Best enclosure / exhibit design for lesser known smaller mammals.

The Goeldi's Monkey exhibit at the Milwaukee County zoo
Primate Complex - Goeldi's Monkey Exhibit - ZooChat

 

Looks pretty lush, considering that its indoors.

 

Thanks for sharing @savetherhino !

Found this video on youtube of one of the occupants.






It is a nice enclosure indeed and looks like a lot of space is given for this species in this exhibit.



Looks quite naturalistic too and well planted in terms of foilage.



There seems to be plenty of climbing opportunities for the monkeys to in terms of those long tendrils, vines, branches and fake trees.

 

It's also a mixed species exhibit with Wattled Currassow. Unfortunately the enclosure is so big the monkeys are rarely seen.

Milwaukee has two separate groups of Goeldi's - one in this lush exhibit in Primates of the World and one in a series of tiny concrete cages in the Small Mammals building.

 

Bad from a visitors perspective I guess but not necessarily bad for the Goeldi's.

I really like that this monkey species is given so much space here as they usually tend to get far less than they deserve at most zoos.

I suppose this might be because they are in size somewhere between the other Callitrichids and larger monkey species of other families.

 

I have Not Seen it but i have Heard about the nocturnal House at Frankfurt Zoo. The have even linneaus Mouse Opossum, Slender loris and Tiger quoll.


I have visited the gondwanaland of Leipzig Zoo with kowari, pygmi loris and quoll.

 

Thank you for your comment @German Zoo World !

Those are some interesting species kept at Leipzig did you like about the enclosures in this Gondwanaland exhibit ?

 

Have to thank @twilighter for bringing this one up.

I've used the excellent photos of zoochatters @Maguari and @lintworm in this comment to highlight why I find these enclosures brilliant. I hope they don't mind my use of them to illustrate the points nor find it disrespectful.

Fishing cat enclosure at Tiergarten Nürnberg

I've never seen this enclosure except in the zoochat gallery and on a couple of youtube videos but it is probably the most impressive enclosure I've seen for a small cat species (even slightly better than those at Parc des Felins which take some beating).

When I first saw the pictures of the enclosure my jaw dropped at the space given to this small cat which is so unusual considering that at most zoos small felids play second fiddle to their larger relatives like tigers and lions in terms of enclosure design.


This is a large moated "bear pit" / "island enclosure" of the style / kind that were popular in zoos to use for ursids, big cats and primates from the mid- 20th century onwards. This is apparently a former spectacled bear enclosure that was repurposed for the current fishing cat occupants.

In my opinion it must have made a pretty mediocre enclosure for bears but is just such a better fit for the fishing cat in everyway. It actually really makes me wonder how many old big cat and bear enclosures at zoos could be reused effectively for small cats and whether other zoos would follow the progressive example that Nürnberg sets in this regard.

The enclosure is very well planted with terrestrial shrubs and aquatic reed plants and furnished with dead trees (artificial ones?) and fallen trees / logs which these cats can choose to hide amongst if they wish. Enrichment seems to be used in the enclosure with hanging scratch posts and feeding devices suspended from branches.

This must make seeing them a bit challenging sometimes for visitors but is brilliant for the occupants I imagine (for example, try to spot the fishing cat in the picture above).

The moat is evidently utilized well by the cats and according to some of the comments on the photo these aquatic felines even practice natural hunting behaviour and catch live fish. It must be excellent for their wellbeing.


All I can say is that these must be the happiest zoo fishing cats in the world.

 

So bats, rabbits, small primates, solenodons, rodents, small cats, so far.

Next I'll post a small marsupial enclosure / exhibit design that caught my eye.

 

The Aye-Aye habitat at the Cincinnati is pretty good, I remember seeing the aye-ayes here running around (two of them) with my relatives when we went here for a trip, it was surely an interesting animal to watch. This photo is from 2014, making it pretty old compared to the newer renovation of lights that came a year after this photo was taken, with red light, making it not bother the aye-ayes since red light cannot be seen by the animals in the enclosure.


Credit to @Moebelle for this picture, hope he doesn't mind me sharing it on another thread.

 

Lovely background paintings to the enclosure and climbing furnishings, I'll have to check out more about the aye-ayes of Cincinnati.

Thanks for sharing @CheeseChameleon2007 !

 

Not sure about the current state of them, last time I was there 2 were seen, I don't think any recent breeding has happened either.

 

Unlike this little guy who is 5 months old

 

I never thought there would be a day where I though Aye-Aye's were cute. . . . . . . . . .

 

I've always found them cute and endearing in a gothic sort of way just like I do with our buffy tufted "goth" monkeys with their Robert Smith of "The Cure" lookalike appearance.

 

I don't know, I Like Aye-Aye's a lot, and think their fascinating, but not cute. More Like a deranged beaver with crazy fingers.

 

Beauty and cuteness is a very subjective thing I guess.

For example, I don't really find baby chimpanzees or tigers cute.

 

Different people interpret different animals differently. For instance, I find Giant larvaceans beautiful, but other people just think their dumb blobs. I never used to find chimps or bonobos or tigers cute, but 2 experiences made me change my mind. Seeing a very cute 2 year old Baby bonobo at Cincinnati, running around with it carrying a cup in its mouth and getting really close to the visitors curiously. And, that same day at Cincinnati 1 week old baby tiger cubs were in the zoos nursery crawling around each other and sleeping with teddy bears.

 

I agree, interpretations of animals are seen very differently and subjectively according to each individual and across different cultures and it is very important to remember this for many reasons and particularly in conservation.

For example, to go with the aye-aye theme I may find an aye-aye (or indeed a fossa) to be an awe inspiring, cute and charismatic looking creature emblematic of the planets biodiversity and the strange pathways of evolution.

However, to a rural Malagasy person with a life experience that is deeply rooted in traditional "Fady" belief systems these animals may well be terrifying bloodthirsty demonic entities of the forest (indeed the forest itself may be feared) with powers of witchcraft.


Anyway, back to the topic of enclosures...

 

Well, I think everyone on zoochat can all say that Aye-Ayes are not demonic monsters. I am just particularly annoyed at all the people who think Aye-Ayes are bloodthirsty omans of evil, I just really wish people would find them fascinating and get to know them a little more before jumping to conclusions.
But yes, back to enclosures.