Snowleopard's 2014 Road Trip

I type this safe and sound back home in British Columbia, Canada. Already tonight the number of people I've seen smoking has plummeted as that is one huge difference between the nations. So many smokers on this trip!

Anyway, the reason I've fallen behind is that I ended up with a whopping 65 zoos in 20 days. Whew! I always type out the long reviews first and then I pick and choose pieces for the mini-reviews that I post on here.

I've posted 17 days worth of material and I have 3 days left:

Wednesday: (I'm almost done writing up this particular day)

Pueblo Zoo
Nature & Raptor Center of Pueblo (5 minutes from the zoo)
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (I also visited this zoo in 2010)

Thursday:

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
Tracy Aviary
Willow Park Zoo

Friday:

Aquarium of Boise
World Center for Birds of Prey

I'll post Wednesday's update and then Thursday and Friday might not be posted until early next week as I want to enjoy some time with my patient wife and 3 little monkeys. I also have a number of odds n' ends comments that I wish to make as well so this thread will continue beginning Monday and go for perhaps another week.
 
Day 18 – Wednesday, August 13th

This day began with a burst of excitement as I was pulled over for speeding fairly early in the morning. As I was a little bleary-eyed from being on the road driving so early the state trooper asked me to stick out my tongue a couple of times and open and close my eyes on several occasions as Colorado recently legalized marijuana and the cop said that he regularly tests drivers to see if they are high on cannabis. I’ve never smoked marijuana in my life and so it was all rather amusing to go through and the police officer was stunned to see my 6-page itinerary of zoos, opening times, addresses and everything else that I had prepared for the road trip. He glanced through it and described how he often visits little Pueblo Zoo with his kids and then he said that he’d have to go write up my ticket. After a few minutes he returned with a “courtesy ticket” that does not feature a fine and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then he wanted to see the itinerary again and he was disappointed that I was not going to the Rio Grande Zoo in New Mexico because he was a big fan. We talked about more zoos, Canada, what he does for a living and overall it was a wonderful experience and I honestly think that my zoo trip helped me avoid a ticket. If I was just some local guy heading to work I would have a big fine to pay right now.

Another highlight was seeing 4 more wild Pronghorn Antelope shortly before dusk.

Mini-Reviews:

Pueblo Zoo – This 30-acre zoo is fairly small with only 450 animals and the highlight is the excellent North American River Otter exhibit. Elsewhere are Sichuan Takin, White-Handed Gibbons and a Sun Bear in Asian Adventure; Islands of Life is a 1930’s-era WPA building with 20 species; there is a really neat Historic Section (again from the 1930’s WPA zoo-building era) with abandoned bear pits and an empty and overgrown Monkey Island; World of Colour is a Herpetarium that looks amazing from outside but only has 13 species on display; and an “Ecocenter” building has penguins and a shabby-looking mini-rainforest. There are many other exhbits but nothing to set the heart racing and I spent an hour and a half at this zoo.

Nature & Raptor Center of Pueblo – This very small establishment is only 5 minutes from the zoo and it is a non AZA-accredited facility that was founded in 1981. The annual attendance is around 10,000 and the surrounding grasslands habitats contain a number of hiking trails but the raptor center itself can easily be toured in about 20 minutes. There is a small selection of species kept at the center that cannot ever be released. Species List (13 species): Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Western Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Swainson’s Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, American Kestrel, Mississippi Kite, Peregrine Falcon and Common Raven.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – This was my second visit to the zoo, the first being in 2010, and I found the establishment to be very hit-and-miss. African Rift Valley and its 20 giraffes (and 200 all-time births) is fantastic and I had 2 giraffes nuzzling and licking me even though I did not purchase any food. Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas has around 15 giraffes but Cheyenne’s got the largest herd of 20 and it is a phenomenal experience seeing them so docile and up close. The rest of this zone is good (zebra, okapi, colobus monkey, red river hog, meerkat, etc) and this time around the giraffe barn was open to the public which was not the case in 2010. The zoo’s 6,714 foot elevation is an asset in terms of stunning views but it makes for a lot of huffing and puffing up steep inclines.
The new $13.5 million Encounter Africa complex has African Elephants, Black Rhinos, Meerkats (2 exhibits) and African Lions in a part of the zoo that mainly opened in 2013. The elephants have a total of more than 3 acres to roam, including an off-exhibit yard and a very steep hillside walk (which I saw them utilize), while the rhinos are new to the zoo and the lions were shifted into an updated exhibit at the end of the multi-year project. Life-size elephant sculptures greet visitors, a 20-foot waterfall is there for the zoo’s largest creatures, a bush plane is simulated to have crashed into the savanna, and there is an interactive termite mound for the Meerkats. Encounter Africa offers up unique elements and an example of that is the life-sized statue of Black Rhino spraying water out of its butt at passing visitors. Visitors can walk inside the enormous elephant barn and see the 4 aging females (the youngest is 30) or catch the animals on their trailside path that winds down to an off-exhibit site that is quite large in size. The entire zone ties in nicely with the African Rift Valley to form a cohesive whole along the right-hand side of the zoo.

