My Little Zoo a Grand Old Time

For the past couple years, one of the most anticipated events in Erie, PA – my hometown – was the opening of the new Children’s Zoo at the Erie Zoo. That section of the zoo had always been a favorite and had undergone major renovations before. When I was little, one of the focal points was Rock Candy Mountain, a mountain featuring colorful outcroppings designed to look like gumdrops. I was always a little mountain goat, going out of my way at playgrounds and during creek-walking trips to find the most complicated and dangerous way to climb up a structure or a cliff face, so I loved scrambling up the narrow staircase to the top, where I could overlook the rest of the Children’s Zoo from my high vantage point. But the Mountain did not exactly afford the safest climbing experience, and it was shut down as a hazard when I was still pretty young.

The zoo has undergone many changes since then, some of which I got to experience directly during my one-year stint as a zookeeper in the Children’s Zoo. While we went about the daily work of cleaning pens, feeding animals, brushing llamas and giving talks in the pavilion, we heard about the progress of the Kiboka Outpost, the extravagant African exhibit that was being added to the other end of the zoo. Extravagant is, of course, a relative term; a trip to the zoo in Columbus, Cincinnati, or Washington, D.C. would render anything in our zoo rather puny by comparison. That’s typical of my city, however. Our amusement park, our zoo, our much-hyped Bicentennial Tower that is dwarfed by almost every building surrounding it… We don’t do big in Erie. But we can do cozy.

As small as the Erie Zoo is, it continues expanding, both outwards and simply in terms of the quality of its exhibits. When it first opened in the 1920s, it consisted of a series of small concrete enclosures. It stayed that way for decades, and my mom recalls going to the zoo as a rather depressing experience because all the animals seemed so miserable. Conditions were so deplorable that the Erie Daily Times ran a series of articles in complaint, inspiring the community to take action. The past four decades have seen the zoo redesign all the animal enclosures for a more spacious and natural habitat and place a greater emphasis on the educational opportunities the zoo could provide to visitors. In addition to interactive displays and informative plaques near each exhibit, the zoo offers many classes and day camps, several of which I took advantage of when I was younger.

Getting into the zoo is pretty reasonable: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for children. Those prices are slightly lower during the off-season. If you live in town and plan to visit the zoo often, it’s worth it to get a zoo pass for $50-$60, depending on how many people will be using it. This pass also provides a discount at a hundred other zoos and aquariums throughout the country. The first thing you’ll see upon entering the zoo is the gift shop, complete with a wide variety of animal-related items at a reasonable price. My favorites are the plastic animals, which come in a range of sizes. I have a collection featuring every big cat available in the smallest size. As I recall they cost about $4 each. For a really cheap souvenir, you can stop just outside the gift shop and get a pressed penny. They’ve added several penny machines throughout the zoo; I haven’t even managed to collect all the different designs that have become available. Each features a different animal that lives in the zoo.

Right next to the gift shop is the train station, which usually ends up being the last stop of the day. Tickets will set you back $1 if you’re a zoo member, $2 if you aren’t. You can also indulge in a snack or two from the concession stand one window over. Your first stop will probably be the main zoo building, which is where the elephant used to be housed. Though Kya was one of the zoo’s most beloved residents, he went to another zoo when it was determined that living alone was not good for him. He had lived with his mother Shawnie for several years, but the elder elephant died several years ago. The other stars of the building are the gorillas, particularly Rudy, a grumpy-looking silver back who is the oldest male of his species in captivity. When I was little, I remember watching him watch TV. He no longer has a television in his display, though he may still have one somewhere we can’t see it. He seems to enjoy sitting up against the glass and glaring at the children who pass by while idly picking his nose, much to the children’s delight. Other residents include two different types of lemurs, both of which are equally capable of making a racket, a large display of meerkats, the entertaining little critters who became famous with the inclusion of Timon in The Lion King, and a fenced-in pool that’s home to several types of birds as well as turtles. When I worked at the zoo, one or two of the birds was often wandering around outside the fence when I came in. Another feature is the leopard exhibit, which has included cubs more often than not over the past few years.

Once you leave the main building, you can stop and take a peek in the barn. It’s not very full at the moment, inhabited only by a horse and her foal, a donkey, a miniature horse, a pig, a llama, and an exhibit full of bats. The animals in the barn get switched around rather frequently, though you can always count on a horse being there. When I was little, the bat exhibit was occupied by marmosets, adorable little primates that would fit in the palm of your hand. During high school, it was the on-again, off-again home of Zorro, the miniature zebu that I sponsored for several years.

