Sorry if this is too unrelated but is there anything actually worth seeing in the Children’s Zoo aside from farm animals? Just wondering what they have there or if it’s worth visiting. In general are there any species at the zoo most would consider a must see rn?
Hi Ben, While the Children's Zoo has gone downhill a lot as
@DavidBrown rightly described in his recent post, the nursery (Winnick Family Animal Care Nursery Center) is definitely a must-see attraction. In addition to the tamanduas and sloth mentioned above, there is an adorable fennec fox, Cape porcupine, Prevost's squirrel, and white-faced sakis. In fact, the nursery is the best place to see the sakis as their other two exhibits in the zoo (Rainforest of the Americas and South America roundhouse) offer rather poor viewing. I even took my ZooChat profile picture of the female white-faced saki in the nursery exhibit! My advice to you would be to make a sharp right just after the gift shop area (International Marketplace) to go to the nursery and then to return back to the main path. Next, make a soft right to the main Children's Zoo entrance to view the American badger exhibit on the exterior side of the cave. That habitat is really well done and has many different viewing windows and areas. After that just go back to the main path and don't bother to make the loop around the rest of the Children's Zoo unless you are there before 2:30 PM when the goats and sheep are out. I actually have never seen them in the past three years since I've been a member because I generally visit in the afternoon and that section is always closed.
Regarding the rest of the zoo, there are many outstanding animals and exhibits. If you haven't been into the aviary, I highly recommend it. I read on this thread that the upper aviary is closed (not sure of the current status), but hopefully the lower aviary is still open. That aviary is the best one anyway because it has a waterfall and African spoonbills, trumpeter swans, a West African black-crowned crane, violet turaco, and sacred ibis. If you are making a counter-clockwise loop around the zoo and go to the Rainforest of the Americas, try to spot the paca, who is so elusive I've yet to get a photo of it! The giant river otters are amazing to watch and the Baird's tapir is also impressive. I've had very poor luck in seeing the jaguar and have only spotted it twice in all my visits.
In the South America section, the Andean condor is magnificent and the crested capuchins are the most fun to watch (they make cute, high-pitched vocalizations like birds, too). Don't forget about the somewhat hidden roundhouse with the red-legged seriemas (prehistoric-looking birds). The mountain tapir is also a rarity. Heading up to the area past the snow leopards and by the tiger (which is another big cat I've only seen twice in three years), check out the roundhouse in the upper right to see some interesting species like the binturong and the beautiful Bornean crested fireback pheasant. Unfortunately, I've still yet to view the rhinoceros as the zoo allows the animals to have access to their night quarters during visiting hours, which means that if the animal chooses not to be in its exhibit, visitors are out of luck seeing it (something I would definitely change if I were managing the zoo). Next to the rhino, try not to miss the Tadjik markhor, which is a very interesting animal uncommon in zoos.
As you make a left and head over to Africa, there is a siamang, Sichuan takins, and several impressive birds like Steller's sea eagles and Siberian eagle owl (rare subspecies). Some of the African primate roundhouses were closed on my last visit, but that is the location of the mandrills and Coquerel's sifakas. The black-and-white colobus monkeys are gorgeous and have funny faces that remind me of the flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz." The giraffes are fascinating to watch and there always seems to be a new baby every year!
You mentioned that you have seen the gorillas so you're probably familiar with the orangutans and the Australia section, but be sure to go into the nocturnal Australia house to see the southern hairy-nosed wombats. The laughing kookaburras are also a blast and sound like monkeys! You undoubtedly also know about the LAIR reptile house, which has many rare species and an excellent gharial exhibit outside. In the loop with the African painted dogs, there are also endangered Chacoan peccaries, peninsular pronghorns, Speke's gazelles, babirusas, and desert bighorn sheep. Be sure to also check out the roundhouse on that path, which holds beautiful scarlet ibises, a greater roadrunner, and several other bird species (some of which are housed there temporarily while the upper aviary is closed). Lastly, the zebras and adjacent roundhouse with the ring-tailed lemurs and Cape rock hyrax are not to be missed.
As you can probably tell, I love the L.A. Zoo, which is also my childhood zoo that I've been visiting since the 1980s! If I am ever critical of the zoo, it's because I want it to be the absolute best that it can be and I feel upset when I see certain aspects mismanaged (I have a business administration degree in management so am particularly attuned to these issues). I hope you and your family have a fantastic visit to the zoo on Sunday!
