Which makes sense, given how after really bad scandals like the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, the major American fast food chains are usually rather serious when it comes to their hygiene protocols and HAACP concepts.
Slender Lorises, Duct Tape, and Whataburger: A Fish on Dry Land
- Thread starter Coelacanth18
- Start date
If we're going into fast food myths, Spurlock was complete BS
For a variety of reasons.
I didn't know about that particular outbreak, but that doesn't surprise me; fast food restaurants generally have their health inspection certificate posted at the drive-thru window and/or inside, and they are usually at least a 95% if not higher.
If we're going into fast food myths, Spurlock was complete BS
Also wouldn't surprise me, although I don't know much about it the documentary other than having watched it. If I thought that it was completely 100% accurate and applicable to everyone, I wouldn't be eating breakfasts there
Day 2: Watch Me Whoop, Watch Me Not Wombat
Two zoos in one day was what I had planned for initially... but it was two zoos 30 minutes apart, not 3.5 hours apart. A very long day, but I feel confident in knowing every day from here on out will be an easier slog. Today still went decently well; I took over 100 photos of a zoo with no media yet, got two species lists, and added a few animals to my ZCCNA total (I’m not going to win – it’s about pride!)
Because my previous day had ended earlier than planned on account of having to stay close to my first planned zoo – and because said zoo didn’t open until 10 AM – I got up early and headed straight to Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed and everything on my car looked at (which turned out to be good, as it had a couple other minor repairs needed).
I only had a 30 minute drive through the sagebrush from my motel room to the tiny Navajo Nation Zoo in Window Rock, Arizona. Located in the capital of the Navajo Nation and right over the border from New Mexico, this free zoo focuses on native animals and features many local rescues/rehabs. I had no idea what to expect from the place since I had no species list or photos from a previous visitor to go off; I’m pleased to say that it’s a fairly nice little zoo, with a solid native collection and a beautiful desert bluff landscape in the background... and all at the low, low price of zero dollars.
The parking lot was almost completely empty when I showed up, which might explain why the gate was opened 15 minutes after the opening time. It was unfortunately a contributor to my rush later in the day, but since it was my own scheduling fail that caused me to be there on that day instead of the previous one I can’t fault them too much.
Note: this review will be more like a walk-through than most of the subsequent ones, due to its small size and no previous media or reviews of it on the forum.
Navajo Nation Zoo
Location: Window Rock, Arizona
Size: ~5 acres
Species Count: 41
Closed Areas: none
Rarities: N/A
Price: $0!
Recommended Time: 30-45 minutes
Species List: Navajo Nation Zoo Species List - November 2021 [Navajo Nation Zoo]
Media Gallery: Navajo Nation Zoo - ZooChat
This roughly 5-acre zoo consists of one outdoor loop and a small animal building by the entrance. The zoo is overlooked by steep rock bluffs towering over the desert landscape, and these bluffs are incorporated into many of the exhibits on the loop. As the only zoo in the country operated by a Native American reservation, one interesting – and likely unique – feature is the signage, which prominently features each animal’s Navajo name and etymology as well as their role in Navajo legend.
The outdoor loop features 19 species in chain-link enclosures. The first row lines the bluffs on the western edge of the zoo, with the fencing often stretching up onto the slopes of the bluff so that the animals have access to higher, rockier terrain. This appears to work especially well for the pumas and bighorn sheep, which were making use of it when I visited. In addition to these animals, there were also bobcats, mule deer, ravens, a black bear, and an unseen pack of Mexican gray wolves.
Across from these bluffside habitats were two other enclosures. One was an outdoor fenced enclosure for a coyote, while the other was a large building that acted as an aviary for Golden Eagles. The zoo is small enough that I saw the building from the entrance and was already interested to see this take on an eagle habitat; however, I was not prepared for it when I walked in. After a double take, I pulled my trusty, highly scientific counting instrument – my finger – out of my pocket and counted the eagles. I ended up with a total of around 14 or 15 eagles, which is approximately a whole lot of eagles. The building is one of those enclosures where the visitor enters a sort of “viewing cage” from which you can see all of the animals in the exhibit from behind a barrier. The aviary was full of ladders, platforms, ledges, a rock pile, and a bathing pool.
Going around the back half of the outdoor loop, there is a paddock for Elk – the only one I saw was a rutting male with a broken-off antler. I also saw another animal; as I looked down towards my camera to make sure I wasn’t getting too much sunburst in my photos, I saw a small rodent staring up at me from inside a burrow! It was some kind of mouse that I haven’t ID’ed yet. It's not associated with the zoo; just a nosy neighbor that presumably watches Mr. Elk's visitors from the doorway of its home, like an old lady who needs a hobby.
Moving on from the aggressive elk and the mouse who really needs to take up knitting or something, I reached another first for me: an open-topped Great Horned Owl exhibit, with its very own flower-themed parasol. Presumably the animal was injured and cannot fly; I don't think invisible forcefield technology has hit this corner of the U.S. yet. A similar, empty enclosure next to it normally holds North American porcupine.
A row of cages back near the entrance and animal building complete the loop. Four house one of these each: red fox, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, and northern raccoon (inside a bucket looking for snacks). A fifth cage located in the middle is only signed for Wild Turkey, but is in fact a mixed species exhibit also holding Sandhill Crane and Chukar.
The last part of the zoo is the small animal building, attached to which was a cage for a pair of unsigned Swainson’s Hawks. Entering the building, one encounters a variety of differently-sized glass-fronted enclosures, along with a small wetlands aviary enclosed with piano wire and overlooking the outdoor portion of the zoo through a glass window (this held a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Canada Goose). The terrariums held a range of different taxonomic groups: a couple of tanks comparing native and non-native fish, a couple of tall frog terrariums, some arachnid terrariums, a pair of desert lizard habitats, and a complex setup of different rooms for unseen Black-footed Ferrets (drat!).
The final two enclosures are tall glass-fronted exhibits flanking the bird exhibit; the one by the entrance holds a pair of domestic rabbits while the other held the most hyperactive Ringtail I’ve seen in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ringtail awake before, and this one constantly went back and forth from leaning his paws against the enclosure door waiting for second breakfast and looking out past me in the window for a keeper to come deliver second breakfast. I could relate; I’d had a meager McDonald’s breakfast spread out over the morning earlier when I was getting my car repaired and I could certainly have gone for another meal (which I would not get, sadly).
The entire zoo took me 40 minutes to see and photograph in its entirety; my extensive photographing and species listing means that another Zoochatter could do it in 30 minutes or less, but if you like to take your time watching animals or taking photographs consider budgeting up to 45 minutes or possibly an hour.
Look out for Part 2 (the review of Rio Grande Zoo) either tomorrow or Monday!
Two zoos in one day was what I had planned for initially... but it was two zoos 30 minutes apart, not 3.5 hours apart. A very long day, but I feel confident in knowing every day from here on out will be an easier slog. Today still went decently well; I took over 100 photos of a zoo with no media yet, got two species lists, and added a few animals to my ZCCNA total (I’m not going to win – it’s about pride!)
