as well as a Chilean Flamingo pond.
All in all, I love the Caldwell Zoo. What it lack in size it make up for in quality. With the exception of the White Tigers and the small Elephant yard everything here is above average to great. As I ranked the Houston Zoo on a 1-10 scale I will do the same here. For what it is Caldwell gets about an 8.5. I have to say again that I think this is one of the best zoos in the state.
Since I was already in East Texas I figured - what the hell, lets go to the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin. By the way, for those of you who don't know Texas this is similar to saying "since I'm in New York, lets go visit Boston." So adding another 3 hours of driving time I went south to Lufkin to visit a zoo that I'm sure no one on this forum has ever been to, but the story of that zoo will have to wait until another day.
