Brevard Zoo (Revisit)
"The last stop"
Location: Melbourne, FL
Type: Mid AZA Zoo
Cost: Around $30 (half off with my AZA membership)
After a couple of hours of driving from Gainesville, I arrived at Brevard Zoo. I first visited this facility last year and had a wonderful time, although avian flu was in full swing then and just about every bird was off-exhibit. The zoo's location is halfway between my previous stop and home so it made for the ideal stopover. Upon arrival, I was greeted with the presence of a flock of flamingoes in the large central pond and various macaws along the pathways between exhibit areas. Birds certainly added a good number of species to the collection and I was ready to experience the zoo's roster at full capacity.
If you make a right after the entrance you wind up in the "Paws On" children's area, and this will be the first section I'll discuss as I give a counter-clockwise rundown of the main areas. This part features a water sprinkler area for kids and a petting zoo with domestics and tortoises, plus a few outdoor aquarium tanks duplicating the mangrove habitats you'd find along the Florida coast. These tanks are fine, I guess. Brevard is planning on opening up a dedicated aquarium area, so I'm sure that will be truly special once completed. I didn't partake in any of the other kiddie attractions, though I did see a couple of tortoises.
Next up is the zoo's crown jewel (in my opinion), Rainforest Revealed. Brevard forgoes the "temple" theming common in South American sections, instead relying on the heavy interconnectivity of the many exhibits to create the feeling of an immersive jungle adventure. Each enclosure is already spacious in its own right, but the ability for the animals to move from one to the other adds so much more. Plenty of overhead bridges are present for monkeys, sloths and other species to use, while the Jaguar exhibit also has multiple areas for the cat to lurk.
I didn't actually see the Jaguars this visit, although the zoo's Cheetah is temporarily housed in this area instead of Expedition Africa (more on that later). Birds that were off-exhibit here on my last visit were now on display, with King Vultures and seriemas among the highlights. One particular strong part of this section is an area featuring a nice Giant Otter exhibit as well as a large mixed swamp habitat with Capybaras, Black Howler Monkeys, parrots, turtles and various water birds; the latter was probably my favorite of the bunch.
I'd put Brevard's Latin American-themed offering just behind Miami's "Amazon & Beyond" and perhaps Jacksonville's "Range of the Jaguar", but the fact that its even in the same conversation with these larger facilities in major American cities just shows how much I loved it. The one aspect that I feel would really elevate RR to the same level as those great exhibits is more reptiles. There's a couple of exhibits here, but nothing to truly wet the appetite of a herp enthusiast. Indeed, the whole zoo is a bit thin when it comes to this class of vertebrates.
Right in between Rainforest Revealed and the next major exhibit, Wild Florida, is the Caribbean Trail. This is a tiny section with a few parrots and Blue Iguanas. Its fine but forgettable, so much so in fact that I didn't even notice it on my previous visit, although I think this area was closed for construction or due to HPAI at that time.
Wild Florida is a nice but older-looking area housing Bobcats, Florida Black Bears and other species native to the state... and Lions. Yes, one of Brevard Zoo's newer inhabitants are temporarily held here as construction of their exhibit in Expedition Africa is being done. They will occupy the former Cheetah yard, which makes me unsure what will happen with the smaller spotted cat. I don't think the Rainforest Revealed enclosure is going to be its permanent home... but who knows. Anyways, the short-term Lion exhibit is ok but kind of 'meh' by AZA standards. Not bad, though.
My favorite exhibit in this section is actually the mixed American Alligator/Crocodile pond where you walk atop a bridge while the huge reptiles are below (or resting nearby). One of the pathways holding an exhibit for the zoo's armadillo/tortoise ambassadors is closed off as I believe this is going to be the area where the new aquarium section is being built. Overall, Wild Florida is a fine section, but with so many Florida zoos having this same theme of exhibits its kind of boring to me.
The next area is Lands Of Change, featuring various Australasian species. There's a very nice kangaroo walkabout and a couple of walkthrough aviaries side by side. The latter exhibit was closed on my last visit, so I was excited to check it out this time. While the aviaries aren't the largest, they're nicely landscaped and feature a good mix of common and rarely held species. Kreft's River Turtles and a Chinese Muntjac share the aviary space with the birds.
Also in LOC is a Komodo Dragon exhibit with an indoor viewing area and a couple of large suid enclosures, plus a good Siamang exhibit that borders this section of the zoo and Expedition Africa.
The zoo's Africa-themed section is another great area to add to an already strong portfolio. Upon entering you'll quickly notice the red sand-filled Meerkat exhibit, but next to it is something that caught my attention; an outdoor python exhibit. I've seen few if any of these kinds around, and while the two python species sharing the enclosure often prefer curling up inside the small indoor space provided, there are times they'll come out. The Burmese Python kept here was exploring her outdoor yard after getting a medical checkup by staff and that was quite the treat to observe. The main highlights though are the large mixed species savanna yards, one holding White Rhinoceros and the other Giraffes (complete with feeding areas). Both are great exhibits but the latter is the superior of the two. The smaller occupants you might find here like Impalas, zebras and oryx actually can choose to have access to a different yard each day they go onto exhibit.
Other notable enclosures include a Klipspringer/large bird yard and a lemur "island" as well as a the former Cheetah habitat being constructed for Lions. The Klipspringer exhibit is roomy and forgoes the mock-rock style common for this species in favor of a more naturalistic area, that is flatter but nicer in my opinion. Expedition Africa's weakest enclosure is that of the Red Ruffed Lemurs who unlike their relatives are not kept on the nice island and instead placed in a fairly small and unnatural enclosure between the various savanna yards. Definitely not the worst exhibit though, just average.
The last part of the zoo is the pseudo-exhibit that is the train ride. This one takes you through a back yard in Expedition Africa while also passing the back of the aviaries in LOC. I skipped the train ride this time, but I did it on my last visit and found it incredibly boring. Its slow as molasses and you don't see anything most of the time. The only inhabitants are the smaller ungulate species in Expedition Africa that sometimes roam here instead of the main yards, as well as Ankole Watusi cattle and Bongo, both of which can only be seen on this ride. The train costs an additional few dollars to enter so unless you're desperate to see the commonly displayed exclusives, this one is best left for little children.
OVERALL: Aside from the train ride, there's nothing I dislike about Brevard Zoo. There are a number of high-quality exhibits and few if any that fall below average. Its my favorite of the small zoos I've visited not just in Florida but anywhere, though I'm not sure it would even qualify as "small" especially with the new aquarium in the works. With pretty much the full collection of birds back on display on this revisit, Brevard actually moves up a spot or two in my personal rankings. This was a great facility to end the trip off at.
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That's the final review! I enjoyed writing them up and I hope y'all enjoyed reading them even more.
I'll give an overall opinion of the trip in follow-up posts and perhaps discuss on any potential future plans.
