DAY 6: Saturday, July 7th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 3: Blank Park Zoo
Blank Park Zoo’s website:
Blank Park Zoo
Zoo Map:
http://blankparkzoo.us/Downloads/BPZooMap10.pdf
Blank Park Zoo opened in 1966 as a children’s zoo and thus the facility will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016. The zoo is located in Des Moines, Iowa, and has just over 100 species of close to 1,500 animals. The zoo is fairly small at 22 acres, and there is another 27 acres that is owned by the zoo but has not been developed. There has been record-breaking attendance in recent years and now the zoo regularly attracts around 400,000 annual visitors. An interesting fact is that the zoo actually closed down from late 1982 to early 1986 (similar to what occurred with the small zoo in Central Park, NY) and when it reopened it became an AZA-accredited establishment.
THE BEST:
Japanese Macaques – This fairly new exhibit is quite large and set on a hillside with lots of grass, strewn branches and enrichment opportunities for the snowy monkeys. The best fact of all is that there are apparently close to 20 of the primates, and it was a joy to watch them cavort with one another, groom their neighbours, or laze around in the hot sun. A large troop of primates at any zoo is always a showstopper and this was no exception.
Australia Adventure – This excellent zone opened in 2011 and it was a real treat as the theming is impeccable for a small zoo. Usually these areas contain the obligatory wallaby paddock with a couple of emus behind fences, but Blank Park went all out with their thematic design. Large wooden gates greet visitors at the entrance, and the walk-through area is well-shaded and contains a large pool. Bennett’s wallabies, black swans and emus are surprisingly all in the same area as their human counterparts, and at the entrance is a small aviary with these 3 species: rainbow lorikeet, red lory and eastern rosella. Along the short pathway are Aboriginal artwork, didgeridoos and various Aussie signs before Bundarra Station greets visitors with its authentic outback appearance. This train station has an indoor/outdoor kookaburra exhibit, a walk-through budgie/parakeet encounter and numerous Australian facts listed on the walls.
An emu yard and a cassowary exhibit are next, and guests exit via a small walk-through aviary with these 9 species: palm cockatoo, chestnut teal, crested pigeon, plumed whistling duck, eclectus parrot, nicobar pigeon, Rothschild’s peacock pheasant, cattle egret and blue-faced honeyeater. The zoo train departs from this area and around another wallaby habitat and there are not many major American zoos with such a well-designed Australian section.
THE AVERAGE:
Discovery Center – This building opened in 2001 and it is the first thing that many visitors see as they enter the zoo as it is located directly next to the main entrance. An Alpine Cabin area invokes images of camping high up in a mountain, and a small red panda exhibit is found amongst the conifers. The Cave is up next and it is dark with some innovative twists and turns with these species: Madagascar hissing cockroach, emperor scorpion, Egyptian fruit bat and boa constrictor (which at one point can be looked down on from above via a glass viewing window in the floor of the cave). The aviary section has many colourful Gouldian finches, some waterfowl, a crashing waterfall as well as a giant day gecko exhibit and a two-toed sloth/golden-headed lion tamarin enclosure.
The Aquatics zone has a Water Lab that is rather dull with its small tanks; a dwarf caiman exhibit that is not very large; an impressive looking Amazon tank with pacu and arowana; a pretty African cichlid pool; and a spectacular, floor-to-ceiling Coral Reef tank. Scarlet macaws are seen in an all-indoor area on the way out but their enclosure is disappointing. Overall the Discovery Center gives a nice overview of several ecosystems and for a small zoo it is fairly well done. In comparison to the mega structures that other zoos have (i.e.: Omaha) it is small fry but nevertheless still enjoyable.
Great Cats – A trio of exhibits that feature lions, snow leopards and Amur tigers that opened in 1999. The lion and tiger enclosures have a nice stand of tall trees in the background that almost obscure the circling train and black metal fence, while the snow leopard exhibit is also nicely planted. The lions and tigers can also be seen in their indoor dens and there are quite a few cool graphics discussing big cats in general, but all three enclosures (while more than adequate) are a tad on the small side.
Seal/Sea Lion Pool – This area was renovated and reopened this year and it contains 3 harbour seals and 2 California sea lions. There are a couple of huge sun shades, underwater viewing, a raised observation deck, and the pool is definitely large enough for its inhabitants. The downside to the habitat is that it is not as naturalistic as I’d like to see it, and while the pinnipeds probably don’t care I would much rather see a rocky coastline image rather than the flat, somewhat sterile lines of a boring tank.
African Boardwalk – This area features a winding boardwalk that curves around a trio of exhibits. A serval is looked down upon in its large but sparse enclosure; ostriches are in a big field, and they rotate with Watusi cattle; and giraffes, helmeted guineafowl, African crowned cranes and lesser kudu inhabit the largest paddock. The downside to this area is that it is completely shut down in the winter and therefore is only seasonal. In the background behind the giraffe habitat there is a lot of construction going on and it is possible that black rhinos will be joining the zoo in 2013 but I’m not sure where they will be placed.
Kids’ Kingdom – This area opened in 2007 and features the ubiquitous farmyard zone, a large playground and the usual assortment of domesticated animals. Due to the blazing hot day we skipped this area so that our two children would not want to stay and explore, but I did take 5 minutes to poke my head around and briefly check it out.
Odds n’ Sods – There is a scenic Chilean flamingo pool just outside the Discovery Center; a very small outdoor red panda exhibit; ring-tailed lemurs in a well-furnished exhibit; Aldabra tortoises in a typical yard; white-handed gibbons in a huge cage that is not aesthetically pleasing but quite large in size; black-tailed prairie dogs inhabit a dirt enclosure with pop-up bubbles; a bald eagle has an aviary to itself; and a small aviary near the Safari Grill contains superb starlings and Rothschild’s peacock pheasants.
THE WORST:
Squirrel monkeys – These small South American clowns curiously share space with a king vulture in a black metal cage directly from the era of outdated primate enclosures. The cage is directly in the middle of the zoo and an eyesore.
River Otters – There are so many terrific otter exhibits in American zoos that it is almost a shock to come across one with such a tiny pool and so much rockwork.
Penguins – Magellanic penguins inhabit a shallow, tiny pool that is near the squirrel monkeys and those two exhibits should be bulldozed in favour of a central habitat that will stun zoogoers. What about some great apes?
OVERALL:
Blank Park Zoo can be seen in 2 hours and yet it is the only AZA-accredited zoo in the state of Iowa. Many of the states that I’ve driven through at this point in the road trip (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa) barely have a half-decent zoo between the lot of them. Having said that Blank Park has very few poor exhibits and the Japanese macaques, Australia Adventure and even the Discovery Center all have interesting aspects of exhibitry. It is an establishment well worth seeing for the zoo enthusiast and sometimes it is nice to be done and dusted in a couple of hours when one is in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave.
You can be critical of a zoo but not necessarily the person writing about a zoo as everything is for the most part subjective in that category.
