National Zoo Review - 8 hours (Zoo/Aquarium #11 on the epic road trip)
The Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. took much longer to see than I had anticipated, and it was actually a better zoo than I was prepared for. It's not a candidate amongst the very best of the best on the continent, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the enclosures. The day flew by, and the hours of my visit were from 9:30 to 5:30. My wife Debbie actually loved many parts of the zoo, and due to her love of taking photos we ended up with over 350 shots. Who knows how many I'll eventually add to ZooBeat's Gallery, but I know for sure that Debbie took at least 40-50 of the orangutan o-line. The orangs have tiny outdoor yards that are a disgraceful size, but the o-line is a brilliant idea and we had 3 orangs doing all sorts of tricks above our heads.
The reasons for spending an enormous 8 hours at the National Zoo: the o-line was an enjoyable time-killer; the "Asia Trail" set of exhibits are fantastic and we went through them twice during the day; the "Elephant Trails" construction meant that there were no more short-cuts through the zoo and so we had to backtrack from the end all the way down the long hill, around the children's farm, and then all the way back up again. That part of the zoo (the ending of "Valley Trail") was practically deserted as many families didn't want to trek there and all the way back again.
The Best:
Asia Trail - for the most part an incredible set of exhibits. The giant panda enclosures are surely the best on the planet for that rare species, as there are 3 enormous habitats with all sorts of goodies and tricks around each corner. Misters that hit the enclosures with a fine spray, dens, heated rocks, viewing windows, cameras, motion-sensors, hills, dig areas...you name it and the pandas have it. The male, female and 3 year-old offspring all have their own enormous habitat, and the diversity of the landscape was much admired by all the visitors. The indoor rooms are quite bare and basic, which is a disappointing contrast to the gorgeous outdoor meadows, but overall these set of exhibits are unbeatable.
The rest of Asia Trail is also hugely impressive. The red pandas have a spacious yard with all sorts of misters, hiding places, trees, etc, built into the rocky terrain. The clouded leopard and fishing cat cages are a mixture of mesh and glass, but larger and better than similar exhibits at other zoos. The Japanese giant salamander tank was shut down for repairs, but the sloth bears were a delight to see. However, the bears have viewing windows that are covered in designs so that birds don't crash into the glass, but in all honesty the decision to block the views of vistors is disastrous. It was difficult to see out of the windows, and instead the overhead viewing area is a better choice for visitors. The sloth bear exhibits are the best that I've ever seen for that species, and so it was a tad distressful to see the 2 bears on display at times pacing. Even with a gloriously rocky, hilly, naturalistic habitat there were signs of stereotypic behaviour. The Asian small-clawed otters have a beautiful habitat that is also the best that I've ever seen for that species. To see this practically brand-new set of enclosures as soon as one enters the zoo grounds sets the tone for the day, even though they are the best that the zoo has to offer. My wife and I spent just as long at the end of the day re-tracing our steps through the Asia Trail section of the zoo.
Orangutan O-Line - 3 orangs over the heads of visitors was an absolute treat! Kids were yelling at their parents to get out of the way of any possible "ape poop", and some people were following the orangs as they slowly made their way across the 8 towers to their secondary quarters across the zoo. The o-line was a massively successful hit on the day that I was there, but it's too bad that it is only open for 4 hours per day. Why not let the orangs hang around for at least a couple more hours, as the zoo doesn't close until 8 in the summer.
Bird House - easily one of the best bird areas of any North American zoo. The main house has countless species in piano-wired exhibits. The indoor aviary isn't that large, but the 90-foot outdoor aviary is glorious to walk through. The only problem is that almost half of it was shut down for renovations, and so visitors could only travel through one side of the aviary. The surrounding bird yards are tastefully done, and they all offer the many bird species much more room than the majority of other major zoos.
Small Mammal House - an excellent display of small mammals, but it did have 3 exhibits with armadillos, 3 with golden lion tamarins (and week-old twins were there), 3 with tree shrews, and 3 with meerkats. Deja vu around every corner! The house is an old building but very enjoyable to walk through, but the outdoor exhibits are small and antiquated.
Lemur Island - two species of lemur (brown collared and ring-tailed) on a large expanse of land that comes with a photogenic, crashing waterfall.
Amazonia - this small and average rainforest is so-so but nothing that hasn't been done before in 10 other zoos. The small tanks, interactive displays, piles of animal books, research stations and other amenities for budding zoologists are all first-rate. I really enjoyed the air-conditioned, "science lab" environment that comes at the end of the humid rainforest walk.
