Mr Gharial's zoo design

After working on the Burgers' Zoo project for quite a while now, I decided to start a thread for my smaller projects.

Coming up first is Wetlands park Europe: A large zoo set in the East of the Netherlands that showcases the swamps and wetlands of the world.

Later, I will also translate some of the zoo projects I made in some Dutch forums earlier this year, and also alter and possibly even finish some of the mini-projects I started in the background or in the BZ project thread.

Now before I start I do ever so humbly ask all on-lookers to respond. I know it sounds odd, but I really do love hearing what people think of my designs, and which parts of it are good or less good.

Without any further ado, I introduce you to Wetlands Park Europe!

 

--- Wetlands park Europe ---

Wetlands Park will be a very large fantasy zoo set in the East of the Netherlands (near the border of Overijssel and Gelderland, which is currently a bit of a deadzone for zoos in the Netherlands). The park will be set in a great artificial wetland, which will be dug out for the creation of the park. Not only to showcase the wonderful swamp-dwelling animals of the world, but also to provide a sanctuary for wetland-dwelling birds in the Netherlands. For a while these birds have been threatened because of the decline of Wetland habitats in Western Europe. Agriculture has slowly been getting more kind to these birds in recent years, and new wildlife parks were opened for the migratory birds that nest in the Netherlands, but more can certainly be done. Wetlands Park will open in the triangle created by Enschede, Doetichem and Zwolle, where a great agricultural desert lies. An alternative spot for the zoo would be between Utrecht, 's-Hertogenbosch and Rotterdam, another deadzone for zoos and nature.

The park will include three main regions:

- The Netted Garden:
Heavily inspired by the new Bird Paradise park in Singapore.
A colossal aviary complex (Aviary complex? I find it quite simple, actually) devided into seven region-based aviaries designed after some of the most famous Wetlands of the world:
- The Dutch polders and wetlands ("The Meadow")
- The Donau/Danube delta in Romania ("The Delta")
- The lakes and wetlands of the African Rift area ("The Savanna")
- The rice paddies and rivers of China ("The Oriental Garden")
- The frozen wetlands of Siberia ("The Tundra")
- The Pantanal wetlands in South America ("The Swamp")
- The swampy forests of Victoria region Australia ("The Fern Forest")

- The Wetlands house
a large aquarium building showcasing multiple freshwater aquariums and larger tropical exhibits

- The Boardwalk
The largest part of the zoo, consisting of a long boardwalk going over outdoor wetlands with exhibits with multiple larger wetlands animals. Loosely based around Beekse Bergen's idea of long stretches of path over savanna habitats, interrupted by denser areas with smaller enclosures.


The Netted Garden is the most intricate region of the zoo, having the most species density and the most detailed landscape. So we'll start with that.

A more detailed description of the Netted gardens:

The netted gardens are a collection of large aviaries showcasing the world’s wetlands and aquatic habitats. The netted gardens are separated into seven different regions, which all include one animal central to the region. The gardens have short but sweet Dutch names (translations included):

- Het Weiland (The Meadow) is the local part of the gardens. It showcases the fields, wetlands and beaches of the Netherlands. Includes a large collection of European waterbirds and a Dutch polder style. The European spoonbill is our main animal here

- De Delta (The Delta) is the Mediterranean / Balkan part of the gardens. It showcases the great delta of the Danube/Donau river into the Black sea. Includes various ducks and storks and a rocky bushland style with a large lake. The Dalmatian pelican is our main animal here

- De Toendra (The Tundra) is the Siberian part of the gardens. It showcases the tall grass fields and frozen swamps of Northermost Russia. Includes ducks, grouses and kestrels and a more barren landscape. The Siberian crane is our main animal here

- De Siertuin (The Oriental Garden) is the East Asian part of the gardens. It showcases the gardens and rice fields of China, Korea and Japan. It is the most complex of the aviaries and includes many songbirds, a large temple, a small village, a flowing river, a walled garden and a forest region with Gorals. The Red-crowned crane is our main animal here

- Het Varenwoud (The fern forest) is the South Australian part of the gardens. It showcases the humid forests and swamps of Victoria. Includes many ducks, cranes and a dense forest style. The Swamp wallaby is our main animal here

- De Savanne (The Savanna) is the East African part of the gardens. It showcases the wetlands of the African rift lakes. It is the largest of the gardens and include a small African village, a Large Safari enclosure, a monkey walkthrough island, a bushland area, a huge colony of flamingos, and an open savanna style. The Saddlebill stork is our main animal here

- Het Moeras (The Swamp) is the South American part of the gardens. It showcases the Pantanal region of Brazil and Paraguay. Includes many macaws, capybaras, and a large boardwalk path. The Capybara is our main animal here

Here's the layout of the netted garden, with the waterways and raised areas roughly shown. The black arrows on the map show where the passages in the aviaries are. Het Moeras and Het Varenwoud are the only ones not included into a route. The other aviaries forming routes that match up geographically.



