Wilmington, DE: Brandywine Zoo

 The final stop on my Spring Break Zoo Trek was the lovely little Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, DE.  The smallest of all the zoos covering just 12 acres, it hugs a gentle palisade along the Brandywine River in the heart of the city.  It has great dreams and has developed an incredible master plan that would more than double the size and give it the ability to share a wider range of animal species. 

Perhaps by reaching for the stars it was able to achieve an amazing first step.  In 2019, it opened its first truly new habitat in decades.  The new Lemur Habitat costs over 3.5 million and created a home for three species of Lemurs: Ring-tailed (4), White & Black Ruffed (2), and Crowned (2--now, 3 with the birth of a baby in 2024), Guinea Fowl (4) and Radiated Tortoise (3).  They also renovated the huge habitat for their signature species, the Andean Condor.

The next major phase was a new animal welfare and quarantine facility that was completed in 2022.  For such a small zoo, it is nothing short of amazing.

New Entrance blueprint.

Originally the third phase would be led by the creation and expansion of the zoo's entrance.  This plan involves a new pathway, a new entrance gate, a new large water feature built around a new multi-species habitat.  The price tag for this sits at around 8 million.  The state has committed half of that--which is pretty amazing.  They collected contributions toward a quarter more.  But given the gap, the project has been shifted to the final phase.  

Replacing it with a new multi-season Habitat built at the "elbow" of the plaza at the end of the zoo--kitty-corner from the new Lemur Multi-species Habitat.  In preparation for the new entrance, the zoo took on a pair of Southern Pudu and a pair of Toco Toucans who were given a home in the old habitat at this juncture.  Southern Pudu, a diminutive antelope from South America was brought to the zoo in part to excite the community and bolster contributions for the new entrance.  In the present situation, both the Pudu and Toucans have been relocated to other AZA institutions.

The intention of the new Habitat is to create a venue where animals can be viewed both during the warmer months and within a building, during the colder months and inclement weather.  Once completed, it will most likely become the home of a species of sloth along with a return of Toucans.

Any visit to any zoo is a crap shoot.  On this visit, the Brandywine zoo's Bobcat was out, the Andean Condors weren't.  No Pudu or Toucans, but lots of great viewing of Lemurs.  

Andean Condor Habitat.

FLORIDA BOBCAT

Lynx rufus floridanus

Squeakers is a Florida subspecies Bobcat that was rescued in the wild as a kitten and taken in at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.  From there, she was transferred to the Brandywine zoo around the age of 1, and has called Wilmington her home ever since.  

Encountered a wonderful Keeper who was sharing this amazing lady!

Ball Python

Python regius

The Red Pandas were not in a photogenic mood... 

Two of the RADIATED TORTOISE, Astrochelys radiata.

CROWNED LEMUR

Eulemur coronatus

Mother and child.

WHITE & BLACK RUFFED LEMUR

Varecia varegata

RING-TAILED LEMUR

Lemur catta

HELMETED GUINEAFOWL

Numida meleagris

Brandywine Zoo: Wilmington, DE

In my life I have taken a complete 180 on the idea of Zoos.  I used to think they were relics of paternalistic paradigms: "man's" dominion over the natural world.  No doubt, that may have been part of the ethos in their inception.  It is not where good zoos reside today.  Modern zoos prioritize animal care, guest education and conservation, and above all species survival.  Dozens of animals would be extinct today, without the intervention and research/discovery of accredited zoos.

As you know, I volunteer at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.  I love the Maryland Zoo, but I'm poly-amorous, too, with a soft spot for little zoos.  Among them, I hold in high esteem: The Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka, CA, the Superior Zoo in Duluth, MN, the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, MA and the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, DE.  Fortunately, Wilmington, DE is an easy day trip! 

Brandywine is an old zoo.  It was founded in 1911 on the slope of the flood plain of the Brandywine River in the heart of Wilmington, DE.  Its placement was the result of a decision made by the founding father of urban park design, Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed the rest of the riverside park.  Because of its location, it is necessarily small, just under 5 acres.  This has both positive and negative implications, and it's been a joy to watch how the zoo has capitalized on the positives over the past 20 years.

