Also going to be going to Omaha and Lincoln on the same days. Have one question for you @MGolka, if you don’t mind. I will be arriving to Henry Doorly later on in the afternoon (about 1), this will be more fourth trip, so I am familiar with the zoo and have a route planned (Lied Jungle first end at Desert Dome). But my question is what time do they kick you out? They say the buildings are open until 6 minus the Lied Jungle.
Persephone’s 2024 Road Trips
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Persephone
Well-Known Member
Oh cool, another traveler! If either of you want to meet up (assuming you are legal adults) I’m down.
They will lock the buildings down at 6 but I haven’t ever had anyone necessarily kick me out around that time. Slowly things stop operating throughout afternoon like trams, railroad, and Skyfari so i think the zoo pretty much knows most people won’t hang around too often after that stuff closes. The main gate stops admissions at 5 as well. I think if you “look” like you are making your way to an exit you won’t get bothered too much, but I think if you start to linger too long in one spot or are walking away from an entrance you might get asked to make your way to the front.
I am also trying to plan an early fall trip to Omaha so this is all very useful and excited to see @Persephone 's thoughts.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Lincoln Children’s Zoo
I haven’t really gone out of my way to research these zoos. I knew by far the least about this one. Half my google searches showed results for Lincoln Park. Having been, does it deserve to live in the shadow of not only Henry Doorly, but a similarly named zoo two states away?
Yes.
It’s not bad! I enjoyed my time. It just isn’t great. To start with, it has to be one of the smallest zoos I’ve been to. Wikipedia lists it at ten acres. It felt a little bigger but I could believe that. They mostly try to make up for that disadvantage by having smaller species. There are tigers and giraffes near the front and camels in the back but that’s about it for giant animals. As a result (almost) none of the exhibits feel way too small. Just on the smaller side of acceptable for the species. The bobcat, camel, alpaca, and maybe emu exhibits were the only I really wish they’d either expand or replace. Also the parrots on a stick. They even have a large unoccupied aviary at the moment.
Okay, so, ten acres. What do they got? Quite a bit, actually. Six species of cats, crocodiles, otters, giraffes, a fair few primates, one canid, penguins, flamingoes, red pandas, and camels for the ABC animals.
It leans into the children’s zoo angle by having a lot of play areas for kids. About as many as major exhibits.
Most exhibits are pretty simple. A few stood out. The red panda enclosure has a lot of overhead walkways between different plots of land. The penguin exhibit was basic but had a chart to identify individuals based on their wing tags. I like that. The serval had a lot of verticality and a fair bit of space for the species. Probably more than the clouded leopards. There was a nice little well-themed ravine area with otters, turtles, koi, and crocodiles. The naked mole rat exhibit was a series of tubes and chambers, but in 3D! It wasn’t just a wall. Most chambers had three exits and it spread over a decent little space. The butterfly house has free q-tips to dip in (also free) nectar. I had no luck but others did.
And I got to see great argus without even setting foot in Henry Doorly!
Is there a reason to go over Henry Doorly? Probably two. If you have young kids who might appreciate the play areas or if you’re a college student who can’t easily get to Omaha for a day trip.
It’s a perfectly adequate small zoo. Still wouldn’t be surprised if it lost accreditation as standards rise. You can go back to ignoring it unless you’re in Lincoln and have some time to kill.
Of course, there’s another, probably better, way to do that.
University of Nebraska State Museum
Thanks to @MGolka for telling me about this. There’s a natural history museum on UNebraska’s campus. It’s pretty nice. Has a large central hall with skeletons and teeth from prehistoric elephants, which Nebraska apparently had a ton of. Other highlights include a giant camel reconstruction and a good gallery on the Photo Ark project, which is apparently based out of Lincoln. Lots of Pleistocene animal fossils in general. The native history gallery is currently closed due to laws requiring tribal permission to display their artifacts. Which is going to be more and more of an indictment of museums that have to keep their galleries closed as time rolls on. There’s also a single species in their living collection, the European honey bee.
I spent a little less than two hours here and enjoyed it well enough. Probably more than the zoo. After that I went on a stroll to the Haymarket district, got dinner, and walked back to my car. The campus is pretty. A lot of sculptures. Glad I’m not here on game day.
Tomorrow I’m planning to hit whatever I have time and energy for around Omaha. Starting with Lee Simmons. Then the Durham Museum and maybe the Luminarium. We’ll see how long everything takes. Saving Henry Doorly for last so I have better weather.
I haven’t really gone out of my way to research these zoos. I knew by far the least about this one. Half my google searches showed results for Lincoln Park. Having been, does it deserve to live in the shadow of not only Henry Doorly, but a similarly named zoo two states away?
Yes.
It’s not bad! I enjoyed my time. It just isn’t great. To start with, it has to be one of the smallest zoos I’ve been to. Wikipedia lists it at ten acres. It felt a little bigger but I could believe that. They mostly try to make up for that disadvantage by having smaller species. There are tigers and giraffes near the front and camels in the back but that’s about it for giant animals. As a result (almost) none of the exhibits feel way too small. Just on the smaller side of acceptable for the species. The bobcat, camel, alpaca, and maybe emu exhibits were the only I really wish they’d either expand or replace. Also the parrots on a stick. They even have a large unoccupied aviary at the moment.
Okay, so, ten acres. What do they got? Quite a bit, actually. Six species of cats, crocodiles, otters, giraffes, a fair few primates, one canid, penguins, flamingoes, red pandas, and camels for the ABC animals.
It leans into the children’s zoo angle by having a lot of play areas for kids. About as many as major exhibits.
Most exhibits are pretty simple. A few stood out. The red panda enclosure has a lot of overhead walkways between different plots of land. The penguin exhibit was basic but had a chart to identify individuals based on their wing tags. I like that. The serval had a lot of verticality and a fair bit of space for the species. Probably more than the clouded leopards. There was a nice little well-themed ravine area with otters, turtles, koi, and crocodiles. The naked mole rat exhibit was a series of tubes and chambers, but in 3D! It wasn’t just a wall. Most chambers had three exits and it spread over a decent little space. The butterfly house has free q-tips to dip in (also free) nectar. I had no luck but others did.
And I got to see great argus without even setting foot in Henry Doorly!
Is there a reason to go over Henry Doorly? Probably two. If you have young kids who might appreciate the play areas or if you’re a college student who can’t easily get to Omaha for a day trip.
It’s a perfectly adequate small zoo. Still wouldn’t be surprised if it lost accreditation as standards rise. You can go back to ignoring it unless you’re in Lincoln and have some time to kill.
Of course, there’s another, probably better, way to do that.
University of Nebraska State Museum
Thanks to @MGolka for telling me about this. There’s a natural history museum on UNebraska’s campus. It’s pretty nice. Has a large central hall with skeletons and teeth from prehistoric elephants, which Nebraska apparently had a ton of. Other highlights include a giant camel reconstruction and a good gallery on the Photo Ark project, which is apparently based out of Lincoln. Lots of Pleistocene animal fossils in general. The native history gallery is currently closed due to laws requiring tribal permission to display their artifacts. Which is going to be more and more of an indictment of museums that have to keep their galleries closed as time rolls on. There’s also a single species in their living collection, the European honey bee.
I spent a little less than two hours here and enjoyed it well enough. Probably more than the zoo. After that I went on a stroll to the Haymarket district, got dinner, and walked back to my car. The campus is pretty. A lot of sculptures. Glad I’m not here on game day.
Tomorrow I’m planning to hit whatever I have time and energy for around Omaha. Starting with Lee Simmons. Then the Durham Museum and maybe the Luminarium. We’ll see how long everything takes. Saving Henry Doorly for last so I have better weather.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari
The Wilds is my favorite all time zoo experience. Henry Doorly is widely regarded as one of America’s best zoos. Surely a Henry Doorly run safari park is in my all time top five, right?
Well… it’s fine. Above average. Enjoyable.
The main draw of the safari park is the self-guided safari where you drive your own car through three large hoofstock paddocks and beside two waterfowl areas. The three paddocks hold elk, deer, and bison. And, to be completely honest, this part was the weak link of the experience. If I wanted to see white tail deer from my car I would just drive around town at dusk. Elk and bison are rarer but the requirement to keep moving in most parts of the tour and the need to keep an eye on the road meant that I didn’t really get to see them for that long. Almost all the elk were clustered in one area without a pull off point nearby. I did admittedly get to pull off and look at a herd of bison wading in a small pond or taking dust baths. That was one of the highlights. But, to be entirely honest, the enclosures aren’t so big that they require a drive through component. You could definitely just have like a zoo train or long hiking trails around the perimeter. I also feel like it’s missing something compared to the other safari park type attractions I’ve done (The Wilds, DAK, the one in Sandusky, OH): stuff going on. Three species total is a lot less than any of the other safari parks. There weren’t even particularly large herds for them. Most of the time was spent driving slowly with nothing at all in view only to have to pass the one thing you can see in twenty seconds or so.
The terrain is beautiful, at least. It was wonderful to see a bison paddock that still looked pretty lush.
There are two waterfowl-type paddocks. The first has a good-sized flick of white pelicans. You can park and get onto a boardwalk but unless you really want to look at pelicans and turtles there’s not much point. There’s another area for cranes, swans, and waterfowl that was genuinely the best part of the whole place. They had a decent flock of Sandhills that were being very vocal while I was there. They also approach the road and can be easily seen from the viewing tower. The two trumpeter swans had six or so older cygnets trailing after them. Blocked the road off for a while when I drove through.
Okay, so, the drive through’s a mixed bag. What about the parts where you stop and get out? Much better, actually.
At the visitor center there’s one of the best prairie dog exhibits I’ve seen. Also had ornate box turtles and a noteworthy amount of mice in it. Genuinely wish the mice had signage. There are also four perfectly good exhibits for small carnivores. The swift fox was tearing into a meal when I arrived. Didn’t mind my presence.
The bigger stop is about halfway through the safari. There are a few herp terrariums, a petting area for African Pygmy goats, some owl aviaries, and three really solid predator exhibits. The first is probably the largest bald eagle aviary I’ve seen. It’s built into a wetland and was home to at least five eagles. You can also walk into it.
