Located a few miles from downtown in a park, this zoo is rather small for a major city but is a pleasant facility that is composed largely of open outdoor enclosures set within a slightly sloping forested terrain. Several themed exhibit complexes focus on African and Asian animals, while the remainder of the zoo is essentially a rambling childrens zoo with a mix of small animal exhibits from around the world. Despite its size, exhibits do not feel crowded together and many are fairly roomy for their inhabitants. Primarily rebuilt in the 1980s, there are few historic exhibit buildings or grottoes; in fact, most of the buildings are small and unremarkable and much of the exhibit rockwork and presentation is subdued, allowing the verdant landscape to dominate. The layout is simple, with a middle path running from the entrance to the back, bisecting the space in two; one side contains the themed exhibit complexes while the other has the childrens zoo. A meandering loop can be followed in a circle around the two which will reach nearly every exhibit. The entrance is a simple arrangement of a few service buildings and gift shop and a nice Chilean flamingo exhibit, arranged around Flamingo Plaza, which offers the visitor the immediate choice of which half of the zoo to explore first.
The first exhibit complex is African Plains. It starts with a statue grouping of resting lions in front of a rocky open exhibit for African elephants with a swimming pool, small indoor viewing barn, and separate demonstration paddock. The exhibit is average size and has three different viewing areas. Across from it are three newer exhibits in the complex. The first and newest is Boundless Budgies, a feeding aviary bookended by an entry building and nest building. Although it is misplaced geographically, it is a nice facility with a looping path around a shallow stream and is packed to the rafters with what seem like a hundred friendly parakeets, flying from one end to the other, whizzing by within inches…not for the ornithophobic! The other two newer exhibits are sadly mismatched and substandard, one a fenced yard for warthogs, the other a two-yard glass-fronted exhibit for meerkats dominated by an ugly concrete block indoor holding building that forms the immediate backdrop. Neither one matches the finish of the rest of the complex, and both appear to have been designed by a contractor while being built with whatever materials were on sale at the big box home improvement center. Happily, the remaining features of this complex date from its original conception and are much more successful: nearby is an average size rocky open habitat with two viewing areas for African lions, then a water-moated black rhino yard backed by a large mixed species yard with giraffe, plains zebra, ellipsen waterbuck, and ostrich. A separate and more verdant yard is adjacent for yellow-backed duiker, and has two viewing areas. A smaller fenced Kori bustard yard and a seasonal tortoise yard round out the offerings of this average pleasant complex.
The next complex is the finest part of the zoo, African Rain Forest. It is a seamless transition from the previous, and features the same style of woodsy pole railings and viewing shelters and rockwork and signage. A small plaza of vaguely themed café and restroom buildings around a gorilla statue is encountered first, leading to four adjacent gorilla exhibits, each finely detailed with unique features. Unusually, the four habitats are numbered with signs that list their inhabitants. Habitat 1 has several bachelors and is the best, with a large simulated deadfall and rocky stream and extensive lush back area. Habitat 2 has an older nonreproductive pair in a rocky hillside with another large trunk. Habitat 3 has a large troop in a large fairly open exhibit which has a large branched and roped structure and three viewing areas, one of which is an indoor glazed building with interpretive exhibits inside. Habitat 4 has another troop and the most limited viewing, with a single glazed railing between rocky walls looking up at a rounded hillside. Nearby, Living Treehouse is a nice complex of an elevated boardwalk through a meshed aviary with about 10 species of birds from Africa and Asia, next to a large mixed species lemur exhibit that matches the timber and mesh of the aviary and has a large central simulated tree for climbing. The boardwalk leads into the treehouse itself, which is an octagonal two story building with a loft, educational exhibits, and a viewing window into one of the two adjacent timber and mesh naturalistic habitats for drills. These two fine exhibits are called Monkeys of Makokou, and both have elevated wood boardwalks with seating areas that run their length. Wolfs guenons share one exhibit with the drills while colobus monkeys share the other. The exhibit path at the end becomes surrounded by bamboo as it transitions into the next complex.
