Miami Metro Zoo

Woo-hoo -- last Saturday, Carlos and I went to the zoo and became members so that we could go all the time! The zoo is only about a 20-minute drive south of where I live, so it is very convenient to visit and is one of the best zoos around (on a similar scale with Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle).

We arrived right at 9:30 am when the zoo opened to try and beat the heat and crowds of the afternoon. Among the first animals we saw was an Aracari -- a congener of the species Carlos and I wrote a paper about!
Pteroglossus viridus

An Amazon forest-themed exhibit just opened in December and that was what I wanted to spend the most time at this day. The Amazon Exploration exhibit was excellent! They had different sections depending on forest type (flood forest, cloud forest, pantanal) and so many cool animals from the Amazon -- this was great. One of the forests even focused on a story about an agouti -- finally people are giving agoutis the respect that they deserve!

Giant river otter : Pteronura brasiliensis


Unknown bird in the Amazon forest exhibit


Blue poison-dart frog : Dendrobates azureus


Harpy Eagle : Harpia harpyja



Agouti : Dasyprocta sp.

After spending most of the morning in the amazon, we ate lunch then ventured into Africa. By this time it was getting really hot and sort of crowded so we wandered back to the entrance. But, before we left, we decided to feed the giraffes at the feeding station and this was a lot of fun -- you can pet them and feel their tongues as you feed them lettuce!

Okapi : Okapia johnstoni


Me feeding a hungry hungry giraffe

We are planning on coming back this weekend to see all the Asian animals that we missed last time. The Miami Metro Zoo is huge and full of great exhibits and animals. I am very excited to have my membership pass so that I can go as often as I want!