EPISODE 137
It feels so good to be back home! Not just because we’re looking at such a great zoo, but… I know everything there is to know about the Cincinnati Zoo. Manatee Springs opened in 1999, the same year as Columbus’s manatee facility but the biggest difference between the two is Cincinnati’s is much, much more than manatees. Despite the exhibit’s name this was designed as a celebration of Florida’s overall rich biodiversity. There’s two giant kinds of crocodilians, a snapping turtle, a lizard that can run on water, and many other animal oddities. This episode shines light on what it takes to rescue, rehabilitate, and release a manatee; the forgotten crocodilian of America; why invasive species are bad for ecosystems; and why on Earth there’s a giant Asian snake displayed in an exhibit dedicated to Florida.
Species List
Greenhouse
1. Free-roaming – Grey Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, Red-winged Blackbird, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak2. American Alligator3. American Crocodile
Main Building
4. Alligator Snapping Turtle, Bluegill, Black Crappie
5. Green
6. Eastern Indigo Snake
7. Florida Manatee, Alligator Gar, Florida Gar, Longnose Gar
8. Common Cooter Turtle, Azureus Cichlid, Florida Gar, Longnose Gar
9. Apalachicola Kingsnake
10. Greater Siren
11. Two-toed Amphiuma
12. Grey Ratsnake
13. Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
14. American Flagfish
15. Loggerhead Musk Turtle
16. Burmese Python
Original 1999 Species List (not in order)Southern Copperhead
Florida Water Moccasin
American Alligator
Yellow Bullhead
Spitting Devil
Green Anole
Florida Softshell Turtle
Oak Toad
Southern Toad
Florida Snapping Turtle
American Crocodile
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Predaceous Diving Beetle
Eastern Indigo Snake
Chain Pickerel
Eastern Mosquitofish
Gopher Tortoise
Zebra Longwing Butterfly
Water Scavenger Beetle
Barking Tree Frog
Channel Catfish
Scarlet Kingsnake
potted Gar
Longnose Gar
Florida Gar
Alligator Gar
Redbreast Sunfish
Bluegill
Red-ear Sunfish
Painted River Prawn
Alligator Snapping Turale
Largemouth Bass
Eastern Coral Snake
Golden Shiner
Florida Apple Snail
Black Crappie
Suwannee River Cooter
Florida Cooter
Peninsular Cooter
Redbelly Turtle
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper
Lesser Siren
Florida Manatee
Sign up for Sleep With the Manatees Program: https://cincinnatizoo.org/education/groups-2/after-hours-programs/
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I have more to say!
The lengthy episodes will be a new standard but there will be times that it will now take longer to complete an episode. The next episode will most likely be longer than this, so to give myself a break, I will be taking an extra week off. However, I will post two simple walk-through videos over the weekends.
Bonus Facts
1. Just about every fact came from: https://zoolex.org/gallery/show/156/
2. Map of Manatee Springs: https://zoolex.org/media/CACHE/images/exhibit/156/pics/1c79d97208d8068d8814d8ea6fbeca34.jpg
3. Sign up for Sleep With the Manatees: https://cincinnatizoo.org/education/groups-2/after-hours-programs/
4. Roughly a decade ago, the manatee viewing audio projected a very loud groan with an underwater "bubbles" effect. I assume this was supposed to be a manatee, however, they only communicate in whistles and clicks.
5. If you see scratches on the alligator glass, about 10 years ago Lucy tried to attack me when I was planting ferns in front of her viewing. I also planted some of the brush in the invaders tank.
6. Back in the day, if you leaned over the barrier guarding the manatee skeleton, an automated voice would tell you to back away.
7. Even though the AZA doesn't list it on its website, Manatee Springs was awarded for significant achievement in exhibit design in 2000 – losing to Bronx's Congo Gorilla Forest for the top prize.
8. Where the rattlesnake sign sits on the wall, right in front of it, used to be an animatronic rattlesnake that could actually shake its rattle. I thought I was thinking up a false memory, but the Manatee Springs map confirms it did exist. I believe Cleveland had something like this in their Wolf Wilderness cabin.
9. The unnamed turtles that used to live in the pond were Western Pond Turtle, Barbour's Map Turtle, Florida Cooter, Florida Red-bellied Turtle, Red-eared Slider, Mississippi Map Turtle.
10. For a little while, Land Hermit Crabs were exhibited next to the snapping turtle. A Florida and Alligator snapping turtle was once exhibited at the same time.
11. The Amphiuma tank was originally saltwater and contained tropical fish.
12. The mentioned but unidentified greenhouse animals were House Geckoes, Green Anoles, Green Tree Frogs, Indigo Bunting, and Baltimore Oriole. In my hundreds of walk throughs, I only ever saw the tail of the Oriole once from a far distance.