Then the wolf canyon has two large forested exhibits for American black bears and grey wolves. The black bears were in their (pretty large) holding area while I was there. Shame. The exhibit has a lot of space for them and many trees that didn’t seem to be hot wired.
The wolves have a pretty massive canyon exhibit viewable from the front and a trail along the back. I could not see them from the front. Went to see them around back. Somehow got on the wrong trail and went on a mile long strenuous hike to a dried-up pond. I was not properly equipped for a hike of that intensity. After that I got on the correct trail and still did not see a wolf. It’s an excellent habitat for the species but you would need a minor miracle to actually see them in it during the heat of the day.
Overall, it’s worth $12. Make sure you take the right trail if you want to see the wolf enclosure from behind. If you have not seen a wolf habitat in the last three minutes you are on the wrong path and need to turn around.
Durham Museum
The museum recommends spending 45 minutes to an hour here. Do not trust the museum. You need at least twice that. I decided I had time to walk there from the hotel and see the whole thing. I did not. It took me nearly an hour just to get through the upper level galleries and the traveling exhibits. The current temporary exhibits are on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Jane Goodall. Both are fascinating for animal nerds and can eat a lot of time. I kind of had to rush through the main gallery. Wish I had more time. There was a part on a technically-not-World’s-Fair that seemed really interesting. I highly recommend checking this place out, especially if you’ll be here before the traveling exhibits leave in October. Just give it two to three hours and remember they close at 4, even on summer weekends, which is absurdly early if you ask me.
Heartland Park
I realized I did not have time for the Luminarium but at least wanted to walk through the park to the exterior. It’s a top tier urban park. The large pond had a gaggle of greylag geese who were not at all bothered by people. Gorgeous birds. Got within four feet of the bench I was on. The rest of the park has some fun points of interest like a cool pier over the river, an artificial cascade area, and a skate rink. One of the better traditional city parks I’ve seen.
Downtown Omaha also seems to have a lot of murals and sculptures which is cool. It’s a pretty city.
tl;dr for people coming to Omaha, go to the Durham Museum. Lee G. Simmons if you’re really into native species but it’s otherwise skippable. Heartland Park could be worth some time in the evening if you’re in the mood for a nice walk.
Henry Doorly tomorrow and Monday. Very excited.
The Wilds is my favorite all time zoo experience. Henry Doorly is widely regarded as one of America’s best zoos. Surely a Henry Doorly run safari park is in my all time top five, right?
Well… it’s fine. Above average. Enjoyable.
The main draw of the safari park is the self-guided safari where you drive your own car through three large hoofstock paddocks and beside two waterfowl areas. The three paddocks hold elk, deer, and bison. And, to be completely honest, this part was the weak link of the experience. If I wanted to see white tail deer from my car I would just drive around town at dusk. Elk and bison are rarer but the requirement to keep moving in most parts of the tour and the need to keep an eye on the road meant that I didn’t really get to see them for that long. Almost all the elk were clustered in one area without a pull off point nearby. I did admittedly get to pull off and look at a herd of bison wading in a small pond or taking dust baths. That was one of the highlights. But, to be entirely honest, the enclosures aren’t so big that they require a drive through component. You could definitely just have like a zoo train or long hiking trails around the perimeter. I also feel like it’s missing something compared to the other safari park type attractions I’ve done (The Wilds, DAK, the one in Sandusky, OH): stuff going on. Three species total is a lot less than any of the other safari parks. There weren’t even particularly large herds for them. Most of the time was spent driving slowly with nothing at all in view only to have to pass the one thing you can see in twenty seconds or so.
The terrain is beautiful, at least. It was wonderful to see a bison paddock that still looked pretty lush.
There are two waterfowl-type paddocks. The first has a good-sized flick of white pelicans. You can park and get onto a boardwalk but unless you really want to look at pelicans and turtles there’s not much point. There’s another area for cranes, swans, and waterfowl that was genuinely the best part of the whole place. They had a decent flock of Sandhills that were being very vocal while I was there. They also approach the road and can be easily seen from the viewing tower. The two trumpeter swans had six or so older cygnets trailing after them. Blocked the road off for a while when I drove through.
Okay, so, the drive through’s a mixed bag. What about the parts where you stop and get out? Much better, actually.
At the visitor center there’s one of the best prairie dog exhibits I’ve seen. Also had ornate box turtles and a noteworthy amount of mice in it. Genuinely wish the mice had signage. There are also four perfectly good exhibits for small carnivores. The swift fox was tearing into a meal when I arrived. Didn’t mind my presence.
The bigger stop is about halfway through the safari. There are a few herp terrariums, a petting area for African Pygmy goats, some owl aviaries, and three really solid predator exhibits. The first is probably the largest bald eagle aviary I’ve seen. It’s built into a wetland and was home to at least five eagles. You can also walk into it.
Then the wolf canyon has two large forested exhibits for American black bears and grey wolves. The black bears were in their (pretty large) holding area while I was there. Shame. The exhibit has a lot of space for them and many trees that didn’t seem to be hot wired.
The wolves have a pretty massive canyon exhibit viewable from the front and a trail along the back. I could not see them from the front. Went to see them around back. Somehow got on the wrong trail and went on a mile long strenuous hike to a dried-up pond. I was not properly equipped for a hike of that intensity. After that I got on the correct trail and still did not see a wolf. It’s an excellent habitat for the species but you would need a minor miracle to actually see them in it during the heat of the day.
Overall, it’s worth $12. Make sure you take the right trail if you want to see the wolf enclosure from behind. If you have not seen a wolf habitat in the last three minutes you are on the wrong path and need to turn around.
Durham Museum
The museum recommends spending 45 minutes to an hour here. Do not trust the museum. You need at least twice that. I decided I had time to walk there from the hotel and see the whole thing. I did not. It took me nearly an hour just to get through the upper level galleries and the traveling exhibits. The current temporary exhibits are on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Jane Goodall. Both are fascinating for animal nerds and can eat a lot of time. I kind of had to rush through the main gallery. Wish I had more time. There was a part on a technically-not-World’s-Fair that seemed really interesting. I highly recommend checking this place out, especially if you’ll be here before the traveling exhibits leave in October. Just give it two to three hours and remember they close at 4, even on summer weekends, which is absurdly early if you ask me.
Heartland Park
I realized I did not have time for the Luminarium but at least wanted to walk through the park to the exterior. It’s a top tier urban park. The large pond had a gaggle of greylag geese who were not at all bothered by people. Gorgeous birds. Got within four feet of the bench I was on. The rest of the park has some fun points of interest like a cool pier over the river, an artificial cascade area, and a skate rink. One of the better traditional city parks I’ve seen.
Downtown Omaha also seems to have a lot of murals and sculptures which is cool. It’s a pretty city.
tl;dr for people coming to Omaha, go to the Durham Museum. Lee G. Simmons if you’re really into native species but it’s otherwise skippable. Heartland Park could be worth some time in the evening if you’re in the mood for a nice walk.
Henry Doorly tomorrow and Monday. Very excited.
I feel I share your sentiment on the Safari park even though I’m local. Even though it has been around about 25 years now, I never visited until 2020 and thought the terrain interesting but that the species per paddock was underwhelming. The only reason it gets voted as #1 is because Omaha zoo locals show unrelenting support to our attractions and I’m fairly certain many don’t know other Safari parks even exist nor offer the same types of experiences that this one does. I hear it all the time in Omaha when I tell others of my travels to other zoos in the country, “Why go to X place when we have that here?!”
Like you note, it is perfectly fine. I do think the Bald Eagle walk in aviary may be the best part and it is definitely one of the most difficult places to actually spot a wolf in the massive heavily vegetated canyon.
I’m glad you got to experience some of the Durham, it is a fantastic history museum situated in Omaha’s old Union Station. I love that you touched on the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition exhibit as that is hands down my favorite part of the museum. I am completely blown away that something like that existed at one point in my city and like most of those expositions in that timeframe, was completely obliterated by a fire to where not much is left of the grandeur on display there. There is an Images of America on the exposition that includes many of the images from the museum’s gallery.
I’m also glad you got to visit Morrill Hall, the Srate Museum in Lincoln. An underrated hidden gem that gets overshadowed by many other things in Lincoln or Omaha.
Like you note, it is perfectly fine. I do think the Bald Eagle walk in aviary may be the best part and it is definitely one of the most difficult places to actually spot a wolf in the massive heavily vegetated canyon.
I’m glad you got to experience some of the Durham, it is a fantastic history museum situated in Omaha’s old Union Station. I love that you touched on the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition exhibit as that is hands down my favorite part of the museum. I am completely blown away that something like that existed at one point in my city and like most of those expositions in that timeframe, was completely obliterated by a fire to where not much is left of the grandeur on display there. There is an Images of America on the exposition that includes many of the images from the museum’s gallery.
I’m also glad you got to visit Morrill Hall, the Srate Museum in Lincoln. An underrated hidden gem that gets overshadowed by many other things in Lincoln or Omaha.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo - Day 1
Some impressions before I got into the zoo.
1) Almost all payments for anything (food, tickets, rides) are done at automated touchscreens. This is usually fine. But there isn’t an option for the second day ticket. Apparently you need to flag down a staff member and ask for some magic input? I’m told I can get one if I bring my receipt back tomorrow.
2) Admission is ~$30 for an adult. Parking is free. This is a really good deal.
A note that applies to most of the zoo: Signage is bad. Not nonexistent. Most species are signed. But you’re probably only getting a name and one to three little factoids. Factoids include range, conservation status, etc. The pangasius wasn’t even signed. Neither was a pheasant in the Simmons Aviary a lot of other guests were curious about. Some of the more charismatic species have more signage but it’s hit or miss. I was really expecting more.
Lied Jungle
I’ve always found indoor jungles a little underwhelming. Minnesota’s is nice enough. Fort Wayne’s is clearly just a decent aviary with an indoor orangutan exhibit along the edges. Cleveland’s came closest to showing the promise of the concept.
Tropic World is certainly the most awe-inspiring I’ve seen, but these days it feels almost lifeless. A handful of species in a big box made of brown concrete.
I wasn’t expecting anything from this one until I read the species list. Then my standards were raised. The actual building blew them away.
