The St. Louis Zoo is the zoo nearest to where I live. I have gone there many times so it seems fitting it would be the first zoo I write about.

There are two entrances, a North Entrance and South Entrance. The North Entrance I feel is a bit more mobility friendly (see Visiting the St. Louis Zoo), but I usually go to the South Entrance. As I head to the entrance I am greeted by some wonderful bronze sculptures.

It is like the zoo asking, “Are you ready?” By the time I enter the zoo I am already excited about being there.

River’s Edge

I usually go to the west (left from the South Entrance) and enter the River’s Edge area. As I walk I imagine I am entering the jungles of the world. There are waterfalls as you enter River’s Edge. A little further, I look down and see animal tracks. A nice addition to the experience the zoo has added. The first area is South America, for which they have:

The Andean bear is the only bear in South America, and sometimes referred to as the spectacle bear. In the their natural habitat they live in the cooler Andean mountains, so I imagine the hot Missouri summers must be un”bear”able for it😃 but likely loves cold winter days. The capybara, the largest rodent in the world, seems quite content with Missouri summer weather. The zoo also has a giant anteater that doesn’t come out as much as it use to.

I then head into the African section, where the number of species is much greater:

I really like rhinoceros, especially the black rhinoceros. What a living tank. When I was growing up, the white rhinoceros (none at the St. Louis Zoo) was highly endangered, but now the black rhinoceros (the species at the St. Louis Zoo) is in real trouble in the wild. I have been lucky living so close to the St. Louis Zoo, I got to see Moyo a rhinoceros born in 2017 grow up from a small bundle of trouble to nearly an adult. Alright Moyo! Lets keep the population going!!!

Right after the rhinos, we see our first carnivore of Africa, the African wild dogs, sometimes called the African painted dog. What a wonderful display. These wild dogs are amazing, they are one of the most successful hunters in Africa. They are also one of the few species that take care of their family both young and old. If one painted dog gets hurt in the wild, the others will bring it food as it heals. This is very unusual for wild animals.

Between the wild dogs and the hippos are the red river hog and a bird cage. In the bird cage is a Palawan peacock pheasant and an African red-billed hornbill. This is the kind of hornbill that Zazu is in the movie the Lion King.

This is followed by another tank, though an underwater tank, the common hippopotamus. The underwater display at the St. Louis Zoo was the first underwater hippo display I’d seen. It really gives you an idea of how large a hippo can get. When visiting, be patient with other zoo goers, everyone wants to get close to the hippo. I learned from a zookeeper, that they had Fiona’s mom for awhile. Fiona is the hippo that was a national media event at the Cincinnati Zoo. Her fame was due to being born early and the heroic efforts by the zoo staff to keep her alive. If you ever get to Cincinnati go say hi to Fiona!

On to the spotted hyena. Watching TV documentaries where they seem small compared to lions, seeing the hyenas up close, I realize these are large carnivores. I have no problem imagining them taking down a zebra. Shutter! One of the things I have found very interesting about hyenas is that though they look “dog like” they are more closely related to cats. Go figure🤔.

The last animal before the Asia area, is the cheetah. This has been one of my favorite animals for years and years. Why? Because they are so darn fast, of course! It is fun to read about cheetahs and watch documentaries on them. They are definitely a cat but a lot of their build is more like a dog. Back in 2017, the St. Louis Zoos female cheetah Mingwa gave birth to 8, yes 8 cubs (I don’t know why big cat babies are called cubs and not kittens🤔). Like many animals in Africa, the cheetahs population is in trouble in the wild so the more cubs the better. Once again it was fun to return and watch them grow up.

The Asian area only has two species, the sun bear and the Asian elephant. The sun bear is often hiding in its exhibit so I don’t have any photos. However, the elephants are kind of hard to miss.

These animals are incredibly fun to watch. Often they seem to be just standing, but they are almost always moving. Their trunk seems to always be doing something, from grabbing some straw, picking up treats, or just moving back and forth. Their ears are also moving almost all the time. Above you can see two different Asian elephants, which looks taller? The largest elephant they have is the bull elephant Raja. Nearly every-time I am near the elephants there is a large group of people. People like elephants. How about you?