Because my previous day had ended earlier than planned on account of having to stay close to my first planned zoo – and because said zoo didn’t open until 10 AM – I got up early and headed straight to Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed and everything on my car looked at (which turned out to be good, as it had a couple other minor repairs needed).
I only had a 30 minute drive through the sagebrush from my motel room to the tiny Navajo Nation Zoo in Window Rock, Arizona. Located in the capital of the Navajo Nation and right over the border from New Mexico, this free zoo focuses on native animals and features many local rescues/rehabs. I had no idea what to expect from the place since I had no species list or photos from a previous visitor to go off; I’m pleased to say that it’s a fairly nice little zoo, with a solid native collection and a beautiful desert bluff landscape in the background... and all at the low, low price of zero dollars.
The parking lot was almost completely empty when I showed up, which might explain why the gate was opened 15 minutes after the opening time. It was unfortunately a contributor to my rush later in the day, but since it was my own scheduling fail that caused me to be there on that day instead of the previous one I can’t fault them too much.
Note: this review will be more like a walk-through than most of the subsequent ones, due to its small size and no previous media or reviews of it on the forum.
Navajo Nation Zoo
Location: Window Rock, Arizona
Size: ~5 acres
Species Count: 41
Closed Areas: none
Rarities: N/A
Price: $0!
Recommended Time: 30-45 minutes
Species List: Navajo Nation Zoo Species List - November 2021 [Navajo Nation Zoo]
Media Gallery: Navajo Nation Zoo - ZooChat
This roughly 5-acre zoo consists of one outdoor loop and a small animal building by the entrance. The zoo is overlooked by steep rock bluffs towering over the desert landscape, and these bluffs are incorporated into many of the exhibits on the loop. As the only zoo in the country operated by a Native American reservation, one interesting – and likely unique – feature is the signage, which prominently features each animal’s Navajo name and etymology as well as their role in Navajo legend.
The outdoor loop features 19 species in chain-link enclosures. The first row lines the bluffs on the western edge of the zoo, with the fencing often stretching up onto the slopes of the bluff so that the animals have access to higher, rockier terrain. This appears to work especially well for the pumas and bighorn sheep, which were making use of it when I visited. In addition to these animals, there were also bobcats, mule deer, ravens, a black bear, and an unseen pack of Mexican gray wolves.
Across from these bluffside habitats were two other enclosures. One was an outdoor fenced enclosure for a coyote, while the other was a large building that acted as an aviary for Golden Eagles. The zoo is small enough that I saw the building from the entrance and was already interested to see this take on an eagle habitat; however, I was not prepared for it when I walked in. After a double take, I pulled my trusty, highly scientific counting instrument – my finger – out of my pocket and counted the eagles. I ended up with a total of around 14 or 15 eagles, which is approximately a whole lot of eagles. The building is one of those enclosures where the visitor enters a sort of “viewing cage” from which you can see all of the animals in the exhibit from behind a barrier. The aviary was full of ladders, platforms, ledges, a rock pile, and a bathing pool.
Going around the back half of the outdoor loop, there is a paddock for Elk – the only one I saw was a rutting male with a broken-off antler. I also saw another animal; as I looked down towards my camera to make sure I wasn’t getting too much sunburst in my photos, I saw a small rodent staring up at me from inside a burrow! It was some kind of mouse that I haven’t ID’ed yet. It's not associated with the zoo; just a nosy neighbor that presumably watches Mr. Elk's visitors from the doorway of its home, like an old lady who needs a hobby.
Moving on from the aggressive elk and the mouse who really needs to take up knitting or something, I reached another first for me: an open-topped Great Horned Owl exhibit, with its very own flower-themed parasol. Presumably the animal was injured and cannot fly; I don't think invisible forcefield technology has hit this corner of the U.S. yet. A similar, empty enclosure next to it normally holds North American porcupine.
A row of cages back near the entrance and animal building complete the loop. Four house one of these each: red fox, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, and northern raccoon (inside a bucket looking for snacks). A fifth cage located in the middle is only signed for Wild Turkey, but is in fact a mixed species exhibit also holding Sandhill Crane and Chukar.
The last part of the zoo is the small animal building, attached to which was a cage for a pair of unsigned Swainson’s Hawks. Entering the building, one encounters a variety of differently-sized glass-fronted enclosures, along with a small wetlands aviary enclosed with piano wire and overlooking the outdoor portion of the zoo through a glass window (this held a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Canada Goose). The terrariums held a range of different taxonomic groups: a couple of tanks comparing native and non-native fish, a couple of tall frog terrariums, some arachnid terrariums, a pair of desert lizard habitats, and a complex setup of different rooms for unseen Black-footed Ferrets (drat!).
The final two enclosures are tall glass-fronted exhibits flanking the bird exhibit; the one by the entrance holds a pair of domestic rabbits while the other held the most hyperactive Ringtail I’ve seen in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ringtail awake before, and this one constantly went back and forth from leaning his paws against the enclosure door waiting for second breakfast and looking out past me in the window for a keeper to come deliver second breakfast. I could relate; I’d had a meager McDonald’s breakfast spread out over the morning earlier when I was getting my car repaired and I could certainly have gone for another meal (which I would not get, sadly).
The entire zoo took me 40 minutes to see and photograph in its entirety; my extensive photographing and species listing means that another Zoochatter could do it in 30 minutes or less, but if you like to take your time watching animals or taking photographs consider budgeting up to 45 minutes or possibly an hour.
Look out for Part 2 (the review of Rio Grande Zoo) either tomorrow or Monday!
Great thread sofar @Coelacanth18 !
Day 2: Watch Me Whoop, Watch Me Not Wombat
Two zoos in one day was what I had planned for initially... but it was two zoos 30 minutes apart, not 3.5 hours apart. A very long day, but I feel confident in knowing every day from here on out will be an easier slog. Today still went decently well; I took over 100 photos of a zoo with no media yet, got two species lists, and added a few animals to my ZCCNA total (I’m not going to win – it’s about pride!)
Because my previous day had ended earlier than planned on account of having to stay close to my first planned zoo – and because said zoo didn’t open until 10 AM – I got up early and headed straight to Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed and everything on my car looked at (which turned out to be good, as it had a couple other minor repairs needed).
I only had a 30 minute drive through the sagebrush from my motel room to the tiny Navajo Nation Zoo in Window Rock, Arizona. Located in the capital of the Navajo Nation and right over the border from New Mexico, this free zoo focuses on native animals and features many local rescues/rehabs. I had no idea what to expect from the place since I had no species list or photos from a previous visitor to go off; I’m pleased to say that it’s a fairly nice little zoo, with a solid native collection and a beautiful desert bluff landscape in the background... and all at the low, low price of zero dollars.
The parking lot was almost completely empty when I showed up, which might explain why the gate was opened 15 minutes after the opening time. It was unfortunately a contributor to my rush later in the day, but since it was my own scheduling fail that caused me to be there on that day instead of the previous one I can’t fault them too much.