To start with, it’s really big. The pillars holding up the dome are modeled after trees and there’s a lot of live vegetation around to make it feel like a massive forest. The rockwork also does a lot of compression-release to make the space feel even larger. It feels like Tropic World is there was actual life crammed into every corner - plants, mammals, birds, fish. It’s almost proof that the concept would have worked if it hadn’t been attempted so early.
The compression is one of the problems I do have with it. The tunnels really slowed the crowd down and I often didn’t think I could or should step to the side to look at something. This goes for Desert Dome, too. The one perk of the tunnel is that a dark overhang allowed for a view of a giant colony of Egyptian fruit bats pressed against each other in a living carpet. Genuinely one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a zoo.
The Malayan tapir and Pygmy hippo exhibits don’t feel too small for the species. The tapir actually made me rethink how most zoos exhibit the species. I usually just see grassy fields with a shallow pool for bathing. The land area for the tapir was fairly small in comparison but they had a large pool (including a waterfall shower) that they made the most of, swimming back and forth for a long while. Most active I’ve ever seen a tapir.
Next door are the howler monkeys. Well, first is a blue-vervet monkey exhibit that was opaque and unsigned. I often found myself using the species list from Zoochat just to figure out what I was supposed to be looking at.
The howlers were going at it for the fifteen+ minutes I was standing there, looking for the Nile Softshell. I did (briefly) see them, but the howlers were a lot of fun in the meantime. There were also waterfowl near the pool to look at.
I did not end up seeing the elephant shrew, which was expected given my luck with the Brookfield ones, but the time I spent looking was rewarded with some very cute pygmy geese and an active turaco.
The Pygmy hippo baby is on display and they’re very cute. Was staying pressed against their mother. Best photo opportunity of the day.
The ground level viewing was kind of disappointing. I was expecting underwater views of the pangasius and Arapaima and got the tilapia and tapir instead. Weird choice. The Philippine croc above water viewing is also only through a single awkwardly placed window. It was still cool to walk the forest floor. I spent about ninety minutes in Lied Jungle and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my all time favorite zoo exhibits.
After looking at the okapi next door I got a perfectly acceptable but utterly unremarkable burger and wanted to see how this zoo tackled African megafauna.
African Grasslands
It’s fine? Good, I think. Just not at the same heights as the indoor exhibits.
The meerkat / leopard tortoise / klipspringer exhibit had a good amount of verticality and a play room for the meerkats. All three species were active. Impala are always fun to see. I feel like I don’t see them very often. The main hoofstock exhibit is pretty large and still well-planted. The elephant and rhino exhibits were almost completely barren but those species tend to do that. For the elephants, the main thing to note: they have at least five babies. I have never seen that many baby elephants. The exhibit for the females isn’t even that impressive but they’re clearly doing something right. Absolutely adorable little giants.
It’s a shame the rhinos have to be separated from the other hoofstock. Their yard is perfectly serviceable but nothing special. The yard that I assume is for bulls and zebra (but didn’t have any elephant in it at the time) was a good size and had a nice pool. I didn’t see a separation area for the zebra but the area was on a slope so I assume they could just outrun an elephant. Or there’s a separation area I missed.
The cheetah, lion, bongo, and sable antelope exhibits are all quite good. The lions had a ton of verticality, the bongos a lot of space, and the cheetah and sable antelope exhibits did not feel too small. Sable antelope were either new for me or I haven’t seen them in long enough I forgot about them. Omaha doesn’t have the biggest hoofstock collection but it has some good ones.
Garden of the Senses
A decent enough garden with parrots on sticks, which is a shame because they have some big free flight spaces throughout the zoo. If this gets demolished between now and my next visit I probably wouldn’t notice.
Lagoon
Two bridges over a pond. There’s an island for spider monkeys. Didn’t see spider monkeys. Ton of koi below. It’s atmospheric but also not something I’d miss.
Stingray Bay
I couldn’t find a species list with a quick search and I thought there might be some rarities or a shark or horseshoe crab or something. Nope. Southern and Cownose rays. Completely unsigned. Waste of $5.
Expedition Madagascar
By this point it had been about two hours since Lied and I was kind of forgetting why this place has such a sterling reputation. This reminded me. I didn’t actually have good luck seeing eulemurs outdoors or indoors. Still saw the tenrec, mouse lemur, and aye-aye. Took me a while to get a good clear view of the aye-aye given the lighting and I spent a long time trying to find the mouse lemur. Totally worth it for both. Both were being very active. Aye-Aye was pacing between branches and doing part of it upside-down. Mouse lemur is surprisingly fast when bouncing around. Usually had to track the shadow rather than the lemur. Signage emphasizes conservation challenges in Madagascar. Does a bad job for individual species. Fossa was active at the end. Shame the lemur walkthrough is still closed, and is likely permanently done. If primate walkthroughs are a no-go post covid I would be fine with them turning it into an aviary for Malagasy birds.
Simmons Aviary
I kept hearing guests say they were skipping this. And… I kind of get it. To be clear, I’m not 100% sure what all was in there. There was no master list of species and I saw at least one not on any sign. Highlights are cranes, pelicans, and flamingoes. I’ve seen plenty of all of them, even if pink-backed pelicans are a little rarer. The ibis large collection was fun. Pheasants feel underused in zoos. Don’t get me wrong, I love that there is a massive waterfowl aviary but the actual species list (as I understand it) was a little underwhelming. A good part of the trip, still, and I enjoyed watching the geese and pelicans. Sat down for a long time in the shade to watch the birds.
Asian Highlands
I don’t know why the only species anyone ever puts with red panda are Reeve’s muntjac. It almost feels like an inside joke at this point. I saw them but not the other two small ungulates (Goral, tufted deer). Will come back tomorrow for another shot.
This area feels mixed. The tiger, caprid, and sloth bear exhibits are all excellent. The mixed deer - rhino exhibit is all mud because rhinos so I feel kind of bad for the deer. Got to see an Indian rhino wallow in a shallow mud pool. That was fun. Rhino exhibit is fine for space but not amazing.
I really wish they did more with the safari park. Have one paddock for native species, one for Asian, one African. It would let them have world class hoofstock displays on the land they already won.
Snow leopard exhibit was a little small but not egregious given the low industry standard for the species. I get that leopards are not lion or tiger sized but they are still large, active cats.
I accidentally saw a tiger training and it was cool.
There’s a garden with sculptures of small animals and it feels like the biggest waste of space in the entire zoo. I get that they can’t actually have pikas or pangolins, but why do they need an area that big to convey to guests that they exist?
Sea Lion Shores / Glacier Bay Landing
From past threads / discussions I was under the impression that Henry Doorly had America’s definitive pinniped exhibit. It was… good. High tier. Wave pool and pupping beach are cool innovations. In terms of size I think it’s behind Como Park and St. Louis. I was expecting more. But sea lions are one of the best display animals for a reason. My feet were killing me so I just sat in the shade and watched them swim around until my feet no longer hurt. Never came close to getting bored.
Okay, Glacier Landing — why does this exist? Was there supposed to be more that just got replaced with a splash pad? I get that polar bears are a pain to acquire but if they’re going to make an entire PNW / Arctic themed area I’d expect at least like snowy owls and wolverines.
Children’s Zoo
It has budgies, goats, and prairie dogs. None of the exhibits are exceptional. The playground looks cool but you can 100% skip this if you don’t have children.
Desert Dome
This place is absolutely carried by its buildings. The outdoor exhibits are good but would not put it in the same conversation as Bronx, San Diego, or even really Columbus.
The dome starts with the one and only exhibit at the zoo that I thought was way too small: bat-eared foxes. This is partially excused by the recent litter of kits being pretty big now. I suspect they get moved out soon. But it’s still a sad excuse of an exhibit for animals that size, in my opinion.
The hyraxes were off exhibit which is a major shame. Honestly I don’t remember much of the Africa section. I liked the duck pond?
Red Center is great. Inland taipan and perentie are the main rarities but it’s a really solid herp collection in general. The zoo as a whole excels there, especially with amphibians.
North America has the African wildcat for some reason. I did not see them. I really tried. Backed up, looked from every angle, waited for fifteen minutes. No dice. Going to try again tomorrow. Then again, I also couldn’t see the ocelot and the bobcat were off exhibit. Maybe it was just a bad day for desert cats? Also I don’t get why the turkey vultures are presumably clipped. They’re just scavengers. Can’t see them eating or being eaten by any of the animals that aren’t already netted off. Oh, final note for North America: the “how many diamondbacks are in this exhibit (hint: it’s more than you think)” is a lot of fun. So many rattlers. Really justified the space through sheer numbers. Wish there were more giant herp exhibits like that to help with crowd flow.
So, a few excellent rarities. Great rockwork. Best desert building I’ve seen. And that’s without factoring in the basement.
Kingdom of the Night
Second best exhibit. One of my favorites of all time. I thought the springhaas were gone and was absolutely delighted to see them. I’d seen one at Milwaukee and it has stuck with me ever since. Beyond that: freshwater crocs, bulldog bats, douroucouli, slippery frogs. Every time I thought I’d seen the last cool rarity there was another one. The use of the central pillar in the desert dome for an incredible cave vista was also inspired.
Only note is that I am really surprised the lawyers okayed a large pool of water with no fence around it, unsupervised, with no signs noting it’s not glass covered please don’t approach. I almost saw a kid fall in. It’s cool that it exists but like. You can rope that off. Or put signage. It won’t hurt anyone.
The swamp is such a great finale. Best exhibit for beavers I’ve ever seen. Got to see them swimming around and eating. It feels incredible that this place exists at all. Kingdoms of the Night and Lied Jungle make for an absolutely incredible one-two punch that alone would put Omaha into “best American zoo” consideration.
Mutual of Omaha Pavilion
It’s a small space but I liked it. Signage felt better than usual. Or maybe I was just more familiar with the species. Big toads. Two mice species, both great. The harvest mice have a ton of threshed grain put in their exhibit they can climb up and down. They’re so small. Saw three cuddling halfway up the pile. The fish selection is also pretty great. Don’t skip this one. You won’t spend a lot of time here but it has some lovely rarities with good presentation.
