so i have noticed talk is low on the forum, well lol in my opinion, so a new tyread what exhibits are best, when looking at a species eg otters, out of all otter exhibits in the country u have seen what is best? personally after seeing tarongas, dubo, and melbournes, i think dubbos is best, great thematic exhibit, great size, meaning very active otters, having seen behind the scences i think its off exhibit holding is ok as well so what else (not elephants this has been discussed to much) so whta others are good when comparing species exhibits, at diff zoos?
Sjah, i could put down a load of european exhibit's here but i don't know if you lot would care a lot... Rio Negro in Duisburg where the (now only one) river dolphin lives is without a doubt the best animal/exhibit combi i have ever seen. Other extremely good exhibits that come to mind are the huge rockface in the middle of Prague zoo where they keep the goral's, thar's and maned goats which is splendid, and the Humboldt pinguin exhibit at Emmen Zoo (NL)is also extremely well done. Of the zoo's i've seen, these three really stick out though i could name a few more decent exhibits...
Zoos in other countries Actually , I am VERY interested in exhibits in zoos outside of Aust/NZ . They are just as valid as ours , and I am sure that all zoos can learn from one another . I have read of Carl Hagenbeck , and I believe that alot of German zoos were designed by him . There are some very good zoos in other countries besides what we normally talk about here
of all the regions urban zoos ive visited the best comparative exhibits i can make are... perth has the best giraffe/zebra exhibit perth the best lion, cheetah and hunting dog exhibits taronga the best gibbon and fishing cat exhibits melbourne the best gorilla exhibit. wins over taronga for horticulture and immersion and for mixing species. on the other hand, i think perth, melbourne and taronga orang exhibits are all equally good because they are all very different... taronga the best chimpanzee exhibit taronga the best bird aviary (wollemi) taronga the best snow leopard melbourne the best tree roo perth the best penguin exhibit (set within a coastal themed aviary) melbourne and taronga have equally good reptile collections
Some comments on Ape exhibits; I've visited zoos in many parts of the World, but I still think Taronga's Chimpanzee exhibit/enclosure is probably the best (for chimps) I've seen anywhere... Yet their Gorilla one is disappointing-probably because it wasn't designed for them in the first place. Melbourne's is definately better. Here in Uk there are several good modern gorilla exhibits(Bristol, Paignton, Port Lympne, and very soon now to open at London Zoo too) but none are really outstanding. Orangutans- Paignton has probably best UK Orangutan enclosure but despite a 'natural' island with a grove of tall trees, the animals hardly use it. Jersey has the best INDOOR housing for Orangutans- very high and spacious for climbing/swinging but the outdoor islands are fairly ordinary. Chester is to open a lavish new Orangutan 'habitat' this summer- they do very good enclosures nowadays so we're expecting something special there. Best Gorilla/primate exhibits I've seen are probably at Apenheul in Holland- this is a first class 'Primates-only' park with many state-of-the-art facilities. The Gorillas have an extremely large, wooded and moated island and the space is sufficient that the large group can really look as though its on the move, travelling from A to B through the forest...
I think Melbourne has a great mandrill exhibit. I have always spent at least an hour at that enclosure the few times I have visited Melbourne zoo. Bronx zoo has their mandrills in with red river hogs and De Brazzi monkeys it is great but I still like Melbournes. I wish Taronga had some, but i guess you can't have everything. Are Melbournes breeding? San francisco' s mandrills were in the worst exhibit I have seen. It was just a pit, a bit like the old tiger enclosures at Taronga where you use to look down at the animals. I have always enjoyed the old walk through avairy at Taronga as well. I know there are bigger and better avairies, but I just enjoy being in Tarongas.
taronga's gorilla exhibit taronga's gorilla exhibit was purpose built for gorillas, not any other species so idont know what was meant by that comment. boof, your dead right about taronga's rainforest aviary, its a stunner and i cant believe i forgot it. if you cant admire the birds, or the horticulture, you can admire the architecture...
I read somewhere on this Forum that the Gorilla exhibit was originally built for Giant Pandas. Maybe someone can clarify if that's correct or not? It certainly looks a bit like what you'd expect for a Panda exhibit. My two main criticisms of it as a Gorilla exhibit are; 1. It is rather too small for the size of the group- so they have denuded the grass cover etc. 2. The design means they can't get away far from the public if they want to, which can be stressful for gorillas. Otherwise its perfectly adequate- but not a world-beater!
