Fresno Chaffee Zoo March 2019 Species List for Fresno Chaffee Zoo

[Coelacanth18]

Date: March 12, 2019

Each bullet indicates an enclosure. Species that were seen are marked in bold, unseen species are in regular text. Species that were seen but unsigned are marked in italics.

Total Species (by signage or sight): 128
Mammals: 40
Birds: 44
Reptiles: 38
Amphibians: 4
Fish: 3
Invertebrates: 0

Wolf Woods
Red Wolf

Yard in front of Reptile House
Gray Crowned Crane, Galapagos Tortoise

Reptile House
Fijian Banded Iguana
Sheltopusik
Egyptian Tortoise
Waxy Monkey Tree Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor)
Eastern Green Mamba, Gaboon Viper
Spider Tortoise, Standing’s Day Gecko
Prehensile-tailed Skink
Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus oreganus)
Poison Dart Frog*, Emerald Tree Boa
Crocodile Lizard
Blue Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus serrifer)
Poison Dart Frog*
Baja Blue Rock Lizard
Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer)
Indigo Snake
California Tiger Salamander
Fly River Turtle, Emerald Tree Monitor, Boesemann’s Rainbowfish
Philippine Palm Pitviper
King Cobra
Komodo Dragon
Tentacled Snake
Mangrove Snake, Indochinese Box Turtle (Cuora galbinifrons)
Brongersma's short-tailed python (Python brongersmai)
Horned/Sidewinder Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes)
Gila Monster, Blue Spiny Lizard, Common Chuckwalla
Taylor’s Cantil
Black-breasted Leaf Turtle**

*Do not remember if I saw any or what species they were in 1 of 2 enclosures. In other enclosure, listed as Dendrobates and saw Blue Poison Dart Frog (D. tinctorius), but also saw Golden Poison Dart Frog (Phyllobates terribilis)

**I remember doing a last walkthrough of the building and noticing that I missed this species (dang digital signs), but now I don’t remember which enclosure it was in

Australia/Asian Aviary
Greater Sulphur Crested Cockatoo*, Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo*, Princess of Wales Parakeet, Galah, Long-billed Corella, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Nicobar Pigeon, Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth, Luzon Bleeding Heart Dove

*Only saw one cockatoo, not sure which one it was

Sunda Forest
Indian Rhinoceros
Sumatran Orangutan, Siamang
Malayan Tiger

Random Aviary
Lady Ross’s Turaco

Exhibits Between Tiger and Tropical Birdhouse/Roo Walkabout
Serval
African Spurred Tortoise*
Spotted-necked Otter
American Flamingo

*Moving to new Warthog exhibit in African Adventure soon

Tropical Rainforest Path (outside aviary and building)
Babirusa
American Alligator

Tropical Rainforest Walk-Through Aviary (Main and Side Enclosures)

Side Enclosures**
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine, Six-banded Armadillo
Hyacinth Macaw*

*temporarily holding Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

**Also saw what looked like a Plush-crested Jay (could not confirm, not counted in species total) in an off-display enclosure, next to Blue-crowned Motmots and Blue-and-Yellow Macaws

Main Walk-Through Enclosure
Sun Conure, Scarlet Ibis, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Cattle Egret, Inca Tern, Sunbittern, Black-winged Stilt, Blue-crowned Motmot, Laysan Teal, Ringed Teal, Puna Teal, Blue-throated Piping Guan, Elegant Crested Tinamou, Blue-and-Yellow Macaw, Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis), Roseate Spoonbill, Troupial, White-faced Whistling Duck

Tropical Treasures (Indoor Exhibit)
Matamata Turtle, Midas Cichlid, South American Lungfish, Utila Island Iguana, Caiman Lizard, Green Basilisk, White-faced Whistling Duck, Mandarin Duck*, Green Aracari**, Golden Lion Tamarin, Goeldi’s Marmoset, Linne’s Two-Toed Sloth, Boat-billed Heron, Spotted Thick-knee, Yellow-spotted River Turtle, Spot-bellied Side-neck Turtle

*Can’t remember if seen

**Unseen but confirmed there is one present

Pig Enclosures Past Tropics
Warthog*
Chacoan Peccary
Chacoan Peccary

*Moving to new Warthog exhibit in African Adventure soon

Roo Walkabout
Red Kangaroo*, Tammar Wallaby*, Common Wallaroo*, Emu, Laughing Kookaburra

*Did not confirm which macropods were present

Birds of Prey Aviaries
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Bateleur Eagle
Andean Condor

Tropical Birdhouse
Empty due to ongoing renovations and construction in that area

Exhibit Across From African Adventure Entrance
Aoudad

Cages/Small Enclosures Across From Aoudad/AA Entrance and Safari Café
Lesser Spot-nosed Guenon
White-nosed Coati
Ring-tailed Lemur
Guereza Colobus
Fennec Fox

Lemur Island
Red Ruffed Lemur

Exhibits Across from Lemur Island
Komodo Dragon
Capybara, Giant Anteater

Sea Lion Cove
California Sea Lion, Harbor Seal

African Adventure*
Cheetah
*Ostrich, (Common/Blue Wildebeest, White Rhinoceros), (Giraffe, Greater Kudu, Common Eland), Egyptian Goose, Yellow-billed Stork, Addax
African Elephant, Impala
African Elephant, Impala
African Lion
Meerkat
Warthog**, African Spurred Tortoise**

*2 enclosures, only species in common was Ostrich; not sure if this is usual setup

**Both signed but have not moved in, exhibit is finished

 

[DavidBrown]

Did you enjoy the Fresno Zoo?

