Chlidonias and I were just joking (half-joking?) about how Omaha Zoo should replace live animals in some of the horridly small cages in the Desert Dome with animatronics like Gollum. Are there any zoos that incorporate animatronics into any of their permanent exhibits (as opposed to the traveling animatronic dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures that have probably visited most zoos in the world)? Some aquariums have animatronics, but I can't think of any zoos. The Denver Aquarium has an animatronic bald eagle and the Houston Downtown Aquarium has a cheapo animatronic great white shark Jaws rip-off. The Kelly Tarlton aquarium in New Zealand had an animatronic orca eating an animatronic seal until Sea Life took it over, based on zooboy28's recent review of the place.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has an animatronic koala in its Australian Adventure exhibit complex, but not in the Gumleaf Hideout (the small building that houses the real koalas); instead, it is in the middle of the Outback ranch house and is featured in a short presentation (it talks). Fort Worth Zoo's Texas Wild! exhibit complex has an exhibit hall called Texas Hall of Wonders; inside is a show called Wild Wild Weather Extravaganza which features video animations of a bird (roadrunner?) and coyote. I'm trying to recall if animatronic versions of the two characters also pop-up sometime during the show?
One of my very favourite movies. I don't remember seeing any animatronic animals at any zoos actually, saw a few dinosaurs, and heaps of models. There was an animatronic hippo at Universal Studios Singapore...
Living Coasts has an animatronic great white which is motion-activated, you walk into the "shark cage" and it opens its mouth a few times revealing rows of teeth.
In 1994 London Zoo mounted an exhibition called "Extinction". Alongside the usual suspect model T-Rex and Velociraptor, there was also a stuffed Falkland Islands Wolf, plus a range of animatronic extinct mammals of varying plausibility. The Glyptodon was dubbed by a volunteer friend of mine the mock turtle, the ground sloth bore a disconcerting resemblance to the Head Keeper of the Clore Pavilion, and at least one of the mammoths creaked audibly. Howevr, the least convincing by some margin was an alleged Smilodon. Of this a caustic and expert carnivore manager was heard to comment "If that's what they were like, I'm not surprised they became extinct".
Sorry for dragging up this old thread, but while looking around I did manage to find mention of a project that intends to exhibit an animatronic animal, possibly alongside living animals. A planned attraction on the Isle of Portland along the Jurassic Coast named 'Jurassica' will apparently feature a 'Jurassic aquarium' featuring creatures projected onto a holographic background, an animatronic ichthyosaur and, if the concept art is to be believed, small sharks that bear a resemblance to spiny dogfish (another concept artwork certainly mentions a shark and ray lagoon). It will also apparently feature the world's largest walk-through immersive prehistoric environment (I can't imagine there being much competition for that title) and major palaeontology and evolutionary science exhibits. The project patron is Sir David Attenborough, which may bring some credence to the idea. More information, including the concept artwork, is included here: mysite
Zoo Plzen had similar thing. Didn't see it, but if I understand well, there is a 3D screen with various prehistoric creatures projected on it. At the end one animal breaks 'the glass' and some water is sprayed on the public. A sort of very developed screen saver.
Thanks for bumping this - I hadn't seen it before. Buin Zoo in Chile has a somewhat frustrating elephant 'exhibit' marked on the map; the reality is that it's a single animatronic elephant opposite the main Savannah exhibit viewing area. It is accompanied by a sign which explains why the zoo doesn't keep live elephants.
Africa Alive! in Suffolk do something similar except it is a woven sculpture of elephants, which is a tad classier and nicer to look at... I think Edinburgh Zoo also have an elephant sculpture to offset the proboscid absence.
