Continuing the tour of Clyde Peeling's Reptiland...
Immediately adjacent to the main reptile room is a separate room for American alligators. A shallow pit is divided into two enclosures, one for "normal" American alligators, the second for a white alligator. It was an adequate exhibit, but probably one of the less-impressive that I've seen for the species, and not what I was expecting at a zoo that was famed for reptile exhibitry. No underwater viewing, no outdoor component, just a view over a few basking gators. Apart from a very young saltwater crocodile that was on display in the main reptile room, these were the only crocodilians that I saw at Reptiland.
Outside, the grounds are dotted with a few outdoor turtle and tortoise enclosures, including an attractive little pond and yard for native North American turtles. There was also a budgie feeding aviary. Located next to the reptile building is the Island Giants building, which opened in 2013. An outdoor yard houses Aldabra tortoises, but the star is the Komodo dragon habitat, a long curved diorama that wraps around the visitor lobby. The exhibit features live plants, basking rocks, a shallow pool, and, just for kicks, the fake skeleton of a water buffalo. The educational materials were excellent, and mounted video monitors provided great footage of behaviors that visitors might not otherwise see or appreciate about the world's largest lizards. It was one of the best indoor Komodo habitats I've ever seen.
If I had one gripe about the building, it's that it would have been nice to have an outdoor exhibit space as well. I understand that Reptiland is in central Pennsylvania and that the outdoor season for reptiles is fairly short, but I really do feel that they would benefit from the outdoor time with natural sign. If I had a second gripe, it's that the building was too limited. There are plenty of awesome, unique island herps, and well Komodos and Aldabras are the true giants, there are others that are "giants" for their families (Solomon Island skinks, New Caledonian giant geckos, Haitian giant galliwasps) that would have been great to see included). An outdoor habitat of Cuban iguana is nearby.
Most of the rest of the grounds are taken up by a garden of animatronic dinosaurs. These are a big hit with the kids, but I question the accuracy of some of them - the Dilophosaurus statue spits "venom" (water) a la Jurassic Park, which there's no evidence that the real animal ever did. Other features of the section include a dig site where kids can romp in the sand searching for bones, a table staffed by an actual visiting paleontologist who discusses his work (and leads scheduled guided tours), and a paddock of emus.
Reptiland features educational talks throughout the day, both at the alligator exhibit and in a lecture hall. I attended a talk in the later, a mix of live animals, multimedia, and biofacts, and am sorry to say it was the most disappointing zoo education talk I ever attended. The educator really just didn't seem to grasp how young most of her audience was and a lot of the talk went clearly over their heads. Most of them seemed to be be there just for the baby alligator, which made an appearance at the end.
So, Reptiland didn't live up to the admittedly high expectations I had of it. I feel like this is mostly because I'm an enthusiast in the field and was hoping for lot of species that I'd never seen before in striking, unique habitats, and I just didn't get that. So don't get me wrong, if you're taking the kids on a trip through central Pennsylvania and are looking for something to do on the road, by all means, stop in. They (and you) will probably have a great time. I think I might just keep my eyes open for the next time a Peeling Productions traveling exhibit comes to a town near me.
No comments:
Post a Comment