35 years ago this year, Jack Hanna arrived at the small, outdated, and somewhat dilapidated Columbus Zoo as its new director. The young zookeeper teamed up with Columbus' Parks Chief Mel Dodge, setting out to transform the small park into the best zoo in the country. They succeeded.

This fall, the zoo is celebrating Jack's 35th "Hanna-versiary", and they managed to plus-up their already fabulous "Fall Fest", a one-weekend event celebrating early autumn. (Note: This is not their Halloween event, Boo! at the Zoo, will take place one two weekends later in October).

Upon entering the park, you are greeted with a plethora of carved pumpkins in large tents, as the pumpkin carving contest is a large part of the Fall Fest event.

After a quick stop at the petting zoo (one of my kids favorites)...

..We hopped on the CP Huntington train for a loop around North America.

We made our way over to Polar Frontier to visit the zoo's three polar bears.

Their underwater viewing tunnel is absolutely spectacular...

Fast forward through the rest of North America (as regular visitors, we don't typically photograph, or even visit, each exhibit on every trip)

After a quick lunch in the Congo River Market, we settled in to watch the zoo's famous gorillas for a bit.

Including a visit with the first gorilla born in captivity: Colo!

Bonobos were next..

And some Red River Hogs

Okapi..

Do these stripes make my butt look big?

A short jaunt over to Australia... To visit the Lorikeet aviary:

File photo, since I stayed with the stroller outside the aviary

And on to visit the 'Roos!

As naptime drew near, we had just a few things left to check off, leaving a large portion of the zoo unexplored for the day.

A ride on the 1914 Mangles Illions carousel is always required!

And onto the Pioneer Village, set up just for Fall Fest.

Music provided by the "Hastily Assembled Bluegrass Band."

Candle making demo:

Pottery:

And woodcarving:

Can't leave without saying "hi" to the manatees!

..and Flamingos!

And who could forget the largest elephant in North America?

Hi, Hank!

And on our way out the door, we had to stop a check out the tigers in Asia Quest. This is one of the cubs born last year... The zoo had a litter of 2 last spring, and a litter of 4 this spring! There are currently 9 tigers at the zoo.

The Columbus Zoo is great no matter when you visit, and I concur with the rest that say it's at least among the best, if not THE best, in the country. Their special seasonal events (Eggs, Paws, & Claws, Boo! at the Zoo, Wildlights, and Fall Fest) make a visit that much more fun.

Very nice PTR, thanks for sharing with us!