Squirrels and chipmunks are the unofficial mascots of the place.  I thought this bin-robbing squirrel was hilarious.

According to their website, the zoo has existed since 1891.  I went there as a child and as a young adult, and my kids have gone there on school field trips, but it’s been a good 30 years since I visited the place.  Some things remain the same, like the pond and park outside of the zoo with a picnic pavillion and many more picnic tables.  Other than that, the place looks different.  My DIL, who grew up in Grand Rapids and has been going regularly, said other features are the same, and I do remember them, like Monkey Island and the statue of John Ball that I remember climbing on as a kid, but the context around Monkey Island (my name for it) has changed, and they have moved the statue to inside of the zoo. 

The first thing I noticed, outside of the entrance, was a life-sized brontosaurus installation for an upcoming exhibit.  It helped me find son and family when I parked in the employee parking lot (thanks google maps!) by mistake.  Once I said where are you from the brontosaurus, we quickly met up there. (Sorry no pic of it.) We saw other dinosaurs being set up inside, including parent with nest and babies hatching from eggs.

Once inside, the first living creatures besides the chipmunks and lovely floral landscaping were a pair of black swans.

Next stop was the Pygmy Hippopotamus compound.  They have this set up well for the hippos and for the people watching them.  There’s a nice air-conditioned observation room where you can watch them eat what looked like hay and a small window to watch them walk by underwater.  Outside there are ground level observation areas as well as an elevated one.  Per DIL they keep the male and female separated from each other during the day but they share their space at night.  Another of the many things I learned from my DIL is that there is no “forced mating” or artificial insemination for any of the animals there.  They put them in the right environment to create bonding and if it happens it happens.  They are endangered; there are only 2,000 adults that currently exist in the wild.  They are adorably cute and seemed content as they moved around.

Next stop was the aquarium, which housed a group of Magellanic penquins and a couple of kelp gulls.  It was nice and cool in there.  I mentioned to son I had never seen such healthy, sleek gulls before as usually they are scruffy scavengers along Lake Michigan.   These gulls come from the southern hemisphere and are much bigger than the ones here.  The penguins come from South America are nearly a threatened species.  There are 26 adults and the zoo has a successful breeding program for them.  I didn’t take any pics of them either, sorry.

Also in the aquarium was a giant fish tank with all kinds of sea creatures including a couple of sharks, an eel, and several fish perching here and there in the rock wall.  After watching the Ohio Fish Rescue YouTube channel for some time now, with their crystal clear water for the fishes, seeing the murkiness of the zoo tank was a little concerning.  Another part in the building is a tidal pool, where the “ocean” rushes into the pool every so often.  We were lucky enough to be there when a caretaker came in to feed the fish and sea anemone.  Granddaughter got closer and I followed.  She asked if she could help feed them and he apologized and said he wasn’t allowed to let anyone else feed them.  It was neat watching the anemone pull in the food with their tentacles or whatever they are called.

Next door was the frog house.  All of the frogs were tiny, somewhere between dime- and quarter-sized.  What they lacked in size they made up for in vibrance.

emperor newt (bigger but not much)

We passed the tortoise house at some point during the afternoon.  They were all inside, under a heat lamp, which was kind of surprising, but maybe not surprising in tortoise logic.

Next we moseyed down a trail that had the cutest “mini kangaroos” aka wallabies.  They were being shepherded by a caretaker.  The only thing between them and us was a split rail fence.  The worker explained that if the wallabies feel like it they can hop over and you can pet.  They kept their distance.

Also along this path we saw a solitary cockatoo, a pair of ring-tailed lemurs, 3 black howler monkeys (one mother and two offspring.)  None of these critters looked particularly happy to be caged.  DIL said that the cockatoo gets a lot of human interaction in after-hours.  Next stop was the goats and steer corral, where you can go in and pet them.  I chose not to, but they all went in.  Some goats were in a playful mood and head-butting each other.  Sorry no pics of any of them.

Last stop was a climb up a gradual incline, into the hills of the zoo, where the red pandas live.  DIL said the mating pair currently has babies but they were shut inside (one of the two looked anxious to get in to the closed door.  Can you blame her/him?)  These critters are so much more beautiful and colorful in real life than any photo can show.  Again, no pictures.  By the time we got up there it was pouring rain!  The rain felt so good and cooling from the heat we’ve had lately.  Red pandas have been endangered since 2008 and there are thought to be only 10,000 of them left in the world.  Learn more about red pandas here.

We didn’t go see the rest of the animals because:  1) the zoo was closing; 2)the rain was pouring; 3) we’d already walked and climbed trails for 3 hours and were tired.  There is always next time.  The remaining pics were things I thought were worth taking pics of. 

tiny house that looks like it may have been shipping bin originally

first time seeing this sign on a rest room

chia giraffe

Cool eagle sculpture that may have a twin at Meijer Gardens

In conclusion, the trip to the zoo was enjoyable, especially watching granddaughter’s reaction to the critters.  I also must note that the individuals watching over the critters seem to genuinely care for them.  The wallaby watcher clearly had an affection for them.  At the goat/steer enclosure, when one of the workers walked by the goats actually called out to him, which was pretty danged neat.