The huge African section takes up a good chunk of the zoo and it is so impressive (even though the hoofstock yards are all on the small side) that the rest of the zoo suffers in comparison. Monkey Pavilion and its dozen or so species is absolutely awful in so many ways and the 1942 structure needs to go; the 2 bear grottoes are perhaps even worse although I saw my 3rd Asiatic Black Bear of this trip; and the Australian zone at the top of the zoo is going to be closed down for 6 months for a complete overhaul and that cannot come soon enough. Rocky Mountain Wild (built in 2008) has some great moments but hiking up 3 levels of stairs to see a sleeping grizzly is not family-friendly. I did see a full-grown Moose in deep water and that was awesome. It is a great zoo for cat fanatics as the Amur Tiger, Amur Leopard, Pallas’ Cat and Snow Leopard “Asian Highlands” zone is impressive, plus there are Cougars and Canadian Lynx in Rocky Mountain Wild. The brand-new African Lion exhibit is superb, with huge boulders on the hillside and a large indoor viewing area. With 800 animals and 600,000 visitors it is a popular zoo but one that grows physically wearying with the steep inclines in all directions. Lastly, seeing Lowland Gorillas in a fenced-off slice of Colorado wilderness is definitely a bit odd. Due to me rushing around and squeezing in Lee Richardson Zoo the night before I was able to spend 2.5 hours at this mid-sized zoo with a terrific African zone.
 
snowleopard said:
Day 17 – Tuesday, August 12th

Mini-Reviews:

Tanganyika Wildlife Park – This zoo was a treat to visit as it is packed with mainly mammals and there is scarcely a bird, reptile, amphibian or fish in sight. In fact, other than a couple of tortoises, a white American Alligator, kookaburras and lorikeets I believe that the entire zoo is all mammals and that really appeals to someone like me. It was a great visit for several reasons, as the park was much better than I had anticipated and I think that it is the second best zoo in the state and I’ve seen 10 now in Kansas. Also, for the 4th time on this trip I met up with someone who runs a zoo! The assistant director Matt Fouts is the day-to-day operations manager and while his father Jim is the animal collections go-to guy Matt is in charge of the running of the zoo. He graciously agreed a couple of weeks ago to meet up with me and in the end he spent a full 2 hours and we went around the entire park. I learnt a lot about the facility and all of its animals, I had a couple of Ring-Tailed Lemurs on my lap inside the walk-through yard, and we also saw a variety of monkeys, lemurs, gibbons and hoofstock behind the scenes as Tanganyika has an extensive off-exhibit section that the public never sees. Matt was very candid with me and we discussed all the good, bad and ugly of the ZAA and AZA and he told me about a number of future plans for the park. Much of it I cannot reveal but I will say that next up will be the arrival of 2 male Okapi and the plans in the next few years involve the importation of 15-20 rhinos (white and black) from South Africa. However, nothing is set in stone just yet and some of the other plans could be fantastic for the ever-growing establishment.

After being a breeding center since the mid-1980’s Tanganyika has basically been built from scratch since 2006 and in 8 years around 40 exhibits have been created. Many of the primate enclosures are functional wood-and-wire exhibits but they are great for the animals and actually quite good for visitor viewing as well as there are grassy areas in all directions, lots of climbing opportunities and long overhead access tunnels that the monkeys use extensively to get to their large exhibits. The lemur walk-through is the only one in the country as Omaha’s does not involve any feeding of touching and at Tanganyika the lemurs will literally jump on you if you have a craisin (like a small red raisin) in your hand as I have the photos to prove it! There are a couple of gibbon islands with minimal water barriers and also 7 Javan Langurs from Howletts that are possibly the only ones in North America. This zoo has big numbers of animals as there are more than 20 Ring-Tailed Lemurs in 3 different groups that rotate onto the walk-through island; approximately 15 Reticulated Giraffe in 2 herds that rotate into the exhibit with Cuvier’s Gazelles – which is excellent and arguably the best one in the zoo; and probably 20 Red Kangaroos in the walk-through Aussie zone.

It is a great zoo if you are a lover of cats as including off-show there are around 15 Clouded Leopards and 15 Snow Leopards. Also, Bengal Tiger (white one), Cheetah, Jaguar (off-exhibit), Amur Leopard (off-exhibit), Caracal, Pallas’ Cat, Serval and Eurasian Lynx are at the park. That makes 10 species with 8 being able to be seen by visitors and in the year 2013 there was a grand total of 26 cats born at the zoo. In 2014 a black Amur Leopard was born, possibly one of only 3 such cats in existence. (Maybe if “Arizona Docent” is reading this he can confirm that information about the black Amur Leopard). The first animals that I saw in the zoo were a baby Clouded Leopard, 3 baby Snow Leopards, a baby Ratel and 2 baby Amur Leopards (including the ultra-rare black one). Elsewhere are 2 albino African Crested Porcupines, perhaps the only ones anywhere in captivity; a white American Alligator; a couple of Fossas; a Ratel named Diablo who climbed to a height of 6 feet when Matt was petting his claws from outside the cage; and rare hoofstock such as Springbok, Southern Black Rhino (this subspecies is now hardly ever seen in U.S. zoos), Indian Rhino and Pygmy Hippo. I even spotted a couple of Lowland Anoa when I was behind-the-scenes.

