Just visited for the first time in absolute ages and having seen what has changed, I felt it might be suitable to post (another) thread on this. I had fresh eyes on the situation because I hadn't been there since 2013 (I know, appalling, is it not).
Anyway, quick run-through of the exhibits:
Gorilla kingdom: The outdoor exhibit could certainly do with being slightly larger and having some more vegetation, but otherwise good. The indoor exhibit is good but given I visited today in the cold winter, the gorillas were all in there, so could have more space. There was a very amusing young one who kept frustrating an older gorilla, who was running away constantly
The smaller monkey outdoor exhibits could be a lot taller and larger, but there are good climbing options. Would be lovely to see at least a bit of greenery, if only just like the Tiger enclosure, because it looks sterile. As ever glass needs washing
The aviary in Gorilla kingdom is also nice, but would love it to be slightly larger scale and with more species. There was a Mandarin duck in there for some strange reason and the smaller birds were hard, if not just plain impossible to find. Did see a cattle egret though
Casson (pavilion?): No animals there at the moment except Reeves' muntjac and Malayan tapir, which I talk about in Tiger territory, so this is just brief. However, the Red river hog enclosure seems to be coming along well, with some nice soft substrate for digging and a few other ornaments. However, it doesn't seem to be very large, so I only hope it is larger than I interpreted.
Land of the Lions + Flamingos and Pelicans: The flamingo lake is nice, but I'd rather it were netted than the flamingos being pinioned, feather clipped, or whatever other method they use. Then the lion exhibit(s). I really liked this exhibit - it was very well done. Of course I meant on a day when there was probably little more than 200 people around the entire zoo at any time, so probably more enjoyable. The theming was interesting and attention-seeking in a good way, since it got visitors to actually read what it said. Secondly the pure wealth of viewpoints and areas allows the visitors to immerse themselves into the exhibit. At times funny theming also livened it up. I vastly underestimated the quality of the exhibit when I saw photos of it because the exhibit is split into many parts and it is therefore hard to take photos to illustrate the size and quality of the exhibit. The langurs also got a large area with lots of climbing options. The only things that puzzled me were that the lions didn't seem to have an entirely indoor area and that the exhibit was pretty hard to navigate (even though it was quite fun getting lost. Bhanu was also much more active than other male lions I have seen, getting in the odd roar and sprint for us. There was also a very kind man in long robes who seemed to be a regular visitor of the zoo who told us all about all the lions and their personalities
Tiger Territory: I think I saw Tiger Territory back when I went but I can't be sure. At any rate, I found it to be a first rate exhibit. Great viewpoint selection, nice and spacious exhibit and good 'supporting species'. My only criticisms would be that the Malayan tapir enclosure is too small, the muntjac enclosure similarly, the gibbon indoor enclosure is not viewable, the tiger lives alone (I think) and that the viewing for the muntjacs is hard to look through because the windows are low down and the tent over it is very low so problematic for tall people. So all minor criticisms, but nonetheless points to improve in. Last thing would be that the greenery could go slightly further than grass and bushes - otherwise there are just logs and rocks. But in conclusion, another very good exhibit. The walkthrough aviary next to it is small and nice, but could have a bit more water area due to the 3 waterfowl species in it (about 15 White-faced whistling ducks) and other storks and hamerkops.
Parrot aviaries: There seems to be around 3 aviaries for Blue-throated macaws, which is great, because it helps to save the Critically endangered species, but more variety would be welcome of course. The aviaries themselves could certainly be larger and they could also do with updating, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ they have other important things to worry about (*cough* *cough* giraffe enclosure)
Penguin beach: I've seen this exhibit before, but it still struck me just how many penguins they have! There mus have been around 40-45 penguins! However, they had a large pool and a nice deck for viewing. Only criticism: The glass is filthy and impossible to take half-decent photos from. Also, is there any way to stop the herons and gulls from stealing the penguins' food?
Reptile house: Nice and large, with lots of exhibits, some very nice, some slightly smaller and some could do with a subtle makeover. The African bullfrog exhibit was too small and the Chinese Giant salamanders could have more space (having said that, I couldn't find them so...). The Philippine crocodile exhibit was also a bit small, but again I only just spotted it after a few minutes' search. The poison frog exhibit was larger than was necessary, but certainly can't complain about that. Otherwise, it was all very nice.
