Zoo Tours: The Adventure Cove | Columbus Zoo & Aquarium 

This honestly seems like an attraction that was better in concept than execution.

Interesting idea in exhibit design and theme. Basically looks like a really classy looking kid's zoo or theme park with a few random animals plopped in🤔

The stingray and sea lion habitats are top notch, really good stuff. Everything else however, is pretty damn bad. Downright tiny enclosures, very random mix of animals and the lemurs seemed stressed. Not great to say the least.

I think the Animal Village would’ve worked way better if the enclosures were sort of a hybrid between the animals’ natural habitat and a more urban/suburban setting, instead of full-urban/suburban.

Something tells me this area will not last forever in the state that it is in the zoo. Parts are really cool, but I think most folks could probably note the issues with the house dioramas.

The lemur doing backflips is the equivalent of pacing for big cats or head bobbing for polar bears and elephants. Even if you think it’s cute it’s still stereotypical behavior. I’m disappointed in this exhibit not only because of the lack of size but also the lack of enrichment for the animals. The only good thing is the seal and sea lion exhibits which look fantastic.

The Animal Encounters Village section in Columbus zoo comes across as focusing more on quantity over quality. This is because it seems like Columbus zoo were focusing more on cramming in as many random animals that they can think of in a house themed section more so than, making sure that the enclosures suit the animals that they're intended for.

I don't like all of the indoor habitats, but those lemurs look like they are having fun!

I really love the adventure Cove, like I said I always stop by after I’m done working at the front gate for the day

I think this is the best Zoo in the Midwest THE Columbus Zoo. Our Kids love to come and VISIT here all the time. 👍❤️ Highly recommended to everyone!

Alright, I'm just gonna judge everything by this video (since it's very unlikely I'm able to visit US, let alone this great zoo) and pictures I found on ZooChat. The Pinniped exhibit looks pretty good aside from the ugly backdrop. Some of the platforms looks kinda ugly (like this one in 0:57), but other than that, great underwater viewing, I love the underwater tunnel (although I prefer cylindrical tunnel like the ones in St. Louis), and the rockwork looks pretty good. The Stingray touch pool looks fine. Like any other aquarium, which I found rather mediocre and certainly nothing to be bragged about. The Animals Encounter Village... I'm just gonna say it right here and right now. IT. LOOKS. *UGLY* . And by ugly I mean absolutely horrendous backdrops and exhibit props. The Cheetah cubs exhibit looks way too small and don't really have much shade aside from that ugly staircase. The Northern Ground Hornbill exhibit has unnecessary slides and swings which I doubted the Hornbill would use that a lot. The Lemur exhibit doesn't have a lot of climbing opportunities aside from that two arches and a single branch. The backflipping Red Ruffed Lemur looks cool, but if they do it too often, I think it could be a sign of stereotypical behavior (which is a big no no for a zoo like Columbus). The Toco Toucan exhibit looks better since it has more perching and flying opportunities inside the exhibit, although the ugly house backdrop and the weird boxes kinda ruined it, The garden-esque exhibit for the Capybara and Two-toed Sloth (which I found to be a really odd combination) looks kinda better, but still ugly (And I don't really get what those fence in the middle's purpose, considering they are literally just slicing the exhibit in half). The Red River Hog exhibit looks pitiful, but at least the Gopher and African Spurred Tortoises looks better. And the indoor exhibits looks worse in my opinion. The first exhibit in 4:27 (which I'd assume is Bat-Eared Fox and the other birds exhibit ) looks so damn ugly it's not even funny. The random bench, the random shower place you use before going to temples and mosques is what makes the exhibit looks so ugly. The second one (which houses the Porcupine and also Geoffrey's Cat) I found it too small, and especially for Geoffrey's Cat which I saw pacing on the other video. And the random swing and the fence also makes this exhibit looks ugly. Those two exhibit looks bad, but it doesn't compare to the Pier 33 exhibit in 4:38 . The pier looks incredibly ugly, even as a duck exhibit it looks ugly and I can't imagine Otters and Penguins living in that bare exhibit. The truck market exhibit doesn't look suitable for arboreal and nocturnal Kinkajou (although the tortoises I see in the other video fares better, it still looks ugly), the backyard exhibit doesn't look suitable for the foxes (nor for the pacing skunk I saw on the other video), and the organic market exhibit while still looks ugly, at least has more climbing opportunities for the Geoffrey's Cat than the other exhibit. The Red-fronted Macaw exhibit looks rather fine, maybe a bit too small, but at least not as ugly as the previous ones. And here's the main problem I found in this whole complex: WTF is the concept supposed to be??? From the thumbnail alone, I'm so confused as to why tf is there a Cheetah, Serval, Lemur, Sloth, Sea Lion, and Stingray all in one setting. Is this complex supposed to teach us about animals we can find in the suburbs area? What does the random furniture inside the exhibit means? And the biggest question of all, WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM ALL OF THESE RANDOM EXHIBITS? The aesthethics looks so much worse than San Diego's Elephant Odyssey and Indianapolis' International Orangutan Center, but at least they have a purpose as to why they were designed that way. As for this complex, what does a Bat-eared Fox in a shower exhibit supposed to teach us? What does a mixed Two-toed Sloth and Capybara in garden exhibit supposed to teach us? They teach basically nothing about the animals or the zoo. They can easily turn the village into some sort of behind the scenes exhibit like Disney did with Conservation Station where they show how they care for the animals or showcasing different wild animals you can find in your own backyard, so I don't understand why they decided to go for this route. And honestly, I can't find "They're for temporary animal ambassador" as an excuse for this poor complex. Just because they're for animal ambassadors doesn't mean this complex should look like total shit, especially in a zoo like Columbus. And they spend 40 million dollars for this whole complex?? South America Pantanal in Houston Zoo is estimated to cost 22.9 million dollars to build and they look amazing. They could totally use that money to build a new complex such as South American themed complex or maybe for a new animal they don't have yet (such as Hippos, which I found to be a huge missed opportunity not to have it), but no, they decided to build the most baffling complex ever built. And for a major zoo known to have the best themed complex in not only the US, but also the world, this is just embarassing. They gave us state-of-the-art masterpieces like Heart of Africa, Polar Frontier, and Asia Quest, and they decided to build what is probably the worst exhibit complex to be built on AZA zoos in 10 years. I'm not going to be surprised if the exhibit didn't even last 10 years and showing its age already. I also have noticed you seem less enthusiastic compared to your previous tours, which I don't really blame you for that considering this total joke of a complex. This complex should have been executed better. It sounds like a good idea on paper, but just fall flat in execution. Sorry for the long rant, I gotta get it out of my chest. And as for the answer, I think it's the Manatee exhibit? I think it is considering Polar Bears look longer.