Indeed it was. It was built for the pandas during their three month stay at Taronga. After that it held Maned Wolves for a while, and was then modified a little for the gorilla group. I think I have some photos of the exhibit with pandas in it - I'll see if I can dig them up.
omg zoopro i have searched for years to find pics of the pandas in there exhibit, plz do put them up, it would be great!!!!!!!!
the gorilla exhibit i can remember, as a kid seeing brazillian tapirs in there as well. but although the site of the gorilla exhibit is where the giant pandas were displayed, am i right in saying the exhibit was purpose built for gorillas? zoo rpo, you said the exhibit underwent modifications to change it from an exhibit for pandas to gorillas...those modifications cost a couple of million bucks didnt they? whats original in the exhibit from when the giant pandas were there? ive always understood the gorilla forest development was a new area??? bit confused, lol
as a kid i saw the pandas both at melbourne and sydney and interestingly the site of the melbourne gorilla rainforest was where the panda where housed also. i always pay out the taronga panda-turned-gorilla exhibit, but i genuinely think its mediochre at best for all the regions stated previously. its way too small, hagenbeck style and the gorilla have little privacy. though it was a very long time ago when i saw the pandas in there, i remember it being pretty much exactly the same in the outdoor area at least..
gorilla exhibit taronga's topography, as anyone whose ever visited could appreciate, is really steep and this lends itself to only a few exhibit styles. the 'open-fronted grotto' is one of the more popular-kodiak bears, chimps, gorilla-for south facing exhibits. so given the nature of the site the exhibit design is probably what works best, for both pandas and gorillas. im curious now but-what exactly did taronga do to change the exhibit. i have the doco of the making of the gorilla exhibit, and i always thought they pretty much started from scratch and just utilised the existing moat? help us out zoo pro.
No harm in grottoe style exhibits, if that's what the topography lends itself too, as in Taronga's case. Patrick is right tho' that the Panda/Gorilla exhibit is 'way too small' (and narrow) for the size of the group. When I visited some years ago I couldn't understand why the Chimpanzee exhibit is a world-class one, probably the best I've seen anywhere, yet the Gorillas' definately isn't.(was it cost?)
i still think the exhibit should be nmoved on to the hillside next to the chimps (CURRENT OSTRICH EXHIBITZ) and then down the hill behind the red pandas. very big exhibit, viewing from withion the exhibit it self as a sorta encloused baorad walk, looking down the hill. and incorp the other species as well. then the orangs maybe into the gorillas exhibit, or just totally restart it!
hey that way my idea! but i reckon that would work best . what is currently the back of the gorilla exhibit (a cliff i suppose) could now become a point at which you can view the orangs, as if teh exhibit was fitted out with climbing poles etc, visitors standing up there would now be a tree height. of course it would also better consolodate the asian rainforest area and the afican rainforest areas (if they did indeed build a new, better larger, gorilla exhibit where zooboy suggested).. in my opinion a new orang exhibit (which is eventually going to be on the cards is roughly the same as a new gorilla one) the current gorilla exhibit. i'm assuming the current gorilla night den section would be easily modified top suit orangs if it isn't already suited. anyway, think i've said all this before! and ist still a bloody shame thay haven't rendered those chimp brick walls!!!
i reackon it will be done when africa is u[dated, and it will ahve african face mask sorta things on it. yea pat, but i think 2 views of that exhibit, 1 yes at eye level with orangs, then on the current path, and inc;lude ground dwellers, such as maybe tapir, or another group of otters, even small deer, making use of the whole space. then a huge online, 2 a second exhibit, this time below the new elephants, if ya look at that document, it just drops off under it, and could easliy be done as a new exhibit, but as a 'pit' (used as a loose phrase) like perths orang exhibits, that would enable very high poles to be incorperated up to the elephants level!
Patrick, i think your idea for the orangs going into the gorilla exhibit with viewing from the top path is great. I think your idea of moving the gorillas to near the chimps is pretty good to, Zoo_Boy.
As a baseline, Orangutans don't need anything like as much area/floorspace as Gorillas or Chimps as they are far less active on the ground. HEIGHT and climbing equipment is the main requirement though these apes do often seem reluctant to climb much in captivity. Few zoos seem to hold the key to exhibiting them in a really satisfactory way. Taronga's Gorilla exhibit would be perfectly large enough to house the Orangutans, all it would need is more upward development e.g. a roof?
thats right, and i reackon as i said before untilze the bottom for other species, and yes definatally, needs a roof, i would say that area would be very well exposed to sea winds, especially if they extend up for orangs to climb. maybe the front o the exhibit could be closed in, and new viewing created at top. this sounds like a zoobeat project, how about we design what exhibits we would like for taronga's gorrilas and orangs. we dotn have to send them to taronga, but we could just do it for ourselves, from a visitors point of view, and for those like zoopro who has worked in zoos for ,many yrs, could ad a zoo persons (may be keeper operations?) perspecive. what do yas think?