The Average:
Reptile House - well done but ultimately average building. Seeing the komodo dragon on real grass was a treat, as was the appearance of a gharial and cuban crocodiles.
Invertebrates - a terrific leaf-cutter ant exhibit that winds around a small part of the room, and there are some cool-looking "creepy crawlies" in various tanks. The rest of the building is good but nothing innovative.
Cheetah Conservation Center - huge cheetah yards adjacent to similarly large paddocks with Grevy's zebra, scimitar-horned oryx/dama gazelles, maned wolves and nearby emus/tammar wallabies. Basic exhibits that are bizarrely tossed together...but spacious and naturalistic. African, South American and Aussie animals all in the melting pot.
Beaver Valley - large beaver exhibits, tiny and hard-to-view bald eagle cage, good river otter pool, average mexican grey wolf cage, typical andean bear grotto, and spacious pools for california sea lions and grey seals make up this area of the zoo.
The Worst:
Great Cats - 2 tiger grottoes and 1 lion grotto, but these multi-tiered habitats are much larger than the usual carnivore pits. What's the deal with the big cats all being pulled off exhibit at 4 p.m. every day of the week? That means they are locked into their tiny night quarters for 14 hours per day. Not cool.
Think Tank - sulawesi macaques and orangs (the ones that decided to venture over on the o-line) in basic, average exhibits. The orangs in particular don't have much outdoor space, and a tiny indoor set of rooms. The interpretative information in this building is top-notch, but once again zoo visitors have been favoured over the animals. In terms of visitor amenities this building is terrific, but for the monkeys and apes it is weak.
Great Ape House - compared to most other gorilla/orang buildings this one is extremely disappointing. The 6 gorillas and 6 orangutans have one of the worst set of habitats that I've seen. The orangs have access for a few hours a day to the wonderful, totally elevated o-line, but their two yards are puny and bare. The "gorilla grove" is a woeful patch of grass with a climbing apparatus in the middle. Ugh. Can anyone name a North American zoo with a worse ape house?
Gibbon Ridge - awful mesh exhibits side-by-side. In truth the larger of the two is a fair size, but has limited viewing opportunities and a dearth of climbing material for the apes. The smaller cage on the left is terrible, and perhaps 15 feet at its widest point. Too small, not enough vines and ropes, and the opposite of innovative.
Elephant/Hippo House - as dreadful as every other pachyderm house I've seen. Due to construction the elephants are lacking space and already counting down the seconds until "Elephant Trails" finally opens. The two species of hippo can't wait to be transferred out to other AZA-accredited zoos.
The Future:
Elephant Trails: this will hopefully be a stand-out set of habitats that will go arm-in-arm with "Asia Trail", and provide visitors with a one-two punch as soon as they go through the main gates. Construction began in 2007, and it will be a full 4 years of work before it opens to the public in the summer of 2011. My wife took a handful of photos of the more than 20 men who were working on the site, and it is difficult to believe that the zoo will be under such heavy construction for the next 3 years.
The nile hippo there will be shipped out to another zoo, the pgymy hippos will be shipped to another zoo, and the capybara will be placed in a different section of the zoo. The elephants will have the entire house to themselves, and it is being lengthened considerably. The 3 outdoor habitats will be able to be viewed from the bridge that leads to the bird complex, and there will be a long and winding trail that the elephants will be walked up on a daily basis. I have my fingers crossed that this $50 million worth of habitats will be exceptional.
Overall:
The National Zoo has giant pandas, which puts them in the "must-visit" category right off the bat. The "Asia Trail" habitats are a pure joy to visit, and even though I could nit-pick over some minor points in actuality there aren't many zoos that can offer giant pandas, red pandas, japanese giant salamanders, fishing cats, asian small-clawed otters and clouded leopards in such a wonderful, brand-new, award-worthy set of enclosures. There are many zoos that have zero knockout exhibits, and so full credit goes to this zoo for a fantastic Asian section. The Toronto or Calgary zoos in Canada, as well as many other North American collections, would love to have habitats that are even half as good as "Asia Trail".
The excellent bird collection, small mammal house, lemur island and orangutan o-line are all innovative and appealing for visitors. Since I'm visiting 25 zoos in the space of 8 weeks I don't want to see average, boring exhibits. I want to see habitats with diversity, enrichment opportunities, great viewing spaces and fantastic, amazing enclosures. The National Zoo has a handful of terrific exhibits, but the rest of the zoo is for the most part average and thus keeps it out of many top 10 lists.
