A Spooktacular Jacksonville Zoo Visit

The Jacksonville Zoo And Gardens is one of the top zoos in the United States. They are doing it big for Halloween with their 36th annual Spooktacular. A few ghosts and ghouls fit right in with the wildlife. You enter beneath the watchful eye of some giant skeletons. Then pass under a Spooktacular archway.

There’s a huge dragon when you setp off the train in the Asian section that at night will be lighted and feature ghosts and goblins that come swooping out to meet you. It's by the Asian Bamboo Gardens. You enter though a moon shaped gate and see many different Asian plants and flowers. Charlie and Hank’s Chain Saw Repair Truck is parked near the Asian Section if you’re a fan of chain saw massacres. The zoo will be filled with winding pathways featuring different themes such as Pumpkin Hollow, Fiesta Encantada, Witches of Trout River, Fall Festival and Phantom Forest.

But the wildlife is the reason the zoo exists. There are no cramped cages here. The animals all have spacious natural habitats to enjoy a life in conditions that closely resemble their native habitats. You can explore Australia, Africa, South America, Wild Florida, or the Great Apes.

The Range of the Jaguar

The Range of the Jaguar, winner of multiple national award for South American zoo exhibit, is one of  my favorites. The jaguar is the third largest big cat and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. They can achieve speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. They range from the southwestern United States into South America. This year it is especially interesting because there is a new baby there. Banks was born April 7, to 7-year-old Babette and a 14-year-old jaguar named Harry. Banks is the first new jaguar cub born in Jacksonville Zoo in a decade and is one of an officially “near-threatened” animal. He is the 51st jaguar born to the Northside zoo since it opened about 110 years ago

You enter The Range of The Jaguar through a rain forest setting where you find the Lost Temple, built to look like an ancient Mayan temple. Outside the jaguars perch on its rocky slopes or in front by one of the pools for the jaguars to swim in or catch fish from. Inside the "temple" you see many other animals that are native to the rainforests; bushmaster snakes, boa constrictors, poison dart frogs, cotton-topped tamarins, anaconda, pygmy marmosets. and more.

African Forest

 African Forest and Land of the Tiger are both top exhibits winners and must-see spots. The African Forest is filled with primates. Their playground has a giant tree which they can access via a tunnel. It gives them plenty of room to roam high above visitors’ heads.

Land of the Tiger

Land of the Tiger is one of the most innovative exhibits ever. The exhibit has a giant artificial strangler fig tree that has a tunnel built into it letting the two resident Sumatran tigers move around the exhibit. It also gives the guests a chance to see the tigers from different vantage points. The tree center is hollow and keepers can enter into it when caring for the tigers.

Asian Section

The Asian exhibit also houses hornbills, Visayan warty pigs, babirusas, and Asian small-clawed otters. The Komodo dragon, Kawan is a member of the largest living lizard species. Kawan is the largest lizard at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. He is about 8 feet long and 117 pounds. Their smallest lizard is their male turquoise dwarf gecko. He is about 3 inches long.

Wild Florida

We're in Florida so be sure to visit the Florida Panther, our state animal. These beautiful cats once roamed over much of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and as far west as Texas. Current estimates say there are just over 200 left in the wild. Just a small portion of South Florida remains their natural habitat.

The Florida panther shares Wild Florida with alligators, black bears, red wolves, whooping cranes, bald eagles, bobcats, white-tailed deer, and plenty of native snakes. Fortunately, all of the different species are all in separate habitats inside Wild Florida.

There is a Manatee Critical Care Center located here that rehabilitates injured manatees to return to the wild.

The Australian Outback

Visit the wallabies or feed the multicolored lorikeets in the Australian section. We got to feed them with bird treats on a ice cream stick. They loved it.

Upcoming Improvements

Jacksonville Zoo is one of only seven zoos in the country with an animal wellness team, their Manatee Critical Care Facility. Plans are underway to increase this facility. Manatee River will have four new treatment pools and three habitats, effectively tripling the rehabilitation efforts. Florida’s beloved manatees will greet guests from their new habitat as you enter the zoo. There is a new entrance coming The VyStar SkyScape will be the centerpiece of a new Zoo entrance.

Among several other renovations in the works are a new Lion Ridge habitat to create a new scenic overlook from Lion Camp and REZOOVENATION will welcome a new species to the zoo, the orangutan.

One of the best ways to get more out of your visit is to attend the Keeper Talks or do an animal encounter. You can ask questions and get up close and personal with the zoo's inhabitants.