Finally, another highlight was meeting Drew from WDM Architects and he was child-hood friends with Matt and it was thanks to Drew that we all met for the morning. After Matt showed us around his zoo for 2 hours Drew was kind enough to buy me lunch and we sat and chatted for another hour before I hit the road and he headed back to his job as a zoo designer. Drew and I actually have a lot in common in terms of our views towards specific species in captivity, zoos in general as well as topics outside of the world of zoological delights. It was overall a great morning and meeting Matt and Drew confirmed once again that whenever I meet directors or zoo nerds from ZooChat, and there have been quite a few over the years, then 95% of the time they are all wonderful, like-minded people. Tanganyika’s exhibits range almost entirely from average to good in terms of quality but there were a few stinkers: the Eurasian Lynx cage, Caracal cage (although they are educational animals at times led around on leashes), the white American Alligator exhibit was too small and the African Black-Footed Penguin pool was the weakest exhibit in the zoo. I’m always honest with zoo directors and most of the time they are receptive to critical opinion and already realize the pros and cons of their zoo and Matt was no different. However, having 4 poor exhibits out of 40 is a decent batting average no matter how you slice it.
Click to expand...

Great review Snowleopard!

Two questions about the off-exhibit section.

In addition to amur leopards, jaguars, and lowland anoas, what other notable species of animals are off-exhibit and when will they be put on public display?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have a bit of an odd ball question for you, snowleopard. What is the best exhibit for black footed cats you have seen on your trips? I love these cats, but find they are usually kept in exhibits that are not big enough for them, in the interest of people being able to see them, since they are small cats. Have you seen any zoos that exhibited them in such a way that they were outside, yet had plenty of space, and still were able to be located in their space?
 
@KCZooman: I sent you a couple of private messages.

@BedildaSue: It seems as if Black-Footed Cats have become endangered species in American zoos as I didn't see any on this 20 day/65 zoo trip. However, there are many more of the species in states like California and perhaps the best exhibit I've ever seen for the cats would be at the Santa Barbara Zoo. There is at least a couple of photos in the ZooChat gallery but I'm not sure if there are still Black-Footed Cats there. On the many other times I've seen the species it seems as if they have always been in all-indoor enclosures.

@Sooty: your reference to the Missouri shooting was interesting as it was huge news throughout the U.S. and I toured the Saint Louis Zoo on the same day. The suburb of Ferguson is two-thirds black while the local police force is 90% white; yet again there is another in a long line of cases of an unarmed black youth being shot to death by a white police officer. In a nation that has a mass shooting on average once every couple of days it is not even a surprise any more and that is the real tragedy.

@ANyhuis: SeaWorld has definitely reacted to the plunging stock market and disappointing attendance, and making the decision to build 10 million gallon tanks is going to prove to be costly and a bit of a shock for those that thought orcas were perhaps going to be phased out in the long term plans. I guess the philosophy is that "Shamu" is so intricately linked to any image of SeaWorld that the parks simply could not afford to not keep killer whales in captivity.

On a side note...

I thought that in light of my high regard for Saint Louis Zoo, I would take the advice of a close friend (and fellow zoo nerd) and do what he often does: “head-to-head comparisons”. This is purely for fun as it is far from a perfect system but comparing Saint Louis Zoo with San Diego Zoo is interesting.

Insects – Saint Louis
Felines – Saint Louis
Canids – Saint Louis
Pinnipeds – Saint Louis
Pachyderms – Saint Louis
Hoofstock – Saint Louis
Birds – San Diego
Primates - San Diego
Marsupials – San Diego
Reptiles & Amphibians – San Diego (Saint Louis has the better Reptile House but San Diego’s outdoor exhibits give them the edge)
Bears – San Diego (a very close call)

Looking strictly at animal exhibits it is a 6-5 edge to Saint Louis and most of the categories are fairly obvious with the closest decision perhaps the “Bears” one. By 2017 Saint Louis will have 4 bear species in essentially all brand-new exhibits that will all easily be better than San Diego’s, but the California park has Giant Pandas and that gives them a very slight edge. I’ll leave it at 6-5 Saint Louis for now but it could easily be 7-4 in a couple more years.

Why not make this even more interesting and toss in some more categories? I had a longer list but it was getting ridiculous and so I cut it down to 5 categories that were important to me:

Architecture – Saint Louis
Cost – Saint Louis (a major bonus is that the zoo is free)
Children’s Zoo – San Diego (neither are exceptional)
Weather – San Diego
Future – Saint Louis (while San Diego has Africa Rocks upcoming, Saint Louis has the 2015 re-opening of Penguin & Puffin Coast, 2015’s Polar Bear Point and 2017’s Grizzly Ridge. After that one could argue that the zoo lacks a really poor exhibit, plus Saint Louis recently purchased 13 additional acres and ideas such as an African Savanna, an Aquarium or a Rain Forest complex have all been tossed around).

Overall it is 9-7 for Saint Louis Zoo over San Diego Zoo.

If I look at the same 16 categories for Saint Louis vs. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo it is pretty close to 15-1 in favour of Saint Louis. That is extraordinary as I would place Saint Louis only slightly ahead overall and thus a 15-1 or 14-2 blow-out is not really realistic. The general "feel" of a zoo is not reflected by such statistics and a place like Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum would be an obvious exception to many categories.
 
The Santa Barbara Zoo no longer has black-footed cats on exhibit. There are fennec foxes there now.

I don't think that any California zoos exhibit black-footed cats any longer. LA, Fresno, and Sacramento all had them once, but no longer.

Correction: Fresno Zoo still has them on their map, but I'm not sure if the cats are actually still there.

Correction Addition: I just visited the Fresno Zoo today and there are still black-footed cats there.
 
Last edited:
Day 19 – Thursday, August 14th

For those that wish to indulge in a spectacular Zoo Grapevine magazine issue then simply purchase the 32-page, all-colour beauty via the website link below. The summer issue has 7 full pages of photos and reviews of Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and Tracy Aviary – all 3 being found in the Salt Lake City area.

Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society

Mini-Reviews:

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium – This brand-new facility just opened in March and it is still suffering a few growing pains 5 months later. Discover Utah – This gallery with its local theme is arguably the best part of the aquarium and it immerses visitors in the red rock of Utah via the mock-sandstone entrance and curvaceous detailed walls with their built-in terrariums. North American River Otters are the highlight with their combination indoor-outdoor exhibit with large underwater viewing panels, but the selection of local rivers and lakes to showcase native fauna is commendable. Journey to South America – This large, two-story gallery has a very open setup and a few more lush plantings would not go amiss in an attempt to disguise the warehouse-style feel to the jungle setting. Ocean Explorer – This popular gallery has a wealth of treasures in it. By far the best thing about the Ocean Explorer gallery is the 300,000 gallon shark tank that has a 40-foot tunnel that winds its way into a large, dark room with tiered rows of gallery seating. The species list includes: Sandbar Shark, Ornate Wobbegong, Grey Reef Shark, Blacktip Reef Shark, Whitetip Reef Shark, Nurse Shark, Zebra Shark, Brown-Banded Bamboo Shark, Green Sea Turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Black-Spotted Whipray, Giant Shovelnose Ray, Honeycomb Stingray, Southern Stingray plus at least 14 species of smaller, colourful fish. Inside the Banquet Hall is yet another view of the large shark tank. Living Planet Researcher – This is the section that contains Gentoo Penguins and thus it is wildly busy at all times. The main viewing section is neatly themed as an Antarctic expedition and penguins are superstars in their own right. Best of all is perhaps a second underwater viewing area on the first floor that has curved acrylic that goes over the head of visitors and this creates an enthralling experience.

The aquarium, while probably a 7 out of 10 facility, still has to work out its kinks. The dreaded touch screen tanks are in all directions but at least these ones, once you wait for the sponsorship information to fade away, actually shows a photo of all the species in a tank at the same time so one click of a camera gives a zoo enthusiast such as myself all the information that is needed. Parts of the establishment feel like the movie “Fierce Creatures” with sponsorship signs and plaques overwhelming the senses. Couldn’t they have been more low-key than being plastered all over the map/guide? Many areas of the aquarium rubbed me the wrong way: large, empty spaces; long walkways to sharks and penguins with bare, barren walls; extremely fake-looking coral and zero signage in the big shark tank; 3 empty tanks and 2 more that were “under maintenance”; a very open feel to the rainforest jungle gallery. The aquarium is mainly very good and after a few years it could well be one of the 20 biggest and best aquariums in the United States, but there are many small issues that need to be worked out before that occurs.

Tracy Aviary – This is an AZA-accredited facility located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it opened in 1938. There are approximately 100 species of 400 specimens on 8 acres, and an average of 70,000 annual visitors. I spent just over an hour at this facility and was thoroughly impressed as almost everything has been either built brand-new or extensively renovated in the past decade. Even older structures like the South American Pavilion (7 spacious indoor/outdoor aviaries that surround a 1970 building) feels like it was just erected yesterday. King of the Andes is a very good condor exhibit; Owl Forest with its more than 100 conifer trees and 7 exhibits is outstanding; and macaws, vultures, cranes, eagles and hornbills all have well-designed habitats that showcase the beauty of the specimens on display. There is a significant waterfowl population as well as a general trend towards South American birds and I counted 102 species during my visit. Any zoo enthusiast would be a fool to miss this top-notch facility.

Willow Park Zoo – This is a non-AZA-accredited facility located in Draper, Utah, and it regularly has 10,000 annual visitors that are mainly in the form of local school groups. It only costs a couple of dollars for an adult and can easily be toured in about half an hour. All of the dozen mammal species consist of 1 or 2 specimens of each and none of the exhibits are exceptional. The little zoo is notable for its vast array of birds (49 species and mainly waterfowl) and that should be commended, but again the quality of the exhibitry leaves a lot to be desired.

Mammal Species List (12 species): Fallow Deer, Reindeer, Rocky Mountain Elk, Canadian Lynx, Bobcat, Coyote, Red Fox, Brown Capuchin Monkey, North American Porcupine (including an albino specimen), Raccoon (including a leucistic specimen), Rock Hyrax and Kinkajou.
 
