Oh no, do they not have markhor anymore? I was considering stopping by on my way to DC for a weekend this fall, but the list you posted pales in comparison to how star-studded I remember it looking, particularly for ungulates. Maybe it's just that I haven't looked at their roster in a while, and in that time some of the things that seemed rare and hard to find at the time have since crossed my path regardless? (gemsbok, Dama gazelle, both tapirs) Maybe I'll still stop by, time allowing, but man no markhors would be a bit disappointment.
Your zoo visits
- Thread starter KönigDerKaffeebohnen
- Start date
Oh no, do they not have markhor anymore? I was considering stopping by on my way to DC for a weekend this fall, but the list you posted pales in comparison to how star-studded I remember it looking, particularly for ungulates. Maybe it's just that I haven't looked at their roster in a while, and in that time some of the things that seemed rare and hard to find at the time have since crossed my path regardless? (gemsbok, Dama gazelle, both tapirs) Maybe I'll still stop by, time allowing, but man no markhors would be a bit disappointment.
Visited the highland wildlife park for the first time this year in hopes of seeing the new european elk twins, and well they have grown up pretty fast , 2 or so weeks old.
In comparison, the male elk. Much more active throughout the habitat nowadays.
The vicuna finally showed up for me in a long time, for the past 2 years only 1 was visible if I was lucky. Saw 4 of them together on the slope looking towards the distant wisent herd.
The wolves were also seen being fed, which is a new sight for me, never once seen the wolves being fed for the countless visits I have been in the park. For the first half of the visit, the wolves were being treated to some bone enrichments.
Waiting to be fed actual food, the wolves get excited and try to jump onto the fence without much success.
Seen in the main reserve was also a eurasian curlew, its noisy calls however couldn't overpower the nesting barnacle and greylag geese honking at every passing car.
Lastly, a suprising new bird for me, the red legged partridge was seen on a mound of dirt by the entrance.
In comparison, the male elk. Much more active throughout the habitat nowadays.
The vicuna finally showed up for me in a long time, for the past 2 years only 1 was visible if I was lucky. Saw 4 of them together on the slope looking towards the distant wisent herd.
The wolves were also seen being fed, which is a new sight for me, never once seen the wolves being fed for the countless visits I have been in the park. For the first half of the visit, the wolves were being treated to some bone enrichments.
Waiting to be fed actual food, the wolves get excited and try to jump onto the fence without much success.
Seen in the main reserve was also a eurasian curlew, its noisy calls however couldn't overpower the nesting barnacle and greylag geese honking at every passing car.
Lastly, a suprising new bird for me, the red legged partridge was seen on a mound of dirt by the entrance.
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I went to Chongqing Zoo in China a few days ago. This zoo has become very popular in China in recent years. I think it is probably because of the pandas. Some of the exhibits in this zoo are very good, although they were built in the last century, but some of them are very bad. This zoo has some very rare Asian animals, some of which are unique to China. I hope they can improve some of the bad conditions as soon as possible.
Let’s first look at the zoo’s most popular scene on the Chinese Internet: “Panda Mahjong”
I personally am very opposed to this practice because it goes against the natural habits of pandas, but... the "popularity" it brings is very considerable.
Below is a male Asian elephant of great size with very beautiful tusks.
Next is the tiger subspecies unique to China, the South China tiger, which is now extinct in the wild.
A leopard of unknown subspecies. I think if it is not the North China leopard, then it is the Indochinese leopard.
Next is the Asian golden cat, which is relatively rare in zoos around the world (I hope it will be in the game). This male is very huge, but also very shy. However, I was lucky enough to take a picture of it eating.
The sika deer exhibition area in this zoo is also very special.
Their ape exhibit also looked nice, but too many electric fences clearly ruined the look.
Finally, let me once again show you the “very scary” popularity of giant pandas.The attractiveness score of the giant panda in the game is really unreasonable and even a bit ridiculous.
Let’s first look at the zoo’s most popular scene on the Chinese Internet: “Panda Mahjong”
I personally am very opposed to this practice because it goes against the natural habits of pandas, but... the "popularity" it brings is very considerable.
Below is a male Asian elephant of great size with very beautiful tusks.
