Zoo Review: Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo, Part I

There was a time when I was fairly strict about a rule of only visiting (or at least only patronizing) AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums.  I've since relaxed that rule considerably.  Part of the reason came down to my exposure to some really impressive non-AZA facilities, as well as some facilities which I'd visited and enjoyed in the past which, willingly or otherwise, parted ways with AZA.  But I'll admit that there's a selfish reason as well.  AZA's commitment to the Species Survival Programs and the sustainability of its animal collections means that many zoo collections are becoming a bit... homogenous.  You can, however, see some fairly unique animals outside of AZA.  I won't compromise too much by visiting a place that I've reason to suspect is irredeemably bad, but curiosity will lead me to zoos I'd ignored in the past.

Consider the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo, located in Thurmont, Maryland.  It's about an hour from DC and Baltimore, nestled in the forested hills near Gettysburg, PA (though the presidential retreat at Camp David might be the nearest landmark you may be familiar with).  The site has housed animal attractions for 90 years, first opening as Jungleland Snake Farm, featuring alligator wrestling, venomous snake milking demonstrations, and other feats of daring-do.  In the 1960's Jungleland was sold to Rick Hahn, who's family continues to operate the zoo.  The renamed Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo differs from many non-AZA zoos in its unique collection of specimens; whereas many such facilities feature the same handful of exotics - ring-tailed lemurs, servals, red kangaroo, etc - here, the zoo connoisseur can come across some pretty surprising animals (in enclosures of highly variable quality).

As befits a facility that started off a a snake farm, Catoctin boasts of a very impressive venomous snake collection, concentrated in a reptile house immediately inside the entrance gate, called Hot Stuff.  Visitors may encounter some of the standard venomous snakes commonly kept in zoos, such as king cobras and western diamondback rattlesnakes, as well as several uncommon ones, some of which, such as the Komodo island viper, I'd never heard of before.  The reptile tanks were spacious and well-furnished, different from the cramped, relatively sterile tanks I'd seen at many roadside reptile displays, which was a pleasant surprise.  A second reptile house elsewhere in the zoo focuses on larger snakes - anacondas,  pythons, boas - as well a habitat for meerkats.

Much of the rest of the zoo is laid out in (roughly) geographic zones.  The Madagascar area was the first that I visited, and I was surprised to see a few species that I seldom see in zoos, such as Vasa parrots.  Black-and-white ruffed lemurs occupied a decent exhibit, while fossa (a species that a few years ago was very rare in AZA collections and practically nonexistent outside of them) occupied an attractive two-part habitat with indoor and outdoor viewing.  

Madagascar segued into Australia, with the obligatory kangaroo and wallaby walk-through and budgie aviary (the later shared by other birds from around the world).  Side exhibits housed cassowary and dingo, while an attractive pond was occupied by a group of black swans.  The swan pool made an idyllic place to stop and rest for a bit, consult the map, and congratulate myself for deciding to make this visit on a fall weekday when schools were in session and all was quiet.  A third reptile house nearby held a mixture of Australian and Malagasy herps in enclosures of varying size and appropriateness for the animals within (an aquatic turtle display struck me as too small and lacking in furnishings), though there were some neat touches, like the burrow built into the woma exhibit.

Nearby were exhibits for two of the species for which Catoctin is best known.  The first and, I'm sorry to say, perhaps the worst exhibit in the zoo, was for sun bears.  This species, the smallest of the world's bears, is increasingly uncommon in AZA zoos, being phased out so as to free up space for other tropical bear species.  Part of the reason that this species was selected to be phased out was that it seldom bred reliably - but that's never been a problem at Catoctin, where's they've bred well.  I suppose that means that their small and kind of dingy enclosure, fronted with heavy bars, can't be the worst possibility for them, but it certainly could have been larger with more natural touches.  

The second species - and the one that I primarily came to see - was the booted, or gray-legged, macaque.  Catoctin has the only troop of these monkeys outside of their native Indonesia.  Knowing this, I was surprised at how bad their exhibit was, at least from a viewing perspective.  I'm not sure how much of it had to do with COVID protection, but you couldn't get that close to them, and the viewing was bad.  Their winter quarters appear to be a modular trailer located a few yards from the enclosure and linked by an elevated tunnel, and it was in that tunnel that the bulk of the troop seemed to be hanging out.  I couldn't get the best view of them, nor was I in much of a position to appreciate their enclosure.  Species that tend to be limited to one facility in this country tend not to be here forever, so I took the opportunity to spend a lot of time observing the macaques (which were very active, with several youngsters in evidence), as I was unsure when or if I'd see them again.

Other species scattered around this part of the zoo included olive baboons (in an enclosure similar to the macaques), two-toed sloths (exhibited alongside rarely-seen night monkeys), Asian small-clawed otters, and a tangle of trees linked with ropes that housed a mixed group of macaws (while it makes for pretty pictures, I've become increasingly opposed to having flight-restricted macaws perched on display, believing that they should be housed in aviaries where they can fly).

Tomorrow, the tour of the zoo continues...

Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo