It’s easy to see why Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo is among the best in the US
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo combines the best of zoos with theme park rides. It’s easy to see how people can spend hours there.
The zoo, with almost all outdoor attractions (duh! It’s in Florida), has been rated the top zoo in the United States by “Parents” magazine. It’s easy to see why people like it.
You get engaged almost from the moment you approach the entrance. A special Chinese lantern exhibit – Zoominations – lasts until May 31st. A Chinese gate is located just outside the zoo’s main gate.
Inside, a beautiful display of buildings built from Asian plates, cups and silverware stands tall.
The Chinese lantern figures (which are illuminated at night) are located throughout the zoo – dragons, horses, flowers and pandas are among the designs.
We liked how the Lowry Park Zoo was designed – based on continents or specific attractions. The zoo is divided into eight main areas: Wallaroo Station (Australia and New Zealand), Primate World, Africa, Ituri Forest, Asia, free flight aviary, Florida Wildlife and zoo rides.
We checked out a koala in Walleroo Station. Kids also could play in a splash park there.
Lisa’s favorite part of the zoo was also located in Walleroo Station – play time for a 6-weeks-old spotted leopard cub named Mowgli (from “The Jungle Book”). Zoo keepers bring him out daily for the cat to play and explore.
The little critter was like any domestic kitten – inquisitive and not content to stay in one place. Several zoo keepers kept eyes on him, as he would dart toward the fence line and more play area beyond. He was cute. The crowd gathered round were thrilled by him.
A zookeeper held him near her chest. I joked to Lisa that I’d like to see her try to hold him like that in six months.
Moving on from Mowgli’s play time (they don’t want him too worn out), we continued to check out the zoo.
Primate World was truly impressive. We saw a type of primate we hadn’t seen before. The Mandrill look like baboons, but are more colorful. They spend most of the day on the ground looking for food, but will retreat to trees to eat and sleep.
The elder in the troop had a huge head. He rested it on a rock. When he was walking, it looked like he could tip forward easily.
While resting, a younger Mandrill approached. He actually bared his teeth as if he were challenging the other one. The elder Mandrill just sat there, with his head on the rock, kind of like “Get away from me kid. You bother me.”
Our next stop was to check out a group of chimpanzees. Three of them were lined up together with their backs to us. I immediately thought of the three monkeys saying “See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.”
When one looked at us, he reminded me of Caesar, the leader of the primates in the “Planet of the Apes” recent movies.
Orangutans are always a fun bunch to watch. And, apparently, they enjoy watching us, too.
The Angolan Black and White Colobus are usually found in dense forests in Africa. These guys seemed to be enjoying their day.
We headed to the African Safari section.
It was penguin feeding time during our visit, so we checked out the African penguins. They apparently are a warm weather creature, so the Florida temperatures don’t bother them.
As the little tuxedo-looking birds watched, the zookeepers kept records of how much fish they fed each penguin. The flightless birds downed an average of 10-12 fish each.
The zoo is home to a 26-year-old penguin. He looked a bit ragged, but he managed to move about fine. He eats when he wants, one zookeeper said. They don’t worry if he skips a meal or two. The day we visited, he was hungry. We watched him put away 10 fish easy.
We had to pull ourselves away from the attraction, because, really, who can’t spend all day watching penguins?
The zoo was home to a couple of baby elephants – born within the last year or so. We don’t have any elephants at the Omaha zoo right now (one died suddenly a few years, and the survivor was moved to the Cleveland Zoo, as the creatures are not solitary animals).
The babies didn’t disappoint. We watched them roam and play a little, along with the adults.
The Ituri Forest is near the African area, so we checked out the animals there. A mother hippo and her baby put on a little show, getting dirty and then heading to the water. That was nice of them.
Giant tortoises didn’t disappoint. They are majestic animals to watch. Their heads look prehistoric.
We checked out some of the birds in the forest, as well. We saw our first Shoebill stork.
The free flight aviary gave us our first glimpse of the boat-billed heron. A couple had a nest in a tree above us. We love the way the bird looks. We later saw another one in the Ituri Forest.
Near the center of the zoo is a group of rides – a carousel, small roller coaster and a log ride. People can also take a small train ride around the zoo.
After watching kids get soaked on the log ride, we jumped on the Florida boardwalk and checked out animals either native to the state or common in the region.
We watched a couple of black bears play together. I don’t associate bears with Florida, but does anyone remember the TV show “Gentle Ben?” Okey dokey, then (age and geekiness displayed).
The zoo has skunks and wild turkeys on exhibit. I turned to Lisa and mentioned we could see these a couple blocks from our house at home. LOL.
We stopped by the aquatic center and checked out manatees. We would have loved to have seen the annual migration of the animals, but missed it by a couple of weeks. We had to look closely underwater to catch a glimpse, but we did see a couple of the manatees.
We stopped by the Asian Gardens, but the animals on display weren’t really cooperating with visitors that day.
We had a wonderful time at the zoo. Besides seeing some majestic animals and interesting exhibits, we saw a couple of friends. Our friend Jamie and her family moved to Tampa a few years ago. She met us at the zoo and spent part of the morning with us. Another friend of Lisa’s, Marisa – a fellow blogger with “Tampa Mama,” met us there, too, for a short while.
We suggest putting The Lowry Park Zoo on your must-see list when visiting Tampa. Also, several zoos offer admission discounts if you have another zoo’s pass. Check out the information on your zoo’s website and see if they have a reciprocity agreement (Omaha does). You can save up to 50 percent off the admission.
For more information on the Lowry Park Zoo, please visit www.lowryparkzoo.com.
Disclaimer: Thanks to the Lowry Park Zoo for the media passes to the zoo. However, all views and opinions are ours.