Note: this review will be more like a walk-through than most of the subsequent ones, due to its small size and no previous media or reviews of it on the forum.
Navajo Nation Zoo
Location: Window Rock, Arizona
Size: ~5 acres
Species Count: 41
Closed Areas: none
Rarities: N/A
Price: $0!
Recommended Time: 30-45 minutes
Species List: Navajo Nation Zoo Species List - November 2021 [Navajo Nation Zoo]
Media Gallery: Navajo Nation Zoo - ZooChat
This roughly 5-acre zoo consists of one outdoor loop and a small animal building by the entrance. The zoo is overlooked by steep rock bluffs towering over the desert landscape, and these bluffs are incorporated into many of the exhibits on the loop. As the only zoo in the country operated by a Native American reservation, one interesting – and likely unique – feature is the signage, which prominently features each animal’s Navajo name and etymology as well as their role in Navajo legend.
The outdoor loop features 19 species in chain-link enclosures. The first row lines the bluffs on the western edge of the zoo, with the fencing often stretching up onto the slopes of the bluff so that the animals have access to higher, rockier terrain. This appears to work especially well for the pumas and bighorn sheep, which were making use of it when I visited. In addition to these animals, there were also bobcats, mule deer, ravens, a black bear, and an unseen pack of Mexican gray wolves.
Across from these bluffside habitats were two other enclosures. One was an outdoor fenced enclosure for a coyote, while the other was a large building that acted as an aviary for Golden Eagles. The zoo is small enough that I saw the building from the entrance and was already interested to see this take on an eagle habitat; however, I was not prepared for it when I walked in. After a double take, I pulled my trusty, highly scientific counting instrument – my finger – out of my pocket and counted the eagles. I ended up with a total of around 14 or 15 eagles, which is approximately a whole lot of eagles. The building is one of those enclosures where the visitor enters a sort of “viewing cage” from which you can see all of the animals in the exhibit from behind a barrier. The aviary was full of ladders, platforms, ledges, a rock pile, and a bathing pool.
Going around the back half of the outdoor loop, there is a paddock for Elk – the only one I saw was a rutting male with a broken-off antler. I also saw another animal; as I looked down towards my camera to make sure I wasn’t getting too much sunburst in my photos, I saw a small rodent staring up at me from inside a burrow! It was some kind of mouse that I haven’t ID’ed yet. It's not associated with the zoo; just a nosy neighbor that presumably watches Mr. Elk's visitors from the doorway of its home, like an old lady who needs a hobby.
Moving on from the aggressive elk and the mouse who really needs to take up knitting or something, I reached another first for me: an open-topped Great Horned Owl exhibit, with its very own flower-themed parasol. Presumably the animal was injured and cannot fly; I don't think invisible forcefield technology has hit this corner of the U.S. yet. A similar, empty enclosure next to it normally holds North American porcupine.
A row of cages back near the entrance and animal building complete the loop. Four house one of these each: red fox, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, and northern raccoon (inside a bucket looking for snacks). A fifth cage located in the middle is only signed for Wild Turkey, but is in fact a mixed species exhibit also holding Sandhill Crane and Chukar.
The last part of the zoo is the small animal building, attached to which was a cage for a pair of unsigned Swainson’s Hawks. Entering the building, one encounters a variety of differently-sized glass-fronted enclosures, along with a small wetlands aviary enclosed with piano wire and overlooking the outdoor portion of the zoo through a glass window (this held a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Canada Goose). The terrariums held a range of different taxonomic groups: a couple of tanks comparing native and non-native fish, a couple of tall frog terrariums, some arachnid terrariums, a pair of desert lizard habitats, and a complex setup of different rooms for unseen Black-footed Ferrets (drat!).
The final two enclosures are tall glass-fronted exhibits flanking the bird exhibit; the one by the entrance holds a pair of domestic rabbits while the other held the most hyperactive Ringtail I’ve seen in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ringtail awake before, and this one constantly went back and forth from leaning his paws against the enclosure door waiting for second breakfast and looking out past me in the window for a keeper to come deliver second breakfast. I could relate; I’d had a meager McDonald’s breakfast spread out over the morning earlier when I was getting my car repaired and I could certainly have gone for another meal (which I would not get, sadly).
The entire zoo took me 40 minutes to see and photograph in its entirety; my extensive photographing and species listing means that another Zoochatter could do it in 30 minutes or less, but if you like to take your time watching animals or taking photographs consider budgeting up to 45 minutes or possibly an hour.
Look out for Part 2 (the review of Rio Grande Zoo) either tomorrow or Monday!
14-15 eagles is pretty incredible, I don't think I've ever heard of that many being kept together before! I count 9 in your photo alone!
It might have been more Golden Eagles than I'd previously seen throughout my whole life, both wild and captive
definitely one of the more surprising finds this road trip, though certainly not the only one!
You know, people generally get their vehicles looked at before driving across the country
C'mon, have more faith in me than that; I'm the protagonist!
I normally do it right before every long trip; in this particular case I had an oil change back in August and had everything looked at and fixed then, which I thought was recent enough that everything was probably still fine. To be honest I think the light may have come on by mistake, it's hard to believe I drove that many miles in less than three months (even with the amount of driving I do!).
And the "minor things" I noted was just a nonessential light that went out and the tires rotated, so nothing that would've prevented me from driving cross-country.
C'mon, have more faith in me than that; I'm the protagonist!
I normally do it right before every long trip; in this particular case I had an oil change back in August and had everything looked at and fixed then, which I thought was recent enough that everything was probably still fine. To be honest I think the light may have come on by mistake, it's hard to believe I drove that many miles in less than three months (even with the amount of driving I do!).
And the "minor things" I noted was just a nonessential light that went out and the tires rotated, so nothing that would've prevented me from driving cross-country.
Not the duct taped bumper falling off?
Generally it helps to have all of the pieces together. Glad you got it all fixed without too much trouble, though.
Not the duct taped bumper falling off?
Nah, that problem isn't new. If there was an easy and cheap fix, it'd be fixed already and this story would be slightly less entertaining.
Day 2: Watch Me Whoop, Watch Me Not Wombat
Two zoos in one day was what I had planned for initially... but it was two zoos 30 minutes apart, not 3.5 hours apart. A very long day, but I feel confident in knowing every day from here on out will be an easier slog. Today still went decently well; I took over 100 photos of a zoo with no media yet, got two species lists, and added a few animals to my ZCCNA total (I’m not going to win – it’s about pride!)
Because my previous day had ended earlier than planned on account of having to stay close to my first planned zoo – and because said zoo didn’t open until 10 AM – I got up early and headed straight to Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed and everything on my car looked at (which turned out to be good, as it had a couple other minor repairs needed).
I only had a 30 minute drive through the sagebrush from my motel room to the tiny Navajo Nation Zoo in Window Rock, Arizona. Located in the capital of the Navajo Nation and right over the border from New Mexico, this free zoo focuses on native animals and features many local rescues/rehabs. I had no idea what to expect from the place since I had no species list or photos from a previous visitor to go off; I’m pleased to say that it’s a fairly nice little zoo, with a solid native collection and a beautiful desert bluff landscape in the background... and all at the low, low price of zero dollars.
