Create A Free-Range Hall/Dome challenge

The Highest Ground

This large dome, named because the Himalayas contain the world's highest mountain, will contain an assortment of species from its slopes. The first portion of the dome is a walk-through aviary with small birds and mammals. Birds present include, but are not limited to, Satyr and Blyth's tragopans, Kashmir flycatcher, ashy-throated warbler, blood pheasant, Tibetan snowcock, Himalayan monal and snow pigeon. Mammals such as Himalayan pika, orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel, hispid hare, woolly hare, Tibetan dwarf hamster and Turkestan rat, also occupy the rugged slopeside and flat plateau of the area. Just outside the walk-through area is a terrarium for Etruscan shrew. Still within the dome, the next few habitats are for the bovids of the area: markhor, bharal, Himalayan tahr and Himalayan serow. Nearby is a small streamside enclosure for Asian small-clawed otters, which inhabit the foothills of the mountain range. Various netted enclosures, many of them being large in size, hold carnivores of the region such as Pallas' cat, Himalayan vulture and Tibetan fox. Another similar enclosure for Nepal grey langur sits nearby. Last up are very large enclosures for the larger carnivores of the region. Himalayan brown bears, Asiatic black bears and snow leopards rotate between three mountainous habitats.

I'm up for another challenge.

 

Great exhibit. Your next challenge is the forests of Eastern North America, nocturnal.

 

Sorry for the long wait, but I had to think about this one for a bit. I’m all finished now and I’m fairly pleased with what I came up with. What does everyone else think of this...

Nocturnal Indonesian Rainforest Hall

Part of a large Indonesian-themed exhibit complex, this room is a large hallway where the lights are turned off during operation hours, allowing the nocturnal residents to be more active. Guests walk along a boardwalk that’s slightly elevated over the ground, which is covered in natural substrate. The free-roaming animals in this habitat include Malayan Porcupines (Hystrix brachyura), Large Flying Foxes (Pteropus vampyrus), Greater Malay Chevrotains (Tragulus napu), Common Treeshrews (Tupaia glis), and Greater Short-Nosed Fruit Bats (Cynopterus sphinx). Along the path are exhibits that house animals that do not have access to the main room due to the possibilities of conflict (such as predation). These include Binturongs (Arctictis binturong), Banded Palm Civets (Hemigalus derbyanus), Borneo Blood Pythons (Python breitensteini), Pygmy Slow Lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus), Giant Gouramis (Osphromenus notatus), Smallscale Archerfish (Toxotes microlepis), Asian Arowanas (Scleropages formosus), Giant Freshwater Stingrays (Urogymnus polylepis), and Earless Monitor Lizards (Lanthanotus borneensis).

 

While this exhibit is certainly magnificent, the only change I would make is that the roadrunners should be given their own exhibit. Roadrunners are hypercarnivorous and often prey on other birds.

 

Agreed. Great exhibit, nice choice of animals and I like the addition of fish. Realized I've been handing out way too many North American biomes so your next one, if you want one, is the rainforests of Australia, your choice of nocturnal or diurnal.

 

An Australian rainforest dome? I can certainly make this work:

