My Us-Zoo-Trip

Z

Zebraduiker

Well-Known Member
I have visted by today Boston Zoo and Aquarium,Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo,New York Aquarium,Bronx-Zoo and Adventure Aquarium Camden. Any Questions ?

Tommorow I will visit Philadelphia Zoo, then Baltimore Zoo and Aquarium and will go then to Washington.

My impressions , Boston Zoo nice, Aquarium great, Queens Zoo great, Aquarium good, Procpect Park Zoo nice, Bronx-Zoo good, but defenitely not the best Zoo in the States.

Adventure Aquarium nice, but more Adventure than Aquarium and the Hippo exhibit is desaster. Hope to see someday in the future rhinos, elephants and giraffes also in just indoor exhibits. It works with hippos, so it should be working also with elephants.

So thats why I would say,the Magascar House at Bronx is very nice for the visitors eyes, but the animals do not have outdoor exhibits, so its defenitely not a perfect exhibit. By the way, ofcours eit is much,much better than the indoor holding of ringtailed lemurs at Hagenbeck or Boston.
 
The Bronx Zoo has a series of amazing exhibits, and so I'm shocked that you only called it "good" instead of "great".:) I know that you are heading south and through a variety of other zoos and aquariums, and so how many will you probably visit in total?
 
I appreciate you calling Franklin Park nice. That is one of my home town zoos and I don't even think I would call it nice. It is average to below average in my opinion. New England Aquarium was always my favorite but got expensive in recent years. I wish you visited Stone Zoo which is only 20 minutes from Franklin Park zoo. Its small but has one of my favorite Mexican gray wolf and snow leopard exhibits and has two of the most genetically valuable jaguars in the country. (It is also in the town next to where I grew up.)
 
@Snowleopard. i've seen a lot of areas behind the scenes of Bronx-Zoo, thats why I only call that zoo a good zoo. Don't forgot, where most of the animals, especially the species in Congo, have to live for a long time in winter, in very, very small indoor stalls.......Jungle World is one of the worst Rainforest Buildings I've ever seen, but the World of Birds is a nice birdhouse.Hey, and I was defenitely the last visitor of the WOD, most of the animals are still there.

@Pygathrix. San Diego WAP, then Phoenix and the Living Desert.
 
@Snowleopard. i've seen a lot of areas behind the scenes of Bronx-Zoo, thats why I only call that zoo a good zoo. Don't forgot, where most of the animals, especially the species in Congo, have to live for a long time in winter, in very, very small indoor stalls.......Jungle World is one of the worst Rainforest Buildings I've ever seen, but the World of Birds is a nice birdhouse.Hey, and I was defenitely the last visitor of the WOD, most of the animals are still there.

@Pygathrix. San Diego WAP, then Phoenix and the Living Desert.
 
Zebraduiker said:
@Snowleopard. i've seen a lot of areas behind the scenes of Bronx-Zoo, thats why I only call that zoo a good zoo. Don't forgot, where most of the animals, especially the species in Congo, have to live for a long time in winter, in very, very small indoor stalls.......Jungle World is one of the worst Rainforest Buildings I've ever seen, but the World of Birds is a nice birdhouse.Hey, and I was defenitely the last visitor of the WOD, most of the animals are still there.

@Pygathrix. San Diego WAP, then Phoenix and the Living Desert.
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While I appreciate that you're not following the robotic politically correct mantra that says, "Bronx is America's best zoo", on the other hand I think you're being a bit too hard on them. Bronx is not my #1-rated US zoo, but they're clearly in the Top 5! And while JungleWorld is nowhere as great as Omaha's Lied Jungle, there are very few other rainforest buildings as nice as JungleWorld.
 
Zebraduiker said:
@Snowleopard. i've seen a lot of areas behind the scenes of Bronx-Zoo, thats why I only call that zoo a good zoo. Don't forgot, where most of the animals, especially the species in Congo, have to live for a long time in winter, in very, very small indoor stalls.......Jungle World is one of the worst Rainforest Buildings I've ever seen, but the World of Birds is a nice birdhouse.Hey, and I was defenitely the last visitor of the WOD, most of the animals are still there.

@Pygathrix. San Diego WAP, then Phoenix and the Living Desert.
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The off-exhibit areas at Congo are among the largest and most flexible of any temperate climate zoo exhibit I know of. As has been discussed before, each gorilla troop has its own very large, naturally-lighted community room, full of climbing, resting and hiding areas, connected to a series of smaller (but joinable) holding spaces that can be configured for animal introduction, separating animals for health reasons etc. Included in this complex are sheltered outdoor off-exhibit holding spaces that allow the animals to be outside even during the "off season" when weather permits. Similar setups are provided for the other primates, hogs and okapis in Congo. The area devoted to off-exhibit indoor space for animals in Congo is in excess of 30,000 square feet, larger than the total exhibit and holding spaces combined in most great ape/primate facilities anywhere else.

Not sure why you are so critical of Jungleworld, although it is true the off-exhibit spaces there are far less commodious than Congo. As an exhibit it blows away all but two or three other indoor tropical houses in the world, IMO. Yes, the leopard exhibit is too small, but name a better gibbon habitat anywhere.....
 
Zebraduiker said:
@Snowleopard. i've seen a lot of areas behind the scenes of Bronx-Zoo, thats why I only call that zoo a good zoo. Don't forgot, where most of the animals, especially the species in Congo, have to live for a long time in winter, in very, very small indoor stalls.......Jungle World is one of the worst Rainforest Buildings I've ever seen, but the World of Birds is a nice birdhouse.Hey, and I was defenitely the last visitor of the WOD, most of the animals are still there.

@Pygathrix. San Diego WAP, then Phoenix and the Living Desert.
Click to expand...

What's so great about The Living Desert?

I'm thinking about going there before I move.
 
If you've never been to The Living Desert, you should definitely go, although don't expect a huge world class zoo. They do have some very nice desert exhibits - it is one of my favorite places to photograph. But that's partly because of the extensive cat collection (which is my obsession). Of course, like most zoos, there are also some small outdated exhibits - mainly a row of cages all in one line that house small african mammals (meerkat, sand cat, etc).

When I visited Bronx Zoo several years ago, I was a bit disappointed. It's not bad, and Congo Gorilla Forest is definitely one of the best zoo exhibits around, it just didn't live up to expectations I had from what I expected for the world famous Wildlife Conservation Society. Of course that was before Tiger Mountain, which I'm sure would increase my appreciation immensely if I ever go back.
 
IMO Bronx has some of the best exhibits in the country. Not just Congo (which is by far and away the best exhibit in the US imo), but they also have Baboon Reserve (best baboon exhibit in US), Himalyan Highlands (one of the best snow leopard exhibits ever created), Tiger Mountain (tied with Minnesota for best tiger exhibit), Madagascar house, JungleWorld, and even the African Savanna habitats (giraffes, lions) are some really nice exhibits. Personally I almost want to rate Bronx as ahead of San Diego for #1 zoo in America as the exhibits there truly are world-class.
 
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