Next is the tiger subspecies unique to China, the South China tiger, which is now extinct in the wild.
A leopard of unknown subspecies. I think if it is not the North China leopard, then it is the Indochinese leopard.
Next is the Asian golden cat, which is relatively rare in zoos around the world (I hope it will be in the game). This male is very huge, but also very shy. However, I was lucky enough to take a picture of it eating.
The sika deer exhibition area in this zoo is also very special.
Their ape exhibit also looked nice, but too many electric fences clearly ruined the look.
Finally, let me once again show you the “very scary” popularity of giant pandas.The attractiveness score of the giant panda in the game is really unreasonable and even a bit ridiculous.
Went for another visit to London Zoo this past Saturday, where there was definitely a lot of new stuff visible. These are some of the things that I saw:
An obvious highlight were the three Asiatic lion cubs - I think they may actually be the first lion cubs I have ever seen. I can definitely remember seeing tiger, leopard and cheetah cubs, but none of my local zoos have bred lions in my lifetime.
The two baby gorillas have also grown considerably since I last saw them, although they are both still too young to be walking around by themselves yet.
In the new reptile and amphibian house, one of the highlights was getting a much clearer look at the absolutely beautiful Ethiopian mountain adder - currently, London is the only zoo in the UK where they can be seen, although the upcoming Grasslands exhibit at Chester will also display them.
There has been quite a bit of breeding success among the endangered amphibians in the house - I saw a huge Titicaca water frog tadpole, quite a few tiny tadpoles of Sardinian brook salamanders and these tadpoles pictured above are from the Mallorcan midwife toad, one of my favourite amphibians.
The Tiny Giants bug house continues to be one of my favourite places at the zoo - it was good to see that a formerly empty tank was now housing a big and active group of red-legged millipedes.
The Blackburn Pavilion remains another favourite - it is alive with all kinds of birds and the song in there can sometimes be deafening. This red-and-yellow barbet was definitely one of the loudest inhabitants of the walkthrough aviary. Another addition there is a new aviary for fledged chicks from within the zoo's collection - currently it is home to two young snowy-crowned robin-chats.
Going through the nocturnal house, I knew that I could not use my regular camera so instead tried to film the animals on a camcorder and take stills from those. The results are mostly fairly mixed, but I quite like this image of the West African potto - its head is in the bottom-right corner, as it was climbing down a branch through a small patch of light.
But possibly the highlight of my visit was getting to see the only small Indian mongooses in captivity in Europe - I have visited three times since they arrived and seen nothing, but on this visit I saw one of these normally very shy animals on two out of three of my visits to their enclosure. On my final visit, this individual came out to bask in the sun.
An obvious highlight were the three Asiatic lion cubs - I think they may actually be the first lion cubs I have ever seen. I can definitely remember seeing tiger, leopard and cheetah cubs, but none of my local zoos have bred lions in my lifetime.
The two baby gorillas have also grown considerably since I last saw them, although they are both still too young to be walking around by themselves yet.
In the new reptile and amphibian house, one of the highlights was getting a much clearer look at the absolutely beautiful Ethiopian mountain adder - currently, London is the only zoo in the UK where they can be seen, although the upcoming Grasslands exhibit at Chester will also display them.
There has been quite a bit of breeding success among the endangered amphibians in the house - I saw a huge Titicaca water frog tadpole, quite a few tiny tadpoles of Sardinian brook salamanders and these tadpoles pictured above are from the Mallorcan midwife toad, one of my favourite amphibians.
The Tiny Giants bug house continues to be one of my favourite places at the zoo - it was good to see that a formerly empty tank was now housing a big and active group of red-legged millipedes.
The Blackburn Pavilion remains another favourite - it is alive with all kinds of birds and the song in there can sometimes be deafening. This red-and-yellow barbet was definitely one of the loudest inhabitants of the walkthrough aviary. Another addition there is a new aviary for fledged chicks from within the zoo's collection - currently it is home to two young snowy-crowned robin-chats.
Going through the nocturnal house, I knew that I could not use my regular camera so instead tried to film the animals on a camcorder and take stills from those. The results are mostly fairly mixed, but I quite like this image of the West African potto - its head is in the bottom-right corner, as it was climbing down a branch through a small patch of light.
