Turtle Back Zoo: Amazing Asia!

 Well, you could certainly see the potential for amaze- ment!  Unfortu- nately, on this visit, it would better be called Disappointing Asia...  And that OKAY.  That's, to me, actually the sign of a good zoo.  Animals have options, they decide when and where they want to hang out.  So what was there that wasn't there?  The back side of this area houses two large habitats.  One for Amur Leopards (the most critically endangered off all the big cats with any hope of being saved) and the other for Snow Leopards. I really admired the habitats, 'cause there were no inhabitants to be seen.  The other component is a building that has a series of habitats attached to it.  Two are open large cage sorts, one for a Clouded Leopard and the other for a Red Panda.  Between them are two other habitats, one two stories tall with huge glass barriers.  The larger one had a least one large Hornbill of undetermined species, and the other a large tortoise of some species.  Again, neither are mentioned on the zoo's website.  

The glare on the glass made viewing either the bird or tortoise next to impossible.  Signage did actually mention of a Slow Loris, but it was no where to be seen, and it wasn't exactly clear where it was located, maybe with the Red Panda?  Across from this another habitat was home to a trio of White-faced Gibbons, and they were attached to a building that was home to a Komodo Dragon that was off exhibit and the building was closed as were pathways nearby for the aforementioned Press Conference.  Another curiosity of this zoo, it is the only one I have ever visited where large signage celebrating new exhibits and future upgrades also can a larger than life image of the zoo's CEO and Director.  He must be a Republican! <--that's a joke, BTW.

The final part was the White-faced Gibbon Habitat.  It was unclear to me whether or not the scaffolding was an intentional part of the "design" or a serendipitous afterthought as the result of some past painting of the columns project.  It was clear that the gibbons appreciated the extra climbing opportunities.

The entrance with the Amur Leopard habitat behind.

Clouded Leopard Habitat

Look way up to see the sleepy Clouded Leopard

Clouded Leopards have such distinctive markings.

Red Panda Habitat

White-Faced Gibbon Habitat