The parking lot was almost completely empty when I showed up, which might explain why the gate was opened 15 minutes after the opening time. It was unfortunately a contributor to my rush later in the day, but since it was my own scheduling fail that caused me to be there on that day instead of the previous one I can’t fault them too much.
Note: this review will be more like a walk-through than most of the subsequent ones, due to its small size and no previous media or reviews of it on the forum.
Navajo Nation Zoo
Location: Window Rock, Arizona
Size: ~5 acres
Species Count: 41
Closed Areas: none
Rarities: N/A
Price: $0!
Recommended Time: 30-45 minutes
Species List: Navajo Nation Zoo Species List - November 2021 [Navajo Nation Zoo]
Media Gallery: Navajo Nation Zoo - ZooChat
This roughly 5-acre zoo consists of one outdoor loop and a small animal building by the entrance. The zoo is overlooked by steep rock bluffs towering over the desert landscape, and these bluffs are incorporated into many of the exhibits on the loop. As the only zoo in the country operated by a Native American reservation, one interesting – and likely unique – feature is the signage, which prominently features each animal’s Navajo name and etymology as well as their role in Navajo legend.
The outdoor loop features 19 species in chain-link enclosures. The first row lines the bluffs on the western edge of the zoo, with the fencing often stretching up onto the slopes of the bluff so that the animals have access to higher, rockier terrain. This appears to work especially well for the pumas and bighorn sheep, which were making use of it when I visited. In addition to these animals, there were also bobcats, mule deer, ravens, a black bear, and an unseen pack of Mexican gray wolves.
Across from these bluffside habitats were two other enclosures. One was an outdoor fenced enclosure for a coyote, while the other was a large building that acted as an aviary for Golden Eagles. The zoo is small enough that I saw the building from the entrance and was already interested to see this take on an eagle habitat; however, I was not prepared for it when I walked in. After a double take, I pulled my trusty, highly scientific counting instrument – my finger – out of my pocket and counted the eagles. I ended up with a total of around 14 or 15 eagles, which is approximately a whole lot of eagles. The building is one of those enclosures where the visitor enters a sort of “viewing cage” from which you can see all of the animals in the exhibit from behind a barrier. The aviary was full of ladders, platforms, ledges, a rock pile, and a bathing pool.
Going around the back half of the outdoor loop, there is a paddock for Elk – the only one I saw was a rutting male with a broken-off antler. I also saw another animal; as I looked down towards my camera to make sure I wasn’t getting too much sunburst in my photos, I saw a small rodent staring up at me from inside a burrow! It was some kind of mouse that I haven’t ID’ed yet. It's not associated with the zoo; just a nosy neighbor that presumably watches Mr. Elk's visitors from the doorway of its home, like an old lady who needs a hobby.
Moving on from the aggressive elk and the mouse who really needs to take up knitting or something, I reached another first for me: an open-topped Great Horned Owl exhibit, with its very own flower-themed parasol. Presumably the animal was injured and cannot fly; I don't think invisible forcefield technology has hit this corner of the U.S. yet. A similar, empty enclosure next to it normally holds North American porcupine.
A row of cages back near the entrance and animal building complete the loop. Four house one of these each: red fox, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, and northern raccoon (inside a bucket looking for snacks). A fifth cage located in the middle is only signed for Wild Turkey, but is in fact a mixed species exhibit also holding Sandhill Crane and Chukar.
The last part of the zoo is the small animal building, attached to which was a cage for a pair of unsigned Swainson’s Hawks. Entering the building, one encounters a variety of differently-sized glass-fronted enclosures, along with a small wetlands aviary enclosed with piano wire and overlooking the outdoor portion of the zoo through a glass window (this held a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Canada Goose). The terrariums held a range of different taxonomic groups: a couple of tanks comparing native and non-native fish, a couple of tall frog terrariums, some arachnid terrariums, a pair of desert lizard habitats, and a complex setup of different rooms for unseen Black-footed Ferrets (drat!).
The final two enclosures are tall glass-fronted exhibits flanking the bird exhibit; the one by the entrance holds a pair of domestic rabbits while the other held the most hyperactive Ringtail I’ve seen in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ringtail awake before, and this one constantly went back and forth from leaning his paws against the enclosure door waiting for second breakfast and looking out past me in the window for a keeper to come deliver second breakfast. I could relate; I’d had a meager McDonald’s breakfast spread out over the morning earlier when I was getting my car repaired and I could certainly have gone for another meal (which I would not get, sadly).
The entire zoo took me 40 minutes to see and photograph in its entirety; my extensive photographing and species listing means that another Zoochatter could do it in 30 minutes or less, but if you like to take your time watching animals or taking photographs consider budgeting up to 45 minutes or possibly an hour.
Look out for Part 2 (the review of Rio Grande Zoo) either tomorrow or Monday!
It's nice there are signage to showcase the animal importance to the native Americans. They are the original people who co-exist with them and they should be proud to show their history.
Thanks for doing the review on the Navajo Zoo, I had seen it on Google Maps, but finding a lot of info on it is not really that easy.
Day 2: Watch Me Whoop, Watch Me Not Wombat (Part II)
The title for Day 2 will hopefully make more sense to people after this review.
ABQ Biopark Zoo
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Size: ~30 acres
Species Count: 133
Closed Areas: Australia, Small Primates (both being renovated), Crocodile House?
Rarities: Socorro Dove, native herps, Australian species (none seen)
Price: $14.50 admission
Recommended Time: 3 to 3.5 hours currently; 4+ hours once renovated/under construction areas are open
Species List: Rio Grande Zoo Species List - November 2021 [ABQ BioPark]
Media Gallery: ABQ BioPark - ZooChat
The ABQ Biopark Zoo in Albuquerque's biggest claim to fame is their Australian area – one of the best in the United States, which at one point held rarities such as Common Wombat, Saltwater Crocodile, Koala, and Tasmanian Devil (the Australians are definitely laughing right now – they’re special to us, alright?) Unfortunately for me, this whole area was closed and is due to be renovated into an even better Australian complex – presumably with many of the original species plus Little Blue Penguins (come on Australians, seriously! I’m trying to write a review here...) The Common Wombat was one of two rarities I had hoped to see, but I already knew upon arriving that the wombats were probably a no-go unless they had been moved to some other random corner of the zoo. Spoiler alert: they hadn’t been. So sadly no wombatting occurred during my visit.
Another rarity is the Saltwater Crocodile, which ostensibly *was* on exhibit still. They were signed in an outdoor enclosure that also had signage for American Alligator. I saw plenty of those; alas, no salties. On the zoo map pictured below, you will see there is a house with a crocodile silhouette on it; there are also photos in the gallery of the inside. Now, I’m not sure exactly what happened; I remember seeing those double doors, and – if memory serves me right – I tried to go in but the doors were locked or there was a sign saying it wasn’t open. I want to clarify that I was rushing to get the zoo done, so it’s possible I am misremembering and just walked past it without realizing it went into an exhibit area. It’s still on the map at least; its inhabitants last anyone reported was Saltwater Crocodile and African Slender-snouted Crocodile. Oh well; the salties are a loss, but I would see Slender-snouted elsewhere soon enough.