Just up from the barn is the greenhouse, which is interesting if you like plants but pretty unpleasant during the middle of summer. To the left are the spectacle bears, so named because of the white patches on their face, but I prefer to think it’s because they like to make a spectacle of themselves. They seem to understand that they are being watched and often put on quite a show. The polar bears are also popular, though usually much more sedentary. If you’re very lucky, you might catch them swimming in their pool, in which case it is probably so hot out that you’ll be jealous of them. The zoo is currently in the process of trying to gather funding for a refurbished polar bear exhibit. Next to the bears are the lions, which rarely do anything other than sleep during zoo hours, especially in the summer. Same goes for the tigers, one white and one orange, which share an enclosure and can usually be seen sprawled out on a flower bed or in the shade of a cave.

Kiboka features two warthogs, which were initially brought in temporarily but have since become permanent fixtures. The outpost itself boasts a number of educational displays and a colorful safari guide, Dr. Max Zeller, a pseudonym for a college biology professor by the name of Dr. Masteller with a particular passion for insects and arachnids. Other animals include a pair of rhinos, a cheetah that can be observed from within the outpost or on the second floor observatory overlooking its enclosure, and a herd of zebras, as well as a variety of smaller animals.

When I was younger, the zebras were still up in this part of the zoo, as well as the bison (who now seem to be absent aside from one roaming free in Safariland, through which the train runs). It wasn’t much of a trip from the tigers to the bison, but once we reached the zebras we had a treacherously steep descent to the giraffe house. I can’t imagine this was up to ADA code; just walking down the path seemed dangerous. This pathway has since been replaced with a boardwalk, which is much more easily traversable. At the bottom of the hill are the giraffes, which are usually outside during the summer. It’s not unusual to see them sticking out their long black tongues to nab a tasty leaf or two. Their plot of land is surrounded on two sides by a large pond, which is home to several swans and a constantly variable number of ducks. I’ve never seen the swans leave the water, but the ducks venture out all the time to beg French fries off the patrons of the main concession stand across the way. I don’t believe any of these ducks are actual zoo animals. Mill Creek runs through the middle of the zoo, just under the bridge connecting this section to the Children’s Zoo, and I suspect that is where the ducks come from. Nonetheless, they are a constant presence in the pond, almost always outnumbering the swans. In the middle of the pond is Monkey Island, home to the zoo’s spider monkeys, which are conveniently afraid of water.

The Children’s Zoo is considerably different than it was when I worked there. The carousel is now nestled in an indoor pavilion just outside the entrance, and rides are $2 a person. Inside the Children’s Zoo is a configuration of buildings connected by cobblestone walkways. The old staple of the petting zoo is still in place, though it’s smaller than it used to be and seems to have fewer animals. Miniature zebus, donkeys and llamas fill other pens, and some of the smaller animals that used to live in the Children’s Zoo barn now have a place in the educationally oriented Adventure Center. Entirely new exhibits include Mystery Mountain, a safer reincarnation of Rock Candy Mountain. The top is an observation deck, while the path underneath is a great way to cool off on a hot day. The old children’s play area has been replaced with a new one resembling a Chuck E. Cheese crawl but utilizing an animal motif. The most anticipated addition is a penguin exhibit, which can be viewed at eye level or underwater. The large pool takes up much of the exhibit, and the penguins seem to have a great time zooming through the water. The other exciting new exhibits are the aviary, where visitors can feed nectar to a colorful variety of Australian lorikeets, and the Australian Walkabout, where visitors are encouraged to take a stroll with a kangaroo.

On your way up from the Children’s Zoo, be sure to pay a visit to the otters. Their underwater antics are as entertaining as the penguins’. Next up is Wild Asia, the section of the zoo that was built after Kiboka and before the new Children’s Zoo. The entrance is an ornate archway decorated in an Asian motif. The majority of Wild Asia is inside and includes such animals as red pandas, Indian muntjacs (small, primitive members of the deer family) and the wildly popular pair of orangutans with their still-tiny one-year-old, Leela.

The changes to the zoo are impressive and exciting, though they do leave me wondering about a number of animals that seem to have disappeared. I wonder whether they are still on zoo grounds somewhere out of the visitors’ viewing area and whether they will ever be put back on display. In addition to the bison, the flamingoes have gone missing, as well as a large number of animals in the Children’s Zoo, unless I missed them. I didn’t see the Sika deer, pygmy goats, capybaras, porcupines, arctic foxes, white ducks, tortoise, or most of the animals that were in the barn. I know that animals come and go over time; I haven’t seen Zorro in years, and the raccoons that once were exhibited across from the duck pond have been gone almost as long as Rock Candy Mountain. But it’s a bit of a shock to see so many animals depart at once, even if it means that new animals have the opportunity to come in.

All in all, the Erie Zoo is a wonderful place to take the family for the afternoon in spite of its small size. It’s easy to view each exhibit; you’ll never have to leave feeling as thought you didn’t get to see everything. In fact, it rarely takes more than a couple hours to get through the zoo. If you want to make even more of a day of it, pack a picnic in the car and head next door afterwards for a leisurely lunch in the picnic grove and some splashing around the creek. The Erie Zoo has always been one of my favorite places to visit, and I would recommend it to anyone whose idea of a good time involves fur, fins or feathers.