Just saying but I can’t wait to see the new Pantanal exhibit at the Houston zoo

Highly recommend doing the behind the scene sea lion tour, and the animal encounter village tour. I love Adventure Cove!

Having Experienced this habitat once i find it to be a rather unique choice....Not saying it's great or bad it's just odd IMHO.

That's a very good and well descripted video. Good job.

I prefer natural enclosures in zoos

Also in the encounters village that wasn’t in the video I saw a Virginia Opossum, Short Beaked Echidna, Large Hairy Armadillo, Striped Skunks, Greater Galagos, Indian and North African Crested Porcupines, Radiated and Leopard Tortoises.

Your channel deserves more subscribers.

The whole area is a mixed bag, the sea lion enclosure is great but the smaller habitats are of lesser quality.

The Village... maybe if the exhibits were bigger, allowed more space for the animals, and had a bit more variety to it would work better. Like, cute idea, but it feels off.

Well done video, per usual. And well played in allowing viewers to develop their own opinion 🙂

Looks like a weird/interesting exhibit. Trivia Answer: Manatee Coast

That looks like a really cool design, nice mix of species as well.

Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain zoo has a similar idea in its reptile house. They have what looks like a house with the reptiles living it with juvenile alligators in a pool, chameleons with coat racks, book shelf with snakes. Its all weird and unique. As long as the animals are happy and healthy I support it.

Well done Zach. Another excellent video for Zoo Tours. I’ll probably see this for myself, but probably not until next year after if warms up in late April or early May. To me, this is a unique and creative addition to the world class columbus zoo. Others may disagree, but that’s ok. Looking forward to your next video.

We had planned to visit here in 2020. But those plans were crushed. 😟 Hope to visit some day!

This area looks very interesting, hope to see it when I finally go there

It's a very bizarre and wierd attraction but strangely I love it

Wonderful episode!

I think animal exhibits should be natural so it feels like a smaller version of their natural habitat those backyard and store exhibits are just glorified cages

I actually really love the design! The village design is unique but provides lots of enrichment opportunities for these animals that are normally behind the scenes and out of view. Every time I see pics, animals are in new spaces so it’s fun for guests to visit again and the animals are provided with new spaces constantly. Great job by Columbus imo

I don't know about you but that was so cool I mean I like these exhibits It almost looks like a petting zoo

Great job as usual. Really enjoy your videos. Depicting exotic wild animals in a simulated urban setting is ridiculous and a downer. We go to the zoo to immerse ourselves in nature, artificial though it may be, and to learn. This defeats both objectives.

