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Cincinnati Zoo

Revision as of 05:22, 2 June 2012 by Zhand38 (talk | contribs) (→‎Night Hunters)
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Wildlife Canyon

Since 1989, Wildlife Canyon has been showcasing rare and exotic hoofstock species that are native to many parts of the world. It currently consists of six different paddocks along the bottom of a steep canyon that was built in 1942. Observers may get the chance to view the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, a species only found one other zoo in the world. A baby male camel, Bogart, can be seen in the attraction.

Animals include:

Sumatran rhinos: Every Sumatran rhino that lives in the U.S. was born at the Cincinnati Zoo. Suci (July 30, 2004) and Ipuh reside at the zoo today in well mud-covered, tropical habitats with large canopies constructed above each exhibit to protect the rhinos' eyes from the harmful sun. Harapan (April 27, 2007) is at the Los Angeles Zoo, and Andalas (September 13, 2001), is at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia. Andalas was the first recorded Sumatran rhino birth since 1889 (112 years). Emi, who gave birth to these rhinos, died at 30 years-old of liver complications in September of 2009. This put the zoo's Sumatran rhino breeding program on hold. The zoo is working on getting Suci pregnant by receiving sperm from a male Sumatran rhino in Borneo to artificially inseminate her in hopes of breeding this critically endangered species.

Eagle Eyrie

At this attraction that opened in 1970, guests can walk into large flight cages that are home to two of some of the largest flying birds on the planet, condors and sea eagles. When visitors enter the two flight cages while being in an elevated observation deck, there is nothing that comes between the visitors and the birds. The Cincinnati Zoo is currently the only institution in North America to breed the Steller's sea eagle. Efforts to set these species free have been successful multiple times. Two eagle chicks can be seen nesting in the sea eagle flight.

Monkey Island

This island is a man-made rock surrounded by a moat and exotic landscaping and provides a home for to a large troop of snow monkeys or Japanese macaques. It is over 80 years old and was one of the first bar-less monkey exhibits in North America.

Night Hunters

This renovated facility opened on May 25, 2010 and is a multi-sensory journey that takes guests through near darkness that features a variety of exotic nocturnal predators that are rarely seen in other zoos. Guests will be with-in inches of flying creatures, small cats, dog like animals, and small primates. The animals in the building were relocated from old buildings from around the zoo such as the Cat House, ad the Nocturnal House that closed during for the opening of Night Hunters. On August 14, 2011, the zoo added new space for Chief Joseph and Tecumseh, the brother cougars. Their exhibit is located outdoors and is a North American environment consisting of rocks, many woodland plants, and waterfalls. Nocturnal animals include:

Gorilla World

Gorilla World attempts to simulate the rainforest of central Africa. It opened in 1978 as one of the first, natural gorilla exhibits in the country. The main enclsoure is about a 40,000 square foot, forest habitat with many tropical plants, waterfalls, meadows, logs and vines for zoo's famous gorillas to encounter. The Cincinnati zoo's gorilla breeding program has had a total of 48 births, making the zoo in the lead for the most gorilla births in America. In 1975, because of not just their gorillas, but the zoos overall successful breeding program has lead Newsweek to call the Cincinnati Zoo the "Sexiest zoo in America". Primates include:

World of the Insect

World of the Insect, or the Insectarium, was the first and largest building in the world with the widest collection of six-legged species after opening in 1978. The zoo has received four AZA awards for this achievement, which also includes breeding of many rare species like the Hercules beetle, the Royal Goliath beetle, the Giant Southeast Asian Walking Stickand the Harlequin beetle. Not only does the building showcase invertebrates but it also is home to small animals that prey on them in the "What Eats Insects" area along with a burrow exhibit for naked mole rats. There is a long line of plastic tubes that travel throughout half the building, containing millions of leaf-cutter ants in the longest ant exhibit in the country. Connected to the building is a separate walk-through atrium called the Butterfly Rainforest showcasing hundreds of small birds and butterflies native to South America. Over seventy species are on display, but the building actually holds over 500,000 total animals. Currently the building holds baby walking sticks, whipscorpions, emperor scorpions, hissing cockroaches, leaf katydids, and spiny leaf insects.

Lemur Lookout

Lemur Lookout is a large open-topped, tropical habitat home to a troop of ring-tailed lemurs. The basin was built in 1962 and has held other primates and hoofstock in the past.

Dragons!

Re-opened in 2010, Dragons! is both an indoor and outdoor attraction that showcases monitor lizards that range from the smallest, longest and the largest in the world. In the largest enclosure of the complex lives the star of the attraction Hudo, a Komodo dragon. Each indoor exhibit is glass-enclosed and are full of real plant life and branches. Outdoor viewing for the Komodo dragon is available near the exit of the building. Monitor species include:

Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Manatee Springs

Built in 1999, based on the Everglades, Manatee Springs houses many different species of wildlife from the swamps of Florida. The first section of the building is a greenhouse that simulates the sights and sounds of a freshwater swamp, tropical hammock and coastal mangrove wetlands. The enclosures in the greenhouse are designed to be hidden by the surrounding environment, and are all open-topped to fulfill the natural scenery. Manatee Springs facilities include a greenhouse (304 m²) and an exhibit building (1035 m²). The entire facility (1339 m²) includes 171 m² (1,900 ft²) of staff and support areas and 369m² (4,100 ft²) of filtration equipment space on two levels. The building begins with a humid greenhouse and ventures into the indoors and features many different areas showcasing a wide and diverse collection of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. The main attraction of the building a large tank with many gars, carp, and the zoo's two manatees that swim in a 120,000 gallon tank. The Cincinnati Zoo is one of only two institutions in America that is part of the Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Program. The zoo has freed eight manatees, including Illusion, a female who went back to the waters of Florida on November 9, 2011.

