Indianapolis Zoo
Topic: Kids' Stuff | Museums and Visual Arts
Posted: Sun, Feb 27, 2005 
In the not too distant past, I thought that putting animals in a zoo was cruel. The idea of putting wild animals in small cages seemed so patently cruel, unnatural, and ultimately indefensible. Just think of a lion – the king of beasts! – locked up in a small enclosure no bigger than most suburban backyards. I only knew of lions from the Discovery Channel: on the hunt, “at one with nature” (or so the omniscient narrator claimed). Certainly this is how animals are meant to live.
But these were the idealist thoughts of a naive college student who might have read a wee bit too much Animal Liberation. A fact of the 21st century is that we make it very difficult for many wild animals to simply exist. This is the result of poaching and the destruction of forest habitats around the world. And even though many zoos have an inglorious past, most today offer a countervailing pressure against humankind's more destructive tendencies. The Indianapolis Zoo is a local example of this. Their mission statement sums things up nicely:
"The Indianapolis Zoo inspires local and global communities to celebrate, protect, and preserve our natural world through conservation, education, and research, and by providing an enriching and wondrous environment for our visitors and the animals in our care."
A visit to the Indy Zoo will set you back a few bucks: during the winter months, adults are $8.00 and children (2-12) are $6.00. This doesn't include parking, rides inside the park, and the inevitable trip to the ice cream stand. See the complete rate table. Before you get lost, make sure to grab a map in order to plan your visit. There's a cool interactive map of the zoo available from their Web site.
I probably shouldn't admit this, but I find most animals to be really boring. Maybe it’s because I don’t get to the zoo early enough (yes, I know, early morning and late evening are the best times to go) but I very seldom see the animals up and about. More often, I see them sleeping, loafing, or simply out of sight. Of course it’s completely unfair to hold the zoo responsible for this, but I secretly wish zoologists could work on making the animals more interesting. Of course some animals, like dolphins, are perfect for zoos because they get on famously with humans, but the vast majority can’t be trained to do much of anything, and thus act like they always act, which is to say, boring. (In fairness to the zoo and its fine animals, I have the attention span of a gnat largely due to years of incessantly playing video games and watching TV. I'm amazed that I finished this paragraph without paying my XBox a visit.)
The notable exception to the above are the aquatic creatures, and the Indy Zoo exploits this fact: their underwater viewing area is excellent, with great views of penguins, sharks, seahorses, and sea lions (shown below), and so on.
A recent addition to the Indy Zoo is the seahorse exhibit. The new layout of the exhibit is excellent, providing choice views of these tiny creatures. (The tubes they have set up remind me of something out of Star Trek.)
Watching zookeepers feed the animals has a tendency to ruin whatever "wild" illusion might have been created (not that the ersatz mountains painted on the wall help much here). But at the same time, that penguin in her coat is pretty cute.
But don't think the zoo is just a bunch of fauna; There's flora galore. A good amount of the plant life in the zoo is labeled with small black signs that provide its common name and scientific name. I’ve never had much patience for learning the names of plants, but this nice attention to detail shouldn't go unoticed.
The Indy Zoo is clearly geared towards kids. It offers a playground, train ride, carousel, roller coaster, and other attractions designed to make your child go loopy. One note about the train ride: it's not worth the money. A good portion of the ride is spent with a lovely view of the outside of the zoo and the backs of buildings.
One of the nicer areas is a series of ponds centrally located near the concessions. Here's a funny looking swan I saw swimming in said pond, clearly assuming that I was going to feed it. (Of course there are plenty of scare signs telling us not to feed the animals, but based on this swan's reaction, obviously not everyone heeds this warning.)
For some reason the manatees walruses were drawn to the plexiglass, or perhaps to the people standing outside the plexiglass. I'm not an expert in such matters, but maybe they're lonely? Either that or they were trying to eat us.
The "Plains" region of the zoo has the usual suspects: giraffes, white rhinos (quite rare), monkeys, elephants, and of course lions...
I neglected to take a picture of the real giraffes, so here's a fake one announcing the plains section:
The pictures and descriptions above are only a small sampler of what you can see and do at the Indy Zoo; there really is quite a bit to take in. I'd especially recommend it if you have kids or if you like photography.
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Comments
1. Feb 28, 05 01:02 PM | Steph Mineart said:
No pictures of monkeys?!! Jim, you missed the most important part of the zoo. Now go right back there and get some good photos of the monkeys. I'll wait.