Food
Okay I guess I have another complaint. Food was fine and reasonably priced. Forgot my first burger immediately upon eating it. But a lot of places were closed despite being a holiday weekend. The restaurant in the Asian highlands was open but only had chips and drinks. Ended up eating at the restaurant in Glacier Bay. It had a burger that looked pretty good on account of being coated in melted cheese. Thought maybe it’s a different vendor since the first one was marked Omaha Steaks. Nope. Same burger, just with a different type of cheese on top. Not melted at all. Very disappointing. The garlic Parmesan fries were an S-tier zoo snack, though.
This isn’t explained anywhere but caused me some pain so I’ll say it for other visitors. You order at a touch screen. Give your name. Then you have to get in line at the pickup window, show them the receipt, and wait for your food. They will not just call your name or anything. You have to get into the second line.
What Remains?
The aquarium, the apes, the insectarium. I also plan to make a second go at Asian highlands for the Goral and tufted deer and desert dome / kingdoms of the night for the wildcat and douroucouli. I noticed there are amphitheater shows at 10 and 11. Are these worth going to? Was thinking about stopping in since I doubt the other things take a full day.
Some impressions before I got into the zoo.
1) Almost all payments for anything (food, tickets, rides) are done at automated touchscreens. This is usually fine. But there isn’t an option for the second day ticket. Apparently you need to flag down a staff member and ask for some magic input? I’m told I can get one if I bring my receipt back tomorrow.
2) Admission is ~$30 for an adult. Parking is free. This is a really good deal.
A note that applies to most of the zoo: Signage is bad. Not nonexistent. Most species are signed. But you’re probably only getting a name and one to three little factoids. Factoids include range, conservation status, etc. The pangasius wasn’t even signed. Neither was a pheasant in the Simmons Aviary a lot of other guests were curious about. Some of the more charismatic species have more signage but it’s hit or miss. I was really expecting more.
Lied Jungle
I’ve always found indoor jungles a little underwhelming. Minnesota’s is nice enough. Fort Wayne’s is clearly just a decent aviary with an indoor orangutan exhibit along the edges. Cleveland’s came closest to showing the promise of the concept.
Tropic World is certainly the most awe-inspiring I’ve seen, but these days it feels almost lifeless. A handful of species in a big box made of brown concrete.
I wasn’t expecting anything from this one until I read the species list. Then my standards were raised. The actual building blew them away.
To start with, it’s really big. The pillars holding up the dome are modeled after trees and there’s a lot of live vegetation around to make it feel like a massive forest. The rockwork also does a lot of compression-release to make the space feel even larger. It feels like Tropic World is there was actual life crammed into every corner - plants, mammals, birds, fish. It’s almost proof that the concept would have worked if it hadn’t been attempted so early.
The compression is one of the problems I do have with it. The tunnels really slowed the crowd down and I often didn’t think I could or should step to the side to look at something. This goes for Desert Dome, too. The one perk of the tunnel is that a dark overhang allowed for a view of a giant colony of Egyptian fruit bats pressed against each other in a living carpet. Genuinely one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a zoo.
The Malayan tapir and Pygmy hippo exhibits don’t feel too small for the species. The tapir actually made me rethink how most zoos exhibit the species. I usually just see grassy fields with a shallow pool for bathing. The land area for the tapir was fairly small in comparison but they had a large pool (including a waterfall shower) that they made the most of, swimming back and forth for a long while. Most active I’ve ever seen a tapir.
Next door are the howler monkeys. Well, first is a blue-vervet monkey exhibit that was opaque and unsigned. I often found myself using the species list from Zoochat just to figure out what I was supposed to be looking at.
The howlers were going at it for the fifteen+ minutes I was standing there, looking for the Nile Softshell. I did (briefly) see them, but the howlers were a lot of fun in the meantime. There were also waterfowl near the pool to look at.
I did not end up seeing the elephant shrew, which was expected given my luck with the Brookfield ones, but the time I spent looking was rewarded with some very cute pygmy geese and an active turaco.
The Pygmy hippo baby is on display and they’re very cute. Was staying pressed against their mother. Best photo opportunity of the day.
The ground level viewing was kind of disappointing. I was expecting underwater views of the pangasius and Arapaima and got the tilapia and tapir instead. Weird choice. The Philippine croc above water viewing is also only through a single awkwardly placed window. It was still cool to walk the forest floor. I spent about ninety minutes in Lied Jungle and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my all time favorite zoo exhibits.
After looking at the okapi next door I got a perfectly acceptable but utterly unremarkable burger and wanted to see how this zoo tackled African megafauna.
African Grasslands
It’s fine? Good, I think. Just not at the same heights as the indoor exhibits.
The meerkat / leopard tortoise / klipspringer exhibit had a good amount of verticality and a play room for the meerkats. All three species were active. Impala are always fun to see. I feel like I don’t see them very often. The main hoofstock exhibit is pretty large and still well-planted. The elephant and rhino exhibits were almost completely barren but those species tend to do that. For the elephants, the main thing to note: they have at least five babies. I have never seen that many baby elephants. The exhibit for the females isn’t even that impressive but they’re clearly doing something right. Absolutely adorable little giants.
It’s a shame the rhinos have to be separated from the other hoofstock. Their yard is perfectly serviceable but nothing special. The yard that I assume is for bulls and zebra (but didn’t have any elephant in it at the time) was a good size and had a nice pool. I didn’t see a separation area for the zebra but the area was on a slope so I assume they could just outrun an elephant. Or there’s a separation area I missed.
The cheetah, lion, bongo, and sable antelope exhibits are all quite good. The lions had a ton of verticality, the bongos a lot of space, and the cheetah and sable antelope exhibits did not feel too small. Sable antelope were either new for me or I haven’t seen them in long enough I forgot about them. Omaha doesn’t have the biggest hoofstock collection but it has some good ones.
Garden of the Senses
A decent enough garden with parrots on sticks, which is a shame because they have some big free flight spaces throughout the zoo. If this gets demolished between now and my next visit I probably wouldn’t notice.
Lagoon
Two bridges over a pond. There’s an island for spider monkeys. Didn’t see spider monkeys. Ton of koi below. It’s atmospheric but also not something I’d miss.
Stingray Bay
I couldn’t find a species list with a quick search and I thought there might be some rarities or a shark or horseshoe crab or something. Nope. Southern and Cownose rays. Completely unsigned. Waste of $5.
Expedition Madagascar
By this point it had been about two hours since Lied and I was kind of forgetting why this place has such a sterling reputation. This reminded me. I didn’t actually have good luck seeing eulemurs outdoors or indoors. Still saw the tenrec, mouse lemur, and aye-aye. Took me a while to get a good clear view of the aye-aye given the lighting and I spent a long time trying to find the mouse lemur. Totally worth it for both. Both were being very active. Aye-Aye was pacing between branches and doing part of it upside-down. Mouse lemur is surprisingly fast when bouncing around. Usually had to track the shadow rather than the lemur. Signage emphasizes conservation challenges in Madagascar. Does a bad job for individual species. Fossa was active at the end. Shame the lemur walkthrough is still closed, and is likely permanently done. If primate walkthroughs are a no-go post covid I would be fine with them turning it into an aviary for Malagasy birds.
Simmons Aviary
I kept hearing guests say they were skipping this. And… I kind of get it. To be clear, I’m not 100% sure what all was in there. There was no master list of species and I saw at least one not on any sign. Highlights are cranes, pelicans, and flamingoes. I’ve seen plenty of all of them, even if pink-backed pelicans are a little rarer. The ibis large collection was fun. Pheasants feel underused in zoos. Don’t get me wrong, I love that there is a massive waterfowl aviary but the actual species list (as I understand it) was a little underwhelming. A good part of the trip, still, and I enjoyed watching the geese and pelicans. Sat down for a long time in the shade to watch the birds.
Asian Highlands
I don’t know why the only species anyone ever puts with red panda are Reeve’s muntjac. It almost feels like an inside joke at this point. I saw them but not the other two small ungulates (Goral, tufted deer). Will come back tomorrow for another shot.
This area feels mixed. The tiger, caprid, and sloth bear exhibits are all excellent. The mixed deer - rhino exhibit is all mud because rhinos so I feel kind of bad for the deer. Got to see an Indian rhino wallow in a shallow mud pool. That was fun. Rhino exhibit is fine for space but not amazing.
I really wish they did more with the safari park. Have one paddock for native species, one for Asian, one African. It would let them have world class hoofstock displays on the land they already won.
Snow leopard exhibit was a little small but not egregious given the low industry standard for the species. I get that leopards are not lion or tiger sized but they are still large, active cats.
I accidentally saw a tiger training and it was cool.
There’s a garden with sculptures of small animals and it feels like the biggest waste of space in the entire zoo. I get that they can’t actually have pikas or pangolins, but why do they need an area that big to convey to guests that they exist?
Sea Lion Shores / Glacier Bay Landing
From past threads / discussions I was under the impression that Henry Doorly had America’s definitive pinniped exhibit. It was… good. High tier. Wave pool and pupping beach are cool innovations. In terms of size I think it’s behind Como Park and St. Louis. I was expecting more. But sea lions are one of the best display animals for a reason. My feet were killing me so I just sat in the shade and watched them swim around until my feet no longer hurt. Never came close to getting bored.
Okay, Glacier Landing — why does this exist? Was there supposed to be more that just got replaced with a splash pad? I get that polar bears are a pain to acquire but if they’re going to make an entire PNW / Arctic themed area I’d expect at least like snowy owls and wolverines.
Children’s Zoo
It has budgies, goats, and prairie dogs. None of the exhibits are exceptional. The playground looks cool but you can 100% skip this if you don’t have children.
Desert Dome
This place is absolutely carried by its buildings. The outdoor exhibits are good but would not put it in the same conversation as Bronx, San Diego, or even really Columbus.
The dome starts with the one and only exhibit at the zoo that I thought was way too small: bat-eared foxes. This is partially excused by the recent litter of kits being pretty big now. I suspect they get moved out soon. But it’s still a sad excuse of an exhibit for animals that size, in my opinion.
The hyraxes were off exhibit which is a major shame. Honestly I don’t remember much of the Africa section. I liked the duck pond?