Asian Forest starts with another small café, and then a roomy water-moated exhibit for Asian small-clawed otters. This habitat is plainly detailed and only has a wood railing running the length of the moat for above-water viewing, but the nine otters frantically washing food and dipping in and out when I visited made it a delight. Nearby are three above average open sloping exhibits for orangutans, with a mix of rocky containment walls and both simulated trees and woodsy climbing structures. A nice Komodo dragon exhibit is also here, with an outdoor yard with several glass viewing areas and an indoor glass exhibit in a peaked hut themed building. From here, an elevated boardwalk curves around an average red panda exhibit. Unfortunately, the layout of Asian Forest is interrupted at this point, with two unrelated exhibits nearby before the rest of the themed exhibits are reached down a switchbacking path. The first unrelated exhibit is a recently renovated small building for naked mole rats. It is a well done intimate room with multiple rocky cutaways looking into the dens and monitors broadcasting views from the interconnecting tunnels. Children can enter and exit the room through themed low tunnels, and a themed play structure sits outside the exit for emulating the rats. The other unrelated exhibit is World of Reptiles, an average 1960s rectangular building with average wall exhibits for a medium sized collection as well as an atrium at one end for alligators. Asian Forest continues with a several seasonal outdoor tortoise yards along the descending path before reaching a viewing shelter for two felines. One exhibit is rocky with thick forest cover and is an above average one for clouded leopards. The other is a mostly fenced average small exhibit for Sumatran tigers. Up to this point, the complex matches the style and era of the previous two, but its final exhibit area is appropriately distinctive and more detailed and separate since it houses the immensely popular giant pandas. This exhibit is a side loop, entered through a sheltered Chinese-like open air pavilion and moon gate into a complex of two grassy and rocky outdoor yards and a themed viewing building. The building is square and has glazed bedrooms on two sides and a glazed view into the smaller of the two outdoor yards which is rather grotto-like. The other outdoor yard has two viewing areas with glazed railings and a moat and is probably three times the size of the first. Four pandas are currently housed in this nice complex, which is more successful than San Diego Zoos complex but nowhere near the quality of National Zoos. I have not seen the Memphis Zoo so not sure about its comparison.
The other half of the zoo is called Kidzone, and features a restaurant, carousel, train, picnic and playgrounds, small bird aviaries, a petting zoo, education pavilion, a few open fenced yards for kangaroos and cassowaries, and an alligator and turtle swamp. This area is generally a mish-mash of styles and themes and is ultimately forgettable. It does not warrant detailed description, although a few features stand out. A fine exhibit is Brazilian Outpost, a small indoor exhibit of golden lion tamarins that has occasional access to an outdoor circle of trees connected by overhead ropes with no barriers. The circle is surrounded by a visitor walkway for unimpeded viewing and is an impressive way to exhibit these little primates! Two of the small wood and wire bird aviaries stand out as well, unfortunately for the barbaric small size for the large milky eagle owls and king vultures they contain.
This zoo is a blockbuster for gorilla fans and panda lovers, and is complimented by a nice midsized collection of others in a nice setting. However, overall it is not geographically or zoologically comprehensive and is average in its presentation and excitement. It charges big zoo prices though. Adult general admission is $18.99, which is 7 dollars too much. The city is also home to the excellent Georgia Aquarium, and is one of only two big cities I have visited where the local aquarium is a greater experience than the zoo (the other is Boston). I have now been to 46 zoos, and Zoo Atlanta ranks at number 29, just below Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and above Honolulu Zoo. None of its themed exhibit complexes or individual exhibits make my top lists. I have posted pictures in the gallery.
The first exhibit complex is African Plains. It starts with a statue grouping of resting lions in front of a rocky open exhibit for African elephants with a swimming pool, small indoor viewing barn, and separate demonstration paddock. The exhibit is average size and has three different viewing areas. Across from it are three newer exhibits in the complex. The first and newest is Boundless Budgies, a feeding aviary bookended by an entry building and nest building. Although it is misplaced geographically, it is a nice facility with a looping path around a shallow stream and is packed to the rafters with what seem like a hundred friendly parakeets, flying from one end to the other, whizzing by within inches…not for the ornithophobic! The other two newer exhibits are sadly mismatched and substandard, one a fenced yard for warthogs, the other a two-yard glass-fronted exhibit for meerkats dominated by an ugly concrete block indoor holding building that forms the immediate backdrop. Neither one matches the finish of the rest of the complex, and both appear to have been designed by a contractor while being built with whatever materials were on sale at the big box home improvement center. Happily, the remaining features of this complex date from its original conception and are much more successful: nearby is an average size rocky open habitat with two viewing areas for African lions, then a water-moated black rhino yard backed by a large mixed species yard with giraffe, plains zebra, ellipsen waterbuck, and ostrich. A separate and more verdant yard is adjacent for yellow-backed duiker, and has two viewing areas. A smaller fenced Kori bustard yard and a seasonal tortoise yard round out the offerings of this average pleasant complex.