The priority, however, was Socorro Dove – and this was a success. It’s unclear to me if Albuquerque is the only place in the US currently that has Socorro Doves on public display, but in any case I can confirm that Albuquerque *does* have them on display. They are in their Birds of the Islands aviary complex, which consisted of five wire cages (inside a bigger wire-cage aviary!) containing signage for a variety of rarer birds and not many actual rare birds. Birds seen included a pair of Wrinkled Hornbills (peering at me from inside their house); a pair of Bali Mynas mixed with invisible Superb Starlings; a cage signed for Cuban Amazon and Red Lory but in which the only visible bird looked an awful lot like a Rainbow Lorikeet; Nicobar Pigeon, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo; and a fifth and final cage was home to a bizarre mix of Socorro Dove, Australian King Parrot, and Princess of Wales Parakeet. Neither of these Australian birds were visible, but there was one dove picking up nesting materials on the ground and taking it back inside the house. Success!
The zoo had a couple of other surprises up its sleeve. A row of raptor aviaries had a pair of White-necked Ravens, a species I’ve seen in Africa but up until now not in captivity; as a corvid fan, I was very happy. A pair of Steller’s Sea Eagles were also a fairly uncommon sight.
Another surprise was the Herpetarium; I knew they had one, but so few photos of it were in the media gallery I didn't know what to expect. It turned out to have a fairly solid collection of about 50 species including some unusual ones like Quince Monitor, Krefft’s River Turtle, Bismarck Ringed Python, and a few Southwest natives (a king snake, two garter snakes and a river turtle). I also witnessed a Green Anaconda clutching a rabbit underwater with its thick coiled body. The rabbit had already passed through the pearly gates, but the anaconda didn’t seem in a hurry to start eating its soggy meal. I liked the overall design of the house – very little theming, mostly just a darkened hallway with several cul-de-sacs full of terrariums. For some people here that may seem dull and unimaginative, but for me it was simple, easy to navigate, and put more focus on the animals themselves.
Another highlight – and probably the most standout part of the zoo while the Australian area is out of commission – is the fairly new Penguin Chill exhibit. I’ve seen some pretty good Antarctic penguin exhibits, but this might be my favorite so far. The above-water area is nothing special and has an average number of penguins for a zoo colony – split between Gentoo, King, and Macaroni – but the cool part is the underwater portion. The water goes quite deep – it’s hard for me to estimate, but far enough down that the viewing is split between multiple floors – and the viewing is comprehensive: both sides early on, then wraps around the side of the downramp, then fully underwater viewing on the lower floor at two different spots. The penguins seemed to make good use of it! I saw countless penguins diving and gliding underneath the water, including many Kings – a species that (in my experience) is normally seen just standing around doing nothing. It was an awesome sight to behold. The lower levels are themed and have educational stuff relating to Antarctic research, which was a nice touch as well.
The rest of the zoo was fairly nondescript. There is a so-so ape area with gorillas, orangutans, and siamang; a cage with some American birds (including unseen Gambel's Quail - grrrr); a beautiful Mexican gray wolf habitat with no wolves visible (the second miss of the day); a small amphibian building with 15 species that had a neat design (and that I got into 2 minutes before the entrance was locked for the day; I heard the exit locked behind me seconds after I walked out); and a long row of carnivore habitats that had a lot of felids in basic, wire-fronted enclosures (another construction project that should hopefully be completed by fall of next year are new Asian habitats for the tigers, snow leopards, and orangutans). There was also a large elephant complex that I only briefly saw because it was the end of the day and the elephants were no longer out, and a few odds and ends like macaws, flamingos, giant tortoises, and a large pond with a huge flock of (what I presumed to be) wild waterfowl.
The final area of mention is the African complex, which is a long trail on the northern edge of the zoo. I was pleasantly surprised with this area also; while it’s not the most memorable or standout African complex I’ve seen or heard about, it’s got a solid collection. Some highlights included a baby hippo; a pair of klipspringers (who got to witness me trip and flail over a mock-rock boulder that was in the path for some reason); a large raucous troop of ruffed lemurs; saddle-billed storks and wattled cranes (both fairly rare in the country); a large aviary with a mesh tunnel hanging bridge, home to a flock of flighted African vultures feasting on carcasses; a large and active chimpanzee troop; ginormous paddocks for white rhinos and mountain zebras; and a few other exhibits for painted dogs, giraffes, cheetahs, warthogs, and a personal target species of mine – spotted hyena.
I was already happy to see hyenas, and I’ve boasted to some people before that I do a pretty good hyena whoop (look it up on Youtube if you’re not familiar – hyenas make more noises than just chattering). With three hyenas walking around when I arrived, I decided to try it out. Apparently I’m as good as advertised, because one of them got curious and headed over to the window I was at – and proceeded to stare at me from right across the glass! It stood there looking at me for a full couple of minutes – even licked the glass at one point. I guess we're friends now?
For the first time on this trip I nailed the timing: ended up finishing 5 minutes before the 5 o'clock close with winter twilight already underway. My camera died with the giraffe exhibit and carnivore complex left to go; I only have one battery (the camera is getting older and I haven’t had many issues with it holding charge until now) so I decided from now on I would take signage photos needed for the species lists with my phone to save battery. This would turn out to be a successful strategy, as Rio Grande would be the only zoo on this trip where my camera died prior to me finishing.
Traveling
My original plan had been to do Albuquerque in the morning, then drive half an hour to a small zoo 30 minutes east called Wildlife West Nature Center for pronghorn, and then shoot across the empty prairies of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma to reach the OKC suburbs in the early night. That plan was essentially shot the moment I shoved Navajo Nation and Rio Grande into the same day; I didn’t make it out of the city until it was almost fully dark, and OKC is over 7.5 hours from there. I tried at least making it to Oklahoma, but my tiredness and desire not to stop for a motel at 2 AM prevailed by the time I made it to the halfway point in Amarillo. Shot also were my plans to get traditional Texas barbecue in Amarillo, with the ketchup-based sauces drizzled over tender beef brisket. I hope my mouth will forgive me in Memphis...
For some reason, most of the hotels I tried on the east end of the city were booked up; I thought maybe it had to do with the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays, but it was still a bit early for that. On the sixth try I finally got a motel room that turned out to be decent, though at 1 AM I hardly cared whether I was sleeping in a bed, my car, or in a quiet corner at Denny’s with my face in a stack of pancakes. After sleeping a couple of winks, I roused myself and headed out at 7 AM to make my way to the Sooner State and the next leg of the journey: an expedition for small carnivores.