Red Center is great. Inland taipan and perentie are the main rarities but it’s a really solid herp collection in general. The zoo as a whole excels there, especially with amphibians.
North America has the African wildcat for some reason. I did not see them. I really tried. Backed up, looked from every angle, waited for fifteen minutes. No dice. Going to try again tomorrow. Then again, I also couldn’t see the ocelot and the bobcat were off exhibit. Maybe it was just a bad day for desert cats? Also I don’t get why the turkey vultures are presumably clipped. They’re just scavengers. Can’t see them eating or being eaten by any of the animals that aren’t already netted off. Oh, final note for North America: the “how many diamondbacks are in this exhibit (hint: it’s more than you think)” is a lot of fun. So many rattlers. Really justified the space through sheer numbers. Wish there were more giant herp exhibits like that to help with crowd flow.
So, a few excellent rarities. Great rockwork. Best desert building I’ve seen. And that’s without factoring in the basement.
Kingdom of the Night
Second best exhibit. One of my favorites of all time. I thought the springhaas were gone and was absolutely delighted to see them. I’d seen one at Milwaukee and it has stuck with me ever since. Beyond that: freshwater crocs, bulldog bats, douroucouli, slippery frogs. Every time I thought I’d seen the last cool rarity there was another one. The use of the central pillar in the desert dome for an incredible cave vista was also inspired.
Only note is that I am really surprised the lawyers okayed a large pool of water with no fence around it, unsupervised, with no signs noting it’s not glass covered please don’t approach. I almost saw a kid fall in. It’s cool that it exists but like. You can rope that off. Or put signage. It won’t hurt anyone.
The swamp is such a great finale. Best exhibit for beavers I’ve ever seen. Got to see them swimming around and eating. It feels incredible that this place exists at all. Kingdoms of the Night and Lied Jungle make for an absolutely incredible one-two punch that alone would put Omaha into “best American zoo” consideration.
Mutual of Omaha Pavilion
It’s a small space but I liked it. Signage felt better than usual. Or maybe I was just more familiar with the species. Big toads. Two mice species, both great. The harvest mice have a ton of threshed grain put in their exhibit they can climb up and down. They’re so small. Saw three cuddling halfway up the pile. The fish selection is also pretty great. Don’t skip this one. You won’t spend a lot of time here but it has some lovely rarities with good presentation.
Food
Okay I guess I have another complaint. Food was fine and reasonably priced. Forgot my first burger immediately upon eating it. But a lot of places were closed despite being a holiday weekend. The restaurant in the Asian highlands was open but only had chips and drinks. Ended up eating at the restaurant in Glacier Bay. It had a burger that looked pretty good on account of being coated in melted cheese. Thought maybe it’s a different vendor since the first one was marked Omaha Steaks. Nope. Same burger, just with a different type of cheese on top. Not melted at all. Very disappointing. The garlic Parmesan fries were an S-tier zoo snack, though.
This isn’t explained anywhere but caused me some pain so I’ll say it for other visitors. You order at a touch screen. Give your name. Then you have to get in line at the pickup window, show them the receipt, and wait for your food. They will not just call your name or anything. You have to get into the second line.
What Remains?
The aquarium, the apes, the insectarium. I also plan to make a second go at Asian highlands for the Goral and tufted deer and desert dome / kingdoms of the night for the wildcat and douroucouli. I noticed there are amphitheater shows at 10 and 11. Are these worth going to? Was thinking about stopping in since I doubt the other things take a full day.
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Best of luck with your second day and hope the return visit lets you see some of the missed species. I'm hoping to make my way to Omaha in a month or so, and all of these notes are super useful -- especially elated to hear about the babies on display!
The lack of signage sounds disappointing and I'm glad to know about that in advance.
The lack of signage sounds disappointing and I'm glad to know about that in advance.
There are/were plans to build an Alaskan exhibit nearby with polar bears, grizzlies, lynx and sea otters, but those plans seem to be on hold for the time being. The Glacier Bay Landing plaza replaced an old concessions area and is meant to tie in with the sea lions and splash pad.
There's a layer of glass a few inches beneath the surface that prevents anybody from falling in. I happen to like how minimal the barriers are. Reminds me of some European designs and makes for some amusing reactions from other visitors.
Really enjoyed the review (as well as the others from the last few days) and it's made me reminisce about my last visit to the zoo a few years ago. Couldn't agree more about the swamp area and the bats in Lied Jungle, both are which are truly brilliant. Surprised to hear you were underwhelmed by African Grasslands; I found it to be one of the best African exhibit complexes in a traditional zoo. By the same token, I'm not sure what more you could've wanted from the sea lion exhibit. I've seen all three of the ones you've mentioned and I am certain Omaha is the largest of the trio and easily the most dynamic in the country. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the ape complexes which were being renovated at the time of my last visit.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
There are/were plans to build an Alaskan exhibit nearby with polar bears, grizzlies, lynx and sea otters, but those plans seem to be on hold for the time being. The Glacier Bay Landing plaza replaced an old concessions area and is meant to tie in with the sea lions and splash pad.
There's a layer of glass a few inches beneath the surface that prevents anybody from falling in. I happen to like how minimal the barriers are. Reminds me of some European designs and makes for some amusing reactions from other visitors.
Really enjoyed the review (as well as the others from the last few days) and it's made me reminisce about my last visit to the zoo a few years ago. Couldn't agree more about the swamp area and the bats in Lied Jungle, both are which are truly brilliant. Surprised to hear you were underwhelmed by African Grasslands; I found it to be one of the best African exhibit complexes in a traditional zoo. By the same token, I'm not sure what more you could've wanted from the sea lion exhibit. I've seen all three of the ones you've mentioned and I am certain Omaha is the largest of the trio and easily the most dynamic in the country. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the ape complexes which were being renovated at the time of my last visit.
Okay knowing about the glass actually makes the exhibit hilarious if i gets reactions like mine. i literally laughed out loud upon learning that.
As for the outdoor exhibits:
I am now realizing that almost all the water area for the sea lions is behind the center island. I think my view was just distorted by, well, my view when I was sitting down and watching the sea lions. It looks like Henry Doorly, Como, and St. Louis are all within 10% of each other. It's also nearly twice the size of sea lion exhibits I think are generally good (Riverbanks, Smithsonian). Objections retracted upon review of the tape.
Similar for African Grasslands, actually. I was going into MyMaps all smug to get figures and they completely cut against me. The elephant exhibits didn't look big at the time because they're not terribly deep but the sheer length adds up to four acres between them. That's about as big as you're getting anywhere other than Disney and North Carolina. Looking at things from space also makes the lion and sable antelope enclosures bigger than they looked on the ground. Absolutely massive for the lions. I have a skyfari ticket I didn't use yesterday so I'll give it all another look from the air. Like, I totally thought Indy's elephant exhibit was the same size and Fort Wayne's hoofstock yard was way bigger. Nope. Omaha's twice the size of Indy and about the size of Ft. Wayne in those categories. Whole complex is over 20 acres. Absolutely dwarfs anyone who isn't North Carolina. About the size of Red Rocks and River's edge combined at St. Louis. I'm not sure I can find bigger ones outside NC and the Florida theme parks.
edit: Kansas City. That's what ruined me. But it's almost as unfair to compare a zoo to them as North Carolina on the Africa front.
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Persephone
Well-Known Member
It’s over.
Henry Doorly Zoo - Day 2
Stuff from yesterday:
Just a few quick notes. I think what got me about the exhibit size is that most places love to have grand view of their big enclosures where you can see an almost endless expanse. Omaha mostly doesn’t do that. Lied Jungle. Part of one of the elephant paddocks. The lions and sea lions have large visual barriers blocking off half the exhibit. The elephants and hoofstock are relatively narrow exhibits. I tried to keep that in mind for today’s reviews. I have yet to check MyMaps to get a full area comparison.
I passed through the Mutual of Omaha Pavilion a lot because it had convenient bathrooms and the harvest mice were always active. There are a lot of them in there, too, and I saw a pair in the process of making more. Great exhibit. Somehow one of my favorites at an excellent zoo.
I rode the Skyfari. It’s probably worth seven bucks. Maybe? Do you like elevated views and don’t mind heights? Do you want to experience the African Grasslands quickly? You don’t get a good view of the elephants or cheetahs but can see pretty much everything else.
Did a second round of Desert Dome & Kingdoms of the Night. I don’t think I saw the wildcat. I saw an orange mass behind the elevated bundle of wheat but it could have been a rock. Did see the ocelot and monkeys, which I didn’t yesterday. And it was hilarious to people watch by the cave tetras knowing there’s glass under the water. Saw a bulldog bat eat.
Most importantly, saw the beavers being fed. And the turtles creeping in to steal some. Happened a little after four. They had four beavers and they all seemed to be mature.
I watched the sea lion show. It was fun. If you’ve seen one of these things you’ve seen them all, but they did expand on each individual pinniped.
I saw that the Goral are almost never seen so I just went into the tufted deer. Got to see them being fed. This would have been at about 11:30.
Animal Shows
I watched the 10 and 11 a.m. shows. Don’t do that. They aren’t bad, but you’re at Henry Doorly. The bird show is standard and didn’t have anything that stood out too much. They do let guineafowl out to run through the crowd, which was at least novel and fun. The mammal show was an agility competition featuring Guineafowl and goats. They were not good at agility, which made it unintentionally hilarious. The birds were all off task, too. It was great for all the wrong reasons.
Hubbard Great Apes
I want to be sure of a few things regarding the gorillas. There is a family troop and a bachelor troop, correct? One has the small yard and one the large one. Which has access to the large day room? Do the colobus have outdoor access?
Anyway it’s a mixed species gorilla enclosure which is cool. Most of the gorillas in the day room were on the ground. One was climbing and the monkeys were keeping a very close eye on her. The dayroom is of good size and complexity. One of the outdoor areas is also pretty big and has a few climbing structures. The other… has a lot of climbing structures. It’s bigger than Buffalo’s gorilla complex but nothing I would brag about. There’s also a rotational exhibit featuring two rare gibbons. Only one will be out at a time. There is no place to see the other. Finally, there’s a yard for hornbill, tortoise, and duiker. One of the hornbills was being very active, patrolling the glass barrier to attack the glass when anyone got too close.
