Summer Vacation Redux #3: Kansas City: Kansas City Zoo

The next zoo I visited on my Total Eclipse cross-country road trip was my third stop and first in Kansas City, Missouri.  The Kansas City Zoo opened to the public in 1909.  And it has never stopped growing.  At 202 acres, it is one of the largest zoos I have ever visited.  So large that I was grateful for it's tram system that ferried me from its central hub of exhibits to its extended and mostly African habitats.  There are more animals and exhibitions here than can be fully encountered in a single day.  Ergo, as long as I was there, I had to make choices.

 One of the first animals you encounter is the Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus.  Polar Bears are not common members of most zoos, but are highly sought after.  The habitats that they live in are among the most creative and expensive exhibits.  To house a polar bear is not a pedestrian choice.  The habitat here in Kansas City is exceptionally roomy.

 The next area you visit is dedicated to Asian animals and chief among them are the Bornean Orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus.  This exhibit called the "Orangutan Canopy" is among the newest additions to the zoo and cost 6 million dollars to complete.  What is there not to love about Orangutans?  They are amazing cousins, and the Kansas City Zoo also has a newborn member of its colony, Kalijon.

 From here you have access to an Australian area and aviary.  Animals like this beautiful Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae.

 And this Pied Imperial Pigeon, Ducula bicolor.

One of the zoo's signature complexes is the Helzberg Penguin Plaza.  While it only opened in 2013, it feels much older.  Currently, additional construction is adding a Shark feature to the back side of it, and besides penguins, there are tanks of various tropical fish like a mini-aquarium.  The available space for the birds seems limited to the point of inadequate.  From what I could tell members of three species shared a single area all interior and devoid of natural light.  A fourth species, the Humboldt Penguin, resides in a separate habitat with both interior and exterior spaces.  When it comes to penguins, it's so hard not to compare everything to the expansive exhibit at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.  Of all the things I saw at this amazing zoo, this was the most disappointing.

 Here you have a trio of King Penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, with a little Gentoo Penguin,  Pygoscelis papua, peering around from behind on the right.  At least the snow was real.

 The Humboldt Penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, portion of the exhibit.

Because the zoo is so large, I took the tram from the older section of the park out to an area designated the East African Village.  Off the tram and over the bridge across a large lagoon to begin a tour of an extended African animal area that proved another treasure trove of species.  The first was the Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious.

 They have a breeding pair of Slender-snouted Crocodiles, Mecistops cataphractus, which are Critically Endangered in the wilds of West Africa.

 Nearby a group of Yellow-billed Stork, Mycteria ibis, were foraging for lunch.

 There are also areas that are more like a Safari Park like this one with Ostrich, Giraffe and these wonderful Zebra hanging out together.  Compare them to the Grevy's Zebra from Chicago--these are Grant's Zebra, Equus quagga boehmi.  Their strips are wider and fewer, than the Grevy's subspecies and they are in stature the most diminutive of the six subspecies of Zebra.  And they are the least common of the four species in North American Zoos.

 Great day to role in the dirt--what day isn't?

 The Kansas City Zoo is also home to this magnificent Eastern Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis michaeli.

 Can you see the differences between this photo and the first one above?

 Another stellar aspect of this zoo is its Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, habitat.  One of the largest in North America, it covers a good 3 acres and gives their Chimps a true range in which to explore and create a functional colony.

 This little one won the hearts of everyone viewing the chimps, and she also enjoyed engaging the other members of the group in playful games.

 A Bat-eared Fox, Otocyon megalotis, reasting in the midday sun.

 In another open area where herds of Common Eland, these Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah, (extinct in the wild since 2000), and...

 these critically endangered Addax, Addax nasomaculatus.

 A group of ancient Giant Aldabra Tortoise, Aldabrachelys gigantea was nearby, and I got this beauty in a close-up.

 A pair of young Saddle-billed Storks, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, preening and poking around their habitat.

 The Kansas City Zoo is also the home to a troop of Western Lowland Gorillas, Gorilla gorilla gorilla.  They have an expansive multi-acre habitat that they make good use of.  It's also one of the largest natural habitat for Western Lowland Gorilla in North America.

 The little guy is Masika, who was the first Lowland Gorilla birth at the zoo in 40 years when he was born in May of 2015.

 Two of the half dozen Red River Hogs, Potamochoerus porcus, native to west Africa.

 Most zoos where I have encountered Common Warthogs, Phacochoerus africanus, keep a single animal.  They are solo players in the wild for the most part.  So I found it somewhat delightful to come across these two resting in the mud together.

We leave our visit with a parting photo of one of the many ubiquitous animal sculptures that seem inevitably part of any zoo these days.  For happy grizzly bears, I'd say.