But possibly the highlight of my visit was getting to see the only small Indian mongooses in captivity in Europe - I have visited three times since they arrived and seen nothing, but on this visit I saw one of these normally very shy animals on two out of three of my visits to their enclosure. On my final visit, this individual came out to bask in the sun.
I was in the zoo Vienna again yesterday.
I visited Blijdorp Zoo last week, hoping to see the new okapi calf. I didn't know it was being kept backstage only. Nevertheless, I was happy to visit this zoo and see other animals, I still had a good day 
And I think I'll change my avatar to a sleeping red panda because I'm quite proud of this photo
Tufted Deer (same exhibit as the red panda)
Dama Gazelle
Lion Tailed Macaques
Amur Leopard
Okapi
And I think I'll change my avatar to a sleeping red panda because I'm quite proud of this photo Tufted Deer (same exhibit as the red panda)
Dama Gazelle
Lion Tailed Macaques
Amur Leopard
Okapi
Thanks! I guess I was lucky to catch him posing like this
I don’t know if I posted it, but a couple months ago I visited the North Carolina Zoo. I don’t have many good pictures but I’ll highlight some of the stuff around the Puffin habitat. Which is easily giving me the most “Planet Zoo Envy” in that I can’t recreate it or that feeling I got from it at all! The place was awesome, it was dark and cold with speakers playing seabird noises above. Not to mention it had a lot of cool educational signs, which I always love to see!
Some of them looked like this and they had some great artwork! I also love interactive learning, so it may seem simple but I love the flaps that reveal pictures and facts. If anyone is in the area I really recommend the zoo, it had some expansive and beautiful habitats, especially for the hoofstock!
I am very sad today. The Asian golden cat I met a month ago died a few days ago. I didn't expect that the last time we met was a month ago. There are only two individuals left in China, not in the same zoo, and neither of them has a mate. It seems that it is only a matter of time before this species disappears in Chinese zoos... No matter what, I am really sad.
Visited Adelaide Zoo again today, this time with some family members who hadn't been in some time. I took more photos than I expected, but then again, it was a surprisingly active day in regards to animals despite the weather being quite cold:
Red panda grooming itself
Nicobar pigeon and mandarin duck in the south-east Asia walkthrough aviary
Mantled guereza mum and bub
Mujambi the lion
Giant pandas Funi (left) and Wang Wang (right) exploring the outdoor areas of their enclosures for once
Female black-necked stork in the Australian wetland walkthrough aviary
Two birds of prey, the barking owl and black-breasted buzzard
Emperor tamarins snacking
Leaf munchers - Brazilian tapir and quokka
Squirrel glider, a larger relative of the more well-known sugar glider
Always good to see a maned wolf out and about
Orange-bellied parrot and regent honeyeater, two of Australia's rarest and most threatened birds
Male superb lyrebird scratching at a corner in the Australian rainforest walkthrough aviary
Siamang contemplating life and the nature of the cosmos
Feeding time for ravenous Australian pelicans
The normally elusive nankeen night-heron (wild) likes to hang out in the pelican enclosure to feed on scraps
Sumatran tiger Delilah and her three old cubs
Red panda grooming itself
Nicobar pigeon and mandarin duck in the south-east Asia walkthrough aviary
Mantled guereza mum and bub
Mujambi the lion
Giant pandas Funi (left) and Wang Wang (right) exploring the outdoor areas of their enclosures for once
Female black-necked stork in the Australian wetland walkthrough aviary
Two birds of prey, the barking owl and black-breasted buzzard
Emperor tamarins snacking
Leaf munchers - Brazilian tapir and quokka
Squirrel glider, a larger relative of the more well-known sugar glider
Always good to see a maned wolf out and about
Orange-bellied parrot and regent honeyeater, two of Australia's rarest and most threatened birds
Male superb lyrebird scratching at a corner in the Australian rainforest walkthrough aviary
Siamang contemplating life and the nature of the cosmos
Feeding time for ravenous Australian pelicans
The normally elusive nankeen night-heron (wild) likes to hang out in the pelican enclosure to feed on scraps
Sumatran tiger Delilah and her three old cubs
I hit up Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens. I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised by a number of the habitats as they gave you a really up close look at some of the species. Their flamingo habitat was truly beautiful.