All of those species are signed elsewhere in the zoo. I feel like it would be better used for red river hogs, which would be their only outdoor suid exhibit. The guest section of the exhibit emphasized primate evolution, including humans, which was cool. Overall a good gorilla habitat (minus the smaller bachelor area). Nothing that revolutionizes the field or questions what’s possible, but it’s a solid A-tier exhibit.
The orangutan area… has nice verticality. The theming is top notch, even for Henry Doorly. I’m going to be honest the outdoor exhibits are average at best and the dayroom isn’t enough to compensate for that like Indy or kind of Ft. Wayne. For a brand new exhibit at a zoo that embraces the label of America’s best, I was very underwhelmed. It’s not terrible but also I don’t really like it much at all. I wish they’d stuck with smaller primates, expanded the footprint, or just made it all a new space for the bachelor gorilla troop connected by Zoo360 style bridges to the other yard.
Scott Aquarium
This is the best zoo aquarium I’ve seen. I was going to say that it doesn’t really reach the level of “solid regional” like the Ripley’s, Sea Life Minnesota, and Newport, but if we threw in the fish from Lied Jungle it absolutely would stand alongside them. The shark exhibit is a bit smaller than I’d expect for a solid regional aquarium and lacks star power (the most fearsome sharks are sandbars). But the collection of secondary tanks is really quite good. And I’m always a sucker for seabirds. They had a children’s toy or two and one of the murres was playing with it. The Antarctic penguin exhibit is perfectly fine for the species but also isn’t winning any awards. They had a fair few birds, which was fun. Signage was sometimes better for individual species than Lied but terrible for explaining what the ecosystem being depicted was. It was also usually rotational which I hate.
They have three Wobbegong species signed in the shark tunnel, sandbars, zebra, and nurse sharks. Then two species of grouper, two of jack, two sea turtles, tarpon, and southern sting rays. It at least provided a lot of kinetic energy with the schooling jacks. Only saw one of the wobbegongs which is normal because they’re wobbegongs. Hiding is what they do.
They had three species of sea nettle, one of which they were apparently the first captive holder for. The jellyfish exhibits lacked the modern art museum vibes of Tennessee, Georgia, and Ripley’s but were still perfectly good for what they are.
Good for a zoo aquarium. Scott + the arapaima and pangasius would make it a solid regional aquarium. Obviously not going up against Tennessee, Georgia, and Shedd, but that was never an expectation.
Grewcock Butterfly House
This is the first building that had a line to enter. The butterfly house itself is also a single narrow path so the line lasted throughout the butterfly house and kept moving steadily along. I don’t know how to feel about it. The butterfly house was very lush and the butterflies were pretty. This is about the intellectual level I engage with these exhibits on. The insectarium part of the building started strong with a large exhibit for grasshoppers holding a lot of bugs. Multiple people could easily look into it at a time. Unfortunately, this was almost immediately replaced with small, single person exhibits that created another slow line to the exit. Some animals were cool (atlas beetles, giant Asian mantis). The signage and species list still felt vastly inferior to St. Louis or Cincinnati’s take on an insectarium.
And that’s a wrap!
I was there until 4:00 because of the shows and my second stab at desert / kingdoms. Regret nothing. Great zoo. But is it my new favorite zoo experience?
Yeah, probably. The Wilds is obviously great. But it has a fairly limited species list and a comparatively short experience time (3 hours v 2 days). Even if the average quality is better it’s just not really competing with the combination of the rarities and exhibits Henry Doorly has. The zoo is also quite resilient to winter with most of its exceptional exhibits being for cold weather animals or having indoor components.
I really do look forward to see what they’re doing next, starting with the castle-looking construction site overlooking Expedition Madagascar.
Henry Doorly Zoo - Day 2
Stuff from yesterday:
Just a few quick notes. I think what got me about the exhibit size is that most places love to have grand view of their big enclosures where you can see an almost endless expanse. Omaha mostly doesn’t do that. Lied Jungle. Part of one of the elephant paddocks. The lions and sea lions have large visual barriers blocking off half the exhibit. The elephants and hoofstock are relatively narrow exhibits. I tried to keep that in mind for today’s reviews. I have yet to check MyMaps to get a full area comparison.
I passed through the Mutual of Omaha Pavilion a lot because it had convenient bathrooms and the harvest mice were always active. There are a lot of them in there, too, and I saw a pair in the process of making more. Great exhibit. Somehow one of my favorites at an excellent zoo.
I rode the Skyfari. It’s probably worth seven bucks. Maybe? Do you like elevated views and don’t mind heights? Do you want to experience the African Grasslands quickly? You don’t get a good view of the elephants or cheetahs but can see pretty much everything else.
Did a second round of Desert Dome & Kingdoms of the Night. I don’t think I saw the wildcat. I saw an orange mass behind the elevated bundle of wheat but it could have been a rock. Did see the ocelot and monkeys, which I didn’t yesterday. And it was hilarious to people watch by the cave tetras knowing there’s glass under the water. Saw a bulldog bat eat.
Most importantly, saw the beavers being fed. And the turtles creeping in to steal some. Happened a little after four. They had four beavers and they all seemed to be mature.
I watched the sea lion show. It was fun. If you’ve seen one of these things you’ve seen them all, but they did expand on each individual pinniped.
I saw that the Goral are almost never seen so I just went into the tufted deer. Got to see them being fed. This would have been at about 11:30.
Animal Shows
I watched the 10 and 11 a.m. shows. Don’t do that. They aren’t bad, but you’re at Henry Doorly. The bird show is standard and didn’t have anything that stood out too much. They do let guineafowl out to run through the crowd, which was at least novel and fun. The mammal show was an agility competition featuring Guineafowl and goats. They were not good at agility, which made it unintentionally hilarious. The birds were all off task, too. It was great for all the wrong reasons.
Hubbard Great Apes
I want to be sure of a few things regarding the gorillas. There is a family troop and a bachelor troop, correct? One has the small yard and one the large one. Which has access to the large day room? Do the colobus have outdoor access?
Anyway it’s a mixed species gorilla enclosure which is cool. Most of the gorillas in the day room were on the ground. One was climbing and the monkeys were keeping a very close eye on her. The dayroom is of good size and complexity. One of the outdoor areas is also pretty big and has a few climbing structures. The other… has a lot of climbing structures. It’s bigger than Buffalo’s gorilla complex but nothing I would brag about. There’s also a rotational exhibit featuring two rare gibbons. Only one will be out at a time. There is no place to see the other. Finally, there’s a yard for hornbill, tortoise, and duiker. One of the hornbills was being very active, patrolling the glass barrier to attack the glass when anyone got too close.
All of those species are signed elsewhere in the zoo. I feel like it would be better used for red river hogs, which would be their only outdoor suid exhibit. The guest section of the exhibit emphasized primate evolution, including humans, which was cool. Overall a good gorilla habitat (minus the smaller bachelor area). Nothing that revolutionizes the field or questions what’s possible, but it’s a solid A-tier exhibit.
The orangutan area… has nice verticality. The theming is top notch, even for Henry Doorly. I’m going to be honest the outdoor exhibits are average at best and the dayroom isn’t enough to compensate for that like Indy or kind of Ft. Wayne. For a brand new exhibit at a zoo that embraces the label of America’s best, I was very underwhelmed. It’s not terrible but also I don’t really like it much at all. I wish they’d stuck with smaller primates, expanded the footprint, or just made it all a new space for the bachelor gorilla troop connected by Zoo360 style bridges to the other yard.
Scott Aquarium
This is the best zoo aquarium I’ve seen. I was going to say that it doesn’t really reach the level of “solid regional” like the Ripley’s, Sea Life Minnesota, and Newport, but if we threw in the fish from Lied Jungle it absolutely would stand alongside them. The shark exhibit is a bit smaller than I’d expect for a solid regional aquarium and lacks star power (the most fearsome sharks are sandbars). But the collection of secondary tanks is really quite good. And I’m always a sucker for seabirds. They had a children’s toy or two and one of the murres was playing with it. The Antarctic penguin exhibit is perfectly fine for the species but also isn’t winning any awards. They had a fair few birds, which was fun. Signage was sometimes better for individual species than Lied but terrible for explaining what the ecosystem being depicted was. It was also usually rotational which I hate.
They have three Wobbegong species signed in the shark tunnel, sandbars, zebra, and nurse sharks. Then two species of grouper, two of jack, two sea turtles, tarpon, and southern sting rays. It at least provided a lot of kinetic energy with the schooling jacks. Only saw one of the wobbegongs which is normal because they’re wobbegongs. Hiding is what they do.
They had three species of sea nettle, one of which they were apparently the first captive holder for. The jellyfish exhibits lacked the modern art museum vibes of Tennessee, Georgia, and Ripley’s but were still perfectly good for what they are.
Good for a zoo aquarium. Scott + the arapaima and pangasius would make it a solid regional aquarium. Obviously not going up against Tennessee, Georgia, and Shedd, but that was never an expectation.
Grewcock Butterfly House
This is the first building that had a line to enter. The butterfly house itself is also a single narrow path so the line lasted throughout the butterfly house and kept moving steadily along. I don’t know how to feel about it. The butterfly house was very lush and the butterflies were pretty. This is about the intellectual level I engage with these exhibits on. The insectarium part of the building started strong with a large exhibit for grasshoppers holding a lot of bugs. Multiple people could easily look into it at a time. Unfortunately, this was almost immediately replaced with small, single person exhibits that created another slow line to the exit. Some animals were cool (atlas beetles, giant Asian mantis). The signage and species list still felt vastly inferior to St. Louis or Cincinnati’s take on an insectarium.
And that’s a wrap!
I was there until 4:00 because of the shows and my second stab at desert / kingdoms. Regret nothing. Great zoo. But is it my new favorite zoo experience?
Yeah, probably. The Wilds is obviously great. But it has a fairly limited species list and a comparatively short experience time (3 hours v 2 days). Even if the average quality is better it’s just not really competing with the combination of the rarities and exhibits Henry Doorly has. The zoo is also quite resilient to winter with most of its exceptional exhibits being for cold weather animals or having indoor components.
I really do look forward to see what they’re doing next, starting with the castle-looking construction site overlooking Expedition Madagascar.