ANyhuis said:
What is "right" is that the zoos and aquariums that we love continue to display the animals we want to see -- dolphins, elephants, etc. -- and that activists and politicians stay out of these decisions.

David Brown, I don't deny that Sea World and other such entities might to doing some "worst case" planning for the future, just as any wise businesses will do. But that's quite different from saying it's a "losing battle" to conceive of our great-grandchildren seeing dolphins at the Georgia Aquarium or Indianapolis Zoo. Cheers!
Click to expand...

I know I'm coming in late to this conversation, but I just felt the need to reply.

What is "right" is that zoos and aquariums continue to display animals that folks want to see IF it is the best interest of that species and the other species in the zoo. Currently, even as a 20 year zoo veteran, I'm not entirely convinced that it is the best interest of cetaceans to be on display and/or performing. That is the debate that needs to be had, among zoo/aquarium professionals (not the animal activists) before deciding to continue to display these animals. For me seeing a whale shark in a big empty tank just made me think how much farther we need to go to meet the needs of these animals.
 
Day 19 – Thursday, August 14th (LAST DAY OF THE TRIP - although I still have more to say at a later date)

Mini-Reviews:

Aquarium of Boise – This facility opened in 2011 and it has close to 40 exhibits but there is a distinct amateurish quality to many of the dirty tanks. The 10,000 sq. ft. establishment has already seen a name change and overcome a sketchy background (its former owners received jail sentences for illegal wildlife acts) and if the quite good Giant Pacific Octopus exhibit is a sign of the future then local residents could become enamored with the facility as there is nothing else around as competition. However, a much more serious approach to husbandry and exhibit design is needed for this establishment to become a notable member of the long list of aquariums found scattered throughout the United States. I took loads of photos and still ended up having seen it all inside 30 minutes.

World Center for Birds of Prey – The Interpretative Center has 5 bird exhibits (with very poor viewing as the birds are behind both glass and metal bars) as well as several rooms packed with mini-theaters or museum-like displays. Outside are 4 more bird exhibits with slightly better viewing, as well as the one and only really impressive aviary called Condor Cliffs. California Condors are exhibited here and this is one of the very few places on Earth that the species can be seen in captivity. In fact, while there are only 10 species on display at least 6 of them are rarely ever found in American zoos.

Species List: California Condor, Bald Eagle, Bateleur Eagle, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, Aplomado Falcon, Gyrfalcon, Orange-Breasted Falcon and Eurasian Eagle Owl.
 
snowleopard said:
Day 19 – Thursday, August 14th (LAST DAY OF THE TRIP - although I still have more to say at a later date)
Click to expand...

It's a shame that this trip is over, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about a lot of small zoos that I've NEVER heard of. I haven't actually contributed until now but wanted to wait until the end! Many thanks Snowleopard for taking us with you! :)

And hats of to the wife, my other half started worrying during zoohistorica (a whopping 3 days! :p) so how she coped with 20 days impresses me... ;)

Glad you got home safely and I look forward to the thread continuing. :D
 
Last edited:
I’ve had a request for a mention of notable bird zoos and so I’ll repeat what I did for reptile zoos. In the past year I’ve visited 4 zoos that exclusively showcased reptiles and amphibians and I ranked them earlier on this thread. In the same time span I’ve visited 5 bird zoos and I will do the same here. I should point out that the United States has two premier bird zoos: Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City and the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. The latter is a facility that I have not visited and it has around 150 species and 500 birds.

1- Tracy Aviary – A top-class Utah establishment with 102 species and about 400 birds on display. The great thing about this bird zoo is that it has been almost completely rebuilt during the past decade and very little remains that has not been altered from before the 2001 strategic plan. Well worth the $7 adult admission and a first-class facility.

2- World Bird Sanctuary – A free St. Louis attraction with 40 bird species plus a dozen other small animal species in the nature center. A really enjoyable facility.

3- Cascades Raptor Center – There are 30 species on display in this Oregon attraction.

4- World Center for Birds of Prey – Only 10 species on display at this Idaho attraction but there are some true rarities and an educational interpretative center.

5- Nature & Raptor Center of Pueblo – Only 13 species on display at this Colorado attraction and a very tiny raptor center where everything can easily be seen in a little more than 20 minutes.
 
Summer 2014 Road Trip: 65 Zoos/Aquariums in 20 Days

Final List of Zoos:

