I had my doubts about visiting the Hogle Zoo in the middle of winter.
“Would there be any animals out?”
“Will anything special exhibits be open?”
“Will it be too cold to be worth it?”
In the end, I don’t regret my decision one bit of visiting the Hogle Zoo while the snow fell!
Benefits of the Winter Visit to Hogle Zoo
One of my biggest fears is that there would be nothing to see except for the cold weather animals. Luckily, there were plenty of animals to see.
The gorillas had an exhibit inside, next to their outside exhibit. The lions were hanging out in the snow. Even one of the elephants made an appearance later in the day.
It’s hard to tell if it was because of COVID or winter, but the first couple buildings after the gift shop we encountered were closed.
The cold factor didn’t bother us at all. The snow was coming down, but it wasn’t too cold. It warmed up a bit in the afternoon when the snow stopped as well.
The snow did make it a unique experience though! I’ve been to a number of zoos throughout the country, but never thought about visiting one in the winter (I just assumed most are probably closed since so many feature many animals that aren’t normally in cold-weather climates).
Some of my favorite pictures from this visit were because they were so unique with the snow.
One added benefit due to the inclement weather is the reduced visitors…benefit for the visitors anyway. Not having to deal with hundreds of kids running, screaming, and pushing me away from my spot observing the animals is nice. Don’t think I’m complaining about those kids though! It’s important for them to learn about and experience the animals too!
Like visiting the Phoenix Zoo in July, the visitor count was fairly low. When I visited the Phoenix Zoo, there weren’t many animals out, even at 11 in the morning. It was completely understandable since they were trying to hang out in the shade for the most part.
I thought I’d experience the same with the Hogle Zoo this winter, but it wasn’t nearly as bad.
The Most Active Animals
Of course, the most active animals were the winter animals. One of the polar bears was out every time we went past her. She was beautiful! She was playing around with her toy and sticking her head into the snow, offering plenty of cute moments.
The only downside to the polar bear is that we didn’t get to see her swim. Hopefully, if we visit again, she’ll take a dip, and maybe even get an up close encounter the small enclosure in the center of the exhibit!
One of the best things was seeing this polar bear in a playful state of mind. The last polar bear I saw at a zoo was constantly pacing. She didn’t look to be comfortable. It was a warmer day, though, but it still was nice to see the polar bear at the Hogle Zoo in such a happy way.
The sea lions and seals were swimming their laps. You wouldn’t think such blubberous creatures could get around so gracefully!
The river otters were the most active otters I’ve ever seen at a zoo! It’s surprising to me that almost every zoo in America has some river otters, since they’re native here. Maybe that’s why they all have some?
Regardless, the river otters at the Hogle Zoo were so active. One at a time, they would come out, swim some laps around the exhibit, and twice they even came out to greet us in the center! It was pretty amazing!
The otters were swimming around too fast for me to get any great pictures. I’m only a rookie photographer. However, one of my favorite pictures from the visit was of the river otter about to break through the water surface (see above)!
Downsides to the Snowfell Hogle Zoo
One of the major downsides to visiting the Hogle Zoo this winter was the fact that not everything was available. Some of the buildings were closed (possibly due to COVID), and none of the special exhibits were up and going. My fiancé was looking forward to feeding a giraffe, but they weren’t in their exhibit (again, not sure if it was COVID or weather related).
The other downside was that they aren’t offering any type of discount. I’m not the richest guy on the planet, so I always check. I will always purchase something from the gift shop and still did, but I’m always looking to save a buck if I can.
Their website claims they are reluctant to offer discounts at this time because they had to be closed for a while during a high volume time because of COVID, so it’s not their fault really!
Besides the giraffe and the tortoises, most of the other animals were viewable, but some were less so. We only saw one meerkat, but we did only go past the exhibit one time.
It’s always best to plan a day at the zoo to have enough time to do two whole laps. You’re really doing yourself a dirty deed if you only make time for one lap!
Would I Go again?
As with any zoo, I’d go to the Hogle Zoo again. You don’t always get to see all of the animals with each visit, and zoos do change things up every so often. Perhaps going to the zoo during the COVID era isn’t ideal, but I find it necessary to support them regardless.
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