hello evryone....m a final year architecture student..and have taken up redesiging the sakkarbagh zoo, gujarat,india. i have been planning the different areas considering the climatic conditions..and have been facing problems due to stringent laws.m trying the mix exhibit concept to add some interest..as the "entertainment " factor is a comple "no-no" here.and educating the mass without entertainment/excitment is difficult the site is located in hot and dry area receiving minimum rainfall. wanted to have your suggestion/views on the following species for mix species exhibits: 1.crocodile /gharial 2.tortoise 3.hanuman langur/bonnet macque 4.rat snake/python/cobra/russel's viper 5.wild ass 7.swamp deer/thamin deer/sambar/chital/chinkara/nilgai 8.birds (combi of water birds within an open aviary) (NOTEpen aviary concept doesnt work practiaclly.plzz suggest some other options where the exhibit can be best viewed) waiting for ur posts..
First of all, i'm not a specialist. Just giving my thoughts but there's probably people with more brains here then me... Crocodile/Gharial... Considering the agression among crocs, specially when introduced into a new exhibit i'd estimate the Gharials would suffer. I highly doubt that would work, but considering Gharials are fish-specialist perhaps a mixed exhibit with cranes or stork (clipped) or an aviary would work? Perhaps some large catfish and turtle species would also work with underwater viewing. 2. Tortoise, what exactly would you like to combine with tortoises? These animals could be placed inside aviaries, or combined with small deer species (perhaps kantjil or muntjak?). Perhaps even mongooses would work? 3. Hanuman langur and bonnet macaque. I would say both rather agressive species that live on the ground. Perhaps an easier combination would be macaque's with Siamangs or other gibbon species in an area with large trees would be easier? 4. Rat snake/python/cobra/russel's viper. What are your considerations for the keepers? Does the zoo allready keep poisones snakes? If so, i've seen some curious snake combinations so some of them might actually work... Mind that the king cobra specialices on eating other snakes, so if you like your other snakes, i wouldn't mix them. I also think you'll need to combine a specialised ground-dwelling species with a specialised arboreal one, but you'll need to ask reptile specialist... 5. Wild ass. Most horses don't really combine well with others. I don't think i have seen Kiangs/Kulans or Somali-wild asses combined anywhere. Could be a tricky one... 7. The deer. Many zoo's combine them with relative ease, mostly nilgai and blackbuck in western zoo's. Only agression between males could be a problem, but if the exhibit is large enough i doubt it would be a problem. You could even consider mixing in some Banteng for good measure. 8. Many birds could be included in these aviary's, in your case i'd say perhaps smaller adjudant (aka milky stork, if i'm correct?), some marabou species, ibis and whatever happens to fly around there... Ways to construct the aviary would be either 1 large door that opens onto a viewing plateau (only way out would be the same door). You could also create a small raised walkway, between two doors. If you create an elevation you would easily keep the birds away from the visitors while still being able to let the visitors enter the aviary. You could also not let visitors in, and if you'd like you could entrench the visitor area and add small waders at eye-level. Most cost-effective would be raw timber (logs) put up straight and then netted... Like i said, listen to specialist and not me. But if there's anything in here for you to think about i haven't wasted my time
thanxx jwer....i have atleast startd thinking of combinations now!! u def havent wasted ur time...cud u plzz explain me or give me an exmaple of this! "entrench the visitor area and add small waders at eye-level. Most cost-effective would be raw timber (logs) put up straight and then netted... " i didnt understand entrenching..sorry i m still in the process of getting these terms correct. it was nice to have an indepth view abt this....i wud definately put up my sketches in few days.. wud b awaiting feedback from u guys!
Yeah figured that, i ment lowering the visitor area outside the aviary for about 60-80 CM so that the ground level of the aviary is higher then the ground level of the visitors. This would mean you could "look over the grass" inside the aviary, and see the smaller ground dwelling birds at eye-level. I haven't seen this done anywhere yet, so I can't give you example of that... About the construction "netted logs", this could be an example: Gaiapark_Kerkrade_walk-through_aviary - ZooChat Gallery Inside: http://www.zoochat.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2110 Taken at Gaiapark Zoo, Netherlands...