Cat Tales Zoological Park (Mead, WA)
Yellowstone Bear World (Rexburg, ID)
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center (West Yellowstone, MT) #
Montana Grizzly Encounter (Bozeman, MT)
Bear Country U.S.A. (Rapid City, SD)
Reptile Gardens (Rapid City, SD)
Bramble Park Zoo (Watertown, SD) #
Dakota Zoo (Bismarck, ND) #
Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery & Aquarium (Riverdale, ND)
Roosevelt Park Zoo (Minot, ND) #
Red River Zoo (Fargo, ND) #
Chahinkapa Zoo (Wahpeton, ND) #
Hemker Park & Zoo (Freeport, MN)
Minnesota Zoo (Minneapolis, MN) # ****
RAD (Reptile & Amphibian Discovery) Zoo (Owatonna, MN)
Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium (Bloomington, MN)
Pine Grove Zoo (Little Falls, MN)
Lake Superior Zoo (Duluth, MN) #
Great Lakes Aquarium (Duluth, MN)
Como Park Zoo (St. Paul, MN) #
Irvine Park & Zoo (Chippewa Falls, WI)
Wildwood Wildlife Park (Minocqua, WI)
DeYoung Family Zoo (Wallace, MI)
Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW) Zoo (Green Bay, WI) #
Lincoln Park Zoo (Manitowoc, WI)
Ochsner Park Zoo (Baraboo, WI)
International Crane Foundation (Baraboo, WI) #
Timbavati Wildlife Park (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
Alligator Alley (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
Wisconsin Deer Park (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
Henry Vilas Zoo (Madison, WI) #
Racine Zoo (Racine, WI) #
Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL) # ****
Cosley Zoo (Wheaton, IL) #
Phillips Park Zoo (Aurora, IL)
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) #
Niabi Zoo (Coal Valley, IL)
Peoria Zoo (Peoria, IL) #
Wildlife Prairie Park (Hanna City, IL)
Miller Park Zoo (Bloomington, IL) #
Scovill Zoo (Decatur, IL) #
Henson Robinson Zoo (Springfield, IL) #
Butterfly House (Chesterfield, MO) #
World Aquarium (St. Louis, MO)
Saint Louis Zoo (St. Louis, MO) # ****
World Bird Sanctuary (Valley Park, MO)
Grant’s Farm (St. Louis, MO)
Endangered Wolf Center (Eureka, MO) #
Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari (Ashland, NE) #
Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium (Gretna, NE)
Lincoln Children’s Zoo (Lincoln, NE) #
Clay Center Zoo (Clay Center, KS)
Kansas Fishes Aquarium (Salina, KS)
Tanganyika Wildlife Park (Goddard, KS)
Hutchinson Zoo (Hutchinson, KS) #
Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo (Great Bend, KS)
Lee Richardson Zoo (Garden City, KS) #
Pueblo Zoo (Pueblo, CO) #
Nature & Raptor Center of Pueblo (Pueblo, CO)
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs, CO) # ****
Loveland Living Planet Aquarium (Draper, UT)
Tracy Aviary (Salt Lake City, UT) #
Willow Park Zoo (Logan, UT)
Aquarium of Boise (Boise, ID)
World Center for Birds of Prey (Boise, ID)

**** = I had previously visited 4 attractions: Minnesota Zoo (2008), Shedd Aquarium (2008), Saint Louis Zoo (2010) and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (2010)

# = 30 AZA accredited (35 are not AZA-accredited) in 17 U.S. States

Zoos = 55
Aquariums = 10
TOTAL = 65 zoos/aquariums in 20 days!! (61 I’d never toured before)
 
A few random comments and thoughts…

I’ve narrowed down my zoo-visiting pet peeves to 2, although there are entire threads here on ZooChat that list a plethora of stupid things that visitors do. Looking at it from the perspective of analyzing a particular wildlife establishment here are 2 items that drive me absolutely bonkers.

1- Touch screens. There are those of you that are well-accustomed to me ranting about touch screens but I’m going to do it once again. While at Saint Louis I took a record-breaking 700 photos, including perusing their exceptional Reptile House and its 98 signs that were all easy to read and I currently have copies of all the photos on my laptop. Compare that to Aquarium of Boise or Dallas World Aquarium, where one has to stand in front of a screen, waiting patiently for each species photo and information to appear, and then stand for even longer while it slowly disappears and the next one magically appears, and then repeat the process 17 times for large tanks. At Aquarium of Boise I didn’t bother as it was just about the last stop of the trip and I had zero patience left for ridiculous touch screens. I give kudos to the brand-new facility Loveland Living Aquarium in Utah as with its touch screens ALL of the species can be seen along the left-hand side as well as the one animal that is the focus of most of the image. I simply had to wait for a sponsorship image to disappear and with one click of my camera I had a list of all of the species in a particular tank. Zoos and aquariums (mainly the latter) that have touch screens that either don’t work at all, break down constantly, or have a dozen species slowly rotating through are a joke. Shedd Aquarium has 1,500 species, perhaps more than any other zoo on the planet, and old-fashioned signs have worked just fine there since 1930.

2- Walk-through aviary doors. Of the 250 zoos that I’ve visited over the years I’ve walked through plenty of aviaries and marsupial yards and a huge pet peeve of mine is when the doors crash after I leave the area. Occasionally a zoo will have soft pads on the doors so that they close quietly, or there will be a double-door system where the second door closes gently on a spring or extended hinge. However, countless aviaries and kangaroo yards have walk-through areas with doors that clash metal-on-metal that makes everyone look up in alarm. It seems like it would be such a simple fix and I’m sure that the captive inhabitants and visitors would all appreciate soft felt pads or a bumper that eases the noise level.

