The Metro Richmond Zoo is located outside of Richmond in Moseley, VA. It’s questionable why “metro” is affiliated in the name as it’s not in the city of Richmond at all. It appears the land used for the zoo was from a wooded area. Some exhibits benefit from the natural landscape, while others are simplistic exhibits lacking enrichment for its inhabitants.
Guests are offered to purchase a cup of food for the animals. What is odd is this is not just for the petting zoo. Basically you can throw in food to all sorts of animals and some of them are used to it. It will definitely get you closer to the animals. However, I do not know how this affects their diets and I wouldn’t think a simple pebble would be feasible for all animals to eat. Once inside the zoo, the entrance features an aviary and flamingo exhibit. The aviary is small and has a circular path. Some animals featured are sacred ibis, roseate spoonbill, and duck. The flamingo exhibit is next to the aviary featuring a middle size pool for a flock of flamingos. Next door is an exhibit for the prairie dog, basic circular dirt exhibit with underground tunnels. It’s a pretty nice size for the animals.
Up next is the start of the primate/ape exhibits. On the left are two small caged exhibits for juvenile orangutan and white handed gibbons. There are glass windows for guests to look into and ledges on the inside for animals to get up close to its visitors. It has basic furniture for apes with wooded structures and a hammock . Across the path is the siamang island. It consists of a grassy island with a wooded structure in the middle. This simplistic design will be featured in all of the primate/ape exhibits.
Following the main path, you get to a fork in the road, and I veered off to the left. On one side was a large grassy field for kangaroo and emu. On the other side was another big, grassy exhibit for wallaroo. On the right features the South American exhibit with Brazilian tapir, rhea, and alpaca. It’s a long field with makes an L shape and the shorter end features a very small pool and shading structure over it. All animals were on exhibit that day, beside the Brazilian tapir and their recent new born. The male made an appearance for ten seconds, but then went back in their holding building. Next to this section is a cage exhibit for king vulture and klipspringer. Next to them were two small exhibits featuring two type of toucan. Across the way were small caged enclosures for small primates like marmosets and titi monkeys.
On the left of the pathway are a row primate exhibits that have mesh around them and wooded structures in the middle. Some inhabitants included Diana’s monkey, brown spider monkey, capuchin monkey, and black howler monkey. On the opposite path near the giraffe were exhibits for the black colobus monkey. The caging is somewhat useful for the primates to climb, the spider monkeys took the most advantage of it, however it is an eyesore for visitors. Beyond their exhibit was one of the worst otter exhibits I have seen in a zoo. Mostly mesh around the exhibit, there is only a dirty window in front of the otter’s pool. Inside is mostly concrete that is not desirable to look at for visitors. The zoo has only one African clawless otter on exhibit. Despite the appearance of the exhibit, it was quite nice to see such a rare otter in zoos.
Going down the main path and veering to the right features the nicer, naturalistic section of the zoo. There is a large, dirt, wooded area for Mishmi takin, Armenian moulfon, and blackbuck. This provided a lot of shade for the animals, as well as hiding areas. Being on a boardwalk, visitors are able to look down into the exhibit. Up next is a grassy exhibit for the fallow deer. Following the boardwalk, you are able to look down into the pronghorn and elk exhibits and are able to see the animals right below you. Both exhibits seemed like a good size for the animals. Across from them was a lush, tall grass exhibit for white-tailed deer, which I was unable to spot. The bighorn sheep get a huge exhibit, while the bison next door get one of the smallest exhibits I have ever seen for their kind. I am hoping they are sometimes given access to the big horn sheep exhibit. The petting area featured Bactrian camel, dromedary camel, goat, and juvenile bongo. There is a small aviary for budgies where guest can purchase a food stick to feed them. You are still allowed to enter the aviary even if you are not feeding them. We also discovered that if you stretch out your arm, budgies will fly over and land on you.
Continuing on, there are small exhibits for warthog, red river hog, and African penguin. I completely passed the warthog exhibit so I am unsure what it looks like. The red river hog exhibit was mostly dirt, a small shelter and a mud pit. The African penguin had a small rock land area and a small pool. The giraffe have two exhibits; a small side one and the main one that goes into the savanna. There were only a few giraffe in the side exhibit, including the Maasai giraffe. The main exhibit has a slopping boardwalk where guests can feed the giraffe. The savanna exhibit is large with a pond in the middle of it. Other animals are bongo, kudu, ostrich, and crowned crane.
On the other side of the boardwalk are sandy paddocks for Grant’s zebra, addax, and white rhinoceros. In between the zebra and rhino is a grassy exhibit for cheetah that has quite a few trees for shade. The best viewing into the exhibit is the top left hand corner. Walking by the exhibit, you get the glaring chain fence.
The African lion exhibit has the worst viewing out of all the exhibits. Tucked on the right of the rhino exhibit, you are looking at the short end of the exhibit with a chain link fence all around it. Nearby are the two islands for chimpanzee and orangutan. The chimpanzees have a wooden structure and tree for shade. However, the wooden structure is in the orangutan’s only shade! The poor apes kept hiding underneath it to stay cool.
Going pass the orangutan exhibit into a dead end path, you encounter cages for white handed gibbon, snow leopard, Bengal tiger, and Asiatic black bear. The snow leopard exhibit is not too easy to look into and I did not see the snow leopard. The only way to view into the tiger and bear exhibit is through dirty, scratched up windows. Once again, they are grassy exhibits with a wooden structure in the middle. The tiger had a small pool in the middle of its exhibit.
Not being able to see the baby tapir probably put a damper on my experience at my zoo. Most exhibits were decent, there were some rare animals, but overall, they could enrich the exhibits more for the animals. Unless you’re dying to see one of the rare animals you cannot see elsewhere, I would skip the zoo. Photos will be added to the gallery in the next couple of days. I was a bit lazy so there is not a photo of each exhibit.