  • The River of Grass are glass-cased displays containing species that hide within the tall swampy grass.
  • The Florida Biodiversity section features terrariums that show guests the importance of almost unknown species.
  • The Manatee exhibit is a 120,000 gallon tank that gives visitors a dramatic close-up viewing with Wooten, and Betsy, the rare Florida manatees.
  • The Infamous Alien Invaders tank provides an above and underwater look of plant and animal life that were introduced into Florida ecosystems.
  • In the Discovery Area, visitors are encouraged to investigate the skeletal features of the Florida manatee and to see a sampling of species that contribute to Florida's diversity.
  • Palmetto Scrub is one large co-existing snake exhibit that provides warm surfaces areas that encourages the animals to stay out in the open for viewing.

Rhino Reserve

This whole area are is a series of eight enclosures housing a variety of African species of the Savannah, and Asian species of the forest. Rhino Reserve, opened in 1997, consists of outdoor paddocks home to the zoo's female Indian rhinos (Nikki & Majula), and a male black rhino (Klyde) that spend most of their days wallowing in the mud. Directly adjacent to Rhino Reserve is the African Veldt that opened in 1935. They are a series of similar exhibits home to an okapi (Kuvua), a yellow-backed duiker, eastern bongos, crowned cranes, and zebras. There is also Flamingo Cove, which is where zoo visitors may overlook greater flamingos and bar-headed geese.

Siegfried and Roy's White Lions of Timbavati

The white lion habitat opened in 1998 and provides a spacious exhibit that shows off the Cincinnati Zoo's pride of four Southeast African lions that all carry the white recessive mutation gene. Two males Sunshine and Future, and one female, Prosperity, were given to the zoo in 1998 by Siegfried and Roy. Prosperity and Sunshine mated and on August 1, 2001, the first litter of white lions was born in the U.S., giving them the name, Pride of the Millennium. Prosperity gave birth to four offspring, three males Courage, Wisdom, and Legend who live at the Toledo Zoo and Gracious, the female who still remains at the Cincinati Zoo with the other lions. Visitors can walk over a canyon bridge that encircles the lions who are unobstructed in a natural setting. The lions are planned to move to the third phase of the zoo's future exhibit Africa, in the summer of 2013.

Cat Canyon

Cat Canyon is a future exhibit being constructed to provide new space for the zoo Malayan, and white tigers. Snow leopards are planned to be also added, a species that hasn't been on exhibit at the zoo since the closing of the Cat House in 2010. This is the second phase of Night Hunters, which also included the plan to add the cougars along the side of the building. This is a major renovation of the former attraction Tiger Canyon that allowed visitors to look over the cats while being on a large cliff. Cat Canyon will allow people to walk down into the canyon to view the animals face-to-face, only being separated by thin glass. The zoo is also planning to breed Renji and Nudo, the zoo's young snow leopards and even maybe more Malyan tigers, a species the zoo leads births in. This exhibit will open on June 30, 2012

Jungle Trails

Jungle Trails takes visitors through a 2.5 acre naturalized rain forest habitat, teeming with rare and exotic wildlife and hundreds of plant species from Asia and Africa. Each region in the exhibit is divided by outdoor and indoor habitats with enjoyable viewing of the Zoo's collection of rare primates such as orangutans, bonobos, Müeller's, and lar gibbons, bamboo,ruffed, and sifaka lemurs, Angolan colobus monkeys, aye-ayes, Francois' langurs, lion-tailed macaques, pottos, pygmy slow lorises, and greater galagos that brachiate, crawl, and jump from branch to branch. In addition, Jungle Trails houses some of the zoo's birds, reptiles, insects, small mammals that include lesser adjutant and saddle-billed storks,pelicans, white-naped ravens, yellow-billed hornbills, starlings, shelducks, hammerkops, cloud rats, sugar gliders, large-spotted genets, emperor scorpions, and ground boas. The attraction received the AZA prestigious exhibit award in 1994, a year after it opened. Two baby galagos and three baby large-spotted genets can be seen in the African Building.

Kroger Lords of the Arctic

Lords of the Arctic which opened in the year 2000, houses two species representing northern parts of the world in a 21,000 square foot attraction. The main animals in the area are the zoo's two polar bears, a male named Little One, and a female, Berit. Visitors can watch the bears swim in their one large 70,000 gallon pool that stretches between the two enclosures. There are many observation areas available for the guests, including underwater viewing, across from a moat, and even of the bears on land only with 3 inches of glass separating them from the visitors. Next to the bears is an aviary that houses a bald eagle.

Bear Hill

The Bear Hill grottoes were built in 1937 featuring two bear species from North and South America, black bears and Andean bears. The exhibits were built on a hillside to complete their natural mountainous habitats to also keep the sun from shining light into their exhibits.

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