And now for something completely different…

Is there a better nation for aquariums than the United States? I can state that 85% of all the zoos I’ve visited have been in America (around 210) and the rest mainly from Canada and Australia and so I have little worldwide experience of visiting European, South American, African or Asian zoos. With more than 500 zoos in both Germany and the United States I think that there can be little debate that those two nations are the premier destinations for all zoo nerds and one could spend a lifetime and hit 1,000 zoos without leaving those two countries! However, in North America there are apparently over 150 aquariums and that is what sets the U.S. apart from other nations as most of those facilities are found in the lower 48 states. I got that 150 aquarium number from a couple of recent articles about Vancouver Aquarium, and why does the United States have so many aquariums? Is there any other nation that is even close to America in terms of aquatic facilities? Maybe Japan? Does anyone know?

In the United States there are only a handful of Sea Life facilities and a trio of SeaWorld parks, but along each coast there are numerous tiny aquariums in seemingly every major city. There are a trio that are amongst the very best in the world (Shedd, Monterey Bay and Georgia) plus a long list of others that each have splendid exhibits and enough aquatic wonders to sate any ocean lover. Is it because aquariums are enormously expensive to build and America has always been a wealthy nation? Aquarium ticket prices are usually double that of zoos and many Americans have the ability to spend money on leisure activities and so is that the reason? A huge population is one thing, but to have 150 aquariums of varying sizes is astonishing and a couple of years ago I sat down and figured out that there had been something like 45 new aquariums built in the United States since 1991. That means approximately every 6 months there is a brand-new aquarium opening in the United States. That is an amazing fact.
 
snowleopard said:
Is there a better nation for aquariums than the United States? .... Is there any other nation that is even close to America in terms of aquatic facilities? Maybe Japan? Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

Just guessing, but I'll bet that China is getting close. When I was over there a couple months ago, I visited the Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park, one of 2 different competing Sea World-style parks in that resort city of 3 million. During the intro to their dolphin show, they showed on the big screen that DLOP is a part of a chain of 8 or 9 similar ocean parks scattered around China. When I was in Beijing, I visited the fairly new (and quite good) Beijing Aquarium, on the grounds of the Zoo. This was one of 2 major aquariums in the capital city.

When I was planning for this trip, while reading guidebooks, I noted that most major Chinese cities had an aquarium to visit. So thus, I'll bet China may now be #2 in the world for aquariums.
 
TOUCH SCREENS 101
I'm going to try to shed some light as the the good (and bad) of touch screens in an aquarium. I designed all of the Touch Screens for The Living Planet Aquarium and I can give some insight into the thought process that went into them.
Touch Screens vs. Print- the biggest advantage of digital touch screens is the ease in which they can be updated. You can update a master file on your computer and upload it directly into the digital frame (or if it's really fancy, your frames are linked to your server and you upload directly from your computer.) Most aquariums feature species that are fragile, short lived, tasty to their tank mates, hard to replace or all of the above. A printed sign is fine when you have a long lived and easily replaced animal like an anaconda but for most tanks the livestock changes regularly, making replacing printed signs expensive and time consuming. Which leads to another sign problem - animals on display with NO sign or animals on the sign but not on exhibit. Touch screens solve this problem.
ONE VS 100. One touch screen allows you to view as many species as you want to put on the screen. Sometimes there isn't room around a tank for 45 printed signs- which leads to animals without signs or signs being very minimal (picture and name only).
The third advantage of touch screens in an aquarium is that they are back lit which makes them easy to read in a dark exhibit space. You need to be very smart in your placement due to reflections in other tank windows. I actually back lit the printed signs for this very reason.
THE DARK SIDE OF TOUCH SCREENS
Here's the problem, as Snowleopard pointed out- the interference of donor/ sponsorship ads. And that's what they are - ADS. Unfortunately they were an evil I fought and lost. Companies do not sponsor exhibits out of the kindness of their hearts- they want exposure for that $10,000 donation. And subtlety and tact do not figure into their desires. I had one sponsor that demanded that their family be painted into the tank mural and had to be talked out of it with great patience. Often the Board or founders just want/need the money and do not see what the issue is in turning a beautiful gallery into a megamart of corporate logos and signs. It's the bane of the non-profit...
The other huge problem with touch screens has nothing to do with the technology but everything to do with who designed it. Most that I have seen are nothing more than power point presentations created by an intern or secretary. And when they have several hundred to churn out... Well not a lot of thought goes into them. And hiring a real design group to do them would make them beautiful (Monterey Bay Aquarium's are gorgeous) but could cost several hundred thousand... A problem for Non-Profits...
A BRIGHT FUTURE...?
I do believe there is a way to make Touch Screens an important part of aquarium signage- but like any art form, good design, ease of use and restraint of ads make a huge difference between an interactive and informative exhibit sign and a glowing eyesore screaming company logos at you.
 
Photos:

I’ve been posting a lot of photos this week as I’ve had requests for establishments ranging from Red River Zoo, Tanganyika Wildlife Park (to see the exhibits for rarities), Peoria Zoo (great new African zone), Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center and others. I uploaded a comprehensive coverage of one of the world’s great zoos, as Saint Louis now has 305 brand-new photos in the ZooChat gallery.

