Another place we used to go during the week that we would always find ourselves at is at the Phoenix zoo. As I said before in one of my other posts I’m not a big fan of Zoos. I don’t like animals in captivity, I don’t like the idea of them away from their natural places, however 90% of all animals in captivity right now are the ones that were born in captivity. They would not survive in the wild at this point in time, and some are going extinct. So what’s interesting about our zoo is they have a breeding program with others zoos.
Usually it’s for animals that are like I said going extinct or animals that are in low population and not yet on the extinct list. For example, our very own Phoenix zoo has a breeding program with orangutans, Mexican gray wolves, Sumatran tigers, and hopefully down the road, white rhinos. Protecting these animals is important to me as well so if they’re going extinct out in the wild, what better way to do our part to help them grow.
Thanks to China the panda has been removed from the extinction list.
Arizona has a lot of zoos and we’ve been to about five of them. Our favorite zoo by far is the Phoenix zoo. Not only is it close by but it also has great habitats for our animals, and lots of things for kids and teens to do. Two splash pads, a playground, and also the exhibits are growing in size and changing. Like I said in another post , they have the pride campaign where they are trying to get their animals out of their 80’s cages and into an actual preserve habitats.
The next closest zoo to us is the Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium.
It’s a zoo/aquarium/ theme park rolled into one. They have rides, exhibits for lots of animals, and indoor aquarium. We went out their once. It was okay. Some of the exhibits are, in my personal opinion just giant cages of metal with lots of trees. Some are open and big like the giraffes habitat, and I love how you can feed them anytime you want and it’s not expensive. It’s just not a zoo for beauty, but a huge property filled with animals. The rides are a bonus in some ways, but it reminds me of going to the fair and not Disneyland. Just cheap imitations. .
Moving onto the southern part of AZ in Tucson. The Reid Zoo.
By far the smallest zoo in AZ, but it is by far the most beautiful. They are known for as a breeding and a nursery zoo. A family of Tigers, Lions, and elephants live here. One of my favorite exhibits has always been the elephant family. They have the biggest habitat in the property and they are a family. (Hurd) There is a Dad, Mom, 4 kids and one Aunt. The newest member of the family was born just this year on April 6th, 2020.
The new baby girl and her mother Semba are Doing fine. She had two older brothers and a Sister. However last year one of her older brothers died at the age of 11. Which I just learned about, cuz I have been so busy being a mom and last year working part time.
The newborns sister was born the year I found out I was going to have a girl during my pregnancy with Livi. It was because of her I chose elephants for Livis nursery. They are my favorite land animal.
We plan on going down to Tucson in the next month or to visit the zoo and see the new baby.
To the north of Phoenix in Prescott is the Out if Africa Zoo.
It was once located outside the city of Phoenix but moved because it was growing with more and more animals by the year. They are best known for their species. They have a lot that are going extinct out in the wild, so they have their own brewing program and are trying to bring them back from extinction. They also have a show where they bring in some of their tigers into a outdoor pool arena to show people what they are capable of in the wild. It is only once a day and they don’t really do train tricks with the animals none of their animals are trained. So they say……..
Our favorite part of the entire zoo is the safari ride where they take you out into their wild area to show off animals while you’re in a giant safari truck. And along the way you stop by the giraffes and you get to feed them from the vehicle.
North of out of Africa is Bearizona located just outside of Flagstaff.
This zoo has its own drive-through portion of it with wild bears, wolves, and Caribou. We just recently went there and had a blast even with the Covid, the walk-through portion of the zoo is also fun, but quite small. The best time of the year here that is the most fun is during Christmas time. They have a light show inside the walk-through portion, which is the only part of it opened at night. But they have a special event inside their store with Mrs. Clause reading books and a treat. Well they did , who knows that they will do this year.
So Those are our favorite zoos in AZ.
Next up on the AZ mom list post will be Indoor play places in the valley.
The TAWL Mom 