Asian Highlands | Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium Asian Highlands

The Asian Highlands takes us on a immersive journey through Asia, from the Grassland foothills of Northern India through the Himalayan Mountains, giving us up close viewings of the resident animals that call the Asian Highlands home as they dwell in these Himalayan ruins. This exhibit opened in two phases, the first in the spring of 2018 and the second following in the spring of 2019. Omaha Zoos Asian Highlands is an 8 acre, 22 million dollar expansion for the Henry Doorly Zoo.

Brief Overview:
First we will Pass through the Gateway, This symbolic entrance is a replica of a Himalayan ruin. Our Trek takes us along the southern foothills of the Himalayan range where an old village has been overtaken by nature. The ruins sit inside a temperate forest with bamboo, firs, rhododendrons and deciduous hardwoods filling the landscape. Here we come across our first Asian Highlands animal the red panda.

As we move along, a stone gateway ruin creates the barrier from the forest to the beginning of the highland range and our path ascends to the north. Here we will get a glimpse of the Asian Plains habitat and spot White-Naped Crane and behind this habitat Pere David's deer and the majestic Indian rhino.

As we continue climbing we pass through the montane region and marshland where we can watch Tufted deer in their naturalistic home. Upwards we go, walking under an rail line, emerging for this tunnel we come to the grassy hillside and home of the Sloth Bear.

From there we trek through the Foggy Forest and as we approach the summit of our trip we come a hillside settlement which is the home Amur Tiger. Reaching the summit of our trek we can spot the Snow Leopard among the rocky cliff faces. Past this we start making our trek back down and come across a multiple species habitat housing Takin and Goral.

The Yeti camp is themed as a basecamp in Nepal and past this we come back to the grassland plains where we get better looks at the Pere's David's Deer and the Indian Rhino.
Few Facts About The Animals:

Reeves' Muntjacs - Also known as the barking deer, they have a reddish-brown appearance with striped markings on their face. Females have bony lumps on their foreheads and males have long upper canines.

Red Panda - (Personal Favorite Animal) The Red Panda has a thick coat of fur that keeps them warm in the winter time. Reddish brown stripes run along both sides of a white muzzle, light and dark rings circle their bushy, long tails. Their feet have thick fur on the bottom which helps keep them warm and prevents slipping on wet branches.

White-Naped Crane - The only species of crane with pinkish legs and a neck that is white and gray striped.

Tufted Deer - This small deer has a coat of chocolate brown and a underside of white however it is characterized by the distinctive tuft of hair on their forehead. The biggest feature is found on the males with their fang like canines.

Pere David's Deer - One time extinct in the wild the Pere David's Deer has a reddish tan coat in the summer that changes to a dull grey in the winter time. Also unique is that the Antler main beam goes almost directly upwards and the tines point backwards.

Indian Rhinoceros - The Indian Rhinoceros armor-plated looks comes from its grayish-brown hide and skin folds. It is also the biggest of the three rhinos of Asia.

Sichuan Takin - Sometimes referred to as a goat antelope, they have short legs which supported by large, two-toed hooves. Horns are present in both sexes. Their long, shaggy coat is light in color with a dark stripe along the back. The color ranges for lighter yellow-gray in the Sichuan Province, reddish brown with grayish-yellow in the eastern Himalayas.

Goral - With horns that are short and conical and ears that are long and pointed, the Goral has a color variation ranging from pale grey to dark/reddish brown.

Snow Leopard - The fur of the Snow Leopard is woolly and long and offers protection from extreme cold. The long tail of the Snow Leopard helps it to keep balance as it moves over rugged and snowy terrain.

Amur Tiger - Formally known as the Siberian Tiger is one of the larges cats in the world. Amur Tiger's coat is a lighter orange than other sub-populations and becomes even more so in the winter.

Sloth Bear - Their primarily died is termites and ants, with a long lower lip and missing upper incisors, these bears can stretch their lips pass the outer edge of their noses giving them the ability to suck up large amounts of insects. Their coat is completely black with a white to yellowish V shaped mark on the chest.

Thanks for joining me on this trek through the Asian Highlands at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium! Brad

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