My zoo merchandise totals are now at the following:

- Slightly over 1,000 different zoo maps from around the world, although 400 of them are from U.S. zoos
- Over 800 plastic zoo animals from my childhood
- About 75 souvenir zoo cups (I only purchased 2 of them on this trip)
- Around 200 zoo and animal-themed books
- Exactly 140 zoo/aquarium guide books

Two last comments on this 46-page “novella” before I’ll end my latest summer zoo trip thread:

1- The number of U.S. zoos located in parks is rather astonishing, from Central Park to Tracy Aviary to Irvine Park to Ochsner Park. I’m a massive fan of such occurrences as the very notion of a zoo within the boundaries of a park creates an idyllic image in the minds of many visitors. Families can toss a Frisbee, admire a lake, stroll beneath a shady grove of trees and watch their kids crawl all over a playground. There were quite a few zoos that I visited on this trip where I saw BBQ’s being utilized by families out for a picnic; games of football in grassy fields; rollerblading couples holding hands as they cruised down pathways; and then nestled into one side of the park would be a little zoo that was in many cases fee to the public or only a nominal fee to enter.

2- Taxpayers have become an integral part of the zoological culture in the United States and that was crystallized for me while at tiny Miller Park Zoo in the state of Illinois. I had just entered the zoo as the first visitor of the day and a man and his young daughter were right behind me and we had a brief chat. He remarked that I was alone, I told him about my zoo nerd hobby and I asked why he was at the zoo early as there was no one else around. His reply? “I’m paying for it so I might as well use it”. That led into an interesting question and later on I found out that the 7-acre Miller Park Zoo has approximately 50% of its funding via tax subsidies. There is a great variety of financing dilemmas surrounding zoos and if a zoological facility can have half of its annual budget covered by local taxpayers then there is a certain stability in that knowledge.

Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington, recently had a nice bonus as $200 million in improvements for local parks (much of it earmarked for the zoo) was approved by voters. The measure will cost the owner of a $171,000 home – the average in the taxing district – $8.21 per month, or just under $100 a year. That would be on top of an existing $84.3 million parks bond measure passed in 2005, which costs $6 a month, bringing the total to $170 annually. If every household is spending $170 on their local zoo then wouldn’t it make sense for the occupants to enjoy the establishment? Maybe that is why Point Defiance has been regularly breaking attendance records during the past 10 years. Perhaps some of the locals are saying “I’m paying for it so I might as well use it”. Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin and Como Park Zoo in Minnesota, not to mention the mighty Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri, are all free and either the local community or the government is funding a lot of the bill. That is not always the case at major U.S. zoos (just ask Phoenix or Cheyenne Mountain) but a taxpayer funded institution is on sound financial footing and the local community supports its endeavours. It is a world apart from the privately-owned facility with zero tax support. Of course what can make an enormous difference for a zoo is philanthropy, with innumerable generous donors who either want the advertising or are genuinely concerned about the state of their local zoo.
 
I have now been home a full week and I have organized all of my long reviews, short reviews, daily updates, zoo maps, packages to be mailed to overseas zoo nerds and other odds n' ends including uploading photos. With most zoos I've only been uploading a fairly small number of photos as the establishments are tiny and I've been trying to limit myself to 1-2 shots of each exhibit. The one exception has been the world-class Saint Louis Zoo as there are 305 new photos of that zoo on this site, including Sea Lion Sound and all of the new River's Edge habitats.

One problem is that if, for example, I upload 50 photos of the brand-new Living Planet Aquarium (near Salt Lake City) then those 50 photos can easily become lost in the shuffle if someone does not go on ZooChat on a regular basis. I've had private messages asking me for specific zoo photos when in fact I've already finished with that zoo days ago! It is simply the nature of the beast. I think that the best place to list the zoos that I've posted photos for is on this thread, as my road trip threads stand the test of time and information posted here will be viewed by many more individuals than if I was to start a brand-new thread elsewhere.

Uploaded Photos:

1- Red River Zoo - 50 photos of this very good little zoo
2- Reptile Gardens - 60 photos
3- Great Lakes Aquarium - 40 photos
4- Tanganyika Wildlife Park - 55 photos (see me with lemurs or the assistant director scratching the belly of a ratel)
5- International Crane Foundation - 70 photos
6- Peoria Zoo - 80 photos
7- Living Planet Aquarium - 50 photos
8- Clay Center Zoo - 20 photos (this place is a dump!)
9- Cosley Zoo - 35 photos
10- Shedd Aquarium - 50 photos
11- Willow Park Zoo - 25 photos
12- Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center - 40 photos
13- Nature & Raptor Center of Pueblo - 10 photos
14- Pine Grove Zoo - 30 photos
15- Saint Louis Zoo - 305 photos
16- Cat Tales Zoological Park - 30 photos (another dump!)
17- Butterfly House - 20 photos
18- Phillips Park Zoo - 40 photos
19- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - 115 photos
20- Great Bend Zoo - 40 photos
21- Chahinkapa Zoo - 50 photos
22- Endangered Wolf Center - 15 photos
23- Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery & Aquarium - 15 photos
24- Alligator Alley - 20 photos
25- Grant's Farm - 40 photos
26- Minnesota Zoo - 200 photos
27- Bramble Park Zoo - 75 photos
28- Bear Country U.S.A. - 75 photos
29- Hemker Park & Zoo - 50 photos
30- DeYoung Family Zoo - 100 photos
31- Kansas Fishes Aquarium - 4 photos
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top