My first long distance trip of the year! My partner and I had the same day off and wanted to fly somewhere. We had some left over money from the holidays and the rest we reasoned would be reimbursed to us after we got our tax refunds. So we looked at destinations with zoos we wanted to visit. One of the cheapest ones we could find was to Tampa. I have always been interested in the Lowry Park Zoo since I’ve read Zoo Story by Thomas French. I also have a friend who works with the education/stage show animals and told me in the past if I ever visited, I could meet their Southern vested tamandua. The decision was not too hard. It was a bit of a crazy trip as we only had a day to do this whole experience. So we got early morning to drive to D.C., took a flight to Atlanta, then Tampa. Then vise versa in the early evening. It is safe to say we were up for 22 hours.
This is my first Southern U.S. zoo trip, as well as one that’s in a warmer climate. I must say I have to visit more of warm climate zoos in the near future! Even exhibits that were not stellar still stuck out to me because they were so lush with vegetation. The only downside may be that because of the warmer weather, it encourages the animals to take it easy and sleep. But seeing active animals is not a guarantee at any zoo.
Safari Africa & Ituri Forest: This is a very solid section of the zoo. You walk down a tunnel, a sound trap for kids that love to scream to hear echoes. At the entrance you are faced with a restaurant and African themed nit knacks in front of you. On the right of that is a very nice sized exhibit for meerkats that have opportunities to make many burrows in the sand. If you go around the left part of the building, you are able to see where most of the exhibits are located. First is a basic yard for a warthog, but then is a long, lush interspecies exhibit. In this exhibit are lesser kudus, ground hornbills, and other hoofstock I wish I could remember (some rare species). Next to that is a small exhibit for Marabou stork. After this is a long, dusty exhibit for reticulated and Masai giraffe and Hartmann’s mountain zebra. Behind them is where the elephant exhibit extends and with the hidden moat, it almost looks like they are in the same area. This exhibit can be viewed inside the restaurant, which we went to thanks to the recommendation of Snowleopard. We had a very nice lunch with an awesome view. My only suggestion is they built the restaurant on a second floor so could get more of an overview of the exhibits. The elephant exhibit seemed decent in size with a large pool. The baby elephant is a star, but a tad hard to find unless you look at the feet of its mother. It likes to lie on its side and I was worried it was going to get stepped on! Past their exhibit is a paddock for white rhinos and Grevy’s zebras.
If you back track a little you can venture into Ituri Forest. There are quite a few aviaries to view the African birds. The first one, which is divided into two exhibits that the birds have access to featured shoebill stork, hammerkop, variety of guinea fowl, African spoonbill, saddle-billed stork, and more. The other aviary has a large pond for its resident featuring greater African flamingoes, great white pelican, yellow billed stork, and shoebill stork. The pygmy hippo has a wonderful, lush exhibit with a big pool. There are a few viewing areas, but my one suggestion would be to have underwater viewing. The mother and baby were in a front corner of the pool, which made it very hard to see them. Other exhibits include a small cheetah yard, similar to the main one at Smithsonian National Zoo, which has a pool in the front and trees to privacy in the back. It looked like one of the birds decided to camp out at the bank of the zoo and I was very surprised the cheetah did not go after it. There is a roofed pavilion where you can view the okapi and black duiker. Lastly, this area features a common exhibit for red river hog.
If you return to the entrance, off to the side is the exhibit for the African black footed penguin. At first sight I thought the exhibit was a bit small and the colors of their holding building almost made the area look like a cartoon. However they have an area where visitors can go on all three sides and look down on the penguins. The three sides are also surrounded by glass walls so you can kneel down and get a closer look at the penguins. This feature was very nice.
Wallaroo Station Children’s Zoo: Although I believe they were trying to be cute with the name of their exhibit that fit their Australian theme, I was expecting an exhibit with wallaroos. No such luck. However they had a basic walk through yard with yellow-rooted rock wallaby. I have never seen this type of wallaby before and I loved their striped tails. There are two basic viewing windows to look into the koala exhibit. I was not impressed and much rather see this animal at the Cleveland or Columbus Zoo. For bird lovers, the area has emu, Australorp chicken, a variety of cockatoo, magpie geese, kookaburra, and rosy starling. Other areas to mention: a nice netted outside exhibit for flying foxes, a yard for New Guinea singing dog (the education just received another male/female pair and these two will rotate in the main exhibit and education holding area), a pool for koi, pony rides that featured llama instead, a yard for pygmy goat, a barn with haflinger and gypsy vanner horses, and a walk through aviary to feed budgies. The area also had rides for the kids and a cooling off station. Outside this area is the zoo’s carousel which is mainly geared towards children. Adults were only allowed to stand. I have been to other zoos where adults are allowed to ride the animal figurines and I was a bit annoyed we could not here.