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Visited the Allwetter (All weather) Zoo Münster today.
The all weather part comes from its unique feature of roofed walkways connecting most of the animal houses, so even when it rains you can see the majority of the animals.
And honestly thats such a cool idea and im surprised not more zoos are doing this.
Also this zoo has alot of animals that are more on the rare side like sloth bears, blue wildebeest, giant otters, persian leopard, ring tailed vontsira and fossa.
Also they see to trust the guests ALOT, for the penguins for example you could easily just reach over the glass barrier and put one into your backpack (was tempted ngl). They also have a big aviary for vultures and secretary birds and the mesh is directly up to the guest viewing area and the holes in the mesh are so big you can easily fit youre whole arms through up to the shoulder
Also i thought i was smart and went on a wednesday morning, unfortunately i forgot its summer break still. So there where screaming children running around everywhere anyways, banging on glasses, strollers blocking the paths at every corner, it was a nightmare
.
Definetly the last time i go to a zoo when school is on break, yikes
Dhole
Sloth bear
Ring tailed vontsira
Secretary bird collecting nesting material
Fossa
Persian Leopard
The all weather part comes from its unique feature of roofed walkways connecting most of the animal houses, so even when it rains you can see the majority of the animals.
And honestly thats such a cool idea and im surprised not more zoos are doing this.
Also this zoo has alot of animals that are more on the rare side like sloth bears, blue wildebeest, giant otters, persian leopard, ring tailed vontsira and fossa.
Also they see to trust the guests ALOT, for the penguins for example you could easily just reach over the glass barrier and put one into your backpack (was tempted ngl). They also have a big aviary for vultures and secretary birds and the mesh is directly up to the guest viewing area and the holes in the mesh are so big you can easily fit youre whole arms through up to the shoulder
Also i thought i was smart and went on a wednesday morning, unfortunately i forgot its summer break still. So there where screaming children running around everywhere anyways, banging on glasses, strollers blocking the paths at every corner, it was a nightmare
.Definetly the last time i go to a zoo when school is on break, yikes
Dhole
Sloth bear
Ring tailed vontsira
Secretary bird collecting nesting material
Fossa
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Once again I was in the zoo of Vienna.
Over the course of the past four weeks, I have visited four different zoos each weekend. The first place I visited was Maldon Promenade Petting Zoo. It is by far the smallest of the four places I visited, but also the nearest to me, being about ten minutes' drive from my house. It essentially houses only smaller rescued animals, so there isn't a huge quantity of especially exciting creatures. Most of it is standard petting zoo or small wildlife park fare - meerkats, raccoons, skunks, parrots, ducks, pygmy goats, pot-bellied pigs and a little reptile and bug house filled with standard pet shop species. They did have a kinkajou, but because it is kept in a diurnal enclosure I never managed to see it. Probably the highlight animal there is the banded mongoose, a species I haven't seen in a number of years.
The next weekend I went to Jimmy's Farm, which started out as a farm and has gradually grown up to become a large wildlife park. Upon going through the park gates, the first enclosure you encounter is an outdoor space for a pair of very active six-banded armadillos.
I was very pleased to see a big new aviary has been added for a trio of blue-and-yellow macaws, which had enough air space for the birds to be regularly flying around.
The African savannah display is big but, at present, still rather lacking in animals. Aside for two or three plains zebras, the only other animals in there are a trio of common eland. On this visit, they came right up to the walkway - only when you are right next to them do you really appreciate just how big they actually are.
It was very pleasant to be able to watch the big group of capybaras, which is about fifteen strong now. A mother capybara and her litter of young babies were making good use of the large pool in their paddock when I was visiting them.
Of course, the main attraction that has been added since my last visit was the Lost Land of the Tundra, a complex with paddocks for domestic reindeer and red-breasted geese, an enclosure for arctic foxes, one for a pack of arctic wolves that remained out of view throughout my visit and Europe's largest polar bear complex, with three enormous paddocks with lakes and an area of ancient forest. The viewing section was absolutely rammed, so I only got this distant photograph of one of the polar bears on the far side of one of its lakes.
