Imagine going to the zoo on March 29 anywhere in the U.S. other than Florida and being able to wear just shirtsleeves - no jacket or sweater. It was a beautiful day (not unlike most days here). Just perfect for walking around looking at all the things offered at the zoo. While we were there the zoo had 2 temporary visitors. They were young white tigers. But since the day was warm they only slept. But they were beautiful nonetheless. The other animals that were just there, but not doing anything, were the bear, panther, bison and the deer. Don't get me wrong, they are incredible to see but I would have preferred to see them moving around. So, hint #l - try to go on a cool day. Also, since I moved here at the end of September I had yet to see an alligator. I got to see about a dozen of them at the Zoo. Just seeing them at that close of a distance reminds me that they are not something you want to reckon with any closer than that! The Manatee and Aquatic Center was pretty good although the environment for the Manatee, in my opinion, was not as good as it is at Homosassa Springs . It's good to see the Manatees being taken care of and healed from their numerous injuries, caused mostly by man, but they don't have the space to swim or move around in like the manatees at Homosassas. The best part of the Aquatic Center was watching the 2 otters. They have such a good time! They don't seem to rest very often - they just keep going and going. They were a show of their own - even making us laugh. The Primates were fun to watch, too. Hint #2 - try to catch the animals at feeding times. The primates are another animal who can have a good time with each other and whatever few things there are to play with. We stayed in the Primate Area a pretty long time. They have one breed that you could hold in your hand all the way to chimps, tamarins, woolly monkeys to orangutans. The Asian Domain was a pretty steady walk through. Nothing was doing anything. The Sumatran tiger was pacing back and forth and the woolly bear was interesting to see, too but nothing held out attention long enough to want to linger. The Children's Village was not all I thought it would be. The only animals that were there to pet were goats. There were 2 llamas in a pen adjacent to the petting area but they wouldn't let anyone pat them. Just a bad llama day. The absolute best part of the zoo, in our opinion, was the Aviary. Make sure you make the time to spend in there because you do have to be patient and wait for some of the birds to move so you can see them but trust me, it's worth your time. We went through twice because as we were leaving we looked back and there were more things we missed. There are stands with bird info on them that you must take the time to look at so you know what to look for while you're there. We missed one and as we were leaving we saw a bird in front of us walking on the walk. We thought he had been shot or wounded in some way but guess what! He was a bleeding heart pigeon. We felt a little silly on that one.
All in all not a bad place but better for children because they also have a children's play area next to the zoo.
Let's Go To the Lowry Zoo
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