Re: the deep pool in the nocturnal exhibit, the former director of the zoo who built the Lied Jungle, the aquarium, and desert dome and nocturnal complex liked to incorporate features that did not have barriers. There is a stream in the desert dome that had (still has?) no barrier for it, that you could step in if you weren't paying attention. Once I saw a lungfish swimming by through it and was freaked out until I realized what it was.
Apparently there was a plan to let wallabies wander freely through part of Kingdom of the Night originally, but that never happened (maybe that was where the lawyers drew the line). Famously the freshwater crocodile exhibit was designed for platypus, but at the time that was impossible to acquire (later achieved by San Diego).
Apparently there was a plan to let wallabies wander freely through part of Kingdom of the Night originally, but that never happened (maybe that was where the lawyers drew the line). Famously the freshwater crocodile exhibit was designed for platypus, but at the time that was impossible to acquire (later achieved by San Diego).
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Persephone
Well-Known Member
That does explain the random doors separating areas with no free flying animals. To be honest Kingdoms of the Night doesn’t need platypus, it’s plenty great already, but holy crap would it be cool.
Will post species list for Lincoln Children’s Zoo and Lee G. Simmons when I get home. Next is my first zoo trip in about a decade that isn’t made by rail or road: Gladys Porter in southern Texas. Expect that around Christmas. Going to be staying with family so vehicle access and free days will probably be a little limited. Still open to suggestions for things to do in southern Texas if I think I could talk at least one family member into it.
A really informative and useful series of reviews -- really has me excited to hopefully check the place out soon and helped with taking some notes in advance.
For some reason, I felt absolutely certain that they had Sand Tigers at the Scott Aquarium but a google later and it looks like they don't at all.
For some reason, I felt absolutely certain that they had Sand Tigers at the Scott Aquarium but a google later and it looks like they don't at all.
This sounds like it could have been very fun. Wallaby walkthroughs are very common now but were they still rare at the time Kingdom of the Night opened? Also makes me wonder if the platypus exhibit would be up to modern platypus standards. I don't expect to ever see the species spread beyond San Diego, but I think if it did, Omaha would be first in line.
This was over 20 years ago now, so there probably are many more wallaby walkthroughs. The differences between the concept as I understand it and a modern wallaby walkthrough is that they would have been confined to a very small space relative to an outdoor exhibit, and it would have had challenges for supervision because it would be dark. I think maybe the idea never got much past the conceptual stage before people figured out it wasn't practical.
Re: platypus husbandry, my understanding is that platypus captive breeding has advanced quantum leaps in the last 20 years, so this exhibit would have predated that. My guess is that they realized fairly early on that platypus could not be acquired, but I don't have insight beyond that.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
I think they’d be better off building a new Australia path and / or building if they really wanted the species. They have a really good collection of Australian herps, but on the mammal side they’re a bit limited. Could build display space for larger macropods, emu and/or cassowaries, koalas, and some birds. This might be worthwhile even if they can’t get platypus.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Going to do a road trip to Columbus and Pittsburgh over Columbus Day. My only visit to Columbus was in the winter so I’ve been meaning to get back for a while. Pittsburgh getting back in the AZA felt like a good enough reason to make a trip out that direction.
What all is closed in North America at Columbus? Any advice on seeing the devils? Any absolute must-do restaurants in Columbus or Pittsburgh?
What all is closed in North America at Columbus? Any advice on seeing the devils? Any absolute must-do restaurants in Columbus or Pittsburgh?
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Persephone
Well-Known Member
Columbus Zoo
I haven’t been since they lost and regained accreditation. I also went in February, so Heart of Africa was closed. I decided I wanted to rectify that and, after Omaha, figure out how my old favorite conventional zoo stacks up. The zoo was open from 10:00-8:00 and I got there around 10:30. The lines for parking and entry were very long, surely in part due to the ongoing Halloween event.
North America
Half of North America is closed right now as they build new exhibits for otters, eagles, bears, wolves, and songbirds. Supposedly it opens next year but landscaping hadn’t even started and construction didn’t seem finished. We’ll see how it plays out.
What’s left is still pretty good. Most of the exhibits (black bear, Lynx, Wolverine) aren’t winning awards but are functional for their species. Lynx and bear were no-shows but I got to see a wolverine absolutely demolishing a pumpkin in their water feature. They look a lot like small bears while wet.
The swans are in a temporary holding and were being as prideful as is usual for the species, despite the diminished enclosure. The cougar exhibit is a lot bigger than I remembered. One of the bigger yards I’ve seen for the species with a decent amount of climbing features to boot. Saw both cats active.
But the real stars of the North America area are the songbirds and the moose. The moose weren’t doing anything special, just eating or lying down, but it’s always incredible to get a chance to see the species.
And the songbirds! I’m not much of a birder but I still spent half an hour in that aviary. I saw the painted bunting and cedar waxwing, which were my main target species, as well as a few new or rare ones like the killdeer, sora, and plover. Almost every tree had something to see in it. Low key one of Columbus’s best exhibits.
Heart of Africa
This is certainly one of the better African Savannah complexes I’ve seen. Maybe not up to North Carolina or Disney, but what is? Rivals Binder Park, Kansas City, and Omaha for best in the Midwest. The main yard feels endless and had a large herd of giraffes that actually felt like they had enough space. I do feel bad for the flight-restricted birds, though, having to share space with aggressive zebras and very large giraffes. Ostriches can give as good as they get and Guineafowl can at least run out of the way. Storks and cranes have neither of those luxuries and I don’t like seeing them in those types of exhibits.
The lion exhibit felt a little too thin. I get they can walk into one of the moats but I would rather they just filled it in and put a higher barrier on the guest side. There are unobstructed views later on. The need to keep an open view of the Savannah behind them also limits the amount of climbing structures they can have in most of the exhibit.
I’m still undecided how I feel about the watering hole. I saw the hyenas, which were the species I was hoping for the second most after the aardvark. Just feels weird to have two rare-ish, large species that you could see. Or you could see Guineafowl. Luck of the draw, there. The hyenas had enrichment items and were by far the most active I’ve ever seen the species so that was a win.
The cheetah exhibit was a little small but they do have a run show in the watering hole so that’s good.
I really liked the vervet monkey enclosure. It was full of climbing opportunities and the monkeys were taking full advantage. One played with kids through the glass. Made me slow down and read all the signage for a species I usually don’t pay much attention to.
The ostriches and donkey are certainly there.
Polar Frontier
I, personally, think it’s better than current Arctic Ring of Life. Probably duels North Carolina for my favorite Arctic exhibit overall. The live trout and underwater viewing is a fun idea for the polar bears, and they have an absolutely massive exhibit to boot. The bear was lying down sprawled out on the ground but you can’t win them all.
The grizzlies had recently been fed celery and sweet potatoes and were being extremely active. One was right against the glass and I got a good reminder how absolutely massive they are. The other was hauling sweet potatoes into the pool to eat. Very cool to see them in the water.
The Arctic Fox exhibit is fine. Lots of verticality. The reindeer next door were all huddled under a mister which was fun.
Adventure Cove
This was still under construction last I went. The sea lion exhibit was nice. I liked the tunnel they could swim under or above, but it didn’t feel quite deep enough for that. The male had to crawl over the tunnel. In general I don’t think most pinniped exhibits are deep enough for a natural diver. This is one area Minnesota excels at.
Stingray Bay had juvenile cownose rays that were adorable. I almost never try to touch in these things but felt compelled to here. No signage for the non-ray fish, which was annoying.
I am trying to figure out how I feel about the ambassador village. Combining a play zoo and ambassador house is an interesting idea. Theming most of the exhibits to kid’s play sets is… something new, at least. The capybara exhibit was far too small. I made two visits to the Geoffroy’s cats and they weren’t outside either time. A volunteer told me I’d have to be lucky to see them before dusk.
Asia Quest
I almost either skipped this one or put it off to last. I kind of wish I had in hindsight. But I wanted to see the markhor. I did not. They were in the part of the exhibit that has a blocked-off view. But I don’t regret checking this place out.
I like the langur exhibit. They had toilet paper for enrichment and one was being hilariously defensive of his treasure. It’s nice that the Reticulated Python has that much verticality. It was cool to see a giant snake curled up in a branch like a little emerald tree boa. The indoor chevrotain / flying fox / tortoise / bird exhibit is a fun mix, even if the enclosure is very basic. Chevrotains are a top tier animal. Not sure why there were two African tortoises and an Australian bird in there but it’s not a deal breaker or anything. The sloth bear was indoors with a paw over his eye to sleep better. Absolutely adorable.
The elephant area is already bigger than average but I’m glad they’re expanding it.
Baby Pallas cats! They were playing with each other while mama doted on them. Adorable. One of the days highlights. The tiger picked up a paper bag with their teeth and moved it around. It was fun to see a big cat playing with one of my cat’s favorite toys. The aviary had a muntjac and a reeve’s pheasant. I think pheasants are criminally underrepresented in zoos for their care reqs and appeal. The muntjac went from “that small deer in the red panda exhibit” to a genuine star to the public just by getting put in a walkthrough aviary.
The wolves were chasing each other. Genuinely the most active I’ve seen the species.
Australia and the Islands
Last time I went the bulk of this exhibit was closed. It was nice to see it in the entirety. Sea dragons were a cool addition to the nocturnal complex. Love the species. Kiwi are always a 10/10 addition. I thought the wombat and maybe tree kangaroo exhibits were too small. I think Brookfield’s wombat exhibit is too small and it’s a good deal bigger. At least this one had digging space.
Feather gliders are great. Genuinely a fun species I rarely see in zoos, even if they’re everywhere in the private trade.
Koalas are koalas. Kangaroos are kangaroos. I adore lories but the aviary isn’t anything special. Star for the outdoor portion of the Australia half of the complex was the devils. They were sprawled out in the sun but it was still really good to see the species again after their gradual decline.
The islands half is… fine? Good? Still trying to make up my mind. The orang dayroom is a little smaller than I would like at this latitude. The outdoor area is pretty good, though. And baby great apes are so cute. The otter area was interestingly designed and hosted a good-size group. The siamang island was a siamang island. The Komodo dragon’s indoor space was unexceptional but the outdoor one looked good.