Daintree Trail

This large rainforest dome is meant to simulate the Daintree Rainforest of northern Australia. Like it’s real life counterpart, guests follow a waterway from start to finish, which mimics the Daintree River that flows through the jungle. The path that patrons take also sometimes crosses over the wide stream, but it mostly runs along its side. This indoor jungle is also filled with plants native to the Daintree region, providing another layer of immersion and attention to accuracy. Like most indoor rainforest exhibit complexes, this one features plenty of free-ranging animals including Little-Red Flying Foxes (Pteropus scapulatus), Agile Wallabies (Macropus agilis), Victoria Crowned Pigeons (Goura victoria), Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata), Black Swans (Cygnus atratus), Australian Brushturkeys (Alectura lathami), Superb Fruit Doves (Ptilinopus superbus), Australian Swamphens (Porphyrio melanotus), Australian White Ibises (Threskiornis molucca), Royal Spoonbills (Platalea regia), Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), Eclectus Parrots (Eclectus roratus), Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae), Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), and Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus). Similarly, the "river" that the guests follow contains separated exhibits for Australian Water Dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), Crimson-Spotted Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia duboulayi), Pig-Nosed Turtles (Carettochelys insculpta), Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), and Eastern Long-Necked Turtles (Chelodina longicollis). The first exhibit guests see that lacks free-range animals is a large flight cage made to resemble an Australian billabong, the residents of this exhibit include Brolgas (Antigone rubicunda), Black-Necked Storks (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus), and Laughing Kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae), which also have a smaller aviary that’s connected to the main enclosure so that the "bushman's alarm clocks" can have some time away from the larger birds. Next is a wide, muddy beach with underwater viewing in the front for Freshwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni). The next enclosure is a large and tall forested habitat for Palm Cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus), Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroos (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), Boyd's Forest Dragons (Lophosaurus boydii), and Spectacled Flying Foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus). After taking in the bulk of the main space, you come across a cavern that houses nocturnal residents of the jungle (some of the more approachable ones share the same habitat) such as Short-Beaked Echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), Tiger Quolls (Dasyurus maculata), Northern Brown Bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus), Striped Possums (Dactylopsila trivirgata), Tawny Frogmouths (Podargus strigoides), Carpet Pythons (Morelia spilota), Common Death Adders (Acanthopis antarcticus), and the ever-popular Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) that waits at the end. After you leave the cave and head back on the main path, there’s two more enclosures left to see. The first one is the second largest in the building, containing an icon of the Daintree; the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), which lives in a large paddock that (while inaccessible to guests) is open-topped so that free-flying birds can access the home of their distant flightless relative. Finally, the last exhibit in the Daintree is a massive cove with plenty of water (including a waterfall that flows into the pool from a cliff), sand, mud, grass, and even indoor accommodations to escape from the sun (the cassowaries also have indoor viewing areas in the same room). What lives in this large exhibit is another common (yet deadly) sight in northeastern Australia; the infamous Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Daily keeper chats are held for the cassowaries, crocodiles (both species), platypodes, and brolgas in this building.

 

Nice exhibit! Should you choose to accept it your next biome is the shores of the Hawaiian islands, diurnal.

 

Cannot believe I said I wouldn't hand out North American biomes and then did another one. How about the Siberian/Russian taiga, diurnal?

 

May I have one?

 

Definitely, yours is the forests of England and France, nocturnal.

 

Sounds good! The Hawaiian Archipelago has a lot of species that (as far as we know) don’t fare well in captivity, so I think this is a good substitute.

Territory of the Tiger

Before you walk into the main building, you’re greeted with a large, densely-forested pasture that houses Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus), Siberian Cranes (Leucogeranus leucogeranus). As you go inside (the entrance themed like a cave), you’ll be able to view the hoofstock and birds from inside. Further through the cave, you’ll find other similar viewing areas for two large outdoor habitats each containing a large cat; one was built for Amur Tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) while the other was made for Amur Leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis). The last exhibit in this cave is a large tank for Siberian Sturgeons (Acipenser baerii). As you step into the dome, you’ll notice free-flying Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus), Emperor Geese (Anser canagica), King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis), Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima), Common Murres (Uria aalge), Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata), Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), and Rock Ptarmigans (Lagopus muta). Also in this dome is a large exhibit with several vantage points for guests to view Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris). Before the guests exit the dome, they circle back around to another cave that gives a look at an outdoor habitat for Wolverines (Gulo gulo). Finally, the taiga/coastlines of the Russian Far East ends with the remaining outdoor viewing space of the wolverines, tigers, and leopards.

 

I like it! Your next challenge is the Sahara and Namib deserts of Africa, nocturnal.

 

Kenyan Kreatures
This is a geodesic dome that is part aviary, part small animal house, and part giraffe house featuring wildlife from the African country of Kenya.