Primate World: This area may be a bit out of place since the other areas are arranged geographically. However, the area features lush exhibits with climbing structures for the apes and primates. I thought the most suited exhibit was for the siamang. The Bornean orangutan, colobus monkey, and lemurs all had nice exhibits. The exhibits for the chimpanzee, squirrel monkey, mandrill, and Guenon monkey were a little too small for my taste.
Florida Boardwalk/Manatee & Aquatic Center: The board walk had natural, lush exhibits on each sides of it. At the entrance, the sandhill crane is on the right and the Philippine crocodile is on the left. The wild turkey has a very big yard, which I think could use another animal inhabitant. The red wolf had a very nice exhibit with trees for shade and privacy. The Florida black bear exhibit is large for its two rescued cubs and features a big pool. One of the cubs is much imprinted to humans and can be seen swimming in the pool near the boardwalk. Zookeepers are monitoring this behavior and may try to come up with ways in the future to prevent this. The Caribbean flamingo and American alligator are in a basic exhibits and the Florida panther is in a spacious cage. The zoo has a wonderful manatee exhibit and it’s lucky to allow these mammals to have an outdoor exhibit. However, there is indoor, underwater viewing for visitors. Although the area is quite nice, I think I enjoy the exhibit at the Columbus Zoo more. The aquatic center has many terrariums, but you would have to look at Snowleopard’s reviews for the details. This is an area I chose to speed through as I was on a time limit at this point. This exit of this building brings you out to the Key West dock that has a side exhibit for two bald eagles and a discovery center with more terrariums. To end this area, the whooping crane and key deer have a very lush exhibit with many hiding spots.
Asian Gardens: I approached this area from the back section that features the Asian one horned rhino. On the path that goes around the exhibit you can peep into the back exhibit that had the female and baby rhino. The main paddock had the adult male, who decided to sleep right underneath the board walk. I wish there was more open viewing into the back yard to view all the rhinos. Before this exhibit was a nice, muddy yard for the babirusa, a harp wired enclosed exhibit for the clouded leopard (excellent viewing for visitors), and a spacious yard for the tufted deer. Past the exhibit is a walk through tunnel which I recommend visitors to look up as it has beautifully painted images of Asian animals in the area. The Sulawesi aviary was very nice and featured birds such as bleeding heart dove, Javan pond heron, Sulawesi tarictic hornbill, great Argus pheasant, Mandarin duck, crested wood partridge, Nicobar pigeon, Victoria crowned pigeon, black-chinned fruit dove, swan goose, masked lapwing, black-napped oriole, green-napped pheasant pigeon and a small yard for Reeve’s muntjac. I enjoyed the sloth bear exhibit as it was well planted and they were visible to the public. Also, if one is sleeping under the boardwalk, visitors are able to view it when they first approach the exhibit on the side. The Malaysian tiger/white tiger have a small yard that could use some sprucing up. On the other side of these exhibit is a small yard for Anoa. I thought the Malaysian tapir exhibit was nice for its inhabitants. It has different levels and corners to roam and hide. For a visitor, it was a bit hard to see it as it enjoys sleeping in a dock that is blocked off viewing it face on. The Visayan warty pig was moved to this area and they are in the front area on the side of the exhibit. It is in a lower level so I do not think they have access to the tapir yard. The Komodo dragon had a basic outdoor exhibit.
Free Flight Aviary: This is a nice sized aviary that has three sections that goes around in a circle. The first section features a second floor platform to view the main aviary area. I could have stayed in this area for longer and it featured a nice collection of birds. Here is a list of its inhabitants: boat-billed heron, African open-billed stork, scarlet ibis, bald ibis, white faced whistling duck, ringed teal, Kenya crested guinea fowl, purple swamp hen , sun bittern, pied imperial pigeon, white-breasted kingfisher, blue-crowned motmot, bearded barbet, toco toucan, magpie shrike, crested oropendola, taveta golden weaver, golden-breasted starling, helmeted guinea fowl, buff banded rail, red-legged seriema, Mauritius pink pigeon, violet plantain-eater, blue –breasted kingfisher, blue-bellied roller, Raggiana bird-of-paradise, red-legged honey creeper, silver-beaked tanager, green-and-gold tanager, blue-grey tanager, Grosbeak starling, blue-throated macaw, white-fronted Amazon, Cuban Amazon, Great Indian hornbill, and yellow knobbed curassow.
