Akron Zoo Review

 
I visited the Akron Zoo for the first time this past Saturday. While it may not be the biggest zoo in the world (quite small actually) it does have some first rate exhibits and animals. Actually, there were a few exhibits that I felt were the closest I had ever gotten to those animals before including, the tortoise, flamingos, and the barking deer.You could literally reach out and touch the animals if you wanted to (against the rules and not recommended) they were that close! Other highlights include:

The temperature was a perfect seventy degrees on our visit Saturday and the threat of thunderstorms keep the crowds away, which is good because the zoo was not built for crowd capacity.

I think this was the only zoo I've been to that doesn't feature and of your typical large mammals, such as elephant, zebras, rhinos, giraffes, bison, etc. I didn't realize this though until we had finished walking around. The zoo more than makes up for it with several interesting and unique species such as the sloth bears.

The Jaguars were very active and exciting to watch as well as the snow leopard.

One of the better Red Panda exhibits I've seen in terms of actually being able to see them!

Cute cabybara babies!!

The Akron Zoo has the most interesting predator/prey relationship setup I have seen at a zoo. There seemed to be quite a few exhibits were a predator could see directly into a neighboring prey's enclosure. Most notable of these were the snow leopard/Himalayan tahr and the Jaguars/Capybaras.

My only real complaint about the zoo was that a few seasonal exhibits were still closed but the admission price was increased from the winter to the summer rate, so that was a little disappointing but if the extra cash helps them bring in more animals and build more exhibits then I am all for it.

The Akron Zoo is a great way to spend a few hours and see some incredible animals! Stay tuned for the full set of pictures!