Continuing through the John Ball Zoo, we enter the sprawling central portion of the campus, dubbed "Americas."
This area is a more generic, dated portion of the zoo, a combination of perfectly serviceable - if somewhat uninspired - yards and small aviaries, as well as a few large carnivore exhibits that are dominated with mock-rock and could probably stand to be updated. Carnivores are the most prominent taxa in this section, ranging in size from the North American river otters, which have one of the more attractive habitats in the section, complete with underwater viewing, to the massive brown bears. The bear habitat was recently renovated, but still strikes me as a bit old fashioned - the major update seems to have been the new training wall.
The felids also have representation here in three enclosures for three species - Canada lynx, puma, and, in a diversion from the American theme, snow leopard. Other habitats include a grassy yard for capybara, giant anteater, and recently-added Chacoan peccary, aviaries for bald and golden eagles (the former bred for reintroduction into the wild, I've been told), and smaller habitats for North American porcupine, toco toucan, and pale-faced sakis. The trail peters out alongside a lagoon for Chilean flamingos.
The children's zoo is centered around a section of the grounds called, Wild Way Trail, which, in addition to the classic farmyard area, also contains a few exotics. A wallaby walkthrough and habitats for howler monkeys and ring-tailed lemurs can be found here, along with a few small bird habitats. This is also the home of the zoo's animal ambassador collection. As with many zoos, John Ball has transitioned to a set-up in which the ambassador animals (or at least some of them) are on public display when not out of program. There is also a ropes course, a non-animal attraction which likewise seems to be having something of a moment among many zoos as an added incentive for visitors.
The remaining section of the zoo is the Idema Forest Realm, a fairly massive chunk of the zoo that surprisingly holds only three species. Two of the habitats - snowy owl and red panda - are fairly small, as one would expect for smaller species. The stars of this area are the occupants of Crawford Tigers of the Realm. There are two tiger habitats, one fairly small, the other fairly large, both rather natural, enhanced by the woodland setting that surrounds them. The habitats are linked by a tunnel that runs alongside the visitor path, meaning visitors might see the tigers in one habitat, the other, or in between (or, possibly, one in either habitat). Still, the area seems somewhat underutilized compared to other parts of the zoo, and I can't help but think there must be a way to do more with it without sacrificing the wooded character of this area.
John Ball Zoo was not an institution I'd paid much attention to years ago, but it definitely seems to be a zoo on the rise. Besides the recent innovations and additions, I've been hearing lots of talk about plans for further growth, including a rainforest building and an African savannah, in addition to the aquarium (which would be run by the zoo, but not on zoo grounds). I'm not sure how spatially-locked the zoo is - I know I said that the forest area felt a little underused, but not to the extent that several major exhibits could be added - so I don't know how much of this change would be driven by expansion versus the demolition and replacement of current habitats. It's certainly a facility to keep an eye on.
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