jbnbsn99's Texas Zoos
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I don't believe so...They do have some other kingfishers though. Probably just a mistake. Unless they got them recently (I haven't been there since sometime in April 09).
Africa Live! 2 opens to the public on Sunday (Feb. 28th). Members are having a sneak peek on Saturday - here's a slideshow from the San Antonio newspaper:
New exhibit at S.A. Zoo
Yes, interested in Africa Alive 2, which is a sensible two day trip. However, when you have just one day off, I am still waiting for a review of International Exotic Animal Sanctuary, which is not far from Fort Worth.
jbnbsn99
Well-Known Member
I keep forgetting about that one. I think I need to make an appointment to visit. Actually, I am going to try and contact San Antonio to see if there is anyway I can get a back scenes visit to their off exhibit hoofstock. We'll see how that goes. If @zebraduiker is reading this, how did you manage that?
jbnbsn99
Well-Known Member
3 New Exhibits in a Week! Part 1. Houston
Ok, so I decided yesterday to make the long trip to visit Houston Zoo to see their new Jaguar exhibit. A little over 4 hours of driving one way to see a new exhibit is just the kind of thing I'll due to further the ZooChat experience. I also wanted to check up on the progress of the new African Forest exhibit's construction.
New Jaguar exhibit.
I liked it and it is a huge improvement over the old one. Lots of climbing rocks and new plants are beginning to grow in. It is all netted in and the viewing is good. It is nowhere near the caliber of Jacksonville or Woodland Park, but it is probably the best on in Texas now. once all the plants grow in it will be quite nice looking.
Other new stuff.
Shoebills. When I went last summer the Shoebills were new and behind a screne, but I did get a glimpse of them. This time, the whole exhibit was demolished. Don't know what is going on here. My guess is that they are completely changing the exhibit due to recent improvements in husbandry.
Giant Eland exhibit.
Every time I go this exhibit is different. 4 visits, four different configurations. Now the Giant Eland are mixed with Grant's Zebra, Dorcas Gazelle, and female Nyala. The male Nyala are separated.
African Forest Construction.
Things are coming along nicely, but I can't see how it will be ready by December. Giraffe barn is in good shape, but that is the only part that is so. The positioning of the 1st phase is not in the place that I expected. If you look at the sketches of the exhibit on the zoo's website the Giraffe area is closest to the Children's Zoo. The giraffes will be just behind the Lions. This means phase 2 will be located in the southeast corner of the zoo.
Children's Zoo.
Mostly under construction, only small bits are open.
Now if you think that is all I have to report on yesterday you have another thing coming. I said 3 new exhibit in 1 week, and I mean it. So out of a moment of spontaneity I did just that yesterday. Stay tuned for more soon...
Ok, so I decided yesterday to make the long trip to visit Houston Zoo to see their new Jaguar exhibit. A little over 4 hours of driving one way to see a new exhibit is just the kind of thing I'll due to further the ZooChat experience. I also wanted to check up on the progress of the new African Forest exhibit's construction.
New Jaguar exhibit.
I liked it and it is a huge improvement over the old one. Lots of climbing rocks and new plants are beginning to grow in. It is all netted in and the viewing is good. It is nowhere near the caliber of Jacksonville or Woodland Park, but it is probably the best on in Texas now. once all the plants grow in it will be quite nice looking.
Other new stuff.
Shoebills. When I went last summer the Shoebills were new and behind a screne, but I did get a glimpse of them. This time, the whole exhibit was demolished. Don't know what is going on here. My guess is that they are completely changing the exhibit due to recent improvements in husbandry.
Giant Eland exhibit.
Every time I go this exhibit is different. 4 visits, four different configurations. Now the Giant Eland are mixed with Grant's Zebra, Dorcas Gazelle, and female Nyala. The male Nyala are separated.
African Forest Construction.
Things are coming along nicely, but I can't see how it will be ready by December. Giraffe barn is in good shape, but that is the only part that is so. The positioning of the 1st phase is not in the place that I expected. If you look at the sketches of the exhibit on the zoo's website the Giraffe area is closest to the Children's Zoo. The giraffes will be just behind the Lions. This means phase 2 will be located in the southeast corner of the zoo.
Children's Zoo.
Mostly under construction, only small bits are open.