As I exit the Asian area I pop into the Missouri “cave”. On a hot/warm summer or spring day, going into the Missouri cave area is always a good way to cool off. I wish they’d put a bench in. The display has several kinds of fishes that are found in various places in Missouri.

Insectarium

After leaving River’s Edge, I never know which way to go. There is so much to see, so I go on to the Insectarium. I admit I do not have a great fascination with insects or spiders. I went through and had difficulty getting photos, but here is what I have.

In my previous job, I had the honor of working with a zoo scientist on the endangered American burying beetle. This is another example of the St. Louis Zoo working for conservation of rare and endangered species.

I am a little embarrassed to say, I have been to the Discovery Corner only twice, once when my grandson visited. The St. Louis Zoo had a dinosaur exhibit in this area the last time I visited the zoo.

At this point, I go by the North Entrance. It has a nice place to eat and during the summer various artists (like face painting) out front. But, me I’m off to see the bears and penguins.

The Wild

First up is the grizzly bears:

The St. Louis Zoo has two grizzly bears. Something interesting is that the grizzly bear is just one type of brown bear. Brown bears live in North America, Europe, and Asia. There was even a brown bear in North African called the Atlas bear. There are several kinds of brown bears, such as the grizzly bear, the Eurasian brown bear, the Himalayan brown bear and the largest of them all the Kodiak brown bear. When near the grizzly bear exhibit, add another foot or two to the shoulder of the grizzly bear and that’s how big a Kodiak brown bear is!!

Now off to the “penguin” exhibit. At this exhibit they have more than penguins in the building, however all these birds eat fish so hold on to your nose👃!!

First, outside, are some warm weather Humboldt penguins, that are not bothered by our hot Missouri summers because in the wild they live in a warmer climate than most penguins. I love watching the Humboldt penguins, swimming, playing, and even sometimes bickering. It is especially fun to watch them when they are being fed.

Once inside, there is the main penguin exhibit. These are the king, Gentoo and rock-hopper penguins. The king penguin looks a lot like the emperor penguin from the movie Happy Feet. However, the king penguin is a bit smaller and doesn’t stay in Antarctica all winter like the emperor penguins do. The rock-hopper penguins have tufts of feathers on the back of their head. Finally, the Gentoo penguins have a white stripe on the back of their head. If you wait long enough, all the different penguin species will take a dip in the water, so you can see them swim.

The next place in the penguin house holds a special place in my heart. The birds in here are from the Pacific Northwest where I lived for over 20 years before moving to Missouri.

In the North Pacific there are two kinds of puffins: horned and tufted puffins. Both my wife and mother love puffins💓!! These birds can fly, unlike penguins, but are just as at home swimming underwater. The underwater displays at the St. Louis Zoo for both the penguins and the puffins are wonderful. Enjoy the birds, swimming around and playing. Something interesting about puffins is that their bill changes from winter to summer, the brighter bill is in summer (I’ve included some winter photos).

The last of the cooler exhibits is the polar bear. Like the hippo there is underwater viewing, however the polar bear doesn’t spend as much time in the water as the hippos. If the polar bear is near the glass, you can see how big he is (larger than the grizzly bear).

At this point we cross the railroad tracks again, and pass by the St. Louis Zoos carousel. It has several non-horse animals to ride. I enjoy the carousel, even though I am not a kid any more.

Primates in general and apes specifically are very popular. There are usually people lingering at the different ape exhibits. The St. Louis Zoo has outside exhibits for warmer days, spring and summer:

They also have inside viewing of the apes during the cooler days, fall and winter:

All the great apes seem almost human, which is why we probably enjoy watching them. The big male gorilla looks like he has the right idea by laying back in his indoor hammock on a cold December day. My favorite ape at the St. Louis Zoo is the orangutan. Do you have a favorite?