13. As seen in the link, the skeleton was accompanied by interactive computer games: https://zoolex.org/media/CACHE/images/exhibit/156/10/4c96a7cd466b6615e37fd5de1fa6618d.jpg
14. Despite my efforts, I can not find a single image of the old aquarium.
15. The manatee rescue and rehab steps are: Rescue, Rehabilitation, Long-term Care, Health Assessment, Pre-release Conditioning, Release, Monitoring
16. The white lion habitat was originally to be converted into a primate island as per the Elephant Trek plans. Now, it will just be part of a pathway to the new Elephant House.
Whatever happened to their reptile house?
The Museum of Living Art in the Fort Worth Zoo needs to be covered on this channel at some point.
philidephia zoo Reptile and Amphibian House
I love Manatee Springs, Ive been to manatee sleepover when I was little. I also remember I was little that when you see the Manatees the room use to have manatee sounds playing on some speakers, it felt surreal being there. Thanks for making video on this exhibit and including White Lions exhibit, whatever happens to that exhibit – Cincy will always remember them!
Hey, I just wanted to say that I feel like one exhibit that definitely needs to be featured on the channel is the California Trail at the Oakland Zoo
Here’s some exhibits I would love to be featured on Zoo Tours:
– Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest, African Savannah, Tropical Rainforest, and Tropical Asia
– Sedgwick County Zoo’s Africa
– Cincinnati Zoo’s Jungle Trails
– Lincoln Park Zoo’s Arctic Tundra and Center For African Apes
– Point Defiance Zoo’s Asian Forest Sanctuary and Pacific Seas Aquarium
– Denver Zoo’s Toyota Elephant Passage
– Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest
One exhibit that i feel for sure that needs to be featured on zoo tours is the big cat falls at the Philadelphia zoo and the reason is because they have a building that’s a theater and a building about big cat conservation and they also have this thing called zoo 360 where the big cats like tigers, jaguars and leopards can walk over you.
some exhibits I'd like featured are the Pantanal and Galapagos Islands at Houston Zoo and the Hunters of Africa and Predators of Asia opening this summer at Fort Worth Zoo
Toyota Elephant Passage at the Denver Zoo, please! 🐘
Akron Zoo, Curious Creatures or Komodo Kingdom
Can you do Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. BTW huge fan of your videos.
African Grasslands at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo/Aquarium
Can you do the polar exhibit at San Diego or continue lost forrest
Rivers to the sea at the national Mississippi River museum and aquarium in Dubuque Iowa
I think you should cover the Tulsa Zoo's Wildlife Trek, or even better, cover the OKC zoos Sanctuary Asia or upcoming Expedition Africa!
I know you find most Africa sections boring, but I would love for you to eventually do a video on the Virginia Zoo's Okavango Delta.
I know it’s a bit far off, but something tells me that you’re going to want to do a video of Elephant Trek when it opens tentatively next summer.
An exhibit I really want to see is the Asian Highlands in Omaha. I also want to see more from Animal Kingdom
Amazon and Beyond at Zoo Miami 🐆
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's "Rocky Mountain Wild" and Denver Zoo's "Tropical Discovery"
Its wierd seeing your back yard as a zoo exhibit lol
Houston zoo Galapagos
Do you ever plan on doing an episode about wild Africa at binder park zoo?
A note on the Burms: the reason there is a large population is actually from a breeding facility getting destroyed in a storm!
I would love to see you feature Wild Africa at the Binder Park Zoo.
California Trail: Oakland Zoo
Nice video and exhibit. To answer this week's trivia I will say Dallas World Aquarium. 🙂👍
Two exhibits from my hometown that should be featured: Elephant Lands and Predators of the Serengeti, both at the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, OR.
Dallas Zoo's Giant of the Savanna.
I don't expect it any time soon but Gondwanaland at Leipzig would be amazing to be cover
You should go to the uk and Tour some uk zoos
Wings of Asia, Miami zoo
One exhibit that I think should be featured on the channel is Jungle Trails at Cincinnati
I love this tour video, Zach!
Btw, here’s some of my zoo and aquarium tour recommendations for you to visit:
Bronx Zoo’s JungleWorld (1985)
Ocean Wonders: Sharks! At the New York Aquarium (2018)
Adventure Aquarium’s Ocean Realm and Hippo Haven (2005)
San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Walkabout Australia (2019)
Brookfield Zoo’s Habitat Africa! (Both Savanna and Forest)
And last but not least,
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Open Sea.
🐊🐢🦎🐸🐍🐟🦭
Well, Toledo has a new bear exhibit… and you can always show us anything historic about WPA zoo buildings like toledo zoo has … zoo history is great Toledo had pink river dolphins @ one point … and once had a zebra that pulled a cart.
The Manatees are so cute! Amazing Video!
Did the Toledos zoo white lions die?
you NEED to visit the reptile house at Riverbanks zoo in Columbia, SC. They just renovated it and it's AWESOME!
Did you ever going to zoo in netherlands are good
i would love to see you visit Zoo Basel. It is very pretty !!!!
come back to pittsburgh zoo and review the islands exhibit!
Super good, and I like animals.
Great episode and probably one of the most unique additions to the Cincinnati Zoo
I’m terms of what I would like to see on Zoo Tour's probably Kilimanjaro Safari due to it being in my opinion the best African safari in the U.S.