Zoo Review: ZooTampa at Lowry Park

It's very rare for me to a visit a zoo for the first time without already knowing a decent amount about it.  When I was a kid I had my copy of Alan Nyhuis' guidebook to American zoos.  These days, I have the internet and, with increasing frequency, the experiences of friends and colleagues who have been to or work at the zoo I'm planning on visiting.

There's never been a zoo that I've had the pre-visit introduction to, however, like ZooTampa, formerly Lowry Park Zoo.  For me, my initial visit to the famed Florida facility was colored by the book Zoo Story, Thomas French's fascinating inside-expo on all the juicy drama that was playing out behind the scenes at the Zoo during one of its most turbulent times.  The drama may have died down on the bay, but the excitement hasn't - rebounding from its seesawing highs and lows, ZooTampa has continued to expand and develop into one of Florida's best zoos.

Like Jacksonville Zoo and Zoo Miami, ZooTampa places a heavy emphasis on native Floridian wildlife.  You can see spacious enclosures for the big carnivores - Florida panthers, American black bears, a breeding pack of red wolves - as well as bald eagles, sandhill cranes, and, of course, alligators.  Here, the stars of the Zoo are the manatees; Tampa boasts an excellent manatee hospital, making the Zoo a critical resource in the efforts to rehabilitate and release these endangered aquatic mammals.  The manatees were unfortunately off-exhibit on the day when I visited as their enclosure underwent repairs.  Even drained of water, however, it was easy to see what a spectacular habitat it must be and to imagine how cool it would be to walk down the dark hallways as the gentle giants drifted alongside me.  The manatee building double-functions as an aquarium, with saltwater and freshwater displays of Florida aquatic life.  This building also serves as the focal point of the Zoo's reptile and amphibian collection.

Tigers are the star of the Asian Gardens (as readers of French's book might recall darkly).  Ironically, they might have been the animals from the section that I spent the least time looking over.  Instead, I remember the clouded leopards, the sloth bears, the Komodo dragons, and a pool of gharials.  There is also a walk-through Asian aviary, a lorikeet feeding aviary, and an Indian rhinoceros exhibit with a contact area.  There was also an exceptional collection of tropical Asian ungulates - Visayan warty pigs, babirusa, lowland anoa, and a wallow for Malayan tapirs.



Africa is well represented by a full compliment of the large mammals - giraffes, white rhinos, and, of course, the famous African elephants that were brought over from Swaziland as part of a rescue operation.   Visitors are given the chance to enter one of the crates that was used to transport the elephants.  Also on the loop are meerkats, Aldabra tortoises, okapi, and African wild dogs.  Of special interest to me was the exhibit of rarely-displayed shoebills, African stork-like birds renown for their grotesque, mottled beaks.  It may have been the shoebills that I was most keen to see, but if animal in the Zoo stole my heart, it was the baby pygmy hippopotamus that I saw frolicing in the water by her mother's side.

A small collection of Australian wildlife can be seen in the children's zoo, including wallabies, flying foxes, and koalas.  The center of the Zoo is dominated by a series of island habitats for primates.  Orangutans, chimpanzees, siamangs, while lemurs, tamarins, and other small primates occupy side enclosures.  Right inside the entrance of the Zoo is a walk-through aviary, where a host of bird species from around the world fly over the heads of visitors.  Included in their ranks are Raggiana birds of paradise, scarlet ibises, and spotted whistling ducks, with great hornbills and other species occupying side aviaries.  Sloths and more flying foxes can also be encountered here.

I enjoyed ZooTampa very much.  The landscaping was lush and green, taking advantage of Tampa's subtropical climate.  There were elements of the Zoo that I found a little too amusement-parkish.  The renovations to the Florida area that were underway while I was there are slated to include a log flume ride.  I'm aware that some zoo professionals dislike inclusions of these types of attractions into zoos, feeling that they cheapen the experience and the animals.  Considering that ZooTampa had it's origins as a children's theme park, it's actually a little appropriate.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park