I enjoyed this zoo very much and I am very glad I saw it during the winter to warm up in this cold weather. It reminded me of the Columbus zoo and the Virginia zoo. The zoo has a solid collection of animals featuring those I love and rare ones I have never seen before. They also published a new map that useful icons, like where to find babies and those animals that are nocturnal. I would recommend anyone to see this zoo if they are in the area, especially with its baby boom! I look forward to hearing how the zoo improves in the future.
This is my first Southern U.S. zoo trip, as well as one that’s in a warmer climate. I must say I have to visit more of warm climate zoos in the near future! Even exhibits that were not stellar still stuck out to me because they were so lush with vegetation. The only downside may be that because of the warmer weather, it encourages the animals to take it easy and sleep. But seeing active animals is not a guarantee at any zoo.
Safari Africa & Ituri Forest: This is a very solid section of the zoo. You walk down a tunnel, a sound trap for kids that love to scream to hear echoes. At the entrance you are faced with a restaurant and African themed nit knacks in front of you. On the right of that is a very nice sized exhibit for meerkats that have opportunities to make many burrows in the sand. If you go around the left part of the building, you are able to see where most of the exhibits are located. First is a basic yard for a warthog, but then is a long, lush interspecies exhibit. In this exhibit are lesser kudus, ground hornbills, and other hoofstock I wish I could remember (some rare species). Next to that is a small exhibit for Marabou stork. After this is a long, dusty exhibit for reticulated and Masai giraffe and Hartmann’s mountain zebra. Behind them is where the elephant exhibit extends and with the hidden moat, it almost looks like they are in the same area. This exhibit can be viewed inside the restaurant, which we went to thanks to the recommendation of Snowleopard. We had a very nice lunch with an awesome view. My only suggestion is they built the restaurant on a second floor so could get more of an overview of the exhibits. The elephant exhibit seemed decent in size with a large pool. The baby elephant is a star, but a tad hard to find unless you look at the feet of its mother. It likes to lie on its side and I was worried it was going to get stepped on! Past their exhibit is a paddock for white rhinos and Grevy’s zebras.
If you back track a little you can venture into Ituri Forest. There are quite a few aviaries to view the African birds. The first one, which is divided into two exhibits that the birds have access to featured shoebill stork, hammerkop, variety of guinea fowl, African spoonbill, saddle-billed stork, and more. The other aviary has a large pond for its resident featuring greater African flamingoes, great white pelican, yellow billed stork, and shoebill stork. The pygmy hippo has a wonderful, lush exhibit with a big pool. There are a few viewing areas, but my one suggestion would be to have underwater viewing. The mother and baby were in a front corner of the pool, which made it very hard to see them. Other exhibits include a small cheetah yard, similar to the main one at Smithsonian National Zoo, which has a pool in the front and trees to privacy in the back. It looked like one of the birds decided to camp out at the bank of the zoo and I was very surprised the cheetah did not go after it. There is a roofed pavilion where you can view the okapi and black duiker. Lastly, this area features a common exhibit for red river hog.
If you return to the entrance, off to the side is the exhibit for the African black footed penguin. At first sight I thought the exhibit was a bit small and the colors of their holding building almost made the area look like a cartoon. However they have an area where visitors can go on all three sides and look down on the penguins. The three sides are also surrounded by glass walls so you can kneel down and get a closer look at the penguins. This feature was very nice.
Wallaroo Station Children’s Zoo: Although I believe they were trying to be cute with the name of their exhibit that fit their Australian theme, I was expecting an exhibit with wallaroos. No such luck. However they had a basic walk through yard with yellow-rooted rock wallaby. I have never seen this type of wallaby before and I loved their striped tails. There are two basic viewing windows to look into the koala exhibit. I was not impressed and much rather see this animal at the Cleveland or Columbus Zoo. For bird lovers, the area has emu, Australorp chicken, a variety of cockatoo, magpie geese, kookaburra, and rosy starling. Other areas to mention: a nice netted outside exhibit for flying foxes, a yard for New Guinea singing dog (the education just received another male/female pair and these two will rotate in the main exhibit and education holding area), a pool for koi, pony rides that featured llama instead, a yard for pygmy goat, a barn with haflinger and gypsy vanner horses, and a walk through aviary to feed budgies. The area also had rides for the kids and a cooling off station. Outside this area is the zoo’s carousel which is mainly geared towards children. Adults were only allowed to stand. I have been to other zoos where adults are allowed to ride the animal figurines and I was a bit annoyed we could not here.
Primate World: This area may be a bit out of place since the other areas are arranged geographically. However, the area features lush exhibits with climbing structures for the apes and primates. I thought the most suited exhibit was for the siamang. The Bornean orangutan, colobus monkey, and lemurs all had nice exhibits. The exhibits for the chimpanzee, squirrel monkey, mandrill, and Guenon monkey were a little too small for my taste.