Did you not see the cheetahs or the Lake Victoria cichlids in the Africa zone?

They also have an exhibit for pancake tortoise and agama lizard, although it may still be too cold for them to be out.

 

[Coelacanth18]

Did you enjoy the Fresno Zoo?

I was going to get into that, wanted to focus on the species list first.

Yes, in general I thought it was a nice zoo to visit. Overall it took me 3 hours to see everything, with some backtracking. $13 also seems like a very reasonable price to me, although it parking is $5 in Roeding Park so that made it a bit overpriced. The Reptile House had a lot of good enclosures and interesting species. My favorite part of the zoo was the Tropical Rainforest aviary and indoor exhibit; there were so many birds present and a lot of activity! A pretty underrated walk-through aviary as far as I'm concerned. The indoor exhibit was old (built in the late 1970's I was told) and was extremely humid and foggy inside, but it had a great species collection and very close viewing of everything. I spent 45 minutes or more between those two exhibits alone. A lot of great species throughout the zoo: spot-nosed guenon, spotted-necked otter, lungfish, piping guan, bateleur eagle, motmot, chestnut-mandibled toucan, armadillo, king cobra, etc.

The two new exhibit complexes, Sea Lion Cove and African Adventure, were well-designed and definitely bumped the feel of the zoo up from small to medium-sized. Sea Lion Cove is a great addition and after some thought I decided I really like it. African Adventure seemed a little... stark. The large habitats look like golf courses, and most of the hoofstock were in a smaller side yard that is already becoming devoid of grass. I only saw one elephant (how??) and the yards seemed smaller than I thought they would be. The lion exhibit was great (although it could've used some plantings) and the new warthog/tortoise exhibit is fantastic, although I expect they will wreck the lush green grass very quickly. It feels like a good addition, but was a little underwhelming.

 

[DavidBrown]

Thanks for your review. The tropic house and aviary were built in 1988. The reptile house was built in 1979.

 

[Anniella]

When I went in 2015, African Adventure had Speke's gazelle and springbok. The reptile house had Vietnamese mossy frog, Armenian viper, African bullfrog, woma python, and Western pond turtle. The Rainforest aviary had helmeted curassow.

I'm surprised you didn't see tentacled snake or Fly River turtle. The latter are constantly swimming, and the former ubiquitous but well camouflaged in their habitat. Were they off exhibit?

 

[Coelacanth18]

When I went in 2015, African Adventure had Speke's gazelle and springbok. The reptile house had Vietnamese mossy frog, Armenian viper, African bullfrog, woma python, and Western pond turtle. The Rainforest aviary had helmeted curassow.

I'm surprised you didn't see tentacled snake or Fly River turtle. The latter are constantly swimming, and the former ubiquitous but well camouflaged in their habitat. Were they off exhibit?

All of the species in your first paragraph appear to be gone now.

I knew that tentacled snakes camouflage well and I was trying to be conscious of time, so I didn't look very hard. It was probably in there somewhere. The Fly River turtle probably wasn't; they're hard to miss, and it definitely wasn't swimming around as has always been my experience with them.

 

[Coelacanth18]

Did you not see the cheetahs or the Lake Victoria cichlids in the Africa zone?

They also have an exhibit for pancake tortoise and agama lizard, although it may still be too cold for them to be out.

I realized that I forgot the cheetahs and added them in. I also forgot about the Lake Victoria cichlids, although unfortunately they did not list what species they were. I thought it was a neat addition to that building, and I think I took a photo.

Where is the pancake tortoise and agama exhibit? There was a small sandy enclosure that had meerkats in it; was that originally home to reptiles?

Forgot to mention: I really, really don't like the digital signs in the Reptile House that cycle through each species in English and Spanish. That's how I missed the black-breasted leaf turtle the first time, and it can use up quite a bit of your time to sit there and wait for everything to show.

 

[Great Argus]

Nice to see a species list, has changed a fair bit since I was last there several years ago. Several notable species I'd go back to see.

 

[Anniella]

All of the species in your first paragraph appear to be gone now.

I knew that tentacled snakes camouflage well and I was trying to be conscious of time, so I didn't look very hard. It was probably in there somewhere. The Fly River turtle probably wasn't; they're hard to miss, and it definitely wasn't swimming around as has always been my experience with them.

It wouldn't surprise me if some of the herps were behind the scenes, but the antelope are probably gone then.

Where is the pancake tortoise and agama exhibit? There was a small sandy enclosure that had meerkats in it; was that originally home to reptiles?

The "Reptile Rock" is toward the Twiga Terrace where the giraffe yard and feeding is.

The meerkat habitat originally had fennec fox and leopard tortoise when I attended.

 

[Coelacanth18]

The "Reptile Rock" is toward the Twiga Terrace where the giraffe yard and feeding is.

The meerkat habitat originally had fennec fox and leopard tortoise when I attended.

I just looked back over the map and now I see the exhibit listed on there, but it is barely noticeable. I walked right by there and don't remember seeing anything, so I have no idea how I missed it.

The fennec fox now live in an open-topped enclosure by the colobuses that seems to have held coati before. I didn't see any leopard tortoises at the zoo.