Saint Louis Zoo

The Saint Louis Zoo is a magical place, And it’s FREE!

Do you love animals? We sure do. And we visit zoos whenever we can. Steve and I tried to visit the Saint Louis Zoo the day that we drove around downtown. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the only way you could enter the zoo (or even the gift shop) was with a reservation. We were disappointed, but immediately went online to reserve our time slot for our last day in Missouri.

Saint Louis Zoo

The weather called for rain all day during our scheduled reservation. But we got really lucky and only had cloudy skies the entire time we were there. It made for a very pleasant visit with a slight breeze keeping us cool. We were able to stroll around leisurely for hours and hours, taking lots of photos and enjoying the playful animals.

The St. Louis Zoo is home to over 12,000 animals, representing 500 species. The Saint Louis Zoo is recognized worldwide for its innovative approaches to animal care and management, wildlife conservation, research and education. One of the few free zoos in America, the Saint Louis Zoo attracts approximately 3 million visitors each year and is the most-visited attraction in the region.  And since it is a free zoo, visitors are encouraged to come back again…and again!

Bears

The first group of animals that we visited was the bears. Brown, black and polar bears were joyfully enjoying their habitat and showing off for the humans. One large bear, in particular, was enthralled with an adorable little girl. The bear stood right in front of her, separated by thick glass. Wherever she put her hands, the bear placed its paws. They were playing a game of patty cake!

Penguins and Puffins

I have always adored penguins. I love how they walk and I love how they look. And they are always ready for any formal occasion in their adorable tuxedos!

Flamingoes

Flamingoes are so beautiful with their pale to deep pink plumage. But I am always astounded at how their spindly legs support them and by the fact that they sleep standing on only one of those scrawny legs!

Reticulated Giraffe

The giraffe is the tallest living land animal. Male giraffes can grow to and amazing 16-18 feet tall. And the females are not much shorter, growing to 14-16 feet in height. They have very keen eyesight and can see great distances. Giraffes can spot a moving person from as far as a mile away.

Gerenuk

Here are a couple of cool things about Gerenuk. First they are waterless wonders. Gerenuk require very little water. In fact, they may not drink at all during their lives! And second, Gerenuk often extend their reach by standing upright on their hind legs to browse on low tree branches.

Soemmerring’s Gazelles

Soemmerring’s gazelles often rub marks on their horns from scraping them on the ground during dominance displays. These gazelle are territorial and like to defend their ranges by staking them out with dung piles.

Speke’s Gazelles

Adult Speke’s gazelles usually only weigh 30-35 pounds which is quite a big jump from the 3 pounds they weigh at birth. Speke’s gazelles make a honking alarm call by inflating the loose skin on the top of their nose.

Red Kangaroos

Baby kangaroos, known as joeys, are the size of lima beans when they are born! Kangaroos can have three joeys at one time – on out of the pouch, one in the pouch and one embryo.

When fighting, males use their large tails to balance as they stand upright, lock forearms and try to push their opponent with their rear legs.

Babirusa

Unlike other wild pigs, Babirusa do not root in the soil for their food. Instead they prefer to eat fruit, leaves and nuts.

Males use their upper tusks to protect themselves from the slashing lower tusks of competing males when fighting.

Banteng

Banteng have a keen sense of smell, which they use to find each other and to detect enemies. They are born with solid red coats and develop their characteristic white stockings and rump patches during their first year of life.

Addax

Like the Gerenuk, the Addax can survive with almost no water to drink and they will eat any available scrub (dry, land dwelling) plants.

An addax’s coat color changes from bright white in the summer to darker gray in the winter.

Bactrian Camels

Did you know that it is fat, not water, that is stored in a camel’s humps? This energy rich fat is what helps camels survive for long periods of time without food. But they do like their water! A Bactrian camel can drink up to 30 gallons of water in under 15 minutes.

Somali Wild Ass

Despite its long ears and striped legs, the Somali wild ass is not a cross between a donkey and a zebra. They may be small, but they are fast. Somali wild asses have been clocked at up to 30 miles per hour!

Zebra

In January, 2016, Saint Louis Zoo staff traveled to Kenya to participate in the first ever Great Grevy’s Rally! The goal of the Rally was to count the number of Grevy’s zebra left in norther Kenya, where the population is dangerously low.

Puma

Pumas go by many other common names. They’re also known as mountain lions, panthers, cougars and catamounts. Pumas can’t roar. They are vocal though. They can make a variety of other vocalizations such as chirping and purring.

Amur Leopard

What distinguishes Amur leopards from other leopards is that they have longer legs. This is probably an adaptation for walking through snow. To keep them warm during the cold winter, Amur leopard’s thick fur varies in color and length seasonally. It goes from a one inch long orange coat in the summer to a paler three inch coat in the winter.

Amur Tiger

Tigers are the biggest cats in the world, and Amur tigers are the biggest subspecies. They stand about three feet tall at the shoulder. This isn’t quite as tall as a lion, but Amur tigers are longer and usually weigh more. Adult males can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh over 600 pounds. Females are smaller, they’re up to nine feet long and about 370 pounds. Now those are some big kitties!

Lion

We all know the lion as King of the Jungle. I caught the one above in mid roar, and oh boy was it loud.

Coquerel’s Sifaka

A Coquerel’s sifaka’s long, frog like legs enable it to leap up to 30 feet between tree trunks. The like to wrestle while dangling upside down from a tree or while rolling around on the ground.

Ring-tailed Lemur

Male ring-tailed lemurs have stick fights with each other. They rub their striped tails over scent glands on their wrists and shoulders and then shake them at their rivals.

Female ring-tailed lemurs are dominant over males. They even shoo them away when a tasty treat is near. Talk about girl power!

Guereza Colobus

Guereza colobus are folivores, or leaf eaters. Their large, multi chambered stomachs contain bacteria that detoxify and digest fibrous leaves. Colobus are born all white. Studies have shown that the brightly colored babies are tightly attractive to other adults, who help care for and defend them.

Asian Elephants

Asian elephants have long been important to humans. Whether it’s their key role in the Hindu religion and culture, their longstanding use as beasts of burden, the Saint Louis Zoo is managing and breeding elephants responsibly under the guidance of North America’s Zoo elephant care experts.

There were so many more animals that we saw and some that we missed. But our day spent at the Saint Louis Zoo was so awesome, informative and inspiring that we look forward to a return visit in the near future.