Fennec fox exhibit

4 June, 2015

Is this a new enclosure?

Yes the enclosure was relocated to the old pygmy hippo enclosure in the African Waterhole. The path after this exhibit is blocked as part of the tiger exhibit construction.

I'm confused? It's a new enclosure, made from the old one that has been relocated?

And where exactly have they blocked off for Tiger works? Is the African Waterhole path now a dead end? Or can you go down past Tahr Mountain still?

I think they built a completely new enclosure (that had to integrate the old pygmy hippo accommodation) but in the exact same style as the old one. If you come from the chimps you can still view the barbary sheep, bongo, zebra, etc., it is just after this exhibit the path is blocked. You also can still go past down the tahr exhibit and view the meerkats, but in order to view the tigers you must detour past the snow leopard exhibit as the main path is now blocked (if that makes sense).

That largely makes sense, yes. So to get from the Meerkats to the Tigers you have to go down past the bird show?

They have updated the map (online) to show the new Fennec Fox exhibit, but not any of the closed trails, which is quite a big change. The closures are not mentioned on the website that I can see.

To get from the meerkats to the tigers you must go past the snow leopard exhibit. The lion exhibit has been cordoned off as part of the developments, and the man path between the old fennec fox exhibit and the old dhole exhibits is cordoned off for the demolition of those exhibits, meaning that you must pass the snow leopards if you are to view the tigers currently. Sorry if my explanations don't make sense!

Oh ok, yup, that all makes sense, sorry for the confusion!

I really feel like this is a missed opportunity for Taronga to make a nice, more open enclosure. Although it is a very practical enclosure, the mesh really detracts from the enclosure and makes hard to get good photos of the animals. I'd love to see a low-fenced pen with logs and plants to hide under, similar to what you'd expect to see a meerkat in. Even adding some viewing window to this enclosure would vastly improve visitors interest in the animals.

A new African savannah area, including fennec foxes, is planned so in that sense I don't mind that they haven't gone all out to create an immersion style exhibit.