Florida Boardwalk/Manatee & Aquatic Center: The board walk had natural, lush exhibits on each sides of it. At the entrance, the sandhill crane is on the right and the Philippine crocodile is on the left. The wild turkey has a very big yard, which I think could use another animal inhabitant. The red wolf had a very nice exhibit with trees for shade and privacy. The Florida black bear exhibit is large for its two rescued cubs and features a big pool. One of the cubs is much imprinted to humans and can be seen swimming in the pool near the boardwalk. Zookeepers are monitoring this behavior and may try to come up with ways in the future to prevent this. The Caribbean flamingo and American alligator are in a basic exhibits and the Florida panther is in a spacious cage. The zoo has a wonderful manatee exhibit and it’s lucky to allow these mammals to have an outdoor exhibit. However, there is indoor, underwater viewing for visitors. Although the area is quite nice, I think I enjoy the exhibit at the Columbus Zoo more. The aquatic center has many terrariums, but you would have to look at Snowleopard’s reviews for the details. This is an area I chose to speed through as I was on a time limit at this point. This exit of this building brings you out to the Key West dock that has a side exhibit for two bald eagles and a discovery center with more terrariums. To end this area, the whooping crane and key deer have a very lush exhibit with many hiding spots.
Asian Gardens: I approached this area from the back section that features the Asian one horned rhino. On the path that goes around the exhibit you can peep into the back exhibit that had the female and baby rhino. The main paddock had the adult male, who decided to sleep right underneath the board walk. I wish there was more open viewing into the back yard to view all the rhinos. Before this exhibit was a nice, muddy yard for the babirusa, a harp wired enclosed exhibit for the clouded leopard (excellent viewing for visitors), and a spacious yard for the tufted deer. Past the exhibit is a walk through tunnel which I recommend visitors to look up as it has beautifully painted images of Asian animals in the area. The Sulawesi aviary was very nice and featured birds such as bleeding heart dove, Javan pond heron, Sulawesi tarictic hornbill, great Argus pheasant, Mandarin duck, crested wood partridge, Nicobar pigeon, Victoria crowned pigeon, black-chinned fruit dove, swan goose, masked lapwing, black-napped oriole, green-napped pheasant pigeon and a small yard for Reeve’s muntjac. I enjoyed the sloth bear exhibit as it was well planted and they were visible to the public. Also, if one is sleeping under the boardwalk, visitors are able to view it when they first approach the exhibit on the side. The Malaysian tiger/white tiger have a small yard that could use some sprucing up. On the other side of these exhibit is a small yard for Anoa. I thought the Malaysian tapir exhibit was nice for its inhabitants. It has different levels and corners to roam and hide. For a visitor, it was a bit hard to see it as it enjoys sleeping in a dock that is blocked off viewing it face on. The Visayan warty pig was moved to this area and they are in the front area on the side of the exhibit. It is in a lower level so I do not think they have access to the tapir yard. The Komodo dragon had a basic outdoor exhibit.
Free Flight Aviary: This is a nice sized aviary that has three sections that goes around in a circle. The first section features a second floor platform to view the main aviary area. I could have stayed in this area for longer and it featured a nice collection of birds. Here is a list of its inhabitants: boat-billed heron, African open-billed stork, scarlet ibis, bald ibis, white faced whistling duck, ringed teal, Kenya crested guinea fowl, purple swamp hen , sun bittern, pied imperial pigeon, white-breasted kingfisher, blue-crowned motmot, bearded barbet, toco toucan, magpie shrike, crested oropendola, taveta golden weaver, golden-breasted starling, helmeted guinea fowl, buff banded rail, red-legged seriema, Mauritius pink pigeon, violet plantain-eater, blue –breasted kingfisher, blue-bellied roller, Raggiana bird-of-paradise, red-legged honey creeper, silver-beaked tanager, green-and-gold tanager, blue-grey tanager, Grosbeak starling, blue-throated macaw, white-fronted Amazon, Cuban Amazon, Great Indian hornbill, and yellow knobbed curassow.
I enjoyed this zoo very much and I am very glad I saw it during the winter to warm up in this cold weather. It reminded me of the Columbus zoo and the Virginia zoo. The zoo has a solid collection of animals featuring those I love and rare ones I have never seen before. They also published a new map that useful icons, like where to find babies and those animals that are nocturnal. I would recommend anyone to see this zoo if they are in the area, especially with its baby boom! I look forward to hearing how the zoo improves in the future.
