Missouri’s Wild Discoveries

Spend they day at Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Jefferson City, Mo. – You devoured part of a turkey, some mashed potatoes and a few green beans, then had a generous portion of pumpkin pie with a dollop of Cool Whip. It’s time to work off those calories before the follow-up round of overeating begins next month. Learning more about Missouri’s wild side is a great way to do just that (and you might get a few eating tips from the more predatory creatures living in Missouri).

Perhaps there’s no better starting point for wild discovery than the Saint Louis Zoo, which frequently is cited as one of the nation’s top zoos and traces its beginnings to the flight cage exhibit at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. This year marks the zoo’s 100th anniversary, which coincides with the 1910 founding of the Zoological Society of St. Louis. The zoo covers some 90 acres, housing more than 18,000 animals; everything from cheetahs and western lowland gorillas, to California sea lions, parrots, penguins, Chinese alligators, and an assortment of insects and amphibians.

Across the state, you’ll find another nationally recognized zoo, The Kansas City Zoo, home to the new Polar Bear Passage exhibit. The star of the show is a 700-pound polar bear named Nikita whose daily diet does not feature famous Kansas City barbecue, but instead includes 16 pounds of fish, five pounds of dog food and more than a pound of lard. While that doesn’t sound as appetizing as a plate of ribs from Arthur Bryant’s, Nikita seems to enjoy it. Be sure to visit the zoo’s Africa, Australia and Asia themed areas to experience lions, zebra, elephants, hippos, tigers, red pandas, wallaby and kangaroo, among others.

A unique experience awaits guests at the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, where it’s okay to feed the animals … at least the giraffes. The zoo covers 55 acres, offering habitats showcasing animals from Africa, Tropical Asia, South America and Australia; one area of the zoo is devoted to Missouri animals. You’ll find everything from tigers to river otters at the zoo; while Diversity of Life exhibits feature reptiles and amphibians. If you’re up to feeding the giraffes, purchase the special crackers they like to munch on and head to the feeding platform.

Another great place to get wild in Missouri is the Endangered Wolf Center (formerly the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center) nearEureka. This facility has a collection of endangered canids (defined as: Any of various widely distributed carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, which includes the foxes, wolves, dogs, jackals, and coyotes.), including maned wolves from South America, African wild dogs, Mexican gray wolves, red wolves and the swift fox. The goal of the center is to save wolves and other canids from extinction through a program dating to the early 1970s, when it was founded by Dr. Marlin Perkins, a Carthage, Mo., native known for hosting TV’s Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom from the mid 1960s-1980s.

If you prefer drive-thru animal adventures – or interacting with something less carnivorous than a tiger – a fun experience awaits at Promised Land Zoo, near Eagle Rock in southwest Missouri. The drive-thru zoo has a four-mile path showcasing animals such as Grant’s zebras, antelope, camels, kangaroos, bison and more; the petting zoo hosts white-tail deer, llamas and pygmy goats; while the gate building houses Burmese pythons, alligators, and Sulcata tortoises.

Staying in southwest Missouri, check out the Wild Animal Safari park in Strafford. Another drive-thru park, Wild Animal Safari features elk, water buffalo and wildebeest, along with tigers, zebras and hyenas. A walking path leads to more docile creatures, including lemurs, peacock, sheep and alpacas.

You’ll also find a walk-thru adventure at Lazy L Safari Park in Cape Girardeau. On this self-guided trail, you’ll see a barn, petting zoo, animal nursery, and open grounds where the deer and antelope play, literally. You’ll find zebra, pygmy goats, camels, reptiles, ring-tailed lemurs, African crested porcupines and more. The park has closed for the winter, but is slated to re-open in April 2011. Visit their website, www.lazylsafari.com/home.html, for more details.

Animals of a different feather are found at the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park (19 miles west of downtown St. Louis), where displays feature eagles, owls, hawks, vultures, parrots, and falcons, along with many mammals and reptiles. The sanctuary hosts a variety of educational programs and provides medical and rehabilitation services to injured raptors, with the goal of returning them to the wild if/when they are healthy.

If you’re more interested in creatures that live in the water, visit the World Aquarium inside the City Museum in St. Louis. There you’ll find stingrays and reptiles from around the globe. The unique setup of the aquarium allows you to climb and crawl through passageways, offering face-to-face meetings with the animals.

An opportunity to learn more about fish is found at theLost Valley Hatchery near Warsaw. This is the largest state-owned, warm-water hatchery in Missouri and one of the largest in the nation, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, which manages the property. On-site, you’ll find a 2,000-square-foot visitors center that houses a 12,000-gallon aquarium and a variety of exhibits. Want to get hands-on? Kids ages 15 and younger can fish at the on-site pond, for free and with tackle and bait provided, during regular visitors center hours.

In addition to Lost Valley, the Department of Conservation manages more than 900 outdoors-related properties statewide. These properties offer everything from nature centers with educational exhibits and walking trails, to natural areas frequented by hikers and backpackers, to forest and lake areas where hunting and fishing are permitted. To find more information about these areas, and the animal life you might find at each, check out www.MissouriConservation.org.

For more wild discoveries in Missouri, visit:
•   Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge, four miles southwest of Sumner, where more than 240 bird species have been recorded. The 10,790-acre refuge provides nesting, resting and feeding areas for many species of ducks, and is a primary wintering area for Canada geese, with populations reaching 80,000 birds some years.
•   Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, near Puxico, which sits on more than 21,000 acres and is a major destination for migratory birds. Populations of 125,000 mallards and 75,000 Canada geese have been recorded at the site, which also is a nesting area for Bald Eagles.
•   SayersBrook Bison Ranch, Potosi, where you can travel through the ranch in a covered wagon, feed the bison herd or simply see these ton-plus creatures up close and personal.
•   The Byron Shutz Nature Trail at Powell Gardens in Kingsville. This trail takes guests through locust and frog-filled ponds and is a great spot for butterfly and bird watching.
•   Grant’s Farm, a 281-acre farm in St. Louis where more than 100 species of animals from six continents reside.

These are just a few of the many destinations offering guests a wild discovery in Missouri. To learn more about the Show-Me State, log on to www.VisitMO.com, or, to order your free copy of the Official Missouri Travel Guide, call 800-519-4800.

Tags: Outdoor Recreation

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