Cincinnati Zoo

When I was a little girl, the Cincinnati Zoo was a place we would go to once in awhile. More because my parents could not afford to take us on a regular basis. We would go for a couple of hours. Look at some of the animals and then leave. There are some things that are still there from when I was little. The Elephant House, The Reptile House, The Bear Exhibits and The Bird House. But things have changed a lot over the years. The Elephant House used to house the Elephants and the Rhinos, the Giraffes. But that has changed. The Giraffes have their own place now and share their space with a bird.



The Elephants were kept so that you could feed them some peanuts that you bought in the zoo. Now you cannot feed any of the animals, except the Lorikeets. But that is to keep them healthy and alive longer.

They have the enclosures fixed in such a way that you have this bull, separated from the females and the females on the other side.

The rhinos are all over the zoo. They have special enclosures and are well cared for, but they also travel to other zoos in hopes of propagating the species.

The Gorillas, have their own enclosure. You cannot see them in the winter or inclement weather(when I was a kid they were kept in the monkey house, which has been replaced and is now being used as a movie theatre and a gift shop).  Right now, there is a baby gorilla, Gladys, being fostered at the zoo. Her mother refused to care for her and she was brought here. She is doing well and has a foster mom and sister. They are taking good care of her. But she cannot be out at the same time as the other gorillas. She is being slowly brought into the group.

There are two places to find the Flamingos. One on the way to the cheetah enclosure(s) and one near one of the rhino and zebra enclosures.

When I was a kid, there were not any statuary at the zoo. Now there are all kinds, to commemorate all the different species. The kids climb on them and get their pictures taken with them.

But, you must be careful, as they can be hot after being in the sun!

The zoo, used to keep most of the "wild cats" together, but now they are all over the zoo, also. The Cheetah has her (there are two, one with babies) enclosure at the back. This area, is where they exercise the cheetahs and they work with them on their training (for shows). It also, used to be parking. So did the enclosure for the giraffes.

Cincinnati Zoo is a land locked zoo. They have no room for growth, so they bought properties around them and tore down the buildings and made parking areas. Then they took the parking areas and used them to grow.

They have a lion now, but it was not out when I was there. I guess when I take girls we will continue to see if he is out.

They still have the pond in the center of the top area of the zoo. With their fountain and the swans.

They also have ducks and other birds in this area. It is a very pretty area and when I was a kid, you were allowed to throw in some food to feed the swans, ducks, etc. But today, you are not allowed to feed the birds.

You can find this beautiful Blue and Gold Macaw in a building that used to be used for education purposes, but has grown to hold some animals. A boa, a macaw, a three-toed sloth. It is a nice little area, but kind of off the beaten track.

This Alligator Snapping Turtle is found in a building that houses a small aquarium setting and where the zoo staff helps to rehab manatees. Beautiful creatures, that I personally love to watch, but my girls like to run around looking at the snakes, other fish and creatures.

There is another section that has some rhinos, wild horses, emus, and camels.

There is an insect house that used to be there, but has changed a lot over the years. There used to be a cat house, but that has been changed into a "Night Hunters" Exhibit or what used to be the night creatures. Their house was converted into a lizard house. They have a Komodo dragon in it, along with some other lizards.

There is a section that was added near the bear exhibit that houses some of the monkeys, etc. It is called Jungle Trails. It has some birds, but mostly monkeys (I am uncertain what the correct term would be).

Near the Night Hunter's exhibit is a cat trail, where you can see some of the big cats they have also. A Cougar, some tigers (white and orange) and 2 snow leopards (all sleeping on last visit).

There is a Children's Section where you can see baby animals that have to be cared for by zoo staff, and more tame animals, like goats, cows, sheep, etc.

There is a Bird House, but I really need to go when I am more congested. The place stinks to high heaven constantly, but has lots of birds and penguins.

There is the Bear Section. This has been there forever.

The bears have a little pool, to swim in and get a little wet should be really hot. This bear was soaking when we were there, recently.

 The polar bear exhibit was enlarged a few years ago and they have a very large pool to swim in and it takes about 3 spaces that used to be there. These bears swim and people get happy about it. The bears are left out year round and all weather.

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (yeah lots of flowers) is a really nice place to visit and it amazes me how much it changes even if the last time I visited was only a month ago.