After the apes, there are couple of smaller exhibits: the red panda and prairie dog, specifically black-tailed prairie dogs.

The red panda is often outside, in all kinds of weather, however it is often hard to see (which is why I don’t have photos) because it sleeps on its upper platform. They are very colorful animals. The red panda is not closely related to the giant panda but closer related to the weasels or skunks🤔.

The prairie dogs are active almost all the time, except on the colder days. They are usually scurrying around, on the ground or on the rock wall that almost looks like the inside of the tunnels they build. I have seen wild prairie dogs, and I’ve wondered how the zoo keeps them from burrowing out of their enclosure. Maybe cement underneath🤔? This is one of the most open areas, but remember don’t feed or try to pet the prairie dogs.

The prairie dog exhibit is the last of the exhibit in the The Wild area.

Then we have the seal and sea lion tank. The zoo has some California sea lions and a couple of harbor seals. The California sea lions are the species famous for balancing balls and doing other tricks. The harbor seal is smaller and usually only has it’s head above the water. You can see all of them in the underwater viewing tunnel. I almost feel like I’m swimming with them when I’m in the tunnel. It is another place to cool off in summer and warm up in winter.

A few years ago, I walked over to the zoo in December from the hotel we were staying. I was fairly cold by the time I got there, so I went to the underwater viewing area to warm up. A sea lion kept swimming over to check me out. My body and my spirit warmed up that day. Do you think she liked me?

Historic Hill

Now comes the climb up the hill. This area is known as “Historic Hill” because several of the buildings have been left unchanged for years. The buildings are quite interesting to look at.

When I’m almost to the top of the hill, I go left into the Bird House. This building houses many tropical and desert bird species. The Bird House was closed the times I went this year due to the Avian Flu going through Missouri. I have some older photos but not as good as I would have liked.

I like most of the birds but have a real fondness for the hornbills and of course the vultures. The King vulture is probably the most colorful of the vultures. As you can see in the photo, when the king vulture is young it is nearly completely black. As for the hornbills, Zazu from the movie the Lion King, (as I mentioned earlier), was an African red-billed hornbill.

The Bird House is probably the nosiest place in the zoo, makes me think I’m in a real jungle. Something I find fun in the Bird House is to listen and try to figure out which bird is making the most noise. Brothers and sisters don’t count!!

Once outside the Bird House I find my favorite two birds at the St. Louis Zoo, Boris and Natasha the cinereous vultures. I will sometimes stand and talk to Boris and Natasha. The cinereous vulture is nearly the largest of the worlds raptors (vultures, eagles, hawks, and falcons). They are larger than any other vulture or eagle in Europe, Asia, and Africa. If you wait, sometimes they spread their wings and you see a bird with a 9 foot wingspan!!!

Though Boris and Natasha stay in their cage, other birds are sometimes switched in the adjacent cages. Currently, next to Boris and Natasha, is a Bald Eagle and a Barred Owl. Both of the barred owl and bald eagle are common in Missouri. Did you know that raptor cages are called “mews”?

After the Bird House is an aviary and the Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp, with a few outside birds to view a long the way.

As with the Bird House, the aviary and Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp areas were closed due to Avian Flu. I have some older photos of the Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp area. This exhibit was built for the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Yes, this is probably older than your grandparents!!

Walking in the Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp is like walking through a wetland in south Missouri. I almost always forget the snapping turtle, is a sculpture, it looks so real. Once again, I have some older photos.

After the Cypress Swamp, I head over to the hoofed mammals. Which is in the “Red Rocks” area. Yep, the Cypress Swamp is one of the lowest areas in the zoo but is part of Historic Hill.

Red Rocks

When I was younger I thought the hoofed mammals were a bit boring, but now that I know a bit more about them they are quite interesting to me. Some hoofed animals are incredible speedsters, others live in very harsh areas, and finally others look weird.

The first area has nyala, Soemmerring’s gazelle, lesser kudu, crowned crane and saddle-billed stork, so not all animals in this area are hoofed mammals.

