Here is the second and final part of my Oregon Zoo review:
Africa is split into three sections, with a diversity of animals shown via the Rainforest, Savanna and Predators. Back in 1985, ‘Alaskan Tundra’ opened and it’s almost hard to believe that Grey Wolves, Elk, Muskox and Grizzly Bears were all at the zoo during my first ever visit. Then that loop became Predators of the Serengeti in 2009 and now it has become
Predators. There are three main yards, for Lions, African Wild Dogs and Cheetahs, which are all typical zoo carnivore exhibits that are of a decent quality. Visitors look out at the inhabitants via a rocky cave, with a lot of neat interpretative material. Sadly, the Caracal is no longer there, and that enclosure has been given over to ‘predators’ such as Ring-tailed and Red Ruffed Lemurs. The African Rock Python is long gone, its space being filled by a Crocodile Monitor from New Guinea! There are still Dwarf Mongooses but an empty exhibit and some wasted space across from them. I preferred this area when it still had the word, and the animals, from the ‘Serengeti’.
Lion exhibit:
Cheetah exhibit (2010 photo):
African Wild Dog exhibit:
Dwarf Mongoose exhibit:
The second part of the African section is the
Savanna, and this area begins at a realistic looking Baobab tree. From there, visitors can stroll through the very tiny but enjoyable Howard Vollum Aviary, which has an upper canopy seen only from the zoo’s Aviary Café, and a lower walking trail. This aviary can be walked through in only a couple of minutes, but for twitchers that wish to linger, here are the 10 species listed on the sign (although how accurate this list is would be up for debate): Hamerkop, Allen’s Gallinule, Crested Coua, Speckled Mousebird, Purple Glossy Starling, Golden-breasted Starling, Emerald Starling, Oriole Warbler, African Pygmy Goose and Maccoa Duck.
Vollum Aviary:
Rhino Ridge opened in 2021, but it’s not really a new exhibit. The existing rhino yard (too small, narrow, packed dirt) has been combined with the now-defunct Common Hippo exhibit to create two thin, dusty yards that have awkward viewing areas. The zoo has two Black Rhinos, but this ‘reimagining’ is a total bust in my opinion. A scenic Bontebok yard is visually pleasing, exhibits for African Spurred Tortoises and African Crested Porcupines are small and forgettable, and the larger paddock (a single Masai Giraffe, a single Reticulated Giraffe, Speke’s Gazelles and Southern Ground Hornbills) is dated and with a puny Giraffe Barn that is probably illegal in most European nations. Combining the giraffe/bontebok/rhino areas into one large savanna would be the way to go in the future and at one point that was in the zoo's Master Plan. There are some smaller animals here that are well worth a look. Naked Mole Rats have an exhibit in a tiny room, there’s a large Egyptian Tortoise/Baja Blue Rock Lizard desert-themed terrarium, and a Savanna Aviary with these 6 species: Spur-winged Lapwing, Red-billed Hornbill, Taveta Golden Weaver, Crested Coua, Tambourine Dove and Philippine Sail-finned Lizard. An old-fashioned but well-furnished cage for Red-tailed Monkeys is a highlight for many visitors.
Rhino Ridge (old Common Hippo exhibit):
Bontebok exhibit:
Giraffe yard:
After Predators and Savanna, the last part of Africa is the
Rainforest zone. A humid building contains a spectacular exhibit for Slender-snouted Crocodiles, although I only saw the one specimen during my visit. The enclosure is really nicely done, complete with a spacious underwater viewing area. This building also contains exhibits for African Burrowing Frogs, Red-bellied Piranhas (lazy zoo geography there), Red-footed Tortoises (ditto), African Plated Lizards and a Lungfish. Visitors walk outside and immediately into an aviary with the following 7 species: Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Hadada Ibis, Waldrapp Ibis, Gadwall, White-faced Whistling Duck and Fulvous Whistling Duck. The zoo has a THIRD otter species farther along, in the shape of Spotted-necked Otters. There’s a pair in an expansive exhibit that used to house Allen’s Swamp Monkeys and Colobus Monkeys together and the otters honestly seem wasted in there with all the climbing logs and upper canopy that will now go unused. The zoo even removed the netted roof to the exhibit and so it seems that the otters are there to stay.
Slender-snouted Crocodile exhibit:
Spotted-necked Otter exhibit:
The final exhibit in Africa is a genuine highlight of the zoo. It is a spacious, oval-shaped exhibit for three bat species and there are always loads of them flying around inside. Imagine a doughnut cut in half and this exhibit would represent one half of the tasty treat. Rodriguez Flying Fox, Straw-coloured Fruit Bat and Egyptian Fruit Bat are the species to be found here. Overall, Africa is a strong part of Oregon Zoo and there’s a diverse range of creatures ranging from Predators to the Savanna to the Rainforest. It’s annoying to see the addition of lemurs and piranhas and other geographical errors, as that’s just laziness on the zoo’s part, but this area is mainly a positive experience. There is a grand total of
52 species across several ecosystems.