The next complex is the finest part of the zoo, African Rain Forest. It is a seamless transition from the previous, and features the same style of woodsy pole railings and viewing shelters and rockwork and signage. A small plaza of vaguely themed café and restroom buildings around a gorilla statue is encountered first, leading to four adjacent gorilla exhibits, each finely detailed with unique features. Unusually, the four habitats are numbered with signs that list their inhabitants. Habitat 1 has several bachelors and is the best, with a large simulated deadfall and rocky stream and extensive lush back area. Habitat 2 has an older nonreproductive pair in a rocky hillside with another large trunk. Habitat 3 has a large troop in a large fairly open exhibit which has a large branched and roped structure and three viewing areas, one of which is an indoor glazed building with interpretive exhibits inside. Habitat 4 has another troop and the most limited viewing, with a single glazed railing between rocky walls looking up at a rounded hillside. Nearby, Living Treehouse is a nice complex of an elevated boardwalk through a meshed aviary with about 10 species of birds from Africa and Asia, next to a large mixed species lemur exhibit that matches the timber and mesh of the aviary and has a large central simulated tree for climbing. The boardwalk leads into the treehouse itself, which is an octagonal two story building with a loft, educational exhibits, and a viewing window into one of the two adjacent timber and mesh naturalistic habitats for drills. These two fine exhibits are called Monkeys of Makokou, and both have elevated wood boardwalks with seating areas that run their length. Wolfs guenons share one exhibit with the drills while colobus monkeys share the other. The exhibit path at the end becomes surrounded by bamboo as it transitions into the next complex.
Asian Forest starts with another small café, and then a roomy water-moated exhibit for Asian small-clawed otters. This habitat is plainly detailed and only has a wood railing running the length of the moat for above-water viewing, but the nine otters frantically washing food and dipping in and out when I visited made it a delight. Nearby are three above average open sloping exhibits for orangutans, with a mix of rocky containment walls and both simulated trees and woodsy climbing structures. A nice Komodo dragon exhibit is also here, with an outdoor yard with several glass viewing areas and an indoor glass exhibit in a peaked hut themed building. From here, an elevated boardwalk curves around an average red panda exhibit. Unfortunately, the layout of Asian Forest is interrupted at this point, with two unrelated exhibits nearby before the rest of the themed exhibits are reached down a switchbacking path. The first unrelated exhibit is a recently renovated small building for naked mole rats. It is a well done intimate room with multiple rocky cutaways looking into the dens and monitors broadcasting views from the interconnecting tunnels. Children can enter and exit the room through themed low tunnels, and a themed play structure sits outside the exit for emulating the rats. The other unrelated exhibit is World of Reptiles, an average 1960s rectangular building with average wall exhibits for a medium sized collection as well as an atrium at one end for alligators. Asian Forest continues with a several seasonal outdoor tortoise yards along the descending path before reaching a viewing shelter for two felines. One exhibit is rocky with thick forest cover and is an above average one for clouded leopards. The other is a mostly fenced average small exhibit for Sumatran tigers. Up to this point, the complex matches the style and era of the previous two, but its final exhibit area is appropriately distinctive and more detailed and separate since it houses the immensely popular giant pandas. This exhibit is a side loop, entered through a sheltered Chinese-like open air pavilion and moon gate into a complex of two grassy and rocky outdoor yards and a themed viewing building. The building is square and has glazed bedrooms on two sides and a glazed view into the smaller of the two outdoor yards which is rather grotto-like. The other outdoor yard has two viewing areas with glazed railings and a moat and is probably three times the size of the first. Four pandas are currently housed in this nice complex, which is more successful than San Diego Zoos complex but nowhere near the quality of National Zoos. I have not seen the Memphis Zoo so not sure about its comparison.
The other half of the zoo is called Kidzone, and features a restaurant, carousel, train, picnic and playgrounds, small bird aviaries, a petting zoo, education pavilion, a few open fenced yards for kangaroos and cassowaries, and an alligator and turtle swamp. This area is generally a mish-mash of styles and themes and is ultimately forgettable. It does not warrant detailed description, although a few features stand out. A fine exhibit is Brazilian Outpost, a small indoor exhibit of golden lion tamarins that has occasional access to an outdoor circle of trees connected by overhead ropes with no barriers. The circle is surrounded by a visitor walkway for unimpeded viewing and is an impressive way to exhibit these little primates! Two of the small wood and wire bird aviaries stand out as well, unfortunately for the barbaric small size for the large milky eagle owls and king vultures they contain.
This zoo is a blockbuster for gorilla fans and panda lovers, and is complimented by a nice midsized collection of others in a nice setting. However, overall it is not geographically or zoologically comprehensive and is average in its presentation and excitement. It charges big zoo prices though. Adult general admission is $18.99, which is 7 dollars too much. The city is also home to the excellent Georgia Aquarium, and is one of only two big cities I have visited where the local aquarium is a greater experience than the zoo (the other is Boston). I have now been to 46 zoos, and Zoo Atlanta ranks at number 29, just below Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and above Honolulu Zoo. None of its themed exhibit complexes or individual exhibits make my top lists. I have posted pictures in the gallery.