Fast Food Review of the Day: Arby’s
It’s true that I was so appreciative to eat a meal by the time I reached Arby’s I’d have paid them money to feed me a cardboard box, but they really went above and beyond to sell me food that was actually digestable for humans. More than that, it also tasted good! Arby’s is rare on the West Coast, but fairly common in a lot of America’s heartland. Their focus is on hearty meat sandwiches – not subs, but more like roast beef and brisket on hamburger buns – and curly fries that hit a high water mark for fry taste. I also treated myself to a specialty milkshake, a caramel cinnamon that was all a dessert should be: sweet, liquid, fills the gaps in my stomach and the hole in my heart. It’s definitely filling – maybe too much for some people – but it fills somewhat of a gap in most towns as far as fast food goes. If neither burgers or subs are really your thing, Arby’s might be the place for you.
The title for Day 2 will hopefully make more sense to people after this review.
ABQ Biopark Zoo
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Size: ~30 acres
Species Count: 133
Closed Areas: Australia, Small Primates (both being renovated), Crocodile House?
Rarities: Socorro Dove, native herps, Australian species (none seen)
Price: $14.50 admission
Recommended Time: 3 to 3.5 hours currently; 4+ hours once renovated/under construction areas are open
Species List: Rio Grande Zoo Species List - November 2021 [ABQ BioPark]
Media Gallery: ABQ BioPark - ZooChat
The ABQ Biopark Zoo in Albuquerque's biggest claim to fame is their Australian area – one of the best in the United States, which at one point held rarities such as Common Wombat, Saltwater Crocodile, Koala, and Tasmanian Devil (the Australians are definitely laughing right now – they’re special to us, alright?) Unfortunately for me, this whole area was closed and is due to be renovated into an even better Australian complex – presumably with many of the original species plus Little Blue Penguins (come on Australians, seriously! I’m trying to write a review here...) The Common Wombat was one of two rarities I had hoped to see, but I already knew upon arriving that the wombats were probably a no-go unless they had been moved to some other random corner of the zoo. Spoiler alert: they hadn’t been. So sadly no wombatting occurred during my visit.
Another rarity is the Saltwater Crocodile, which ostensibly *was* on exhibit still. They were signed in an outdoor enclosure that also had signage for American Alligator. I saw plenty of those; alas, no salties. On the zoo map pictured below, you will see there is a house with a crocodile silhouette on it; there are also photos in the gallery of the inside. Now, I’m not sure exactly what happened; I remember seeing those double doors, and – if memory serves me right – I tried to go in but the doors were locked or there was a sign saying it wasn’t open. I want to clarify that I was rushing to get the zoo done, so it’s possible I am misremembering and just walked past it without realizing it went into an exhibit area. It’s still on the map at least; its inhabitants last anyone reported was Saltwater Crocodile and African Slender-snouted Crocodile. Oh well; the salties are a loss, but I would see Slender-snouted elsewhere soon enough.
The priority, however, was Socorro Dove – and this was a success. It’s unclear to me if Albuquerque is the only place in the US currently that has Socorro Doves on public display, but in any case I can confirm that Albuquerque *does* have them on display. They are in their Birds of the Islands aviary complex, which consisted of five wire cages (inside a bigger wire-cage aviary!) containing signage for a variety of rarer birds and not many actual rare birds. Birds seen included a pair of Wrinkled Hornbills (peering at me from inside their house); a pair of Bali Mynas mixed with invisible Superb Starlings; a cage signed for Cuban Amazon and Red Lory but in which the only visible bird looked an awful lot like a Rainbow Lorikeet; Nicobar Pigeon, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo; and a fifth and final cage was home to a bizarre mix of Socorro Dove, Australian King Parrot, and Princess of Wales Parakeet. Neither of these Australian birds were visible, but there was one dove picking up nesting materials on the ground and taking it back inside the house. Success!
The zoo had a couple of other surprises up its sleeve. A row of raptor aviaries had a pair of White-necked Ravens, a species I’ve seen in Africa but up until now not in captivity; as a corvid fan, I was very happy. A pair of Steller’s Sea Eagles were also a fairly uncommon sight.
Another surprise was the Herpetarium; I knew they had one, but so few photos of it were in the media gallery I didn't know what to expect. It turned out to have a fairly solid collection of about 50 species including some unusual ones like Quince Monitor, Krefft’s River Turtle, Bismarck Ringed Python, and a few Southwest natives (a king snake, two garter snakes and a river turtle). I also witnessed a Green Anaconda clutching a rabbit underwater with its thick coiled body. The rabbit had already passed through the pearly gates, but the anaconda didn’t seem in a hurry to start eating its soggy meal. I liked the overall design of the house – very little theming, mostly just a darkened hallway with several cul-de-sacs full of terrariums. For some people here that may seem dull and unimaginative, but for me it was simple, easy to navigate, and put more focus on the animals themselves.
Another highlight – and probably the most standout part of the zoo while the Australian area is out of commission – is the fairly new Penguin Chill exhibit. I’ve seen some pretty good Antarctic penguin exhibits, but this might be my favorite so far. The above-water area is nothing special and has an average number of penguins for a zoo colony – split between Gentoo, King, and Macaroni – but the cool part is the underwater portion. The water goes quite deep – it’s hard for me to estimate, but far enough down that the viewing is split between multiple floors – and the viewing is comprehensive: both sides early on, then wraps around the side of the downramp, then fully underwater viewing on the lower floor at two different spots. The penguins seemed to make good use of it! I saw countless penguins diving and gliding underneath the water, including many Kings – a species that (in my experience) is normally seen just standing around doing nothing. It was an awesome sight to behold. The lower levels are themed and have educational stuff relating to Antarctic research, which was a nice touch as well.
The rest of the zoo was fairly nondescript. There is a so-so ape area with gorillas, orangutans, and siamang; a cage with some American birds (including unseen Gambel's Quail - grrrr); a beautiful Mexican gray wolf habitat with no wolves visible (the second miss of the day); a small amphibian building with 15 species that had a neat design (and that I got into 2 minutes before the entrance was locked for the day; I heard the exit locked behind me seconds after I walked out); and a long row of carnivore habitats that had a lot of felids in basic, wire-fronted enclosures (another construction project that should hopefully be completed by fall of next year are new Asian habitats for the tigers, snow leopards, and orangutans). There was also a large elephant complex that I only briefly saw because it was the end of the day and the elephants were no longer out, and a few odds and ends like macaws, flamingos, giant tortoises, and a large pond with a huge flock of (what I presumed to be) wild waterfowl.
The final area of mention is the African complex, which is a long trail on the northern edge of the zoo. I was pleasantly surprised with this area also; while it’s not the most memorable or standout African complex I’ve seen or heard about, it’s got a solid collection. Some highlights included a baby hippo; a pair of klipspringers (who got to witness me trip and flail over a mock-rock boulder that was in the path for some reason); a large raucous troop of ruffed lemurs; saddle-billed storks and wattled cranes (both fairly rare in the country); a large aviary with a mesh tunnel hanging bridge, home to a flock of flighted African vultures feasting on carcasses; a large and active chimpanzee troop; ginormous paddocks for white rhinos and mountain zebras; and a few other exhibits for painted dogs, giraffes, cheetahs, warthogs, and a personal target species of mine – spotted hyena.