Impossible. Wild horses and asses can't be mixed. Two species of asses either as the males fight viciously. With Asses the male is sometimes difficult to keep even with females of the same species without injuring them.
Yeah i knew horses/asses can't be kept together. The big question is of course, can they be mixed with other species? I've never seen it done, as far as i remember. I also can't think of any species that would easily mix with them, without risking injury to either (ground dwelling creatures would perhaps create holes in which horses could injure themselves, while anything larger would perhaps be kicked by the male horse)
Sometimes it´s possible to mix wild horses or asses with other animals, but it depends a lot on concrete individuals, space provided and structure of herd. Example 1: Somali wild ass (mares + offspring), dromedary pair and a bachelor group of addax at Dvur Kralove zoo. Their enclosure is relative large (+1 acre) picture Example 2: wild horse mares mixed with kulan mares at Brno zoo. In a traditional rather small pen. (can´t find any pic right now) Example 3: bachelor group containing wild horses, kiangs and onager, mixed with wisents, mouflons, deer, highland cattle, aurochs, bactrian camels etc, at Zoopark Chomutov. Their enclosure is really huge: +50 acres. picture
i have got just wild ass and different species of deer in this zoo! in my case the whole site is just 169 acres and i need to plan to exhibit mammals (31 species) , birds (41 species) , reptiles (11 species) and small fishes (51 species/small water tanks (something like the underwater concept wont be a working plan as it needs large funding too..which isnt in this case)
Apart from animal combinations when designing new exhibits you also have to think about the educational aspect you would want to get across. A third in planning exhibits is animal, keeper and public safety. What is the Masterplan and collection plan for Sakkarbaug Zoo to be? What are the current conservation breeding goals (set in February 2008 by the CZA)? Collection wise: Wild ass, chinkara, Asiatic lion, gharials + ..... (what else)???? Well, if you would start on the wild ass/khur exhibit: I would never include camels-dromedaries. Too much aggression to be expected from the khurs. I would more or less advise you to stay with the overall theme of the Gujrat State and try to design a little Rann of Kutch area within the zoo. The only species that would be manageable would be chinkaras and blackbuck/nilgai. About availability of land: you mentioned 69 acres ... (is that the entire zoo area envisaged for redevelopment)? Please get back to us soonest!
Masterplan for the zoo as u can see the earlier old zoo in previous link.the extended part lies in the foothills of girnar hills ( part of gir national park). this extended part is under development....and outdoor open enclosures are been planned for the collection! the zoo serves as the gene pool for gir natonal park and caters to the veternary services. Collection plan they plan to acquire cheetah and few more exotic birds. Conservation/breeding program they have a record of succesfull breeding program for thamin deer and asiatic lions.vulture breeding program has already been started. proposed breeding program : wild ass and wolf
Mammals (31 species) lions,tigers (white and royal bengal),panther,wolf,hyena,himalayan bear,sloth bear,jackle,chinkara,four horned antelope,blue bull, white/black buck,samber,wild ass,porcupine,rabbit,guinea pig,indian fox,civet cat,jungle cat,reshes/bonnet macaque,hanuman langur spotted/hog/barking/swamp/thamin deer. reptiles (11 species) crocodile,tortoise,gharial,python,tricknet snake,cobra,russel's viper,saw scale viper,rat snake,chakered kill back, krait. birds (41 species) rose ring /blossam headed /indian red breasted parakeet peafowl /white peafowl budgergier,koyel,pen,kunj,grey leg goose,grater flamingo,painted stork,white ibis,love birds,nicobar igion,cocktailed,emu,bulbul paid,spoon bill,silver /golden/ ring necked phesant,domestic crane,red munia,jawa sparrow,seagull,crow,tree pie,comb duck,white/gray dovespoon bill, owl,eagle,white rumped/long billed/egyptian vlture,peregrine falcon. the following attachement shows the overall state scenario:
