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| Impala Plaza with its impressive fountain. |
Philadelphia is the undisputed holder of the title North America's first zoo. It's also an extremely well run zoo with some very innovative ideas about animal enrichment and management in its urban setting with limited space and no possibility to grow--but always a way to improve with seem to be its caveat. I've come enough times to know my way around the place. On this occasion I had two specific goals: 1) to see the renovated Polar Bear habitat that had been transformed into a new home for the zoo's colony of Humboldt Penguins, and 2) a view of their newborn Giraffe. I was able to fulfill one of those goals.
PENGUIN POINT
With the passing from old age of the zoo's longtime beloved Polar Bear, Coldilocks, the Philadelphia Zoo has been the painful calculation that replacing that animal with another Polar Bear is highly unlikely, therefore, they have taken that wedge of the multi-bear species and adapted it for their colony of Humboldt Penguins.
AFRICAN SAVANNAH
Alas, the Reticulated Giraffe were not out when I was there. They had been out in the morning. So I was left to enjoy some of the other animals in this part of the zoo. The pair of Burchell's Zebras were out. Half sister born just days apart at the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas, both have lived at the Philadelphia zoo since 2000. They share a larger habitat with a lone male Southern White Rhinoceros named Tony. Tony came to the zoo in 2006 from the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida.
Southern White Rhinoceros
McNEILL AVIARY CENTER
The McNeill Aviary Center is the heart of the zoo's exotic bird collection. It's a lovely, if small, interactive facility where you can walk among many of the birds. Some of the birds you can see.
Golden-breasted Starling
Yellow Weaver Bird
Ivory-billed Aracari
LEMUR ISLAND
The PECO Primate House is a large central feature of the zoo and home to Western Lowland Gorillas, Sumatran Orangutans, White-handed Gibbons, Squirrel Monkeys and Ring-tailed Lemurs. As you approach the structure, you'll see a water feature with a peninsula "island". This is home to a band of Ring-tailed Lemurs.
Alas, the Reticulated Giraffe were not out when I was there. They had been out in the morning. So I was left to enjoy some of the other animals in this part of the zoo. The pair of Burchell's Zebras were out. Half sister born just days apart at the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas, both have lived at the Philadelphia zoo since 2000. They share a larger habitat with a lone male Southern White Rhinoceros named Tony. Tony came to the zoo in 2006 from the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida.
The McNeill Aviary Center is the heart of the zoo's exotic bird collection. It's a lovely, if small, interactive facility where you can walk among many of the birds. Some of the birds you can see.
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