Abilene Zoo Photos from the Abilene Zoo

[TheOnlineZoo]

I visited the Abilene Zoo for the first time last weekend. It was small, but mostly nice. A few of the exhibits seemed a bit cramped, but most of them were roomy enough.

The disappointing part to me was that the newest section -- Caribbean Cove -- was nothing more than a block of wire cages. They had tayra, which was cool, but the whole section was kinda sad. By comparison, they had nice exhibits for zebra and black rhino.

I did manage to pick up seven new species (Black-necked Spitting Cobra, Blue-black Grosbeak, Cape Coral Cobra, Central American Bushmaster, Franklin's Gull, Meller's Chameleon, and Mexican Pine Snake) plus several I had only seen once before. That's a very good count for a small zoo like Abilene.

See my photos at The Online Zoo - Abilene Zoo.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Nice little review, thanks for posting! Did you not get a photo of the Tayra, though? I see they have Guanaco, a species I'd love to see! Do you know of any other places in the U.S. (preferably closer to me) that also holds the species? And you should post all of your unidentified species photos in the To Be Identified Gallery so people can get them IDed for you.

~Thylo

 

[Shirokuma]

Did you get a map by any chance? There doesn't seem to be one on their website.

 

[TheOnlineZoo]

Nice little review, thanks for posting! Did you not get a photo of the Tayra, though? I see they have Guanaco, a species I'd love to see! Do you know of any other places in the U.S. (preferably closer to me) that also holds the species? And you should post all of your unidentified species photos in the To Be Identified Gallery so people can get them IDed for you.

~Thylo

I took a few photos of the tayra, but I didn't use them because the wire cage was distracting and I have better photos of that species. (Including this wild tayra I saw in Costa Rica last March: http://theonlinezoo.com/img/23/toz23293l.jpg)

Buffalo had Guanaco as of 2007. I have also seen them in New Orleans, San Diego, Wichita, New Braunfels (Snake Farm), Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

I'll check out the unidentified thread. I have hundreds of photos that I need help with, so when one of you gets bored....

 

[TheOnlineZoo]

Did you get a map by any chance? There doesn't seem to be one on their website.

I never keep the maps, but with the interest on this forum I should start doing so. My wife actually brought one home but then our dog ate half of it.

My wife tried her hand at photography this time, and while it was pretty much a disaster, she did take a photo of the map sign at the front of the zoo. When I get home tonight, I will post that photo.

 

[jbnbsn99]

Looks like I'll have to get out to Abilene sometime this fall to see the Tayra.

 

[TheOnlineZoo]

Here's a photo of the zoo map:
http://theonlinezoo.com/temp/Abilene_Zoo_Map.jpg

Also, since there is interest in the tayra, I'll mention that there were two in separate cages.

 

[Shirokuma]

Thanks for that! I find it much easier to picture a zoo when I have a map.

 

[AbileneBoy]

as an Abilene native, I love our zoo and, having been going there since 1986, am very proud of all the improvements over the years. I am hoping to go again at the end of this month, my first time (hopefully) to see our new giant anteater

the "nice" zebra exhibit you mentioned is, ironically, one of the oldest exhibits standing. it was there in 1986, and I suspect was already decades old at the time. the adjacent bird cages (crowned crane and secretary bird) are of similar age and have always held those species. That is probably the part of the zoo that has changed LEAST.

While I loved the addition of the scarlet ibis / lapwing aviary for Caribbean Cove, I will admit I was unimpressed with the tayra exhibit, as excited as I was to get my first glimpse of the species. They are one of the few Abilene exhibit animals I have regularly seen doing the "cage-edge pacing" I associate with unhappy zew animals.

the old education building, which currently hosts a small aviary (next to the lake fish feeding station) will soon have its entire area renovated into a new Madagascar exhibit.

For those curious, the upcoming movie Brothers' Keeper is supposed to feature some footage of the zoo's new giraffe exhibit. This is actually an anachronism, as the movie is based on a true story set back when we had the old giraffe exhibit