2. Mar 1, 05 11:36 AM | Jim Chalex said:
How right you are. Sadly we had to leave before we could grab shots of the Monkeys, Rhinos, Elephants, Snakes, et al. If we go back soon, I'll post an update :-)
3. Mar 1, 05 07:33 PM | Brent Mundy said:
The zoo really is one of our favorite places in the city. Beware that during the winter (i.e. slow season) they close at 4:00. And they are closed on Monday's and Tuesday's. I think their hours are more expanded in the spring when it warms up.
4. Mar 4, 05 03:36 PM | Dustin Sullivan said:
If your family goes to the zoo several times a year, it's worth it to look into a zoo membership. For $75 you can get your entire family in as many times as you want, parking is free, and you can get into special events for free as well.
Normal admission for a family of four is $42 (two adults and two kids plus parking), so if you go twice you've paid for your yearly membership.
For $95 you can get the Family Plus Two membership that lets you bring friends as well (great if the grandparents visit a lot or you want to do a playdate at the zoo).
5. Mar 14, 05 08:33 PM | Sally Chalex said:
As a career-mom, I find the zoo to be fantastic. Its wide-open paths, sometimes-of-interest-to the-toddler animals, and the train can eat up an entire morning. Often the space between "Wake-up!" and "Daddy's home!" is deep and wide. A visit spent jumping on the rhino's suspention bridge just might get you to naptime sooner. I recommend the "Individual plus one" (for you and your kid) membership in case your partner finds the zoo "boring."
6. Oct 21, 05 08:42 AM | Jim Chalex said:
Sounds like a baby elephant was born yesterday.
7. Oct 21, 05 10:44 AM | Brent said:
No elephant babies, but I did get a good picture of the Rhinos a couple weeks ago. They were lined up like parked cars:
http://static.flickr.com/31/52027763_5a6ae4a169.jpg
8. May 7, 06 05:51 PM | Chris said:
You were "bored" with the animals at the zoo because the animals are bored. Can you imagine being locked up your entire life - albeit for "your own good" and to "preserve your species." Pretty damn dull, I must say. Nowhere to go, same ol' same ol' every day. Please, try to think a little less superficially! Put some some big brawny human brain into it, man! Don't you think it odd that so many are in opposition to your views that you had to take steps to "curb malicious comments"? What could possibly be the reason for this? Do your research! Check out ZooCheck, or maybe the library if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
9. May 8, 06 08:59 AM | bmundy said:
Chris, I used to feel the same way about animals in the zoo until I read the Life of Pi (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156027321). There is a chapter in the book that explores this topic. After reading it, I no longer feel sorry for animals in the zoo. No matter how boring they may act when you are watching, they are fine. They are doing what animals do.
10. May 9, 06 12:17 PM | Steph Mineart said:
Chris, the malicious comments we're curbing are unrelated spam comments, not differences of opinion.
11. Sep 5, 06 07:40 AM | Jim Chalex said:
After the death of four penguins last month (http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5254895) the Indy Zoo could use some good news...
From WTHR:
"The African elephant Ivory gave birth to 226-pound girl during a ten-minute delivery Thursday night.
"Ivory was resting," said David Hagan of the Indianapolis Zoo. "She'd laid down for the night. And all of a sudden got up. They took a quick peek and they could see a bulge in the back and ten minutes later it was on the ground," he said.
Ivory and her yet-to-be-named daughter are doing well. News of the birth traveled fast despite being off-limits to visitors until later this month."
Full Story:
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5354225
12. Sep 12, 06 07:13 PM | Laura Jefferson said:
Umm I really liked your article-one thing though-those are walruses not manatees. The only reason I know this is because for some strange reason my two year old has great walrus fear and shrieks whenever we go near them at the zoo.
13. Sep 13, 06 10:29 AM | Jim Chalex said:
Thanks for the correction, Laura!
14. Sep 12, 08 12:15 AM | Jennifer said:
The walruses come up to the glass because the youngest, Nereus, loves to interact with the children. And since I work at the Zoo on a daily basis and am an avid animal lover, I can honestly say that the animals are doing exactly what they would do in the wild. My tip: go when it's cold, rainy, or extremely early. They do more then.
15. Mar 1, 09 11:33 PM | holly e said:
hello does anyone know when on season begins? thanks
16. Sep 15, 10 06:49 PM | Annie Peretich said:
You should tell what to bring on a field trip on a rainy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17. Nov 18, 11 01:08 AM | Adam Figliola said:
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18. May 21, 12 02:26 AM | Sogutmaci ve Havalandirmaci (Iklimlendirme)-Meslegi said:
Very informative post. Thanks for taking the time to share your view with us.
19. May 27, 12 09:35 AM | hohi said:
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20. May 27, 12 08:30 PM | hohi said:
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