On the other side of this exhibit there is the Somali wild ass and the Addra gazelle. Both of these species are endangered. Addra gazelle doesn’t look like a typical gazelle to me, how about you?

After that group of animals, to the west we have African (okapi & Speke’s Gazelle), Asian (babirusa), and Australian (red kangaroo).

The okapi is one of my favorite hoofed mammals of Africa. Though they have the stripes on their legs like a zebra, they are related to the giraffe. If you look at the head, you can see it is much more giraffe like than zebra like. Also, like the giraffe they have a very long tongue, that they will sometimes stick in their ear!!

Not to be out done by the strangeness of the okapi there is the babirusa. The long snouts make them kind of strange looking but the males teeth coming through their upper jaw. That is down right weird. I have seen them eating with those teeth, called tusks, and the big teeth don’t seem to get in the way of eating. With their long legs the are sometimes called “deer-pigs”

The really open space has in it giraffes, lesser kudu, a gerenuks and an ostrich. I like it when they put several species together, that way it seems like you are actually seeing a scene from in the wild.The ostrich is the largest and tallest bird in the world and though it can’t fly it can run very fast. The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world, but also one of the heaviest. It isn’t as big as elephants, rhinos, or hippos but male Giraffes can weigh over a ton. Another thing I find really interesting about giraffes, is they have the same number of bones in their neck as we do, 7. I think their neck bones are MUCH longer than ours.

Now we move to the next group of hoofed animals. These are the Sichuan takin and the Chinese goral. Both are very sheer footed and climb all over the rocks in their enclosure.

The St. Louis Zoo had an article in their newsletter several years ago called: “Takins: the largest animal you’ve never heard of”. Takins are closely related to the musk ox of the arctic. And like the musk “ox”, they are more closely related to sheep than cattle or buffalo. The takins have a long shaggy coat so like to take a swim during the Missouri hot summers. The goral are a type of mountain goat, that lives in the high mountains of China. People sometimes think the gorals are baby takins, but now you’ll know better.

Now we come to a series of even-toed herbivores and an odd-toed herbivore. The banteng, bactrian camel, and addax are even-toed (2), while the Grevy’s zebra is odd toed (1).

Though it may not be obvious, the banteng is a large buffalo species. They are nearly the size of the American bison. The zoo usually has sarus cranes in with the banteng.

Grevy’s zebra is considered a different species than the plains zebra. Their stripes are closer together than the plains zebra. The stripes of a zebra confuse predators. If while at the zoo maybe you can guess how many zebra you see in a group, then count carefully. Did you get it right?

The bactrian camel is highly endangered in the wild. Though the domestic bactrian camel is common, they have been taken from the wild so much there are very few wild ones left. Lastly, is the addax. I was sad to learn just a few years ago, they believe there are no more addax in the wild, so zoos are the only hope to re-populate the addax in the wild!! Go St. Louis zoo!!

We now move to one of the most popular exhibits at the St. Louis Zoo, Big Cat Rock. Over the years they have had different big cats residing at this exhibit, but they have always had the big three: the lion, tiger, and jaguar.

The tiger is the largest member of the cat family, specifically the subspecies Amur (Siberian) tiger. They are beautiful cats. Then there is the African lion. With the huge mane and head, you can see why they are called the “King of the Jungle”. Want to know a lion secret? African lions don’t occur in the African jungles!! The African lion roams the grasslands and plains of Africa. The last of the big 3 is the jaguar. The St. Louis Zoo had a black jaguar for a while. Talk about a beautiful cat!! You can tell a jaguar from a leopard by the rounder head, the larger spots, and the shorter tail of the jaguar.

The zoo has other cats, though the species has changed a few times. Currently they have the very rare Amur leopard, it was hiding while I was visiting but I had an older photo. They also had an Amur leopard kitten in 2022. This is very important since Amur leopards are so rare in the wild. Another rare cat the zoo has is the snow leopard, it too was hiding, but again I have an old photo. These cats live in higher elevations than any other big cat (or smaller wild cats). They have a thick coat of fur to help them stay warm in the mountain areas. I’m guessing they don’t like Missouri summers.