Now if you think that is all I have to report on yesterday you have another thing coming. I said 3 new exhibit in 1 week, and I mean it. So out of a moment of spontaneity I did just that yesterday. Stay tuned for more soon...
I had no idea Houston was doing a new jaguar exhibit. Their old one was ok, just terrible viewing because the plexiglass that circled around the entire exhibit was hazy (just like their mountain lion and snow leopard exhibits). Is the new one in the same location as the old one, or a new location. If new, do they still have the old one and what is there? If it is on the old site, did they get rid of the maned wolves that were connected to the jaguars?
jbnbsn99
Well-Known Member
3 New Exhibits in a Week! Part 2. San Antonio
I must really love you guys for what I did yesterday. I got through with the Houston Zoo at about 12:00 and realized I had just driven over 4 hours for about 3 hours of zoo time. What to do? I know, drive another 3.5 hours to San Antonio. So doing what no one has ever done (probably for sanity reasons), I visited both the Houston and San Antonio Zoos in the same day. In the process, I also visited all 5 of the major cities in Texas. I was a tired puppy yesterday.
So why did I visit SA again? Well it was not for the glory of the grottoes that's for sure. No I went to see the brand new Africa Live 2 which opened up just a few days ago on Saturday the 27th.
I got to the Zoo about 3:15 and had about 2.5 hours of zoo time before they kicked me out. So I made my way quickly to the new exhibit. I am always looking for great zoo architecture and Jones & Jones is known for some of the best out there. I really like the 1st phase of Africa Live. It is the crown jewel of San Antonio.
As for Phase 2, I am slightly less thrilled. As you exit the indoor Phase 1 you enter Phase 2. What you don't realize when you enter is that you are now in the 2nd tallest aviary in North America. BIRDS!!!! Actually, this is one of the better bird exhibits in San Antonio which is known for its copious avian delights. There were probably 25 or so species here. I didn't fully count but there was a flip-through sign listing all the species (some of which I don't think had moved in yet). Inside of the aviary was an equally tall netted space for monkeys. There will eventually be Angolan Colobus and Wolf's Guenons, but only the Colobus is in the exhibit right now. The Guenons are still in the old, decrepit, dilapidated, run-down, and nasty monkey house. So far, so good. It will need to wait for some of the trees and plants to grow in, but I expected this fully.
Next up is a new exhibit for their Okapi. A decent exhibit, but not the greatest out there (I'm spoiled in Dallas for great Okapi exhibits!). The okapi has already torn up the grass yard (as they will do anywhere). The walls are almost all rock work. There is a really odd feature here. It looks like a corral in the front of the exhibit. To my eyes this looks like it is going to be used for Okapi encounters. While I know that this is a highly sensitive animal, I am torn on the concept (assuming it is correct). I have gotten to work with Okapi several times and I know how gentle of an animal they are. I guess this would work like the many giraffe feeding stations.
Next is an empty glassed in exhibit for Dwarf Mongooses (Mongeese?). I guess it isn't ready yet.
Next is the African Wild Dogs. You first see them inside of a large simulated termite mound. A decent exhibit (I quite like the presentation of the termite mound), but it just isn't really large enough. However, the dogs were very active and fun to watch.
Last were two glassed in exhibit for some species of Touraco and another for Rock Hyrax. I did not like either of these exhibits at all. I could not see into either exhibit so the animals were invisible. There is no reason to glass in Hyraxes, they are pretty hardy animals.
Over all, the three glassed in exhibits (Mongoose, Touraco, Hyrax) are a failure. A lot more could have been done here to make them successful. The aviary and monkey exhibit is cool, but needs the plants to grow in. Wild Dog exhibit is ok, but small. The Okapi exhibit is just out of place. Here in Africa Live Phase 2 we basically have a large Kopje exhibit plus an Okapi. As the concept goes it is a failure. Phase 1 has a consistent theme with aquatic/semi-aquatic animals (crocs and hippos) while Phase 2 appears to be a mishmash. Maybe if the Okapi was replaced with something else it might work better.
Speaking of Okapi, the other Okapi exhibit now holds...Okapi. Nothing has changed yet. Maybe it will soon. SA is a non-breeder holding 2 males so it doesn't seems like a priority species for the zoo.
Other than that no changes for San Antonio, but because of the new exhibit, San Antonio is now a better zoo, but it has a long way to go.
