No More Trash Man.....

Yesterday I took my kids out to the Tulsa Zoo with a good friend. We were very excited to be going as they have just re-opened the four main buildings that have been closed for several months.

The first stop was the Life in the Cold building. First of all let me give a little background on this building. There used to be a polar bear that lived there but he passed away awhile ago and they've been redoing the area to cover a brown bear instead. The area looks very nice and although I didn't see the bear I'm sure hes happy. 
When you enter the building there a large area to the right that's empty. Before the renovations there was a dinosaur exhibit, a "man" made of trash and an really cool earthquake simulation station (my favorite part of that building). That is all gone! Instead off to the side is a tube like thing you can stand in to feel an arctic blast and all I kept thinking was "I could step outside and feel an arctic blast". As you walk through the building you pass the large window with the bear and then past the arctic fox which was out and very cute. Just past this exhibit is the snowy owl and what used to a cave man exhibit which is also gone now as is the Inuit video I enjoyed watching.

The next building is Life in the Desert. I have always liked this building, mainly because its warm and they have (had) and great photo of the Grand Canyon. When you walk in the first area is full of desert birds and snakes and such. Not too many changes here the major changes are through the doors (what used to be chains or plastic). As you walk in you notice that they no longer have the individual goggles you could look in to to see things like the scorpion and tarantula. Instead you see a maze exhibit housing the naked mole rat. They're just as ugly as you're imagining. As you continue through the building you see 7 different tanks holding different desert wildlife including the tarantula, centipede and scorpions. I like what they did here, however, I do not like that they took down the large photo of the Grand Canyon. The peccary's were out and just as cute as always. In between this building and the next we also passed the turkey and the deer. I always like to stop and see the deer, they're kind of majestic. We actually got to see the buck this time too.

The Life in the Forest building was next and again they made changes I'm not sure I like. When you walk in they totally redid the front. Used to you'd see and hear the waterfall where you could throw a penny or two in and make a wish (its was off and I didn't find out if it will be on later, I hope so though). Passing the waterfall you curve around to a dark, cave like area. Again, changes. To the left is a section that looks like the inside of a cave. You could push the buttons and it would identify the different shapes you could find inside a cave, stalactites, stalagmites and things like this. Its gone and there was not light to even see this, I took a picture with my flash to see what I liked, the bacon shaped flowstone that hangs from the ceiling. Exiting the "cave" you pass by the porcupine,

raccoons and skunk. Yes it smelled in there. There is also tanks holding snakes and squirrels and some very pretty birds. Around from the corner is where the bald eagles are. Before there was a fish tank with beautiful fish in it. Now its open AND they took out the bald eagle on the wall where you could measure your wing span against that of a bald eagle. I liked that and I was disappointed not to see it.

The final building is Life in the Water. On our way there we saw the black bears hiding in their tube. They were so cute. Only one came out and that was only long enough to show us how long he could pee and then he went back into the tube to sleep, I guess.

We proceeded to the building and because it was so cold the alligators weren't out so we went in. Not too much different in here. No changes that made me think, "oh I miss that". The newest exhibit to me was the albino crocodiles. Going through the doors leads to where the alligators used to be but now houses the pelicans. Before the renovations when you exited the area with the pelicans it was empty (before it was empty there was a shark exhibit) but now its got several fish tanks and frogs and such to look at. I like the sea horses myself.

So that's the four buildings after the renovations. I know that change in inevitable but there are so many great and cool things they took out it made me kind of sad. You build memories when you see certain things and then you want your children to experience it and when its gone its like a piece of the puzzle is missing. I have heard that the earthquake experience may make a return and I'm really hoping it does. All in all the building looked nice and were clean. I'm hoping that the buildings aren't completely finished and that they were just trying to get open for Spring Break. Ive been on the zoo website and looked at their "master plan" for the next 20 years and although it looks awesome change for me is always hard. I am however looking forward to the new chimpanzee exhibit called the African Forest which will also house gorillas! The changes they are coming up with look amazing! You can check them out here: http://www.tulsazoo.org/support/master-plan/.

Take your kids out and enjoy all the new animals and exhibits. Better yet buy a yearly pass and support their efforts! We did and its great on a day when we have little or no money but want to get out. You cant take your own food and drinks in too! Oh one more thing, there's a new restaurant too. The pavilion when you come out of the last building is now selling brats, BBQ and more!