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Lowry Park Zoo
Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: Our Own Wild Wonderland
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Available in all CVS and Chick-fil-A locations, along with shopping centers, restaurants, day care centers, schools, libraries, and almost anywhere parents are likely to congregate.     |
This certainly wasn’t our family’s first trip to the Lowry Park Zoo – we’ve been going several times a year ever since we moved to the Tampa Bay area. But even after almost eight years, the announcement in our house that we are headed to the zoo for the day is always met with cheers of delight.
As you enter the main gate at the Lowry Park Zoo, the first thing that catches your attention is the Manatee Fountain. And since our visit took place on a hot day (although heat really isn’t critical), the first thing our kids wanted to do was to play in the water.
Once they had cooled off, the next challenge was deciding which animals to visit first. The zoo is divided into several distinct habitat areas. The most popular in our family are Wallaroo Station, Safari Africa, and the Florida Manatee and Aquatic Center.
Wallaroo Station won out, not necessarily because of the animals, but because it has the most rides and, you guessed it, another fountain area! The big kids enjoy the new Tasmanian Tiger roller coaster, while the little ones love to ride ponies, ride the Flying Bananas, and pet and feed the goats in the petting zoo area. Another great highlight is feeding the budgies – these little birds will flock to anyone who holds out the little birdseed-covered sticks available for purchase on the way in. Make sure to feed them early in the day though, as they aren’t nearly as hungry in the afternoon!
Next, we headed to Safari Africa, where we find everyone’s favorite land animals – elephants, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, and even okapi. Ride the safari ride to get even closer to these beautiful animals, or just enjoy the walk down the wide, open walkways. Highlights for our family included feeding the giraffes (again, they are hungriest in the morning) and riding on the dromedary camels.
Finally, we headed to the Florida Manatee and Aquatic Center, enjoying the black bears, Florida panther, and flamingos along the way. The indoor (and air-conditioned) Aquatic Center offers underwater views of turtles, sharks, eels, and most importantly, manatees. Various species of fish, frogs, and snakes are also featured. And just outside the Aquatic Center is Stingray Bay, where you can pet and feed stingrays as they swim by. The rim of the tank is pretty shallow, so prepare to be splashed if you stick around for too long!
The zoo also has entertaining and educational shows – we really enjoy the reptile show and the birds of prey show. With all of the great shows, animals, and rides, it takes more than a day to experience everything that Lowry Park has to offer. Other attractions include the Asian gardens (with tigers, leopards, and komodo dragons), primate world, the Gator Falls flume ride (where everyone gets wet), and the Jungle Carousel. We missed some of the attractions this time, but we’ll be sure to go back and enjoy them another time!
Dress for the heat. Be sure to wear light colors that will reflect the sun’s heat. A hat is also a good way to stay cool. Forget yours? Pick one up at the gift shop.
The zoo offers two exciting water play areas designed to help your little ones cool off during your day at the zoo. Head to Manatee Fountain near the zoo’s main entrance for a splashin’ good time. This “splash ground” is situated among tall palm trees with plenty of benches for parents to relax while watching the little ones play.
A southern white rhino calf was born in the early morning hours of March 18 to first-time mother “Kidogo” in the African rhino boma (barn) which houses the animals overnight. Within the first few weeks, mother and calf rejoined the rest of the white rhino and Grevy’s zebra herd, on exhibit. The Zoo is currently home to a crash, or herd, of five white rhinos: three adult females who came from Phinda Reserve in Africa, one adult male and the new male offspring.
Native to eastern and southern Africa, the southern white rhinoceros is classified as “near threatened.” The white rhino is thought to be named after an English misinterpretation of the Afrikaans word, “weit,” meaning wide. The land grazing mammals have unique square-lipped mouths that allow them to eat wide amounts of grasses found on open savannahs. The white rhino has two horns at the end of its muzzle, the most prominent in the front. Both horns are made out of keratin, the same material found in human hair and nails.
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo has welcomed two endangered Grevy’s zebra foals — a female born March 17 (St. Patrick's Day) and male born April 11 — in the Zoo’s African “Rhino Reserve” exhibit, shared with southern white rhinos.
Bearing soft brown and white stripes at birth, newborn foals stand on their long, wobbly legs within one hour of birth. The new mothers, “Pixie” and “Zippo” have responded extremely well to the foals, who often blend in to their mother’s striping patterns when they stand side by side. Mothers and foals live together for several years, sharing a habitat with the stallion (male), “Marty.”
Grevy’s zebra, sometimes known as the imperial zebra, is the largest species of wild equine in the world. The black stripes are narrow and close-set, being broader on the neck, and they extend to the hooves. According to wildlife experts, each zebra has its own unique set of stripes, which are as distinctive as fingerprints!
