Immersed in the Sedgwick County Zoo

In November, the Sedgwick County Zoo went viral. One of its resident chimpanzees had a difficult birth and had to be separated from her baby while he received oxygen treatments. A video of their first meeting has received millions of views and churned the emotions of everyone who saw it. 

Little did I know that I would visit Wichita soon after its zoo received worldwide attention. The SCZ’s modern entrance welcomes visitors and winter Wednesdays bring another surprise - $3 adult admission fees. 

The SCZ felt worth full a price admission every day. Outside of the Doorly Zoo in Omaha, I would place it among the best I have seen, with its animals living in natural groups and large enclosures that give them better lives than they might have in other zoos. None of it is ideal, but the SCZ has a reputation for successful breeding programs. 

The whole zoo remained set up for a nighttime light exhibit. That filled empty spaces across the whole complex with fields of paper animals from giant pandas to walk-through megalodon-sized sharks. 

The cold temperatures did not tamp down animal activity. Penguins swam in the lagoon and congregated outside as the winter blast dropped them back in native weather. The new stingray exhibit shut down for the colder months (they can be touched in a shallow pool). Most birds had been relocated from their exhibits for fear of avian flu. 

The nearby reptile and amphibian building remained humid and full of occupants not curled in their corner of their chambers. 

The Aldabra tortoises clustered inside, with an innovative barrier to prevent people from touching them while preventing the giants from escaping. They showed all kinds of interest in visitors. With their tout skin and piercing eyes, the six giant tortoises radiated a wisdom. Maybe only I saw it; I do enjoy the company of turtles. But they are the longest-lived reptiles on earth, with several members purported to exceed two centuries. What are we to creatures that live so long? The turtles don’t ever feel intimidating, even if those beaks could nab an unsuspecting finger. 

Danger lies elsewhere among the resident reptiles safely behind glass (I hope). On size alone, the king cobra was intimidating. That it glides so fast and can drop a lethal bite with its venom only amplifies its stature. It was not alone; nearby spaces displayed black and green mambas, a Gabon viper, and numerous nonvenomous snakes. 

Western states increasingly host exhibits of North America animals not commonly seen. Well, they have no excuse with the deer. 

But the others remain elusive in the wild (mountain lions) or do not really exist much of their historic range (bison, wolves). The bison grazed an expansive prairie across a creek (and high fences) from the Mexican wolf pack. The wolves roamed far from people while the bison munched grasses directly below the walkway. The grizzly bear was out sight, while the smaller but still massive black bear sat at its fence and watched the white-tailed deer in the next exhibit. 

Cold weather suited the Asian cats, although behaving like house cats seemed to suit them. The leopards all slept at the high points of their enclosures, showing little signs of life beyond an occasional stretch or new orientation in their sleep. Across path, the red pandas bounded with energy, roaming and playing as if they intended to put on a show. 

A studious Amur tiger sat at the edge of a pond, far from any humans. A second Amur tiger in a separate enclosure slumbered through the chilly afternoon. Tigers must stay separate in the zoo as they would in the wild, since they are solitary cats. 

The zoo’s primates are much less solitary. SCZ has a gorilla exhibit that rivals Zoo Atlanta. Four separate troops of gorillas - each led by a massive, muscled male - lived at the SCZ. When the silverback male gets into motion, the others follow quickly. When the alpha male rumbled toward an afternoon treat of vegetables, the smaller apes move aside. 

The males of many mammal species were frisky this day. If the male elephants showed no interest in human visitors, they showed a little too much interest in each other. 

The largest bull charged at a smaller bull and would continually force the smaller elephant to back off. At one point the smaller elephant wielded a tree branch like a club to blunt the bigger male’s charges. They kept at each other, even when the young male moved toward where the herd’s females snacked on mounds of hay. 

Too many animals breeze past in a zoo of this scale and modern exhibits - zebras, rhinos, Red River hogs, giraffes. 

The African section seemed quiet until the male lion came out howling. He stood on h
is island, shouting his barbaric yawp to the few who bothered to look for him. Then he marked his territory in view of us. But he wasn’t done - he squatted behind a rock to conduct some business. After urinating out in the open minutes earlier, this brown-maned cat suddenly turned modest. 

Chimpanzees and orangutans While we did not see the zoo’s new mother and baby, the orangutans were full of energy, playing with their swings. 

I had no idea what went on behind the scenes with the zoo’s most famous residents, as I did not them. Better to let the chimpanzee and her baby bond away from the masses. Even without spotting them, the Sedgwick County Zoo provided an immersive experience with its resident animals.