Bat exhibit (with fake green 'leaves' added in recent years):
The 6th and final section of the zoo is called
Discovery Zone, a rather nebulous title for a small area. There’s an old, half-overgrown grotto for a female Amur Tiger that needs to eventually be removed as it is an eyesore. A Red Panda takes up residence in an exhibit that held Amur Leopards for many years. This area is where parents can find a tiny carousel and the zoo’s train, as well as the 2017 addition of a $17 million Education Center. This is a series of classrooms and rooms with a focus on both conservation and education via large, colourful graphics and an outdoor garden. There’s also an Insect Zoo, which is always welcome for zoo nerds, but unfortunately it contains common animals and is only a small room off to the side. Here are the
19 species located there: Black Beauty Stick Insect, Giant Malayan Stick Insect, Giant Thorny Walking Stick, Australian Walking Stick, Assassin Bug, Yellow-bellied Flower Beetle, Darkling Beetle, Blue Death-feigning Beetle, Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Domino Roach, Sapphire Pink-toe Tarantula, Chilean Rose-hair Tarantula, Red-knee Tarantula, Curly-hair Tarantula, Emperor Scorpion, Giant Hairy Scorpion, Tanzanian Giant Tailless Whipscorpion, Sonoran Desert Centipede and African Giant Millipede.
Amur Tiger exhibit:
Insect Zoo (one small room):
Going through my review, I count exactly
110 species on-show at Oregon Zoo. For a major zoo with 1.7 million annual visitors, that doesn’t seem an awful lot. There will be a handful more via the Kelp Forest tank in Pacific Shores, but certainly there’s been a big decline over the years. I suppose that Oregon is a representation of modern zoos in general. Elephant Lands is 6 acres of the zoo for a single species, and the construction of Polar Passage saw the disappearance of Sun Bears, Visayan Warty Pigs and Babirusa from the collection. Rhino Ridge saw Common Hippos depart. The addition of Spotted-necked Otters saw two primate species leave. The overhaul of the Primate Forest complex has left the zoo with three species and gone are Mandrills, assorted Tamarins, Northern Tree Shrews and the entire Amazon Flooded Forest complex that held species such as Ocelot, White-faced Saki, Pygmy Marmoset, Green Anaconda, Agouti, and quite a few turtles and fish.
Oregon Zoo should be commended for completing its 2008 bond that resulted in $125 million in improvements. With approximately 40% of the zoo overhauled, there were 8 major projects that have now all been finished. Penguin filtration upgrade (2011), Veterinary Medical Center (2012), Condors of the Columbia Aviary (2014), Elephant Lands (2015), Education Center (2017), Rhino Ridge (2021), Primate Forest (2021) and Polar Passage (2021). What’s next? Certainly, the Penguinarium and Amur Tiger grotto are the two obvious areas that are badly outdated and could really be bulldozed at any point in time. After that, parts of the African zone should be renovated, and a large Savanna would be ideal instead of smaller satellite yards.
Oregon Zoo is a bit of an enigma. There’s been a tremendous amount of construction during the past 15 years, and a huge turnover in staff, and for sure it’s a solid ABC zoo. My big complaint would be that the Great Northwest zone is still the best thing there in terms of the quality and immersive feel of the animal habitats. It’s not a surprise that Oregon failed to make the cut in the thread ‘America’s 50 Must See Zoos’ or have anything in the ‘America’s 100 Must See Exhibits’ because most of the new stuff at Oregon Zoo has a cookie-cutter, generic feel to it. The Insect Zoo is the smallest room out of the 10 or so in the whole Education Center complex, smaller than even the classrooms. Why not make it double the size and actually incorporate some interesting exhibits and graphics? The Polar Bear area is a mish-mash of styles and is okay for the bears but really isn’t large enough if one looks to the long-term. Rhino Ridge is a bust and will likely be overhauled if an African Savanna gets the greenlight. The Chimpanzees benefited the most, but even their new outdoor enclosure is very utilitarian with its steel beams and ladders. Oregon Zoo was an enjoyable 4 hours for me, and I hate to be too critical, but it does feel a little bit watered-down these days and has gone the way of Woodland Park in Seattle. I’m guessing that the average Muggle will walk around Oregon and see the elephants, bears, rhinos and plethora of ice cream stands and be enthralled, but from a veteran zoo nerd’s perspective it’s definitely lost some of its mojo. Good zoo? Yes! Great zoo? No way.
On one hand, that new section at Oakland is magnificent for both visitors and animals and is obviously hugely successful as attendance numbers have skyrocketed and have now been maintained at a very high level 5 years after California Trail opened. It's a win-win, right? BUT, to have 56 acres for only 8 species, and costing $70 million, causes some zoo nerds to question it all. That's a lot of effort for not a lot of animals. Then there's Oregon Zoo, overhauling almost half the zoo's acreage for 5 elephants, a couple of bears, a few chimps, and two rhinos also seems both progressive (modern exhibits) and regressive (there's now only 110 species in the entire zoo).