Recognizing how precious the real estate is, it has chosen to pursue excellence over abundance.  You'll not see some impossible to believe statement of the number of species, there are about 30-35 on public view at any given time.  It's doable in an hour or so with space for a picnic lunch to cap it off.  With renovation plans on going, the zoo sports a new 3.5 million dollar multi-species habitat for 3 endangered species of Lemurs, along with tortoises and ground fowl.  They have a new million dollar animal care facility.  Upgrades to all of its habitats with the introduction of several new species: Red Pandas, Toco Toucans, Southern Pudu, Binturong, and Giant Anteaters--along with the Ring-tailed, Crowned, and White and Black Lemurs.  And the future is bright.  From my recent visit.

The Current Entrance

Master Plan drawings of a new Entrance Plaza with habitat for Flamingos, and the zoo's Southern Pudu and Sloth.

Across from the entrance is this large banner featuring a life-sized image of the Delaware state dinosaur: Dryptosaurus Aquilunguis

The first habitat you encounter is home to a pair of Andean Condors.

The male is distinguishable by his pink/reddish head.

Next on the path is the home of the zoo's Bobcat.

A longtime resident, she spends her middays napping away on a little bed at the farthest end of her habitat.  "Squeakers" is a Florida Bobcat, which is a smaller sub-species.  

The middle of the zoo from left to right on the hill side a visitor will encounter

1) A Honey Bee Hive and themed plaza with a colony of Italian Honey Bees

2) A trio of enclosures that date back to the depression era WPA projects, and

3) A pair of smaller habitats home to lesser primates from South America: Golden Lion Tamarinds and White-faced Saki Monkeys

On the opposite side is a little amphitheater and...

an outdoor classroom where ad hoc presentations of Ambassador animals like the zoo's Nine-banded Armadillo, Magnolia, can be staged.

Focusing our attention on the three WPA era habitats, the first one is home to the zoo's pair of Red Panda's, Sherman and Scarlet.  Sherman is the zoo's third, and Scarlet is its fifth Red Panda.  The pairing is determined by the AZA and it's Species Survival Program in hopes of making a positive love connection.

The two were involved in a guest experience where members of one family were getting to feed the Red Pandas.

Scarlet enjoys a little bite while Sherman watches from a distance.

Scarlet had a much whiter face.

Where Sherman's face and forehead are oranger.

Sherman engaging in some post-excitement siesta-ing!

The middle habitat was home to the zoo's Serval, Savannah, for over 13 years.  Her passing allowed for a transition to another member of the wild feline community: a Caracal.

The final habitat is home to another relatively new species at the zoo, a pair of Binturong siblings, Zulla and Bintang who were born at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, MI back in 2022.

The far end of the zoo is a plaza with habitats all around it.  The first is a pair that are home to multiple species; never quite sure what you will find there.  At one time the smaller space on the left was home to Burrowing Owls.  

Today it was inhabited by one of the two Toco Toucans.

The second Toco was in the larger area with a couple of little tortoises.  Sometimes the Southern Pudu are out and about in this space, too.  But not today.

A Red-footed Tortoise, (one of the three species of Turtles that can be found at the Brandywine Zoo)

The little guy really had someplace to go--or he was hellbent on getting his "steps" in for the day!

The crown jewel of the zoo is its relatively new 3.5 million dollar Madagascar habitat.  It is home to three species of Lemur, Helmeted Guinea Fowl and Radiated Tortoises.

Two of the three White and Black Lemurs chilling in the muggy midday warmth.

The third member was engaged in a "high wire" act....

...that led to a high perch, and

zonking out with a little more privacy.

The four Ring-tailed Lemurs were all over one another near the large observational window like a cluster of puppies.

The eventually moved over to claim the space being used by the White and Blacks.

Another large habitat on the far end of the zoo is home to Scarlet Ibis, White-faced Whistling Ducks and the newest member of the zoo, a Giant Anteater, Lancaster--a.k.a. "Lants."

Another major change to he zoo in recent years was the removal of the zoo's popular, but aging River Otter habitat in favor of an expanded interactive goat corral.  A new Otter habitat is in the zoo's long-range master plans, but repairing the old one was simply cost prohibitive.  

These Nubian Goats are joined by some Nigerian Dwarf Goats and a pair of Angora Goats.