A lot of ideas for fantasy zoos primarily focus on the animals on members dream wishlists,but leave out the flora. So,a very basic question. If you could design your own zoo and select your own animal stocklist,within the realms of a dream zoo,aka no financial,breeding or space issues etc, what if you were able to pick your own trees,flowers,shrubs cacti etc ...for aesthetic landscaping, ...for animal enrichment, ...for flora associated with a geographic region to coincide with the similar regional fauna, .. ----what would be on your horticultural wishlist.? I have some ideas for aesthetics I will soon post here
Remember,as In animal wishlist,this is a fantasy zoo,so anything goes. Just a few idea examples. Indian Subcontinent zone: "Jewel in the Crown" (indoor biome or subtropical climate-set zoo) Periyar (Kerala): "Maharajah Trails" Aesthetics: ie landscaping/gardens --Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant Flame Tree (Delonix regia) Aesthietics and/or animal enclosure enrichment --Indian Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) & Sacred Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) - for Hanuman Langur/Sambar deer/Indian Peafowl/Nilgiri Langur/Great Hornbill - for visitor education (cultural,ecosystem role,religious status)/Leisure --Jamun or Java Black Plum (Syzygium cumini) - for native bird aviaries --Indian Coral tree (Erythrina variegate) - Aesthetic, hoofstock fodder --Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) - For Asian Elephant,Greater One-horned Rhino,Gaur,Sambar,even hiding places for Bengal Tiger --Mango (Mangifera) - for Visitor cultural education.For animal feed - non native Milkweed/Aesclepias flowers for butterflies?
These are a few Australian plants I like. Mainly for aesthetics, but the trees could be worked into exhibits. Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris) Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) Cabbage-tree Palm (Livistona australis) Sturt's Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa)
Good thread! I love big vines or creeping plants. They easily produce a jungly, exotic character in temperate zoos, but few zoos plant them.
They require more maintenance than trees or shrubs. I only use them in designs if I am confident that the facility will be able to manage them.
Have 2 agree on the jungle feel of vines. Philippine Violet (barleria cristata),or Bengal clockvine/trumpetvine (thunbergia grandiflora),Indian Redwing/Camp Seige (pterolobium hexapetalum) are examples of flowering vines
On the other hand, vines grow fast. A vine will grow in 1-3 years, but a newly planted tree will not achieve its proper size for decades. I think vines should be used much more in zoos, also for the common problem of zoo design - how to hide lots of walls and other structures. (Coming to think about it, most European zoos plant exactly the same plants as public parks and office buildings. I guess it is achievement that there are some plants at all).
There are a lot of zoos that are botanical gardens at same time. Cincinnati, Plzen, Jerez, etc... I would use plants of the next context: -Plants that are geographically according to the geographic animal section of the zoo. I love the Prague zoo Sichuan house with a Metasequoia in it! Probably these will be the main mass of vegetation in the zoo. -Plants that show special animal relations. A hummingbird aviary with Heliconias, and ant terrarium with ant plants (Hydnophytum), a bromeliad tank for poison dar frogs, an orchid mantis terrarium with blooming orchids, etc... -Conservation section about endangered and extinct in the wild plants. Think Brighamia insignis, ginkgo, Lotus berthelotii, or, given that this is a fantasy section, even impossible unrealistic things such as Nymphaea thermarum and Trochetiopsis erythroxylon...
Quite a few zoos have had to start cutting fruit from the diets of normally frugivorous animals such as spider monkeys, because the domestic fruit varieties available from supermarkets is too high in sugar to be healthy for the animals. I think it could be worthwhile for zoos to try and grow more wild species of fruiting plant, which produce fruits that may not be as appetising as human produce but would be healthier for the animals. It also helps that many of these trees are highly threatened in the wild such as the Niedzwetzky apple Malus niedzwetzkyana (Endangered) or Madagascar banana Ensete perrieri (Critically Endangered) - it would be helping the conservation of these plants and providing food for some of the zoo's animals.
