Alright, here it is, my Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium review.
I spent yesterday afternoon at this second-rate "home-made" zoo. I'll get to the aquarium later, which is the best part of this place. What the Wildlife World Zoo basically has, is an outstanding collection of rarities, in exhibits that could be called at best unremarkable, and at worst (to borrow a phrase from snowleopard) downright diabolical. The first part I should mention is the admission price. At $26.50 one would be expecting a San Diego like experience. Don't. There are also a number of silly little rides that all have exorbatant upcharges as well. Collection highlights include red lechwe, beisa oryx, Brazilian tapirs, New Guinea singing dogs, black mangabeys, vervet monkeys, brown-nosed coati, vasa parrots, white-headed piping guans, great curassows, and a southern opossum. Many of these animals I have not seen at any other zoo I have visited. All the hoofstock live in open paddocks with enough shade to pass the USDA inspections, the perimeter of which is made up of either chain link, or recycled telephone poles. The telephone pole exhibits provide an interesting experience because all of the animals are fed right next to these waiste high fences so the foolish can pet an addax or sable if they'd like. Many of these viewing areas are being replaced by nice elevated boardwalks. Most of the primates and cats live in simple wire mesh enclosures with little adornment. And all of the aviaries are barren with little for perching. This zoo also has a thriving white tiger breeding program, which many of you as I do abhor. The worst exhibits overall, is there are a number of exhibits for macaws that consist of a single branch surrounded by water. When multiple birds are placed there, they can't even pass each other. There is no shade, no shelter, and these exhibits are downright inhumane. I don't know how much time individual birds spend on these, but any time is too much.
Now for the aquarium. There are a few exhibits which I didn't like in the aquarium, but there was also a lot to be commended. By and large the aquarium exhibits were well done and interesting. The penguin exhibit in particular I felt was nice. There were a few exhibits, that will be way too small when it's inhabitants reach full size, namely Nile crocodile and arapaima. The lack of substrate in the crocodilian pools also perturbed me. There were also two bird perch exhibits in the aquarium, one over a pool that for some reason is inside a Mayan building had a macaw on a tree above it (better than the single perch exhibits) and another had a flightless red-tailed hawk over a trout stream. One of the more interesting aquariums was above the heads of the guests and contained painted turtles and ringed teals. There were also touch tanks for seastars, horseshoe crabs, and stingrays. There was also a very, very large alligator snapping turtle in a round aquarium. Other impressive aquarium inhabitants included alligator gar and paddlefish, electric eels, and a tunnel through moray eel caverns (though I didn't see any, it's possible they weren't on exhibit yet). Another interesting exhibit was a tunnel through a forest habitat for a large crocodile monitor. All in all, I was more impressed with the aquarium then I had expected to be, based on my previous visits to this mysteriously AZA accredited zoo. The experience however, is nowhere near enough to justify the admission price.