Guests are offered to purchase a cup of food for the animals. What is odd is this is not just for the petting zoo. Basically you can throw in food to all sorts of animals and some of them are used to it. It will definitely get you closer to the animals. However, I do not know how this affects their diets and I wouldn’t think a simple pebble would be feasible for all animals to eat. Once inside the zoo, the entrance features an aviary and flamingo exhibit. The aviary is small and has a circular path. Some animals featured are sacred ibis, roseate spoonbill, and duck. The flamingo exhibit is next to the aviary featuring a middle size pool for a flock of flamingos. Next door is an exhibit for the prairie dog, basic circular dirt exhibit with underground tunnels. It’s a pretty nice size for the animals.
Up next is the start of the primate/ape exhibits. On the left are two small caged exhibits for juvenile orangutan and white handed gibbons. There are glass windows for guests to look into and ledges on the inside for animals to get up close to its visitors. It has basic furniture for apes with wooded structures and a hammock . Across the path is the siamang island. It consists of a grassy island with a wooded structure in the middle. This simplistic design will be featured in all of the primate/ape exhibits.
Following the main path, you get to a fork in the road, and I veered off to the left. On one side was a large grassy field for kangaroo and emu. On the other side was another big, grassy exhibit for wallaroo. On the right features the South American exhibit with Brazilian tapir, rhea, and alpaca. It’s a long field with makes an L shape and the shorter end features a very small pool and shading structure over it. All animals were on exhibit that day, beside the Brazilian tapir and their recent new born. The male made an appearance for ten seconds, but then went back in their holding building. Next to this section is a cage exhibit for king vulture and klipspringer. Next to them were two small exhibits featuring two type of toucan. Across the way were small caged enclosures for small primates like marmosets and titi monkeys.
On the left of the pathway are a row primate exhibits that have mesh around them and wooded structures in the middle. Some inhabitants included Diana’s monkey, brown spider monkey, capuchin monkey, and black howler monkey. On the opposite path near the giraffe were exhibits for the black colobus monkey. The caging is somewhat useful for the primates to climb, the spider monkeys took the most advantage of it, however it is an eyesore for visitors. Beyond their exhibit was one of the worst otter exhibits I have seen in a zoo. Mostly mesh around the exhibit, there is only a dirty window in front of the otter’s pool. Inside is mostly concrete that is not desirable to look at for visitors. The zoo has only one African clawless otter on exhibit. Despite the appearance of the exhibit, it was quite nice to see such a rare otter in zoos.
Going down the main path and veering to the right features the nicer, naturalistic section of the zoo. There is a large, dirt, wooded area for Mishmi takin, Armenian moulfon, and blackbuck. This provided a lot of shade for the animals, as well as hiding areas. Being on a boardwalk, visitors are able to look down into the exhibit. Up next is a grassy exhibit for the fallow deer. Following the boardwalk, you are able to look down into the pronghorn and elk exhibits and are able to see the animals right below you. Both exhibits seemed like a good size for the animals. Across from them was a lush, tall grass exhibit for white-tailed deer, which I was unable to spot. The bighorn sheep get a huge exhibit, while the bison next door get one of the smallest exhibits I have ever seen for their kind. I am hoping they are sometimes given access to the big horn sheep exhibit. The petting area featured Bactrian camel, dromedary camel, goat, and juvenile bongo. There is a small aviary for budgies where guest can purchase a food stick to feed them. You are still allowed to enter the aviary even if you are not feeding them. We also discovered that if you stretch out your arm, budgies will fly over and land on you.
Continuing on, there are small exhibits for warthog, red river hog, and African penguin. I completely passed the warthog exhibit so I am unsure what it looks like. The red river hog exhibit was mostly dirt, a small shelter and a mud pit. The African penguin had a small rock land area and a small pool. The giraffe have two exhibits; a small side one and the main one that goes into the savanna. There were only a few giraffe in the side exhibit, including the Maasai giraffe. The main exhibit has a slopping boardwalk where guests can feed the giraffe. The savanna exhibit is large with a pond in the middle of it. Other animals are bongo, kudu, ostrich, and crowned crane.
On the other side of the boardwalk are sandy paddocks for Grant’s zebra, addax, and white rhinoceros. In between the zebra and rhino is a grassy exhibit for cheetah that has quite a few trees for shade. The best viewing into the exhibit is the top left hand corner. Walking by the exhibit, you get the glaring chain fence.
The African lion exhibit has the worst viewing out of all the exhibits. Tucked on the right of the rhino exhibit, you are looking at the short end of the exhibit with a chain link fence all around it. Nearby are the two islands for chimpanzee and orangutan. The chimpanzees have a wooden structure and tree for shade. However, the wooden structure is in the orangutan’s only shade! The poor apes kept hiding underneath it to stay cool.
Going pass the orangutan exhibit into a dead end path, you encounter cages for white handed gibbon, snow leopard, Bengal tiger, and Asiatic black bear. The snow leopard exhibit is not too easy to look into and I did not see the snow leopard. The only way to view into the tiger and bear exhibit is through dirty, scratched up windows. Once again, they are grassy exhibits with a wooden structure in the middle. The tiger had a small pool in the middle of its exhibit.
Not being able to see the baby tapir probably put a damper on my experience at my zoo. Most exhibits were decent, there were some rare animals, but overall, they could enrich the exhibits more for the animals. Unless you’re dying to see one of the rare animals you cannot see elsewhere, I would skip the zoo. Photos will be added to the gallery in the next couple of days. I was a bit lazy so there is not a photo of each exhibit.