@ZooTours do you think Columbus Zoo will do a South America Section Someday and get a Jaguar on the zoo? And do you think they’ll add exhibits for species from The Wilds to the Columbus Zoo?

me: watch's the video also me: sees lemur do backflip me: new shocked expression

FINALLY MY HOME TOWN OF COLUMBUS

These enclosures are so tiny and cramped. Strip away the theming and people would be outraged by animals in such tiny, square, lackluster enclosures!!

Best area ever

Unique exhibits

I remember the times Brookfield Zoo had a sting ray bay exhibit as summer exhibit. Too bad the last disaster made the exhibit become canceled completely, but it was for the best I suppose.

it's the pier 33 for me

Well, it sounds like this exhibit caused the Columbus zoo to lose they're AZA Accreditation

I love the Columbus zoo

I LOVE IT

The sea lion pool looks great! However the village theme lost me in all honesty

Honestly the Adventure Cove is probably one of the most unique and coolest zoo exhibits I have seen on the channel in a long time. Heck if I lived in Columbus I would definitely check this exhibit out. However I live out West in the state of Nevada. But I hope one of these day I will be able to check the Columbus Zoo out along with my sister and little niece.

I want you to make another Columbus zoo episode except this time North America exhibit

Nice

Wouldn't it be cool if they added Tapirs and Jaguars to Columbus zoo?

What about the new exhibit at the Georgia aquarium

I absolutely love the are! It’s a unique and one of the best games on towns built in zoos. I think the sea lions are a bit out of place but other than them I think it’s an excellent exhibit that stepped way way way way outside of the box!

4:41 THAT is supposed to house penguins and otters?

We have both Bat eared fox 4:32 and prehensile tailed porcupine 4:38 at brookfield zoo

Next time when you go to the Columbus zoo can you go to the Congo expedition or North America

I'm Italian and i see the Columbus zoo on nationalgeographic

Will the lied jungle be your 10 k special

Can you try to put a vid out once a week?

Wow, $40,000,000 for this? What an abhorrent waste of money. Even though the pinniped exhibition may be very attractive to visitors and draw in more people, many of these new exhibits cannot persist if zoos are to call themselves “Conservation Centers.” Here’s a depressing fact: the current rate, according to a fund through the Rainforest Trust, an acre of land in Liberia costs $3.59 per acre. That means that the Columbus Zoo could have instead created a reserve for the plethora of endangered species in Liberia, including the Pygmy Hippo and Jentink’s Duiker, with a total size of 11,142,061 acres. As nice as that sounds, it isn’t even possible as, according to a report by Mongabay in 2010, there were only 10,697,192 acres of forest left in Liberia. This area of forest cover is likely greatly outdated at this point, especially for any mature, non-exploited rainforest. If zoos are committed to saving species from being wiped off of the face of this planet, they will focus more on in-situ conservation and simply conservation as a whole-which this new addition to the Columbus Zoo fails to accomplish. I understand ambassador animals educate others, but whose assumed responsibility is greater to actually take action in protecting species? Education, especially in the form of ambassador animals like the ones in the Village, cannot be an excuse for lack of conservation efforts. This is not the conservation this world needs.

I Think nearly every enclosure is way too small and not properly designed for the animals, rather for the visitors wich is pretty sad in my opinion.

I'd like to go to this section of the zoo mainly because it's so random and you'll never know what comes next

First

I seriously dislike setting the animals in a human environment. Visitors don't get to see animals doing natural activities. Also, it seems to belittle the harm of destroying nature for suburbia, because it appears that all of the animals can just make do with food trucks and produce markets as new homes.

The animal village looks horrendous. All the enclosures except for the serval and capybara enclosures are too small and offer little shade, activities, challenges and lack of stuff for tree dwelling animals to climb on. The only space each enclosure has is the stairs. There’s no trees, plants to make the enclosure look natural. I just wish the enclosures where bigger, offered more enrichment, more natural looking, more shade,places to hide and of course things for the tree dwelling animals such as lemurs to climb on.

Yeah this area was quite shit to be honest. Nothing from their natural environments, and tiny spaces with very little possibility for social interaction with their own species. 1/5

In my opinion, I don't see the point of the Animal Encounters Village. It's not educational, it doesn't depict ANY natural elements, and the outdoor "enclosures" (more like cages) are pathetic. Even worse so, they barely even meet the animals' needs! The indoor enclosures were a little better, but still lacking a lot. It just goes to show that just because a zoo is bigger doesn't neccessarily mean it's better. Maybe it could be a shelter for homeless pets...? Then again, it's so humiliating, I think all the stray cats and dogs would prefer life on the streets than be stuck in cages that look like a children's daycare.