Madadad Primate Bucket List / Trip Planning

[Madadad]

I want some ideas and help planning for potential future (we're talking a year or so from now) trip locations based on these prerequisites/limitations:

- The zoo is within a specific range, that being Ontario, western Quebec, maybe Manitoba and North New York but those two REQUIRE a flight or otherwise extended trip.
- Accessible within some range of public transit (Ontario Northland Bus, Taxi/uber, Airports), I can't yet drive and am working towards that but in the meantime I need to rely on public transit.
- Doable within 1 day minimum, 3 days maximum. I'd only ever do one zoo at a time.

And the biggest prerequisite of all and the most important one: I want to collect sightings of different primates of all kinds as I am a huge fan of primates. I want the most bang for my buck for primates I haven't yet seen. I'm not going JUST for the apes and monkeys but they are a big point.

So here's my current list of Primates I've seen:

Toronto Zoo:
Western Lowland Gorilla
Sumatran Orangutan
Olive Baboon
Golden Lion Tamarin
White-Faced Saki
Ring Tailed Lemur
Black Tailed Spider Monkey (Seen, but no longer around)
Lion Tailed Macaque (Seen, but no longer around)
White Handed Gibbon (Seen but no around)

Major animals I want to see:

Chimpanzees (I'm not sure where the nearest exhibit would even be)
Siamangs (I know there are some at African Lion Safari or were formerly there, but wondering if any other zoos have Siamangs and more.)
Hamadryas Baboons and/or Mandrills (The closest Mandrills I know are at Elmvale Jungle Zoo, but I don't want to go back there again.)
Howler Monkeys (There are some at Buffalo Zoo)
Bornean Orangutans
Any Tarsier
Any Loris
Red Ruffed or Black and White Ruffed Lemurs.

 

[15399]

Chimpanzees (I'm not sure where the nearest exhibit would even be)

Detroit Zoo would likely be your best choice for chimpanzees, yes I know it is slightly outside of your range but is just over the border from Western Ontario.

Siamangs (I know there are some at African Lion Safari or were formerly there, but wondering if any other zoos have Siamangs and more.)

Safari Niagara in Stevensville, Ontario should have siamangs, as well as lar gibbons and agile gibbons.

Hamadryas Baboons and/or Mandrills (The closest Mandrills I know are at Elmvale Jungle Zoo, but I don't want to go back there again.)

Granby Zoo in Quebec should have mandrills. I'm pretty certain your closest option for Hamadryas would be to fly into New York City and visit Prospect Park Zoo. NYC is a *very* appealing option for primate enthusiasts anyways due to the impressive collection and exhibits at Bronx Zoo, though, so this should at least be considered for a future trip.

Howler Monkeys (There are some at Buffalo Zoo)

Know that the howler monkeys at Buffalo Zoo cannot be reliably seen- they rotate on exhibit with brown capuchins. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a set schedule for the rotation. Buffalo Zoo does, however, have multiple other primate species that would be new to you, such as Japanese macaques and two squirrel monkey species.

Bornean Orangutans

I don't think there are any within the areas you are looking at. If you can travel slightly further, Erie Zoo in Erie, PA (about two hours from Buffalo) has Bornean orangutans. I know that Chicago tends to be a city with a lot of flights into, so Brookfield Zoo might be another zoo with Bornean orangutans worth looking into.

Any Tarsier

Unfortunately, there are no tarsiers in North American zoos.

Any Loris

Pygmy slow lorises are the species you'd be most likely to come across in North America (actually- possibly the only species now that I think about it). I don't think there are any within the range you are looking at, however.

Red Ruffed or Black and White Ruffed Lemurs.

There should be black-and-white ruffed lemurs at Safari Niagara in Stevensville, ON, and there are also black-and-white ruffed lemurs in Syracuse, NY at Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

 

[Madadad]

Detroit Zoo would likely be your best choice for chimpanzees, yes I know it is slightly outside of your range but is just over the border from Western Ontario.

Safari Niagara in Stevensville, Ontario should have siamangs, as well as lar gibbons and agile gibbons.

Granby Zoo in Quebec should have mandrills. I'm pretty certain your closest option for Hamadryas would be to fly into New York City and visit Prospect Park Zoo. NYC is a *very* appealing option for primate enthusiasts anyways due to the impressive collection and exhibits at Bronx Zoo, though, so this should at least be considered for a future trip.

Know that the howler monkeys at Buffalo Zoo cannot be reliably seen- they rotate on exhibit with brown capuchins. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a set schedule for the rotation. Buffalo Zoo does, however, have multiple other primate species that would be new to you, such as Japanese macaques and two squirrel monkey species.

I don't think there are any within the areas you are looking at. If you can travel slightly further, Erie Zoo in Erie, PA (about two hours from Buffalo) has Bornean orangutans. I know that Chicago tends to be a city with a lot of flights into, so Brookfield Zoo might be another zoo with Bornean orangutans worth looking into.

Unfortunately, there are no tarsiers in North American zoos.

Pygmy slow lorises are the species you'd be most likely to come across in North America (actually- possibly the only species now that I think about it). I don't think there are any within the range you are looking at, however.

There should be black-and-white ruffed lemurs at Safari Niagara in Stevensville, ON, and there are also black-and-white ruffed lemurs in Syracuse, NY at Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

Thank you for the reply! It seems like Safari Niagara is a good spot for a future trip as expected. I hadn't considered Detroit Zoo or Erie Zoo but I certainly am now!

 

[USZOOfan42]

I hadn't considered Detroit Zoo or Erie Zoo but I certainly am now!

Detroit is not really a primate zoo but they have a few “unique” primates not noted above. They do also have red ruffed lemurs.