In fact, Jimmy's Farm is one of the few two-bear-zoos in the UK, as after the arrival of the polar bears they also rescued a European brown bear that lives in an enclosure off in the woodland. I only got brief glimpses of it. The park has not completely abandoned domestic animals, and next to the brown bear is a new rare breeds section that houses twelve different British rare breeds - four of pig, three of goat, two of chicken plus the Devon closewool sheep, Highland cattle and Suffolk punch horse. This is a middle white pig, who had very young piglets with her.
The next weekend I went to Jimmy's Farm, which started out as a farm and has gradually grown up to become a large wildlife park. Upon going through the park gates, the first enclosure you encounter is an outdoor space for a pair of very active six-banded armadillos.
I was very pleased to see a big new aviary has been added for a trio of blue-and-yellow macaws, which had enough air space for the birds to be regularly flying around.
The African savannah display is big but, at present, still rather lacking in animals. Aside for two or three plains zebras, the only other animals in there are a trio of common eland. On this visit, they came right up to the walkway - only when you are right next to them do you really appreciate just how big they actually are.
It was very pleasant to be able to watch the big group of capybaras, which is about fifteen strong now. A mother capybara and her litter of young babies were making good use of the large pool in their paddock when I was visiting them.
Of course, the main attraction that has been added since my last visit was the Lost Land of the Tundra, a complex with paddocks for domestic reindeer and red-breasted geese, an enclosure for arctic foxes, one for a pack of arctic wolves that remained out of view throughout my visit and Europe's largest polar bear complex, with three enormous paddocks with lakes and an area of ancient forest. The viewing section was absolutely rammed, so I only got this distant photograph of one of the polar bears on the far side of one of its lakes.
In fact, Jimmy's Farm is one of the few two-bear-zoos in the UK, as after the arrival of the polar bears they also rescued a European brown bear that lives in an enclosure off in the woodland. I only got brief glimpses of it. The park has not completely abandoned domestic animals, and next to the brown bear is a new rare breeds section that houses twelve different British rare breeds - four of pig, three of goat, two of chicken plus the Devon closewool sheep, Highland cattle and Suffolk punch horse. This is a middle white pig, who had very young piglets with her.
Last weekend, I went for a day trip to ZSL London Zoo. It is one of my favourite zoos to visit, I have recently decided. The variety of smaller creatures means that there is almost always something new whenever I go. Sometimes, a highlight may just be seeing an animal more clearly than ever before - for example, on this visit I had my first ever view of the head of the king cobra. Normally, I have only seen its coils, with its head hidden away in the vegetation.
Likewise, it was great to be able to get a good clear view of the new fen raft spider in the invertebrate house - they are Britain's largest and one of its rarest species of spider, and in the past London Zoo have bred these spiders and released their young back into the wild. I find it a very beautiful animal.
Onto less squeamish creatures, and inside the bird house I was very pleased to see that the pair of scarlet-chested sunbirds, the only ones kept anywhere in a European zoo, were nesting. In fact, lots of birds in there were either planning to or already breeding - there are chicks from purple-naped lories, both chestnut-backed and orange-headed thrushes and Fischer's turaco in evidence.
I was even more impressed to find, in one of the outdoor aviaries surrounding the bird house, a new flock of grosbeak starlings - a rather understated but pretty species of colonial starling from Sulawesi in Indonesia. I have never seen one of these birds before.
In terms of larger animals, it was great to be able to catch up with the young Western lowland gorillas, which have continued to develop and are now beginning to practice their climbing skills.
Finally, I went on a visit to Colchester Zoo this morning. There is lots of building work ongoing at the moment, including upgraded accommodation for the buffy-headed capuchin monkeys and a new indoor enclosure for another species of small primate, not currently in the collection. Among the highlights was seeing my first ever green tree skink, which has recently gone on-show inside the African house (despite the lizard in question being from Southeast Asia).
It has been quite some time since I saw the small-clawed otters, but today the entire group was outside and being fed on seafood including crabs and, in the case of this otter, a razor clam.
Finally, and quite unexpectedly, I managed to spot a very young baby Gariau forest dragon inside the small standalone reptile building next to the chimpanzees. Hopefully it will be removed by the keepers fairly promptly, as I don't know how friendly the adults are towards their offspring.
