Dallas Zoo, March 2025

March 16, 2025

I’ve been to the Dallas Zoo many, many times over the decades, they were part of the influence for me to get my Zoology degree.

Wilds of Africa

Wilds of Africa – I’ve seen the changes over the years and they are nice changes. They had gorillas in their current habitats in the 1990’s, but the Wilds of Africa has changed quite a bit since back then. They now have hippos over where there used to be a thick bamboo winding jungle path to the Okapi. Cheetahs replaced the Mandrills, and penguins now greet you right after you exit the tunnel. It looks like the train that took you to see the off path antelopes like gemsbok and kudu is no more, which is sad, but I did see 2 kudu in with the elephants. The elephants have a huge area to roam, the cats have grass, and you can feed the giraffes! Overall this area is still a fun area to walk through, and is still the area I go to first.

North Side

North Side – Gone are the never-ending exhibits of dik-diks, and instead we have a children’s zoo, dinosaur area, and primate row. Don’t miss the Maned Wolf up on the hill on the North side, they sleep behind the man made cave. You have to walk up the hill a bit and look behind the cave for a red ear, but I saw 2 of them while many people walked by and missed this rare animal. Also, in primate row, to see the clouded leopard look up! I told passerby’s who were about to give up and move on to the next exhibit that you could see his/her little feeties dangling from the tree branch.

The food vendors have also received an upgrade, including Bavarian pretzels (yum), many ice cream vendors, and new restaurants featuring smoked meats, hamburgers, chicken tenders, pizza and more.