Ohio's Best Zoos

[snowleopard]

Since there seems to be some good-natured debate over the merits of the plethora of quality zoos in the U.S. State of Ohio, it's time to see which zoos are ranked the best here at ZooBeat. I realize that precious few members of this forum have actually been to Ohio, but for those that have how about a ranking of that State's zoos?

Possible order???

1- Cincinnati Zoo - sumatran rhinos, jungle trails, manatee springs, insect world, vanishing giants, gorilla world, feline collection, white lions, bonobos.

2- Columbus Zoo - asia quest, african forest, manatee coast, north american area, 10 new exhibits in the last 10 years.

3- Cleveland Zoo - rainforest building, wolf wilderness, australian adventure, northern trek, african savanna.

4- Toledo Zoo - african savannah, hippoquarium, 2004's Africa!, arctic encounter, kingdom of the apes, primate forest.

5- Akron Zoo - legends of the wild, komodo kingdom, tiger valley.

6- The Wilds - 10,000 acre facility.

 

[Rookeyper]

I only visited the first four of these zoos, but I can say they are all excellent zoos. Cincinnati's Jungle trails is very cool from the visitor's perspective but as a keeper I would hate to have to try to clean some of the exhibits floors--too many places for things to get stuck! The insect collection is great. My friend works the rhinos--I need to get down there to see her and the rhinos. The cat collection is impressive!
Columbus is another great zoo to visit. The African forest is nice and I've heard good things about the Asia quest exhibit.
Cleveland's Australian exhibit is nice--not as good as ours, but still quite good I personally enjoy the Rainforest building--up close to the giant anteaters is a great thing, perhaps not so good for the animals.
Toledo has a great polar bear exhibit, a cool hippo exhibit with underwater viewing--don't be too noisy or one of the hippos may come backside up to the windows and make a deposit! You can have lunch in an old animal building, see wonderful birds and a nice aquarium.
All in all I don't think I can truly pick a favorite! I have too many good friends in all of these institutions!

 

[okapikpr]

I have visited all of the zoos in Ohio.

Cincinnati Zoo deserves the #1 ranking being the most mature of all the zoos.

And I would switch Toledo and Cleveland. While Cleveland is larger, Toledo is much more complete in terms of diversity and number of species (i think?).

While the Wilds is open to the public, I would not rank it on the list at all. This facility is so different than that of any zoo, especially of those in Ohio.

 

[Ungulate]

Of the six facilities listed, I have visited them all, but I haven't been to Toledo for ten years or so. I would agree with okapikpr about excluding the Wilds ... apples and oranges.

Both Cincinnati and Columbus rise to the top for me:
Cincinnati's highlights are the unusual members of the collection (notably the Sumatran rhinos, also the small cats, prosimians, crowned guenons, alcids). Unfortunately, in the past 10 years or so they've lost and/or gotten rid of some of their jewels, including zebra duiker, mountain tapir, Temminck's golden cat, bharal, and shoebill. The exhibits are largely well done - most are older grotto-type enclosures which are surprisingly "fresh" since they have mature vegetation in them. The "immersion" exhibits are very well done. The vegetation is fantastic (it IS a Botanical Garden), but the organization of the zoo is pretty haphazard and largely taxonomical (cat house, reptile house, wildlife canyon, bear grottoes, cat grottoes ...)

Columbus feels much larger, and is now set up (sort of) zoogeographically. The exhibits are largely new, but some still have that obvious "new exhibit smell" and have yet to grow into the finished product. The collection is large and varied, and in another decade I would expect Columbus to be the hands-down leader.

My overall impression of Cleveland was not that positive (see my review in the Cleveland thread), and it will take them a lot of work to get up to speed with the two zoos mentioned above.

My recollections of Toledo are rather vague, and the African plains and Polar expansions had not yet been built when I visited. The Hippoquarium(TM) was fantastic - so much so that it has set the course for almost all new hippo exhibits being built! Like Cincinnati, I found the layout higgledy-piggledy.

Akron is a very unusual little zoo (not many places keep Himalayan tahr and sika in glass-fronted enclosures!), but I was disappointed with their use of space. In Legends of the Wild I was surprised at the smallness of the (naturalistic) enclosures for the jaguars and snow leopards, and the ungulate enclosures are also a bit "tight" (especially the alpaca). The bat building (also with lorises and snakes) was nicely done. Tiger Valley was my favourite section; the cat enclosures were quite densely vegetated, although the sizes of the enclosures still left something to be desired. The sun bears appeared quite comfortable in an exhibit with many options. I especially liked the red panda/muntjac/crane area - again, not huge enclosures, but with varied plants and interesting use of vertical space for the pandas (a partially terraced enclosure with a climbing structure and fresh bamboo). Komodo Kindgom was a very commercial structure - cafeteria and seating, with the Komodo dragon, Chinese alligator, and Galapagos tortoise exhibits tucked away to the side, almost as an "add on". Compared to the rest of the zoo, Wild Prairie was a lot of walking for very little reward. The enclosures here are mostly older, with extensive use of concrete to form moats and pools. I found myself wandering through this part wondering if I was on the right path since after the exhibits, you get "left" in a garden with several options and little direction to the rest of the exhibits.

 

[snowleopard]

It's interesting to read the different opinions on the Ohio zoos. Ungulate doesn't have very many nice things to say about Cleveland, and Okapikpr thinks that even the Toledo Zoo is better than the Cleveland Zoo. However, just to throw a spanner in the works, Zooplantman on the Cleveland thread stated that he prefers that zoo to Columbus! The plot thickens...and I suppose this discussion illustrates the subjectivity of ranking zoos.