I must really love you guys for what I did yesterday. I got through with the Houston Zoo at about 12:00 and realized I had just driven over 4 hours for about 3 hours of zoo time. What to do? I know, drive another 3.5 hours to San Antonio. So doing what no one has ever done (probably for sanity reasons), I visited both the Houston and San Antonio Zoos in the same day. In the process, I also visited all 5 of the major cities in Texas. I was a tired puppy yesterday.
So why did I visit SA again? Well it was not for the glory of the grottoes that's for sure. No I went to see the brand new Africa Live 2 which opened up just a few days ago on Saturday the 27th.
I got to the Zoo about 3:15 and had about 2.5 hours of zoo time before they kicked me out. So I made my way quickly to the new exhibit. I am always looking for great zoo architecture and Jones & Jones is known for some of the best out there. I really like the 1st phase of Africa Live. It is the crown jewel of San Antonio.
As for Phase 2, I am slightly less thrilled. As you exit the indoor Phase 1 you enter Phase 2. What you don't realize when you enter is that you are now in the 2nd tallest aviary in North America. BIRDS!!!! Actually, this is one of the better bird exhibits in San Antonio which is known for its copious avian delights. There were probably 25 or so species here. I didn't fully count but there was a flip-through sign listing all the species (some of which I don't think had moved in yet). Inside of the aviary was an equally tall netted space for monkeys. There will eventually be Angolan Colobus and Wolf's Guenons, but only the Colobus is in the exhibit right now. The Guenons are still in the old, decrepit, dilapidated, run-down, and nasty monkey house. So far, so good. It will need to wait for some of the trees and plants to grow in, but I expected this fully.
Next up is a new exhibit for their Okapi. A decent exhibit, but not the greatest out there (I'm spoiled in Dallas for great Okapi exhibits!). The okapi has already torn up the grass yard (as they will do anywhere). The walls are almost all rock work. There is a really odd feature here. It looks like a corral in the front of the exhibit. To my eyes this looks like it is going to be used for Okapi encounters. While I know that this is a highly sensitive animal, I am torn on the concept (assuming it is correct). I have gotten to work with Okapi several times and I know how gentle of an animal they are. I guess this would work like the many giraffe feeding stations.
Next is an empty glassed in exhibit for Dwarf Mongooses (Mongeese?). I guess it isn't ready yet.
Next is the African Wild Dogs. You first see them inside of a large simulated termite mound. A decent exhibit (I quite like the presentation of the termite mound), but it just isn't really large enough. However, the dogs were very active and fun to watch.
Last were two glassed in exhibit for some species of Touraco and another for Rock Hyrax. I did not like either of these exhibits at all. I could not see into either exhibit so the animals were invisible. There is no reason to glass in Hyraxes, they are pretty hardy animals.
Over all, the three glassed in exhibits (Mongoose, Touraco, Hyrax) are a failure. A lot more could have been done here to make them successful. The aviary and monkey exhibit is cool, but needs the plants to grow in. Wild Dog exhibit is ok, but small. The Okapi exhibit is just out of place. Here in Africa Live Phase 2 we basically have a large Kopje exhibit plus an Okapi. As the concept goes it is a failure. Phase 1 has a consistent theme with aquatic/semi-aquatic animals (crocs and hippos) while Phase 2 appears to be a mishmash. Maybe if the Okapi was replaced with something else it might work better.
Speaking of Okapi, the other Okapi exhibit now holds...Okapi. Nothing has changed yet. Maybe it will soon. SA is a non-breeder holding 2 males so it doesn't seems like a priority species for the zoo.
Other than that no changes for San Antonio, but because of the new exhibit, San Antonio is now a better zoo, but it has a long way to go.
jbnbsn99
Well-Known Member
As an addendum to my long trip here is a breakdown of the day
4:30 AM - Leave for Houston
9:00 AM - arrive in Houston
12:15 PM - Leave Houston for San Antonio
3:15 PM - Arrive in San Antonio
5:30 PM - Leave San Antonio
10:00 PM - arrive home
a total of 12 hours of driving and 2 zoos and about 750 miles
4:30 AM - Leave for Houston
9:00 AM - arrive in Houston
12:15 PM - Leave Houston for San Antonio
3:15 PM - Arrive in San Antonio
5:30 PM - Leave San Antonio
10:00 PM - arrive home
a total of 12 hours of driving and 2 zoos and about 750 miles
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