@NZ Jeremy: thanks for posting the link to the Jon Coe design website. I've been to that site before, and am lucky enough to be 2.5 hours away from the location of many of that company's exhibits: Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. So you are definitely going to quit the police force and design aquariums? You're certainly a huge fan of them, and really should take a trip to the U.S. west coast to see the Vancouver, Seattle, Newport, Monterey Bay and San Diego aquariums.
Most likely, I’ve de facto quit already, I do still have the option of returning… If I do end up doing what I want it won’t be for a while though, all up to get to the qualification level where you can design large public aquaria it will take 4 – 5 or even 6 years..! I can leave with an associate qualification after 2 and work for one of the NZ companies implementing others designs… Ha ha, way ahead of you I’ve been planning this for a while: San Diego: SDZ SDWAP Scripps Aquarium ↓ LA: LA Zoo Santa Barbara Zoo The two LA aquariums (whose names escape at the moment) ↓ Sacramento: Sacramento Zoo ↓ Monterey Bay: Monterey Bay Aquarium ↓ San Fran: SF Zoo SF Aquarium ↓ Newport: Oregon Aquarium Portland Zoo..? ↓ Seattle: Woodland Park Zoo Seattle Aquarium ↓ Vancouver: Vancouver Zoo Vancouver Aquarium Hadly a dud among that list..! Might have to wait till I’m not on student wages anymore…
Right now the walk-thru houses Green Iguanas, Common Marmosets, Red-footed Tortoises and Box Tortoises. In the past, the walk-thru has held species like Reticulated Pythons (small ones), Amethystine Pythons, Whip Snakes, Rat Snakes, Mangrove Snakes, Matamata, Water Dragons, etc. Not all at once though. Some combinations failed spectacularly - I once witnessed one of the Rat Snakes trying to swallow a Whip Snake alive! The Whip Snake managed to escape. 2 major problems with the snakes; One, outrightly silly people would try to touch them despite numerous warning signs, some dimwits even stepped on the snakes! 2nd problem was theft, visitors could steal the smaller snakes and hide them in bags. Many of the snakes placed in the walk-thru were accustomed to handling so were easy targets for thieves.
Thank you Zooish. That was what I wanted to know. With regard to thefts - maybe adult retics would have solved the problem? Once we observed a lady, who was obviously scared of snakes, being bullied by her husband to walk through the display. In those days there were young retics and mangrove snakes in there. The lady finally dashed in one door and out the other to satisfy her husband. However, about an hour later, she returned and [after reading a sign that said there were 18, or whatever, snakes in the display] eventually plucked up the courage to walk through, counting as she went. As she emerged at the other end I heard her exclaim to her husband - 18 be blowed, I counted about 30!
@NZ Jeremy: I agree with Pat in terms of San Diego Seaworld. Sure there are noisy rollercoasters, but there is also an amazing diversity of wildlife. The Greater Vancouver Zoo is a huge disappointment, so you could easily give that one a miss, and the Denver Zoo is much too far inland for a visit from the coast. Overall though your planned trip would be terrific...although expensive from New Zealand!
I forgot about San Diego Sea World... There are so many zoos in America that are 'unmissable' but unless retired it will be hard to see them all in one trip methinks... @snowleopard: it would cost about $10,000+ NZD so probably won't happen till after Uni...
Adult retics would have posed a bigger safety issue though. As accustomed to handling as they are, they would still bite if handled incorrectly and it would cause quite a bit of damage. I think the best way to do it is 100% supervision by zoo staff at all times as you mentioned.
Haha, yeah kinda figured that. On the day the walk-thru exhibit opened, there was an adult red-tailed boa (about a metre-and-half long) in there! The VIP officiating the opening draped it onto a branch and the snake stayed in the exhibit for the day.
Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest gets my vote: Congo Gorilla Home Page Just a phenomenal exhibit-- by far one of the best in the world, with a very large number of lowland gorillas (ISIS inventories 20). Last time I was there, I photographed 5 tiny gorilla infants clinging to mother/riding on mother's back, in addition to numerous toddlers and juveniles wrestling and chasing one another. The rough-housing never seemed to end. Other species in the Congo Gorilla Forest: Congo peacock (great place to see them very close), Wolf's guenon, De Brazza's guenon, okapi, red river hog, mandrill, b&w colobus, green wood hoopoe... And right outside the CGF is a wonderful African wild dog exhibit-- with a huge pack of the dogs all interacting, chasing, etc. The Bronx Zoo is an exceptionally beautiful zoo, as the land was purchased in the late 19th century and the old trees still grace the premises everywhere, making much of the zoo look like an old growth deciduous forest. And yet, the hard core world of the urban Bronx is just beyond the zoo gates. It is quite a shock to ride the freeway from Manhattan past miles and miles of rough-looking tenements, only to find yourself suddenly immersed in the zoo's climax forest of oaks and beech, with migrants singing in the canopy and bison grazing in a pasture as you enter. The Bronx is deserving of its reputation as one of the world's great zoos.