Historic Hill

From Big Cat Rock we head to the primate area which is part of Historic Hill. The St. Louis Zoo recently finished building a special area for the Guereza Colobus monkey and their lemurs. On warm days it is fun to watch the Colobus monkeys and lemurs playing around in their large enclosures.

Inside the “Monkey House” the first animal I saw was a non-primate, a Hoffman’s two-toed sloth. I like sloths. Can you imagine sleeping 20 hours a day?! If the sloth is moving, you may see three toes on it’s back legs. Both three-toed and two-toed sloths have three toes on their back legs, but the two-toed sloth has only two-toes on it’s front legs. I have always thought they should be called two and three “clawed” sloths🤔. What do you think?

Next is the black and white ruffed lemur, a striking colored lemur. They are often active and I enjoy watching them climb around their enclosure. This was followed by another black and white colored lemur called the ring-tailed lemur, though it’s body is gray. I have not found these lemurs as active, but still fun to look at. Did you know all lemurs, including the sifaka, come from the island off the west coast of Africa: Madagascar. Yes just like the Dreamworks movie.

I was now wandering by the monkeys. The first was a white-faced saki, which was hard to get a photo of. But next was some Guereza colobus monkeys inside. I think these are quite pretty. That long bushy tail is used to balance them as they jump from limb to limb in trees. Next I see an Allen’s swamp monkey. I think “swamp monkey” sounds kind of funny. Last is the long leg and tailed Francois langur. All of these monkeys are called Old World Monkeys. Old World means Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most of the Old World monkeys at the St. Louis Zoo are from Africa.

The St. Louis Zoo has only one New World monkey (monkeys from South America) and that is a black-handed spider monkey. They were named spider monkeys because they have such long arms and legs. The spider monkey has a prehensile tail, which means it’s tail can act as a fifth hand while climbing. Do you wish you had a prehensile tail? Sometimes I do.

Now we move to the Herpetology Building. Herpetology is reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles) and amphibians (frogs, newts, and salamanders). I do not know much about these animals but the zoo has a good selection to view. I will mention them by group and you can see if you can find all the ones I mention.

Venomous Snakes: There are a lot of non-venomous snakes but the zoo seems to have more venomous snakes than non-venomous🤔. I think it is because people find venomous snakes more interesting.

Non-Venomous Snakes: Now the St. Louis Zoo seems to go for the big snakes. Again, I don’t know why. However, the green anaconda is probably my favorite type of snake. A big snake that really likes the water, what’s not to like?

Lizards: The zoo has lizards from all over the world and from different climates. The collard lizard occurs in MIssouri. The Scheltopusik is a type of “legless” lizard. They really are a lizard but have no legs, so really resemble a snake. In Missouri we have the western slender glass lizard, which is also legless. I have seen these lizards and they move very fast in the grass.

Turtles: This should be labeled turtles and tortoises. It is amazing all the shapes and sizes of the turtles they have. Did you know that the giant tortoises can live over 150 years. Some of the tortoises in Missouri can live to be 50 to 60 years old, so remember to ask your parents not to hit tortoises crossing the road.

Crocodiles: This should be crocodiles and alligators, because the zoo has both.

Frogs and Salamanders: The frogs are some of the most difficult animals to see in this building. Good luck!! The St. Louis Zoo has worked with the Missouri Department of Conservation to breed and release back into the wild Ozark hellbenders. These salamanders are extremely rare in the wild.

Now I make my trek back to the South Entrance, which will be the South Exit for me soon. I stop by the gift shop and pick up something small to remember my visit.

I hope you have enjoyed my/our walk through the St. Louis Zoo. This seems to be great zoo with lots of interesting animals to see.

So to all you Zoo Folk out there, this is a Zoo Guy hoping you soon get a chance to visit a zoo, maybe the St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis, Missouri. If you do get to the St. Louis Zoo please tell Boris and Natasha Ivan the Zoo Guy says “Hi!”