Other exhibits in main area of the zoo: The bird-of-prey aviaries are good-ish. The strange thing about them is that sparrows can easily dart in and out of them through the gaps in the wiring, resulting in a few deaths
The Animals in Action show was - all right I guess. I wrongly expected there to be Servals, realising later that servals could only be seen on the Display lawn (or am I again wrong), and the animals concerned were domestic ferrets, tawny owls and meerkats (hardly the 'trip around the world promised)
Outback was fine but nothing special. The mock rock mountains behind aren't very helpful to the zoo's space problem at all. Not the most exciting Australian exhibit I have ever seen.
In with the Monkeys was all right, although all the monkeys were inside and the indoor viewing exhibit doesn't have a square inch of clean space. Again, the clearly well-visited man with the long robes was there, talking to the keepers, who he seemed to be on very good terms with.
I didn't see BUGS due to time constraints but I didn't really mind missing it, especially the spider walkthrough
The Blackburn pavilion was also nice. One thing that was particularly frustrating for me was the mesh on the front of the enclosures. With a camera, if a bird is right up to a fence, it is physically impossible to get it in focus without entering the enclosure.
I didn't visit the Farmyard or Animal adventure, although I ran through Animal adventure just to see the Yellow Mongoose. I don't know what treasures lie in the Butterfly paradise area because I didn't even go in.
Meerkats and Otters: Not anything I'm interested in, since both are extremely common in European zoos. Good enclosures for both and large for both. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Rainforest Life: This was a fantastic exhibit. The only tiny thing that detracted from my elation was the spurt of fog that entirely fogged up my glasses and the lens of my camera as soon as I entered. I had to wait for a long time before I could even take a photo again Anyway, the exhibit was large and well planted, with good humidity regulation and temperature. It was great seeing the sloth family from up close, including an incredibly cute baby. There was also the narrow-striped mongoose, which was one of the highlights of my day due to its relative rarity in zoos and the fact that I haven't seen one (despite having been to 4 zoos which have them ). There was also a young one there. I think the neighbouring exhibits might also have been for them, so I was very happy with that . Great mixed species exhibit in the centre, with some of the species however quite hard to find
I would have certainly not found the tamanduas had a very kind and informative volunteer not miraculously found him and showed me him. However, since my camera was acting up all throughout the day, the autofocus kept overriding the manual focus and so I ended up with a depiction of the tamanduas backside as my best photo of him. Oh well
The pied tamarins and Goeldi's marmosets also have good enclosures, and there is also a nice tank for anglefish.
Night life: Well this was probably the most important part of the visit for me and it went brilliantly! I saw every species, although some very fleetingly, and the exhibits were great. Nicely planted, with lots of space and different enclosures for all of the species. Only enclosure with enough light to take a photo in was the Moholi bushbaby one, so that can be found on the media page along with a few other pics (lions, tiger, mongoose, tamandua (not really). The Aye-aye enclosure was a bit small and I was very surprised with how big it actually was!
Anyway, fantastic area of the zoo!
In with the lemurs was all right but none of the lemurs were outside due to the cold weather and I only saw one ring tailed lemur in the visible indoor enclosures, so missed out on the Aloatran gentle lemurs However, still good and lots of space in the indoor exhibits, especially for the ring tails.
Aaaaaand I won't even comment on the enclosures at the end except saying that the Okapi enclosure is appalling, so is the giraffe enclosure, the warthog enclosure is too small, the painted wolf enclosure is all right and good at best, and finally the pygmy hippo enclosure is good with enough space.
And on a final note - any recent or frequent visitors of the zoo may know what I mean by the terrarium with the massive sculpture of the anole to illustrate their UV glowing chin pouch. For those who don't, there is a well-planted terrarium with a large sculpture of an anole and a button on the outside which allows the visitors to turn on and off a UV in the exhibit, allowing the visitors to see the luminescent red glow of the anoles chin pouch. The sculpture is around 5 times larger than the real animal and visibly not real or living.
So this couple walks up to the exhibit and starts turning the light on and off quickly and repeatedly. Then, as they are leaving, the man says to the woman (with a straight face, so not joking): 'Do you think it gets annoyed with all those people turning the light on and off?'
And that's it. I'm sorry for giving everyone on this chat 2 hours of verbal diarrhoea but just felt like putting my thoughts on here. Anyway, if the both very kindly and informative man in the long robes and volunteer in the Rainforest life are on Zoochat, I thank you wholeheartedly for ameliorating my trip considerably Thanks a lot.
And you are right @Crowthorne, I couldn't find any Red duikers in the Okapi exhibit - they were probably hiding in the straw-covered areas.