I was already happy to see hyenas, and I’ve boasted to some people before that I do a pretty good hyena whoop (look it up on Youtube if you’re not familiar – hyenas make more noises than just chattering). With three hyenas walking around when I arrived, I decided to try it out. Apparently I’m as good as advertised, because one of them got curious and headed over to the window I was at – and proceeded to stare at me from right across the glass! It stood there looking at me for a full couple of minutes – even licked the glass at one point. I guess we're friends now?
For the first time on this trip I nailed the timing: ended up finishing 5 minutes before the 5 o'clock close with winter twilight already underway. My camera died with the giraffe exhibit and carnivore complex left to go; I only have one battery (the camera is getting older and I haven’t had many issues with it holding charge until now) so I decided from now on I would take signage photos needed for the species lists with my phone to save battery. This would turn out to be a successful strategy, as Rio Grande would be the only zoo on this trip where my camera died prior to me finishing.
Traveling
My original plan had been to do Albuquerque in the morning, then drive half an hour to a small zoo 30 minutes east called Wildlife West Nature Center for pronghorn, and then shoot across the empty prairies of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma to reach the OKC suburbs in the early night. That plan was essentially shot the moment I shoved Navajo Nation and Rio Grande into the same day; I didn’t make it out of the city until it was almost fully dark, and OKC is over 7.5 hours from there. I tried at least making it to Oklahoma, but my tiredness and desire not to stop for a motel at 2 AM prevailed by the time I made it to the halfway point in Amarillo. Shot also were my plans to get traditional Texas barbecue in Amarillo, with the ketchup-based sauces drizzled over tender beef brisket. I hope my mouth will forgive me in Memphis...
For some reason, most of the hotels I tried on the east end of the city were booked up; I thought maybe it had to do with the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays, but it was still a bit early for that. On the sixth try I finally got a motel room that turned out to be decent, though at 1 AM I hardly cared whether I was sleeping in a bed, my car, or in a quiet corner at Denny’s with my face in a stack of pancakes. After sleeping a couple of winks, I roused myself and headed out at 7 AM to make my way to the Sooner State and the next leg of the journey: an expedition for small carnivores.
Fast Food Review of the Day: Arby’s
It’s true that I was so appreciative to eat a meal by the time I reached Arby’s I’d have paid them money to feed me a cardboard box, but they really went above and beyond to sell me food that was actually digestable for humans. More than that, it also tasted good! Arby’s is rare on the West Coast, but fairly common in a lot of America’s heartland. Their focus is on hearty meat sandwiches – not subs, but more like roast beef and brisket on hamburger buns – and curly fries that hit a high water mark for fry taste. I also treated myself to a specialty milkshake, a caramel cinnamon that was all a dessert should be: sweet, liquid, fills the gaps in my stomach and the hole in my heart. It’s definitely filling – maybe too much for some people – but it fills somewhat of a gap in most towns as far as fast food goes. If neither burgers or subs are really your thing, Arby’s might be the place for you.
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This thread is shaping up to be really damn good. I find myself to really enjoy the non zoo related parts of these posts just as much as the zoo reports themselves. Well done so far @Coelacanth18! Assuming you visited the Oklahoma City Zoo next, I would be extremely interested to hear more about Sanctuary Asia. It was a really ambitious development and for whatever reason it hasn't got a ton of coverage on the site.
I could be mum about it, but telling everyone the city I was heading for kind of gives it away
Sanctuary Asia will indeed be covered in the next review, and new media of it will be uploaded into the gallery (all of this will be either tomorrow or Wednesday).
Day 2: Watch Me Whoop, Watch Me Not Wombat (Part II)
The title for Day 2 will hopefully make more sense to people after this review.
Rio Grande Zoo
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Size: ~30 acres
Species Count: 133
Closed Areas: Australia, Small Primates (both being renovated), Crocodile House?
Rarities: Socorro Dove, native herps, Australian species (none seen)
Price: $14.50 admission
Recommended Time: 3 to 3.5 hours currently; 4+ hours once renovated/under construction areas are open
The Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque's biggest claim to fame is their Australian area – one of the best in the United States, which at one point held rarities such as Common Wombat, Saltwater Crocodile, Koala, and Tasmanian Devil (the Australians are definitely laughing right now – they’re special to us, alright?) Unfortunately for me, this whole area was closed and is due to be renovated into an even better Australian complex – presumably with many of the original species plus Little Blue Penguins (come on Australians, seriously! I’m trying to write a review here...) The Common Wombat was one of two rarities I had hoped to see, but I already knew upon arriving that the wombats were probably a no-go unless they had been moved to some other random corner of the zoo. Spoiler alert: they hadn’t been. So sadly no wombatting occurred during my visit.
Another rarity is the Saltwater Crocodile, which ostensibly *was* on exhibit still. They were signed in an outdoor enclosure that also had signage for American Alligator. I saw plenty of those; alas, no salties. On the zoo map pictured below, you will see there is a house with a crocodile silhouette on it; there are also photos in the gallery of the inside. Now, I’m not sure exactly what happened; I remember seeing those double doors, and – if memory serves me right – I tried to go in but the doors were locked or there was a sign saying it wasn’t open. I want to clarify that I was rushing to get the zoo done, so it’s possible I am misremembering and just walked past it without realizing it went into an exhibit area. It’s still on the map at least; its inhabitants last anyone reported was Saltwater Crocodile and African Slender-snouted Crocodile. Oh well; the salties are a loss, but I would see Slender-snouted elsewhere soon enough.
The priority, however, was Socorro Dove – and this was a success. It’s unclear to me if Albuquerque is the only place in the US currently that has Socorro Doves on public display, but in any case I can confirm that Rio Grande Zoo *does* have them on display. They are in their Birds of the Islands aviary complex, which consisted of five wire cages (inside a bigger wire-cage aviary!) containing signage for a variety of rarer birds and not many actual rare birds. Birds seen included a pair of Wrinkled Hornbills (peering at me from inside their house); a pair of Bali Mynas mixed with invisible Superb Starlings; a cage signed for Cuban Amazon and Red Lory but in which the only visible bird looked an awful lot like a Rainbow Lorikeet; Nicobar Pigeon, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo; and a fifth and final cage was home to a bizarre mix of Socorro Dove, Australian King Parrot, and Princess of Wales Parakeet. Neither of these Australian birds were visible, but there was one dove picking up nesting materials on the ground and taking it back inside the house. Success!
The zoo had a couple of other surprises up its sleeve. A row of raptor aviaries had a pair of White-necked Ravens, a species I’ve seen in Africa but up until now not in captivity; as a corvid fan, I was very happy. A pair of Steller’s Sea Eagles were also a fairly uncommon sight.