There has definitely been a massive amount of construction done at the Columbus Zoo, with at least 10 new or renovated exhibits in the past decade. With a bright future ahead, there is the possibility that Columbus could pull ahead of the others by the time the Polar Frontier (2009) and African Savanna (2012) are completed. But if the enclosures aren't world-class then they will gain nothing.

 

[Zooplantman]

It's interesting to read the different opinions on the Ohio zoos. Ungulate doesn't have very many nice things to say about Cleveland, and Okapikpr thinks that even the Toledo Zoo is better than the Cleveland Zoo. However, just to throw a spanner in the works, Zooplantman on the Cleveland thread stated that he prefers that zoo to Columbus! The plot thickens...and I suppose this discussion illustrates the subjectivity of ranking zoos.

There has definitely been a massive amount of construction done at the Columbus Zoo, with at least 10 new or renovated exhibits in the past decade. With a bright future ahead, there is the possibility that Columbus could pull ahead of the others by the time the Polar Frontier (2009) and African Savanna (2012) are completed. But if the enclosures aren't world-class then they will gain nothing.

I may be a little to close to things to comment
Having worked at Cincinnati years, and then done projects at Cleveland, Akron and Toledo...also having friends at all the institutions, my thoughts are not as a visitor or a collection-fan walking in the gate. Zoos have certain stylistic similarities or dissimilarities. Cincinnati always feels like home to me so I cannot be trusted to comment.

Akron is not in a league with the others. It is a small zoo that prides itself on being more intimate than its neighbor Cleveland. Akron has only just begun to grow in the past few years.

Toledo, although largely a WPA creation (with newer additions) feels like Cincinnati and Indianapolis..the landscape does, anyway. And I like that look. Some Toledo exhibits (hippos) are amazingly fun while others (gorillas) are just sad. Being divided as it is by a highway makes it difficult to have a senible layout, but they work with what they have.

Cleveland is quite different, and an odd mix of new and old that makes it hard to have a clear opinion of it. And it is larger than the previously listed zoos. Wolf Woods is wonderful but the primate building is sad. Australia was fun and well done. Cleveland is also divided (less clumsily than Toledo) by a huge overhead highway bridge. That really affects the totality of the place.

Colombus does not have a single brilliant exhibit that I have seen (it's been a few years). I have not seen Australia. The little boat ride is not worth discussing. Of course, its a matter of taste. Some here value the collection. I value the look and feel of the place.

 

[snowleopard]

I'm enjoying reading many of the comments on this thread, and it reminds me of some of the Aussie zoo fans on various other threads. The two big cities Sydney and Melbourne hold 40% or more of Australia's total population, and they are always battling each other for supremacy in every conceivable aspect of life. I've been fortunate enough to have visited both of those cities, and they each have terrific zoos which are the best of their kind in Australia. It's great reading about the competition between them!

Here in North America the State of Ohio is truly blessed with some fine zoos, and this summer I'm definitely going to visit Pittsburgh in nearby Pennsylvania and then head to Columbus and Cincinnati in the following days. There is a temptation to hit Cleveland, but I doubt that it will happen as if my wife and I have days to spare we will more than likely hit an extra zoo or two going through Texas or up the west coast. But you never know...

I'll bring up the handy 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" once again, as it might provide some insight into this thread on Ohio's premier zoos. At the back of the book there is a list of 20 different categories, and a grouping of the ten best zoos for a specific set of animals. The best zoos for primates, for bears, for african animals, etc.

Cincinnati Zoo: 5 categories: #1 zoo in the nation for its cat collection, #1 in the nation for its insect collection, and in the top ten for small mammals, primates, and shows.

Cleveland Zoo: 3 categories: #2 in the nation for its bear collection, #2 in the nation for its Australian animals, and top ten for rain forest.

Columbus Zoo: 3 categories: #2 in the nation for asian animals, and top ten for north american and australian animals.

Toledo Zoo: 4 categories: top ten in african animals, birds, zoo aquariums and insects.

Akron Zoo and the Wilds didn't make any of the top ten categories.

 

[TheBoysofSummer]

Home in Cleveland, but Cincinnati on top!

I grew up in the Cleveland area and as a kid i frequented both it and the Akron zoo. However i have only been to the Cincinnati zoo 2 times and i would list it as my favorite and best Ohio zoo.

Yes Cleveland has its share of amazing exhibits- (The Rainforest is spectacular, Wolf Wilderness is so cozy and the beaver is so neat, Australian Adventure is very intimate and naturalistic, and the African Savannah was the first of its kind in the state, it has always a wide variety of primates and bears, and pachyderms for a while, though African Elephant Crossing is amazing).

Akron has come a long way as well recently, (Komodo Kingdom and Legends of the Wild as well as Grizzly Ridge are great additions that have turned this into a full day zoo).

One trip to Cincinnati and i was converted, the place is smaller than Cleveland but it fills its space greatly. Though Night Hunters is a great nocturnal house i much rather preffered the Cat House and its small cat variety and the nocturnal house seperate than combining them. Gorila World, Jungle Trails, and the new Elephant and Giraffe habitats are all very immersive and well done. Manatee Springs is better than Columbus' Manatee exhibit. World of the Insect is so interesting with its many invertebrates. The hoofstock have spacious yards, the red pandas have the most lush panda habitat in Ohio, and the Reptile House has such a nice atmosphere. The only exhibit i would write bad about is the bear grottoes for black and spectacled bears.

Columbus has its African Forest, Boat Ride, Polar Frontier, and Roadhouse.

Toledo has its Hippoquarium, Reptile House, Aviary, Museum of Science, Arctic Encounter and Kingdom of the Apes, as well as a great aquarium.

But being an Ohio native and frequently only Ohio zoos most of my life and knowing a fair share about zoos, i must say Cincinnati is the best.