Also thank you @Crowthorne for telling me where all the animals and their exhibits were located around the zoo where I wasn't sure (which was the case with most of the species ) - I probably wouldn't have seen many of them without that help.
Anyway, quick run-through of the exhibits:
Gorilla kingdom: The outdoor exhibit could certainly do with being slightly larger and having some more vegetation, but otherwise good. The indoor exhibit is good but given I visited today in the cold winter, the gorillas were all in there, so could have more space. There was a very amusing young one who kept frustrating an older gorilla, who was running away constantly
The smaller monkey outdoor exhibits could be a lot taller and larger, but there are good climbing options. Would be lovely to see at least a bit of greenery, if only just like the Tiger enclosure, because it looks sterile. As ever glass needs washing
The aviary in Gorilla kingdom is also nice, but would love it to be slightly larger scale and with more species. There was a Mandarin duck in there for some strange reason and the smaller birds were hard, if not just plain impossible to find. Did see a cattle egret though
Casson (pavilion?): No animals there at the moment except Reeves' muntjac and Malayan tapir, which I talk about in Tiger territory, so this is just brief. However, the Red river hog enclosure seems to be coming along well, with some nice soft substrate for digging and a few other ornaments. However, it doesn't seem to be very large, so I only hope it is larger than I interpreted.
Land of the Lions + Flamingos and Pelicans: The flamingo lake is nice, but I'd rather it were netted than the flamingos being pinioned, feather clipped, or whatever other method they use. Then the lion exhibit(s). I really liked this exhibit - it was very well done. Of course I meant on a day when there was probably little more than 200 people around the entire zoo at any time, so probably more enjoyable. The theming was interesting and attention-seeking in a good way, since it got visitors to actually read what it said. Secondly the pure wealth of viewpoints and areas allows the visitors to immerse themselves into the exhibit. At times funny theming also livened it up. I vastly underestimated the quality of the exhibit when I saw photos of it because the exhibit is split into many parts and it is therefore hard to take photos to illustrate the size and quality of the exhibit. The langurs also got a large area with lots of climbing options. The only things that puzzled me were that the lions didn't seem to have an entirely indoor area and that the exhibit was pretty hard to navigate (even though it was quite fun getting lost. Bhanu was also much more active than other male lions I have seen, getting in the odd roar and sprint for us. There was also a very kind man in long robes who seemed to be a regular visitor of the zoo who told us all about all the lions and their personalities
Tiger Territory: I think I saw Tiger Territory back when I went but I can't be sure. At any rate, I found it to be a first rate exhibit. Great viewpoint selection, nice and spacious exhibit and good 'supporting species'. My only criticisms would be that the Malayan tapir enclosure is too small, the muntjac enclosure similarly, the gibbon indoor enclosure is not viewable, the tiger lives alone (I think)
and that the viewing for the muntjacs is hard to look through because the windows are low down and the tent over it is very low so problematic for tall people. So all minor criticisms, but nonetheless points to improve in. Last thing would be that the greenery could go slightly further than grass and bushes - otherwise there are just logs and rocks. But in conclusion, another very good exhibit. The walkthrough aviary next to it is small and nice, but could have a bit more water area due to the 3 waterfowl species in it (about 15 White-faced whistling ducks) and other storks and hamerkops.Parrot aviaries: There seems to be around 3 aviaries for Blue-throated macaws, which is great, because it helps to save the Critically endangered species, but more variety would be welcome of course. The aviaries themselves could certainly be larger and they could also do with updating, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ they have other important things to worry about (*cough* *cough* giraffe enclosure
)Penguin beach: I've seen this exhibit before, but it still struck me just how many penguins they have! There mus have been around 40-45 penguins! However, they had a large pool and a nice deck for viewing. Only criticism: The glass is filthy and impossible to take half-decent photos from. Also, is there any way to stop the herons and gulls from stealing the penguins' food?
Reptile house: Nice and large, with lots of exhibits, some very nice, some slightly smaller and some could do with a subtle makeover. The African bullfrog exhibit was too small and the Chinese Giant salamanders could have more space (having said that, I couldn't find them so...). The Philippine crocodile exhibit was also a bit small, but again I only just spotted it after a few minutes' search. The poison frog exhibit was larger than was necessary, but certainly can't complain about that
. Otherwise, it was all very nice.Other exhibits in main area of the zoo: The bird-of-prey aviaries are good-ish. The strange thing about them is that sparrows can easily dart in and out of them through the gaps in the wiring, resulting in a few deaths
The Animals in Action show was - all right I guess. I wrongly expected there to be Servals, realising later that servals could only be seen on the Display lawn (or am I again wrong), and the animals concerned were domestic ferrets, tawny owls and meerkats (hardly the 'trip around the world promised
)Outback was fine but nothing special. The mock rock mountains behind aren't very helpful to the zoo's space problem at all. Not the most exciting Australian exhibit I have ever seen
.In with the Monkeys was all right, although all the monkeys were inside and the indoor viewing exhibit doesn't have a square inch of clean space. Again, the clearly well-visited man with the long robes was there, talking to the keepers, who he seemed to be on very good terms with.
