Opening in 1974, the Zoo features three primary exhibits: Africa, RJ Reynolds Aviary, and North America.
This was Andrew's (age 2) very first visit to a zoo, so we were thrilled to be sharing the experience with him!
We started our day at the Africa Exhibit at Forest Edge, a very large habitat for Zebras, Ostriches, and Giraffes. These three animals live together in the wild because of what they eat...the zebras graze; the ostriches are omnivores eating small animals and vegetation; and, the giraffes browse, eating leaves high up in trees.
For $2/per person, we fed giraffes from the Acacia Station Giraffe Deck. Keepers are available on the deck and provide romaine lettuce to feed them. This was one of our favorite activities here because of the close-up encounter with these majestic animals. Check out that black tongue!
Across from the Forest Edge habitat is the Watani Grasslands Reserve where we saw many elephants. It was so interesting watching them interact with each other and their environment.
These two were feeling frisky; one looked like he was dancing, and the other, well, see for yourself.
An interesting display about protecting elephants in the wild included this helicopter used for tracking them. Also shown is a bronze statue of dung beetles that thrive where elephants live (or should I say poop).
Rhinoceros are also in the Watani Grasslands Reserve, but we did not see any of them (they were resting in the shade during this hot day). But we did see gazelles in the distance that share this habitat with the rhinos and more ostriches.
Continuing onto the Hamadryas Baboon exhibit, we saw this male grooming his mate, a young one playing in the grass, and a family of these interesting animals. They have bare red rumps that provide padding for sitting on hard surfaces.
Next to the baboons are the lowland gorillas. I always feel like these animals are so very sad in captivity. Heartbreaking...
On our way to the RJ Reynolds Forest Aviary we saw these beautiful Chilean flamingoes. They are about 4' tall but only weigh 5-7 pounds. They are not as brightly covered as the Caribbean flamingoes, but very beautiful, nonetheless. Also shown is a poison dart frog, also from South America. Such brilliant colors!
There are thousands of tropical plants, some turtles, and many exotic birds in the Aviary.
Some of the chimpanzees were resting in their tree hammocks, but this one guy was just "hanging" around. Andrew had so much fun running around and seeing the animals.
We enjoyed seeing this beautiful lioness, so graceful. Her mate slept in the shade.
We returned to the parking lot where we had lunch at the picnic tables. You cannot take a picnic lunch into the zoo, but there are several picnic areas outside of the park. Just hold onto your receipt for re-entry to the zoo. Andrew was a big helper carrying the cooler back to the truck!
We drove to the parking lot near the North America entrance. There is a Shuttle that runs between the parking lots if you do not want drive.
In the Cypress Swamp is home to cougars, alligators, waterfowl, turtles, and amphibians. I found this cougar enchanting...these amazing cats can leap 20 feet! Their vision is extraordinary with very good depth perception and excellent night vision. The alligators are always a little terrifying. We saw so many of them during our travels in Florida.
This alligator turtle (underwater) looked like a living dinosaur. We also saw a Malayan horned frog and and this lovely turtle.
The Rocky Coast exhibit has sea lions, seals, arctic foxes, polar bears and sea birds.
John and I have seen puffins in the wild in Oregon and Washington, so we really enjoyed seeing so many at this zoo...such interesting-looking birds!
The boys had fun playing in the Garden Friends Playground!
At the Streamside exhibit we saw river otters, owls, snakes, frogs, and fish.
Bison and elk were in the Prairie exhibit. We're looking forward to seeing them again in the wild when we are in the west next year.
The black bears were determined to stay hidden from sight. I finally captured just one photo of one of them. But this grizzly, on the other hand, was very active. He seemed to be looking for his keeper at the door to the habitat, but eventually he just settled into the pool.
Andrew enjoyed a piece of orange while his dad walked along the railing (yikes!) The critically endangered red wolf was the next exhibit. Smaller than gray wolves, there are less than 100 of them in the wild. They mate for life and live in packs comprised of the parents, current pups, and sometimes past offspring.
The ocelot's coat provides camouflage for this cat that is found throughout Central and South America. Extremely rare in the US, it is found only in southern TX.
The Desert exhibit is in a glass-domed pavilion with cacti and several animals that dwell in the dry, hot environment. In addition to various lizards were these two unusual specimens: a rock hydrax (never heard of it) and a desert pup fish (saw these in a national refuge near Death Valley in NV).
Weighing at about 8 pounds, the hydrax is a relative of the elephant! And the desert pup fish is found in isolated creeks and pools in water up to 110 degrees.
There is a tram with stops near the three primary areas of the zoo (Africa, Aviary, and North America), but we chose to walk back to the parking lot. Andrew was a real trooper throughout the entire zoo experience! And I think he really enjoyed seeing the animals he has learned about in books. It was so fun to spend family time here, but we were exhausted by the end of the day.
This zoo is so impressive! We have been to many of the great zoos in the US (San Diego; Columbus, OH; St. Louis; Cheyenne Mountain, CO; LIncoln Park (Chicago); Philadelphia; etc.), but the huge habitats here for most of the animals were awesome.
Price of admission is $15/adults, $13/seniors, and $11/kids. For additional information about the zoo, go to www.nczoo.org.
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