Right now the zoo has a poor man’s version of Universal’s Jurassic Park ride. Not sure how the animals feel about the roaring but it seemed popular with visitors.
Congo Expedition
They closed the section early. There was no indication of this on the maps or at the entryway. Everyone else seemed confused, too. I only got to see the okapi before I was told to leave. Shame. I was looking forward to seeing the bonobo.
The Shores
I got a migraine at this point and had to leave 1/3 of the way through so I could find a dark place to sleep. The manatee exhibit is still excellent and I love them. It’s a dynamic exhibit with the slow-moving manatees and sea turtle mixed with lots of fish, stingrays, and the pelicans. Aesthetically pleasing and fairly large. I wasn’t really in a headspace to appreciate it this time but last visit it was the highlight of my trip.
Between my trips I’ve seen all of the zoo except the new bonobo exhibit. So, having visited the Midwest’s premier zoos in back to back months, which is better?
Omaha. It’s not particularly close, but I could understand why someone might argue for Columbus. The majesty of Omaha’s buildings and aviary is really only matched at Columbus by Heart of Africa and maybe the manatee and songbird exhibits. I think Omaha also edges out Columbus in rarities, although the mix of devils, manatees, markhor, Geoffroy’s cat, and songbirds makes it at least a fight. But Columbus has three active construction projects right now. Perhaps it will be closer once those are finished.
I went to Pittsburgh today and will have that review up eventually.
I haven’t been since they lost and regained accreditation. I also went in February, so Heart of Africa was closed. I decided I wanted to rectify that and, after Omaha, figure out how my old favorite conventional zoo stacks up. The zoo was open from 10:00-8:00 and I got there around 10:30. The lines for parking and entry were very long, surely in part due to the ongoing Halloween event.
North America
Half of North America is closed right now as they build new exhibits for otters, eagles, bears, wolves, and songbirds. Supposedly it opens next year but landscaping hadn’t even started and construction didn’t seem finished. We’ll see how it plays out.
What’s left is still pretty good. Most of the exhibits (black bear, Lynx, Wolverine) aren’t winning awards but are functional for their species. Lynx and bear were no-shows but I got to see a wolverine absolutely demolishing a pumpkin in their water feature. They look a lot like small bears while wet.
The swans are in a temporary holding and were being as prideful as is usual for the species, despite the diminished enclosure. The cougar exhibit is a lot bigger than I remembered. One of the bigger yards I’ve seen for the species with a decent amount of climbing features to boot. Saw both cats active.
But the real stars of the North America area are the songbirds and the moose. The moose weren’t doing anything special, just eating or lying down, but it’s always incredible to get a chance to see the species.
And the songbirds! I’m not much of a birder but I still spent half an hour in that aviary. I saw the painted bunting and cedar waxwing, which were my main target species, as well as a few new or rare ones like the killdeer, sora, and plover. Almost every tree had something to see in it. Low key one of Columbus’s best exhibits.
Heart of Africa
This is certainly one of the better African Savannah complexes I’ve seen. Maybe not up to North Carolina or Disney, but what is? Rivals Binder Park, Kansas City, and Omaha for best in the Midwest. The main yard feels endless and had a large herd of giraffes that actually felt like they had enough space. I do feel bad for the flight-restricted birds, though, having to share space with aggressive zebras and very large giraffes. Ostriches can give as good as they get and Guineafowl can at least run out of the way. Storks and cranes have neither of those luxuries and I don’t like seeing them in those types of exhibits.
The lion exhibit felt a little too thin. I get they can walk into one of the moats but I would rather they just filled it in and put a higher barrier on the guest side. There are unobstructed views later on. The need to keep an open view of the Savannah behind them also limits the amount of climbing structures they can have in most of the exhibit.
I’m still undecided how I feel about the watering hole. I saw the hyenas, which were the species I was hoping for the second most after the aardvark. Just feels weird to have two rare-ish, large species that you could see. Or you could see Guineafowl. Luck of the draw, there. The hyenas had enrichment items and were by far the most active I’ve ever seen the species so that was a win.
The cheetah exhibit was a little small but they do have a run show in the watering hole so that’s good.
I really liked the vervet monkey enclosure. It was full of climbing opportunities and the monkeys were taking full advantage. One played with kids through the glass. Made me slow down and read all the signage for a species I usually don’t pay much attention to.
The ostriches and donkey are certainly there.
Polar Frontier
I, personally, think it’s better than current Arctic Ring of Life. Probably duels North Carolina for my favorite Arctic exhibit overall. The live trout and underwater viewing is a fun idea for the polar bears, and they have an absolutely massive exhibit to boot. The bear was lying down sprawled out on the ground but you can’t win them all.
The grizzlies had recently been fed celery and sweet potatoes and were being extremely active. One was right against the glass and I got a good reminder how absolutely massive they are. The other was hauling sweet potatoes into the pool to eat. Very cool to see them in the water.
The Arctic Fox exhibit is fine. Lots of verticality. The reindeer next door were all huddled under a mister which was fun.
Adventure Cove
This was still under construction last I went. The sea lion exhibit was nice. I liked the tunnel they could swim under or above, but it didn’t feel quite deep enough for that. The male had to crawl over the tunnel. In general I don’t think most pinniped exhibits are deep enough for a natural diver. This is one area Minnesota excels at.
Stingray Bay had juvenile cownose rays that were adorable. I almost never try to touch in these things but felt compelled to here. No signage for the non-ray fish, which was annoying.
I am trying to figure out how I feel about the ambassador village. Combining a play zoo and ambassador house is an interesting idea. Theming most of the exhibits to kid’s play sets is… something new, at least. The capybara exhibit was far too small. I made two visits to the Geoffroy’s cats and they weren’t outside either time. A volunteer told me I’d have to be lucky to see them before dusk.
Asia Quest
I almost either skipped this one or put it off to last. I kind of wish I had in hindsight. But I wanted to see the markhor. I did not. They were in the part of the exhibit that has a blocked-off view. But I don’t regret checking this place out.
I like the langur exhibit. They had toilet paper for enrichment and one was being hilariously defensive of his treasure. It’s nice that the Reticulated Python has that much verticality. It was cool to see a giant snake curled up in a branch like a little emerald tree boa. The indoor chevrotain / flying fox / tortoise / bird exhibit is a fun mix, even if the enclosure is very basic. Chevrotains are a top tier animal. Not sure why there were two African tortoises and an Australian bird in there but it’s not a deal breaker or anything. The sloth bear was indoors with a paw over his eye to sleep better. Absolutely adorable.
The elephant area is already bigger than average but I’m glad they’re expanding it.
Baby Pallas cats! They were playing with each other while mama doted on them. Adorable. One of the days highlights. The tiger picked up a paper bag with their teeth and moved it around. It was fun to see a big cat playing with one of my cat’s favorite toys. The aviary had a muntjac and a reeve’s pheasant. I think pheasants are criminally underrepresented in zoos for their care reqs and appeal. The muntjac went from “that small deer in the red panda exhibit” to a genuine star to the public just by getting put in a walkthrough aviary.
The wolves were chasing each other. Genuinely the most active I’ve seen the species.
Australia and the Islands
Last time I went the bulk of this exhibit was closed. It was nice to see it in the entirety. Sea dragons were a cool addition to the nocturnal complex. Love the species. Kiwi are always a 10/10 addition. I thought the wombat and maybe tree kangaroo exhibits were too small. I think Brookfield’s wombat exhibit is too small and it’s a good deal bigger. At least this one had digging space.
Feather gliders are great. Genuinely a fun species I rarely see in zoos, even if they’re everywhere in the private trade.
Koalas are koalas. Kangaroos are kangaroos. I adore lories but the aviary isn’t anything special. Star for the outdoor portion of the Australia half of the complex was the devils. They were sprawled out in the sun but it was still really good to see the species again after their gradual decline.
The islands half is… fine? Good? Still trying to make up my mind. The orang dayroom is a little smaller than I would like at this latitude. The outdoor area is pretty good, though. And baby great apes are so cute. The otter area was interestingly designed and hosted a good-size group. The siamang island was a siamang island. The Komodo dragon’s indoor space was unexceptional but the outdoor one looked good.
Right now the zoo has a poor man’s version of Universal’s Jurassic Park ride. Not sure how the animals feel about the roaring but it seemed popular with visitors.
Congo Expedition
They closed the section early. There was no indication of this on the maps or at the entryway. Everyone else seemed confused, too. I only got to see the okapi before I was told to leave. Shame. I was looking forward to seeing the bonobo.
The Shores
I got a migraine at this point and had to leave 1/3 of the way through so I could find a dark place to sleep. The manatee exhibit is still excellent and I love them. It’s a dynamic exhibit with the slow-moving manatees and sea turtle mixed with lots of fish, stingrays, and the pelicans. Aesthetically pleasing and fairly large. I wasn’t really in a headspace to appreciate it this time but last visit it was the highlight of my trip.
Between my trips I’ve seen all of the zoo except the new bonobo exhibit. So, having visited the Midwest’s premier zoos in back to back months, which is better?
Omaha. It’s not particularly close, but I could understand why someone might argue for Columbus. The majesty of Omaha’s buildings and aviary is really only matched at Columbus by Heart of Africa and maybe the manatee and songbird exhibits. I think Omaha also edges out Columbus in rarities, although the mix of devils, manatees, markhor, Geoffroy’s cat, and songbirds makes it at least a fight. But Columbus has three active construction projects right now. Perhaps it will be closer once those are finished.
I went to Pittsburgh today and will have that review up eventually.
Columbus is high on my radar for next year so this was helpful and definitely increased my interest in their bird collection. Did you see the Kiwi? I know you said they were a good addition so assuming yes. Shame about the markhor - just an off day there? I'm trying to avoid making 'target species' nowadays but those two are both really high interest for me. Also a shame about the Congo area.
Are aardvark, hyenas and guineafowl the main choices for the randomized exhibit at Heart of Africa now? I know in older threads they had more options, some of which seem to have passed on since then.
Are aardvark, hyenas and guineafowl the main choices for the randomized exhibit at Heart of Africa now? I know in older threads they had more options, some of which seem to have passed on since then.