Likewise, it was great to be able to get a good clear view of the new fen raft spider in the invertebrate house - they are Britain's largest and one of its rarest species of spider, and in the past London Zoo have bred these spiders and released their young back into the wild. I find it a very beautiful animal.
Onto less squeamish creatures, and inside the bird house I was very pleased to see that the pair of scarlet-chested sunbirds, the only ones kept anywhere in a European zoo, were nesting. In fact, lots of birds in there were either planning to or already breeding - there are chicks from purple-naped lories, both chestnut-backed and orange-headed thrushes and Fischer's turaco in evidence.
I was even more impressed to find, in one of the outdoor aviaries surrounding the bird house, a new flock of grosbeak starlings - a rather understated but pretty species of colonial starling from Sulawesi in Indonesia. I have never seen one of these birds before.
In terms of larger animals, it was great to be able to catch up with the young Western lowland gorillas, which have continued to develop and are now beginning to practice their climbing skills.
Finally, I went on a visit to Colchester Zoo this morning. There is lots of building work ongoing at the moment, including upgraded accommodation for the buffy-headed capuchin monkeys and a new indoor enclosure for another species of small primate, not currently in the collection. Among the highlights was seeing my first ever green tree skink, which has recently gone on-show inside the African house (despite the lizard in question being from Southeast Asia).
It has been quite some time since I saw the small-clawed otters, but today the entire group was outside and being fed on seafood including crabs and, in the case of this otter, a razor clam.
Finally, and quite unexpectedly, I managed to spot a very young baby Gariau forest dragon inside the small standalone reptile building next to the chimpanzees. Hopefully it will be removed by the keepers fairly promptly, as I don't know how friendly the adults are towards their offspring.
Got to visit the Zoo Osnabrück today, made sure that summer holidays are over now, so it was pretty empty, the fact that it was almost unbearable hot maybe played a part aswell haha.
Got to see a couple relatively rare animals like:
Pig tailed macaque
Hudson Bay wolves
American Black Bear
Also was lucky enough to see the baby chimp trying to figure out how this fake termite mound works:
The drills also had young, which is lovely to see with such an endangered aswell as rarely seen animal. Didnt manage to get it on picture tho.
Also saw a couple cool ideas to contain large hoofstock:
Cattle grid is ofcourse nothing new to zoos, but this was the first time ive seen it as a habitat barrier essentially. And honestly i wish more zoos would do this, its such an amazing way to view these animals.
They are just right infront of you, just 2 meters away, no moat, no fence, no glass, no wire, just you next to a bison.
So apperently camels cant walk down steps, which was news to me.
Its kinda hard to see but the area the camels are on is like 50cm higher than whats behind the rocks, and apperently that is all that it takes to keep them in there.
And like with the bisons this allows you to just get right up to them without anything blocking your view.
They have this little viewing window for their rhinos and river hogs, and the gang just had their breakfast here. And since the zoo was really empty i could sit down in front of the glass and just hang out with them. Easily sat there for 20-30 minutes without a single soul coming by, it was so amazing!
Got to see a couple relatively rare animals like:
Pig tailed macaque
Hudson Bay wolves
American Black Bear
Also was lucky enough to see the baby chimp trying to figure out how this fake termite mound works:
The drills also had young, which is lovely to see with such an endangered aswell as rarely seen animal. Didnt manage to get it on picture tho.
Also saw a couple cool ideas to contain large hoofstock:
Cattle grid is ofcourse nothing new to zoos, but this was the first time ive seen it as a habitat barrier essentially. And honestly i wish more zoos would do this, its such an amazing way to view these animals.
They are just right infront of you, just 2 meters away, no moat, no fence, no glass, no wire, just you next to a bison.
So apperently camels cant walk down steps, which was news to me.
Its kinda hard to see but the area the camels are on is like 50cm higher than whats behind the rocks, and apperently that is all that it takes to keep them in there.
And like with the bisons this allows you to just get right up to them without anything blocking your view.
They have this little viewing window for their rhinos and river hogs, and the gang just had their breakfast here. And since the zoo was really empty i could sit down in front of the glass and just hang out with them. Easily sat there for 20-30 minutes without a single soul coming by, it was so amazing!