Tulsa Zoo Tulsa Zoo News

There were formerly no animal habitats in the construction area. There was a largely unused amphitheatre, snack bar/bathroom facility, and an enclosed party pavilion that were all removed to accommodate Lost Kingdom.

Non-physical changes caused by the opening of Lost Kingdom were of course the relocation of the Malayan tigers and snow leopards from their outdated old exhibits near the south end of the Zoo. According to an interview with Tulsa Zoo CEO Terri Correll published last week on Zoophoria.net, that old cat grotto area will be the next area to undergo re-building. The grottos will be removed and completely new habitats built for the existing African lions, painted dogs, and meerkats, along with some new areas for species not currently in the zoo's collection, including Grevy's zebra and pygmy hippos. It will all be laid out to tie in better with the existing giraffe yard and recently completed white rhino/nyala/springbok/cranes("Rhino Reserve") habitat to create an "Africa Wilds Experience." Things are definitely looking up in Tulsa!
 
I visited the new Lost Kingdom exhibit twice last week. It is definitely a VERY positive addition to the Tulsa Zoo. The animal habitats are for the most part very spacious, particularly the Malayan tigers' habitat, are very aesthetically pleasing (unless you're really turned off by the whole "ruins of ancient Asian civilizations" motif), and provide very good viewing opportunities for all species. There is both indoor and outside viewing of the Malayan tigers(Panthera tigris jacksoni), siamangs(Symphalangus syndactylus), komodo dragons(Varanus komodoensis), and snow leopards(Panthera uncia); indoor only viewing of the shared habitat for Chinese alligator(Alligator sinensis), Malaysian giant turtle(Orlitia borneensis) and southern river terrapin(Batagur affinis), and outside only viewing of Binturong/Red Panda (this is interestingly a seasonally shared habitat with only binturong (Arctictis binturong) on public display in the hotter months and only red panda (Ailurus fulgens) on public display during the cooler months). Sharing a service building with the binturong yard is also a modest sized outdoor aviary (non-walk-through), featuring demoiselle cranes(Grus virgo) and also containing plum-headed parakeet(Psittacula cyanocephala), collared finchbill(Spizixos semitorques), Chinese hwamei(Garrulax canorus) and white-rumped shama(Copsychus malabaricus).

There is a very large new indoor restaurant/special event space that also features an attached outdoor dining patio with huge viewing windows directly into the main tiger yard. There is also a new outdoor concession stand/rest area that I was surprised/delighted to see features locally brewed Marshall Brewing Co. beer on tap! The pathways through the Lost Kingdom area are very spacious which should make navigating it fairly easy even when the zoo is crowded. I also noticed the area's presence and prominence near the zoo entrance makes it (along with the adjacent and associated Asian elephant building and yards) a natural starting place for your trip through the zoo and does much to enhance the overall flow through the zoo. Diamondback mentioned in an earlier post the need for more foliage. I agree, but the plantings are there - they just need a few seasons to grow. Overall, I was genuinely impressed with the design and execution and look forward to more of the same as the Zoo moves forward with its master plan.

I have a number of photos that I will be posting soon.
 
There are now 2 muntjac on exhibit in the new Lost Kingdom complex. They are sharing the space with the zoo’s Siamang troop. The zoo has also opened its expanded giraffe barn which offers indoor viewing into a large community stall. Female giraffe Lexi is also expecting and is said to be due by late Summer.
 
ctfctf7 said:
There are now 2 muntjac on exhibit in the new Lost Kingdom complex. They are sharing the space with the zoo’s Siamang troop. The zoo has also opened its expanded giraffe barn which offers indoor viewing into a large community stall. Female giraffe Lexi is also expecting and is said to be due by late Summer.
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The Lost Kingdom is not my favorite Asian Exhibit in the world. I do love there Snow Leopard, Komodo Dragon, Aviary and Chinese Alligator exhibit. However there Malayan Tigers could use a lot more vegetation and shade as well as more water. The could definitely add more water features for there tigers and can do better with there Siamang exhibit. I don't think they can go high enough in there outdoor exhibit and there dayroom looks awful in my opinion. Some more natural features like giant logs or a giant tree would be nice to have for there Binturongs to.
 
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