I have returned from a visit to the new African Plains exhibit and will follow here with a review. I figure since few if any who frequent this board have visited this small zoo in Idaho's largest city, I'd add on a full review for the entire zoo. Zoo Boise was accredited in 2002, and for the most of the last century it existed beforehand was mostly neglected and mismanaged (at least as near as I can tell). The current zoo director took over in the late 90's and that is when the zoo really started to turn around.
The zoo is bisected by a lagoon. The African Plains exhibit is across the lagoon from the entrance. In this coming spring you will be able to take a pontoon boat ride to the African Plains exhibit past an exhibit for De Brazza's monkeys. As you aproach the bridge to Africa two round enclosures which used to make deplorable procyonid enclosures, now house two species of hornbills, black-casqued and trumpeter. Nearby is the boatdock and a small "travel agency" building that highlights the continent of Africa. This is the beginning of the African experience here. You cross a mock suspension bridge and take a crushed volcanic rock path past an attractive mesh exhibit of servals, to the entrance to the African village. The village has a house, a food/retail facility and a school house. The school house is made up just like a school house in Kenya would be, except it has windows looking out into a spacious lion enclosure. On the other side of the village is the giraffe barn, which has viewing windows for inclement weather. The spacious giraffe exhibit (Grevy's zebras will soon be joining them) is on the edge of the village. Nearby is the ranger station with interesting artifacts and several live reptiles and insects. The ranger station also has a little courtyard that is inhabited by violet turacos, rufous-crowned rollers and bishop weavers. Nearby are mesh enclosures for bat-eared foxes and rock hyraxes. Also there are bronze elephant sculptures that are rigged with water to spray passers by. All in all it is a very well conceived and executed exhibit particularly for a zoo of this size and budget.
Back on the other side of the bridge there are two large aviaries that are divided into several different enclosures for native hawks, eagles, several owl species, Andean condors, black-crowned and sarus cranes, swift foxes and one has even been converted to an outdoor enclosure for the gibbons from the nearby primate house. The primate house is dismal. You enter one side and see concrete and steel enclosures for De Brazza Monkeys and white-handed gibbons. The young gibbon born last year is quite entertaing to watch. The other side of the building is only viewable in the summer as the walkway is outside and they have large garage type doors between the walkway and the bars that are closed in the winter. These cages house hyacinth macaws, green iguanas, and white-headed capuchin monkeys.
Lining the main mall of the zoo are small glassed in enclosures for bobcats, coatis and ocelots. There is a second bridge that leads across the lagoon to exhibits for bighorn sheep, magellanic penguins, Patagonian cavies, and a Harris' hawk. The penguin pavilion is fairly new, but not very impressive. It was converted from a beaver/otter exhibit at not a great expense and so does not very well replicate the birds' natural habitat. It is fun to watch them swim underwater. Also in this area is a small buildign housing cotton-top tamarins and several frog species. (The zoo has acquired many frogs for the year of the frog and they are in weird places all throughout the zoo, there isn't a single enclosed building without some in it)
Back on the other side of the lagoon is an area devoted to animals of Asia. Amur leopards and snow leopards had painfully small, dreadful enclosures, but have had large grassy yards added on to them. This is a nice way to improve an exhibit without a major expense. The one break from the Asian theme is a large enclosure filled with llamas. In Boise Idaho, llamas don't make a good zoo exhibit as they can be seen ALL over town. This area has a large grassy exhibit for Amur tigers with glass viewing, a wooded sika deer enclosure, amd a large mesh exhibit for red panda (with a new baby this year). The bear grotto is a 1960's brutalistic architecture piece and as such is gruesome. The zoo has broken out the concrete flooring and replaced it with vegetation, but much still needs to be done. The exhibit houses a single female sloth bear. Next door is an outdoor enclosure for an extremely shy binturong. Few guests ever see him.
The other area of the zoo is the Small Animal Kingdom. This nice set of exhibits opened in 2001 and is broken into three sections, Islands, Deserts and Rain Forests. You walk around the outside of this building viewing the exhibits through glass (think San Diego's reptile house) Most of the larger inhabitants have outdoor yards attached as well. The Islands section has exhibits for Aldabra tortoise, ring-tailed lemur, several small lizard species and a large and impressive male Komodo dragon. The deserts section has meerkats, crested porcupines, desert tortoises, Gila monsters and a few other reptiles. The Rain Forest section begins with a slide for children that offers an elevated view of the outdoor spider monkey exhibit. This effect is really fun, and the spider monkeys seem to enjoy watching the children at play. Following this you enter the building into the Rain Forest section. Plants (both real and artifiicial) and vines attempt to give you the impression of entering a rain forest. It's not fair to compare it with large zoos rain forest buildings but it is kind of nice. The indoor section has a two-toed sloth, indoor viewing of spider monkeys, chevrotains and a large Burmese python.
All in all, it's a very modest little zoo with many improvements needed, but if the new African Plains exhibit is any indication this little zoo has a very bright future.