Right off the bat, the following birds are free roaming: helmeted guinea fowl, trumpeter hornbills, and . Other exhibits strewn about the exhibit are home to African bullfrog, aardvarks, honey badgers, and a mix of common warthog and dwarf mongooses. The guinea fowl have their own exhibit where they can go to get away. Strewn about are branches for the birds.

Now for the giraffe zone. A small herd of giraffes has access to a two-acre dayroom. Their night stalls are open to it at all times. The giraffes have access to an outdoor yard. Separating the giraffes from the people is a water feature that is home to waterfowl. Birds include yellow-billed ducks, Egyptian geese, cape teals, fulvous whistling ducks, African pygmy geese, white-faced whistling ducks, and cattle egrets. The ducks also have access to a land area way from the giraffes. They can also go into the giraffe yard if they want.

 

Nice, I like it a lot! Your next biome is the forests of China, diurnal.

 

Chinese Deer Park
This 1.5 acre free-flight aviary is home to mallards, Mandarin ducks, tufted ducks, lesser whistling ducks, Alexandrine parakeets, red junglefowl, silver pheasants, and Himalayan monal. Also in the enclosure are 1.1 Siberian tufted deer.

 

A walkthrough desert, hmm...

Expedition Namibia

This is a relatively small exhibit that’s part of an overall larger nocturnal house. Themed after the Namib Desert, guests can enter a room with free ranging Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer), and Aardwolves (Proteles cristata), which are always accompanied by a keeper who can educate the guests about these normally shy insectivores' wild behaviors and how they’re cared for in captivity. Warning, your shoes might get dirty when stepping inside and the exhibit isn’t always open for the public to enter (designated times of the day are when you can step inside their habitat).

 

Can I have one?

 

Outside the dome is a large enclosure for Andean condors. Inside the dome, the following animals roam freely: pudus, lesser rheas, guanacos, Chilean flamingoes, Inca terns, spectacled ducks, horned coots, Chiloe wigeons, Puna teals, and Magellanic plovers. In another area, there is an exhibit designed to model a rocky coast, displaying king penguins, Gentoo penguins, Humboldt penguins, northern rockhopper penguins, and more Inca terns. Finally, there is a small exhibit hall containing the following in separate exhibits: nine-banded armadillo, Linne's two-toed sloth, giant anteaters, guinea pigs, long-tailed chinchillas, lowland pacas, and bush dogs.

I know these are not all native to the coastlines but I think they would be cool add-ons to the exhibit.

 

Great little exhibit. Your next biome is the Mongolian steppe/Gobi Desert, diurnal.

Nice! It's simple but it works well with these species. How about you take on the eucalyptus forests of Australia, diurnal?

You sure can! Let's see your take on a diurnal African rainforest hall.

 

Once you walk inside, you are met with a vast array of African jungle plants such as cacao, giant water lilies, rubber trees, orchids, bromeliads, and banana trees. The dome has a large assortment of larger animals with indoor and outdoor exhibits on the outer edge of the dome, along with smaller exhibits for smaller animals on the inside. This tour takes you in order of the path.

INDOOR/OUTDOOR EXHIBITS

1. Abyssinian ground hornbills and lesser kudu
2. Western lowland gorillas
3. Pygmy hippopotamuses
4. Saddle-billed storks
5. Allen's swamp monkeys and red river hogs
6. Blue cranes
7. African leopard
8. An okapi and some yellow-backed duiker
9. Eastern bongo
10. Bonobos
11. Marabou storks
12. Hippopotamuses with some zebra tilapia
13. Eastern black-and-white colobuses
14. De Brazza's monkeys

INDOOR EXHIBITS

1. Aldabra tortoises, red-ruffed lemurs, and ring-tailed lemurs
2. Tree pangolins
3. Lesser flamingoes and pink-backed pelicans
4. Nile crocodiles
5. African jacanas and hamerkops
6. Spot-nosed guenon
7. Crested coua

OTHER

1. The chimpanzee exhibit has plastic-enclosed section crossing through the dome midair, about 25 feet high, filled with branches and other enrichment.