Some specialist botanical collections,not necessarily zoological collections,have the skill and ability to plant full or semi grown trees in glass house such as the Eden Project during their construction,and its clear that when Marwell Zoo were designing their new tropical house they shipped in plants that were pretty well along in growth to flesh out,or more aptly,green out these buiildings,and enclosures. So theres no reason,to imagine in a fantasy zoo,zoos planting full trees if they had the logistics. Blimey,imagine trying to shift a sequoia!.Even in fantasy that would be a near impossible feat but one to imagine in this thread
So, heres another idea Africa Zone: East & Southern Africa - Bushveldt/Savannah scrub (indoor biome and/or exterior enclosures in a zoo set in a similar climate) "Karula's Kingdom" - Karula was a late leopard noted being shown on the SafariLive live web game drives Aesthietics and/or animal enclosure enrichment Magic Guarri (Euclea divinorum) - For mixed or single species veldt hoofstock or singly. - Impala,Greater Kudu,Southern or Rothschild's Giraffe,Common Duiker,Burchells Zebra,Selous Zebra (cr/end). Warthog - Also for cultural education/significance.It holds a high importance in several African cultures Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) - For mixed hoofstock. For African Elphant ,Southern White Rhino,Cape Buffalo,Olive or Chacma Baboon,Vervet Monkey,Leopard etc, - For cultural education/significance (don't get too drunk on the fruits!) Camelthorn (Vaschellia erioloba) - For Southern,Rothschild's Giraffe Buffalo Thorn (Ziziphus mucronata) - Possibly,for Cape Buffalo,African Lion,Dwarf Mongoose,Banded Mongoose,Warthog (the latter three due to the fact it sometimes grows on termite mounds,and sometimes these species make dens in disused mounds,ie plant them on artificial mounds) Aesthetics: ie landscaping/gardens Natal Bottlebrush (Greyi radlkoferi) Leadwood (Combretum imberbe) - Cultural significance
I have some botanical ideas for North American Prairies ('Home on the Range') and North American Mixed Forest ('Yellowstone Trails') eco zones. Whitebark Pine Quaking Aspen Engelmann Spruce Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir Lodgepole Pine Pacific Red Cedar,aka Giant Cedar White Oak Broadleaf Maple Incense Cedar ...perhaps the odd Sequioa Dotted Blazing Star Prairie Blazing Star Aromatic Aster Showy Goldenrod Common and Yellow Jewelweed Fireweed aka Rosebay Willowherb Mountain Honeysuckle Black-eyed Susan Nodding Beggar-tick Indian Paintbrush Wild Angelica Wild Lupine White Camas Mount Hood Pussypaw Yellowstone Sand Verbena Jack-in-the-Pulpit Pitcher plant Buffalo Grass Needle-and-Thread Little Bluestern
I wonder if giant water lily Victoria was ever grown in a pool with an underwater viewing and fish, maybe piranhas or cayman or giant otter? I saw several documentaries showing underwater giant lilies and underwater mats of papyrus (these in Africa, naturally). They are fascinating underwater 'landscape'. There are many 'iconic' tropical plants which I would like to see more often in tropical exhibits. There include pitcher plants Nepenthes, staghorn fern Platycerium, tree euphorbias and column cacti. I think also that zoo gardening may pay too little attention to bushes, bamboo, creeping plants and tall grasses. I feel the focus is on park-like management: big stately trees which have solid timber. But animal enclosures need the opposite: something which grows fast, spreads fast and grows back if broken or nibbled.
Two notes: Giant otters would completely trash Victoria amazonica if they got access to them Also, different zoos have different landscape styles and philosophies. At the Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, USA) you will find no "park-like management" and very little at Bronx Zoo or most North American facilities. If anything, bamboo is over-used in USA zoos!
Many zoo projects involve the planting (or moving) of some very large trees both indoors and out. If arriving from another location the main limiting factor is truck size and road limitations (low bridges, narrow windy roads, etc.). Indoor projects I have worked on regularly include trees up to 25' tall. San Diego Zoo moved a huge Ficus while building Monkey Trails 220-ton tree gets the old heave-ho