I didn't see BUGS due to time constraints but I didn't really mind missing it, especially the spider walkthrough
The Blackburn pavilion was also nice. One thing that was particularly frustrating for me was the mesh on the front of the enclosures. With a camera, if a bird is right up to a fence, it is physically impossible to get it in focus without entering the enclosure.
I didn't visit the Farmyard or Animal adventure, although I ran through Animal adventure just to see the Yellow Mongoose. I don't know what treasures lie in the Butterfly paradise area because I didn't even go in.
Meerkats and Otters: Not anything I'm interested in, since both are extremely common in European zoos. Good enclosures for both and large for both. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Rainforest Life: This was a fantastic exhibit. The only tiny thing that detracted from my elation was the spurt of fog that entirely fogged up my glasses and the lens of my camera as soon as I entered
. I had to wait for a long time before I could even take a photo again Anyway, the exhibit was large and well planted, with good humidity regulation and temperature. It was great seeing the sloth family from up close, including an incredibly cute baby. There was also the narrow-striped mongoose, which was one of the highlights of my day due to its relative rarity in zoos and the fact that I haven't seen one (despite having been to 4 zoos which have them ). There was also a young one there. I think the neighbouring exhibits might also have been for them, so I was very happy with that . Great mixed species exhibit in the centre, with some of the species however quite hard to find I would have certainly not found the tamanduas had a very kind and informative volunteer not miraculously found him and showed me him. However, since my camera was acting up all throughout the day, the autofocus kept overriding the manual focus and so I ended up with a depiction of the tamanduas backside as my best photo of him. Oh well
The pied tamarins and Goeldi's marmosets also have good enclosures, and there is also a nice tank for anglefish.
Night life: Well this was probably the most important part of the visit for me and it went brilliantly! I saw every species, although some very fleetingly, and the exhibits were great. Nicely planted, with lots of space and different enclosures for all of the species. Only enclosure with enough light to take a photo in was the Moholi bushbaby one, so that can be found on the media page along with a few other pics (lions, tiger, mongoose, tamandua (not really
). The Aye-aye enclosure was a bit small and I was very surprised with how big it actually was!Anyway, fantastic area of the zoo!
In with the lemurs was all right but none of the lemurs were outside due to the cold weather and I only saw one ring tailed lemur in the visible indoor enclosures, so missed out on the Aloatran gentle lemurs
However, still good and lots of space in the indoor exhibits, especially for the ring tails. Aaaaaand I won't even comment on the enclosures at the end except saying that the Okapi enclosure is appalling, so is the giraffe enclosure, the warthog enclosure is too small, the painted wolf enclosure is all right and good at best, and finally the pygmy hippo enclosure is good with enough space.
And on a final note - any recent or frequent visitors of the zoo may know what I mean by the terrarium with the massive sculpture of the anole to illustrate their UV glowing chin pouch. For those who don't, there is a well-planted terrarium with a large sculpture of an anole and a button on the outside which allows the visitors to turn on and off a UV in the exhibit, allowing the visitors to see the luminescent red glow of the anoles chin pouch. The sculpture is around 5 times larger than the real animal and visibly not real or living.
So this couple walks up to the exhibit and starts turning the light on and off quickly and repeatedly. Then, as they are leaving, the man says to the woman (with a straight face, so not joking): 'Do you think it gets annoyed with all those people turning the light on and off?'
And that's it. I'm sorry for giving everyone on this chat 2 hours of verbal diarrhoea but just felt like putting my thoughts on here. Anyway, if the both very kindly and informative man in the long robes and volunteer in the Rainforest life are on Zoochat, I thank you wholeheartedly for ameliorating my trip considerably
Thanks a lot.And you are right @Crowthorne, I couldn't find any Red duikers in the Okapi exhibit - they were probably hiding in the straw-covered areas.
Also thank you @Crowthorne for telling me where all the animals and their exhibits were located around the zoo where I wasn't sure (which was the case with most of the species
) - I probably wouldn't have seen many of them without that help.
