Oakland Zoo Oakland Zoo Species List - November 2021

[Coelacanth18]

Each line indicates one enclosure, unless preceded by a colon (in which case they are separated by / ). Species that were seen are marked in regular text, species that were unseen are marked in italics.

MAIN ENTRANCE
Lesser Flamingo, African Spoonbill

TROPICAL RAINFOREST
Sun Bear
Red-lored Amazon, Lilac-crowned Amazon
Cottontop Tamarin, Southern Pudu
Siamang
Lar Gibbon
Great Curassow
Guira Cuckoo
Blue-and-gold Macaw, Military Macaw, Great Curassow, Red-rumped Agouti
Chimpanzee
Squirrel Monkey
Malayan Wreathed Hornbill (habitat was closed)
Tiger (formerly generic; enclosure is currently empty and was closed off)

CALIFORNIA TRAIL
Bald Eagle
North American Gray Wolf
California Condor, Red-tailed Hawk
Jaguar
Grizzly Bear
Mountain Lion
American Black Bear
American Bison

WILD AUSTRALIA
Emu*, Common Wallaroo*, Agile Wallaby*

*did not visit; presumed list based on previous species list and news updates

AFRICAN SAVANNA
Reticulated Giraffe, Common Eland, Egyptian Goose
Warthog
Hamadryas Baboon
Dromedary Camel
African Lion
Savanna Aviary: Blue Bellied Roller, Fischer's Lovebird, Taveta Golden Weaver, White Vented Bulbul, Red Bellied Parrot, Speckled Pigeon, Hamerkop, White Faced Whistling Duck
Hillside Aviary: Pied Crow, Sacred Ibis, Hadada Ibis, Superb Starling, Yellow-billed Stork, Hooded Vulture, Hamerkop
African Elephant
African Reptiles: Giant Plated Lizard, Sudan Plated Lizard, African Pancake Tortoise / White Throated Monitor / Royal Python
Grant's Zebra
Spotted Hyena
Schmidt’s Red-tailed Monkey
Meerkat

CHILDREN'S ZOO
American Alligator, unsigned turtle
Island Flying Fox, Malayan Flying Fox
Ring-tailed Lemur, Crowned Lemur
Aldabra Tortoise
North American River Otter
Domestic Rabbit (in a full enclosure)

House of Bugs (just full list, not separated into enclosures and not marked seen/unseen):
Giant Thorny Walking Insect (Heteropteryx dilatata)
New Guinea Walking Stick (Eurycantha calcarata)
Asian Forest Scorpion (Heterometrus longimanus)
Dragon-headed Katydid (Eumegalodon blanchardi)
Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes)
Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata)
Black Widow (Lactrodectus hesperus)
Darkling Beetle
Caribbean Cave Cockroach (Blaberus giganteus)
Malaysian Dead-leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata)
Chinese Giant Tiger-leg Centipede (Scolopendra hainanum)
Black Beauty Stick Insect (Peruphasma schultei)
Dermestid Beetle
Brazilian Black Tarantula (Grammostola pulchra)
Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea guttata)
Garden Fruit Chafer (Pachnoda sinuata)
Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis)
Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes)

Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Room:
Green Anole, Spotted Turtle, Eastern Box Turtle (2 ssp: Three-toed Box Turtle and nominate Eastern Box Turtle)
Gila Monster, Blue Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus cyanogenys), Chuckwalla, Colorado River Toad
Red-Tailed Boa Constrictor, Amazon Tree Boa, Amazon Milky Frog
Black Tree Monitor
Green-and-Black and Splashback Poison Dart Frogs (possibly other species), Panamanian Golden Frog
Henkel’s Leaf-Tailed Gecko, Golden Mantella, Green Mantella, Starry Night Reed Frog (Heterixalus alboguttatus), Powder Blue Reed Frog (Heterixalus madagascariensis)

-------------------

Mammals (excluding domestics): 32
Birds: 28
Reptiles: 16
Amphibians: 9
Invertebrates: 20
Total (excluding domestics): 105

-------------------

Species Gained Since 2018:

Schmidt's Red-tailed Monkey
Agile Wallaby
Red-lored Amazon
Lilac-crowned Amazon
Guira Cuckoo
Red-tailed Hawk
Hooded Vulture
Yellow-billed Stork
Unsigned turtle
Spotted Turtle
Eastern Box Turtle
Green Anole
Amazon Tree Boa
Green Mantella
Starry Night Reed Frog
Powder Blue Reed Frog
Splashback Poison Dart Frog*
Dragon-headed Katydid (Eumegalodon blanchardi)
Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata)
Black Widow (Lactrodectus hesperus)
Chinese Giant Tiger-leg Centipede (Scolopendra hainanum)
Unknown dermestid beetle
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea guttata)
Garden Fruit Chafer (Pachnoda sinuata)
Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes)

Species Lost Since 2018:

Indian Muntjac
White-nosed Coati
Vervet Monkey
Tiger (temporarily?)
Orange Bishop
Lilford Crane
Buff-crested Bustard
Purple Grenadier
Red-billed Hornbill
Cattle Egret
Unknown leaf-tailed gecko
Dyeing Poison Dart Frog*
Golfodulcean Poison Dart Frog*
Unknown cricket
Vinegaroon
Chilean Rosehair Tarantula

*PDFs are not signed by species. 2021 list is based on visual ID.

 

[Coelacanth18]

I will add some details about visiting the zoo and my thoughts, although as per usual it won't be a detailed review or walk-through of the entire zoo.

I spent 3 hours seeing the zoo, with an additional half hour of backtracking to check on unseen species. I was fairly impressed with my visit; I liked the variety of animals they had as well as many of their enclosures. My favorite area was the fairly new California complex, which has fantastic enclosures for all of its residents and great views of the Bay from up in the hills. I saw mountain lions climbing up into oak trees, a red-tailed hawk flying laps with ravens in its massive aviary (shared by a stationary California condor, a great species to show); a pack of wolves were roaming their massive and varied enclosure; and a herd of pure American bison with several calves, overlooking a panoramic view of the East Bay.

The older parts of the zoo do show their age, but a lot of it works. The bats were indoors when I visited, but their outdoor space looks like it makes for a great viewing experience normally. The lemur, otter, lion, gibbons, alligator, and sun bear enclosures were among the largest I've ever seen for those species and also seemed well-designed in terms of natural aesthetics, shade, enrichment and usable space (water, climbing space, etc). The aviaries have several neat species, and the House of Bugs has a surprisingly large invertebrate collection in a very quiet room. The active baboon troop was another highlight, as few zoos have troops as large as Oakland's. The gondola going up to the California area was very cool and easy to use with virtually no wait time, and gave great views of naturally forested canyons on the upper slopes as well as panoramic views of the Bay and its skylines. Acrophobes may have more complicated feelings about it (although as someone who isn't a fan of heights themself, I was happy to find that the cable car never got too high off the ground).

There were some minor aspects I wasn't much a fan of. The layout of the zoo is a little chaotic and requires backtracking; the electronic signs in the reptile and invertebrate areas scroll slowly without any visitor control and in the invertebrate area doesn't fully designate where each species is; and there is some (IMO) underwhelming use of space by domestic camels and rabbits in enclosures that could be used for wild species. The chimpanzee habitat may be adequate, but I'm not sure that it measures up too well by today's standards of great ape exhibits. The $36 price tag ($24 + $10 for parking + $2 online fee) felt too steep, but it is an expensive metro area so it was not that unexpected.

 

[TinoPup]

Is it typical to have bats outdoors in CA? I've only seen an outdoor exhibit once, at DAK.

 

[Coelacanth18]

Is it typical to have bats outdoors in CA? I've only seen an outdoor exhibit once, at DAK.

It's hard to really say because bats are not that common in California zoos, but SDZSP keeps their fruit bats in an outdoor aviary and Sacramento kept their Straw-colored Fruit Bats outdoors when they had them on-exhibit - so overall I'd say yes, it's typical.

California zoos for the most part are very minimal when it comes to indoor enclosures for anything except herps. The San Diego zoos, LA, Santa Barbara, Oakland, Sacramento, Living Desert, Santa Ana, and Fresno have very few or no indoor exhibit areas besides their reptile houses - and even SDZ's reptile house is open-air on the visitors' side.

 

[TinoPup]

It's really different over there!