Another surprise was the Herpetarium; I knew they had one, but so few photos of it were in the media gallery I didn't know what to expect. It turned out to have a fairly solid collection of about 50 species including some unusual ones like Quince Monitor, Krefft’s River Turtle, Bismarck Ringed Python, and a few Southwest natives (a king snake, two garter snakes and a river turtle). I also witnessed a Green Anaconda clutching a rabbit underwater with its thick coiled body. The rabbit had already passed through the pearly gates, but the anaconda didn’t seem in a hurry to start eating its soggy meal. I liked the overall design of the house – very little theming, mostly just a darkened hallway with several cul-de-sacs full of terrariums. For some people here that may seem dull and unimaginative, but for me it was simple, easy to navigate, and put more focus on the animals themselves.
Another highlight – and probably the most standout part of the zoo while the Australian area is out of commission – is the fairly new Penguin Chill exhibit. I’ve seen some pretty good Antarctic penguin exhibits, but this might be my favorite so far. The above-water area is nothing special and has an average number of penguins for a zoo colony – split between Gentoo, King, and Macaroni – but the cool part is the underwater portion. The water goes quite deep – it’s hard for me to estimate, but far enough down that the viewing is split between multiple floors – and the viewing is comprehensive: both sides early on, then wraps around the side of the downramp, then fully underwater viewing on the lower floor at two different spots. The penguins seemed to make good use of it! I saw countless penguins diving and gliding underneath the water, including many Kings – a species that (in my experience) is normally seen just standing around doing nothing. It was an awesome sight to behold. The lower levels are themed and have educational stuff relating to Antarctic research, which was a nice touch as well.
The rest of the zoo was fairly nondescript. There is a so-so ape area with gorillas, orangutans, and siamang; a cage with some American birds (including unseen Gambel's Quail - grrrr); a beautiful Mexican gray wolf habitat with no wolves visible (the second miss of the day); a small amphibian building with 15 species that had a neat design (and that I got into 2 minutes before the entrance was locked for the day; I heard the exit locked behind me seconds after I walked out); and a long row of carnivore habitats that had a lot of felids in basic, wire-fronted enclosures (another construction project that should hopefully be completed by fall of next year are new Asian habitats for the tigers, snow leopards, and orangutans). There was also a large elephant complex that I only briefly saw because it was the end of the day and the elephants were no longer out, and a few odds and ends like macaws, flamingos, giant tortoises, and a large pond with a huge flock of (what I presumed to be) wild waterfowl.
The final area of mention is the African complex, which is a long trail on the northern edge of the zoo. I was pleasantly surprised with this area also; while it’s not the most memorable or standout African complex I’ve seen or heard about, it’s got a solid collection. Some highlights included a baby hippo; a pair of klipspringers (who got to witness me trip and flail over a mock-rock boulder that was in the path for some reason); a large raucous troop of ruffed lemurs; saddle-billed storks and wattled cranes (both fairly rare in the country); a large aviary with a mesh tunnel hanging bridge, home to a flock of flighted African vultures feasting on carcasses; a large and active chimpanzee troop; ginormous paddocks for white rhinos and mountain zebras; and a few other exhibits for painted dogs, giraffes, cheetahs, warthogs, and a personal target species of mine – spotted hyena.
I was already happy to see hyenas, and I’ve boasted to some people before that I do a pretty good hyena whoop (look it up on Youtube if you’re not familiar – hyenas make more noises than just chattering). With three hyenas walking around when I arrived, I decided to try it out. Apparently I’m as good as advertised, because one of them got curious and headed over to the window I was at – and proceeded to stare at me from right across the glass! It stood there looking at me for a full couple of minutes – even licked the glass at one point. I guess we're friends now?
For the first time on this trip I nailed the timing: ended up finishing 5 minutes before the 5 o'clock close with winter twilight already underway. My camera died with the giraffe exhibit and carnivore complex left to go; I only have one battery (the camera is getting older and I haven’t had many issues with it holding charge until now) so I decided from now on I would take signage photos needed for the species lists with my phone to save battery. This would turn out to be a successful strategy, as Rio Grande would be the only zoo on this trip where my camera died prior to me finishing.
Traveling
My original plan had been to do Rio Grande in the morning, then drive half an hour to a small zoo 30 minutes east called Wildlife West Nature Center for pronghorn, and then shoot across the empty prairies of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma to reach the OKC suburbs in the early night. That plan was essentially shot the moment I shoved Navajo Nation and Rio Grande into the same day; I didn’t make it out of Albuquerque until it was almost fully dark, and OKC is over 7.5 hours from there. I tried at least making it to Oklahoma, but my tiredness and desire not to stop for a motel at 2 AM prevailed by the time I made it to the halfway point in Amarillo. Shot also were my plans to get traditional Texas barbecue in Amarillo, with the ketchup-based sauces drizzled over tender beef brisket. I hope my mouth will forgive me in Memphis...
For some reason, most of the hotels I tried on the east end of the city were booked up; I thought maybe it had to do with the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays, but it was still a bit early for that. On the sixth try I finally got a motel room that turned out to be decent, though at 1 AM I hardly cared whether I was sleeping in a bed, my car, or in a quiet corner at Denny’s with my face in a stack of pancakes. After sleeping a couple of winks, I roused myself and headed out at 7 AM to make my way to the Sooner State and the next leg of the journey: an expedition for small carnivores.
Fast Food Review of the Day: Arby’s
It’s true that I was so appreciative to eat a meal by the time I reached Arby’s I’d have paid them money to feed me a cardboard box, but they really went above and beyond to sell me food that was actually digestable for humans. More than that, it also tasted good! Arby’s is rare on the West Coast, but fairly common in a lot of America’s heartland. Their focus is on hearty meat sandwiches – not subs, but more like roast beef and brisket on hamburger buns – and curly fries that hit a high water mark for fry taste. I also treated myself to a specialty milkshake, a caramel cinnamon that was all a dessert should be: sweet, liquid, fills the gaps in my stomach and the hole in my heart. It’s definitely filling – maybe too much for some people – but it fills somewhat of a gap in most towns as far as fast food goes. If neither burgers or subs are really your thing, Arby’s might be the place for you.
Get with the times, it hasn't been Rio Grande Zoo in years
What a disappointment, with Australia being closed! I've only seen koalas and tasmanian devils once, both at Columbus, so that would have been crushing.
The aviary set up looks decent, if not great for photography. It's always interesting seeing what species differ between the coasts. I see white neck raven more often than I see common raven, usually in non-AZA places. One place has them in their north american section, right across from their eurasian lynx
The penguin viewing looks fantastic, I've never seen a multi-floor penguin exhibit, other than Mystic's (outdoors is above water and a bit below, then go down a ramp to see underwater. It's more like 1.5 floors). Especially with kings!
"and a few other exhibits for painted dogs, giraffes, cheetahs,"
Barely a mention, and no photos for me? Love arby's. Try their apple turnover next time for dessert, they're delicious.
Get with the times, it hasn't been Rio Grande Zoo in years
That confused me briefly, though from everything I knew it was ABQ Biopark.
Not just Sanctuary Asia hasn't gotten a lot of coverage on this site, the OKC Zoo is so underrated. Granted not all of it's exhibits are perfect; but their fantastic Oklahoma trails exhibit, Sanctuary Asia, and other recent projects have been totally overlooked on Zoochat.