Here's a rough size estimate for the aviaries:



As you can see, the aviaries are colossal. This is to make absolutely sure there is enough space for all the different bird species, as there are an average of over 30 free-roaming species in every garden. Not to mention separated enclosures within the aviaries. On top of this, the gardens will hold quite a few endangered species, and rare animals that will have to be imported from outside the continent, so successful breeding is very important here.

This concludes the main description of the zoo and the netted gardens. I'm going to be typing out our first garden slowly. The first garden to be finished in design is "De Siertuin", our east Asian aviary. I hope to have this one out by tomorrow.

I'll see you all then!

 

This already looks amazing and I can’t wait to see what comes of this zoo! Keep up the good work!

 

If you think this looks good, you won't believe the Oriental garden. I think it's my best work so far, both in terms of design and in semi-realism. It's probably also my most intricate design yet, having about 6 pages of design plus 10 (!) pages of animal pictures, again showcasing the species density.

 

What kind of African monkey would you use for your Savanna Area?

 

Let's get us started with the most intricate of the netted gardens: De Siertuin

De Siertuin, AKA the Oriental Garden, is the second largest of the netted gardens. The garden is based around a few different things:

- The Beautiful gardens with small streams and koi ponds found in East Asia. With animals so beautiful that they almost seem created for the emperor himself. With Mandarin ducks, Spotted doves and Reeves's pheasants seemingly gilded for the gardens.
- The intricate rice fields covering the hills of Southern China, created for farming but used by egrets and ibises alike for foraging for small water beetles.
- The beautiful and endangered red-crowned crane. A symbol of beauty and longevity, having a near-mythological status everywhere they occur.

These concepts come together to create the design for the Oriental Garden:

(I will show this image again a few times during the walkthrough, so you don't have to scroll back up constantly )


You enter at the bottom of the map, where two large platforms allow visitors to pick between the two main areas. A small stream from the garden flows under a bridge into the main river.

To the left is the actual Oriental garden. Here, you can step down from the platform and walk through the winding paths that flow through the small bushes, willow trees, topiaries and bonsais. Along with these, there are also oriental stones and miniature ghost temples, with a large lake for koi carps in the middle.
Despite this part of the garden being the most intricately designed, it's also the region I designed the least. I didn't draw in all the small bushes because the whole garden would be specifically designed after real Japanese gardens. Wetlands park will have good relationships with Japan, and it will take a special design team to decorate this area of the aviary.

In the middle of the lake there is a small island with a central gazebo and stepping stones to get to the island. (Number four)

All the way in the back of the garden is a small, separated area. You can get here through three doors. Two of the doors lead to a small, roofed platform floating above the water. The other leads to a small outside area with a small wall separating the visitor area from the water area. There is another gazebo in the middle, making for a second viewing platform into the water. The whole garden is walled off from the rest of the garden, and netted over to prevent birds from getting in. This garden is home to a pair of Chinese alligators, as well as some fish and Japanese pond turtles. (number 3)

The actual garden part of the Oriental garden, with its intricate design and smaller shrubs and trees, as well as still water, will hopefully be the home for the many smaller passerines, miniature ground birds as well as the Falcated and Mandarin ducks. The shrubs above the water will also be good nesting places for the egrets and herons of the aviary.

Through a small, rounded gate, you can enter to the central village square immediately from the garden. However, for the sake of seeing everything, we will return to the aviary's entrance before we continue.

When standing on the raised platform, we can also walk to the right, to get our first view of the rice paddies, and the marshy area of the river that lies at the bottom.

You can see on the map that a small area here has been lined out in red. Hidden in the water is a small fence separating this marsh from the rest of the river, because this area is home to a small group of Chinese Water Deer. (Number 5)

Beneath the platforms there are stables hidden from the visitors which act as the indoor holding for the deer. A large weeping willow stands on the island in the middle of the river. This area is the most shallow the river gets, to allow the deer to walk through it with relative ease.

Past a small guard hut you can pass over the bridge and on to a large wall, where you can just about see the roof of a temple peaking above. A tall rounded gate leads you into the village.



Instantly to the left you are greeted by a great temple. Instead of the usual dragon or lion statues, two large, stone salamanders stand at the entrance. We will return to the temple later...

The village is separated into four areas. With little houses that serve no purpose and walls that block nothing, this is mainly done to create the illusion that the town is larger than it is, as well as to encourage guests to walk around and get a little lost in the process.

First there's the riverbank houses, between B and C. Here you can get a good view of the rice paddies on the other side of the great river. Next to house B, there is also another small separated enclosure. This small aviary is designed with rocks and small bushes and houses Père David rock squirrels. These can also be seen in their indoor enclosure, which is inside house B, which is heavily sloped for secret reasons we'll get into later...
House C has windows on both sides that are visible from the path. If you're lucky you might see some animals poking their head up here, again, something we'll see more of later...

On the other side of House C, is a slope that leads down to the river. Here is a small plaza with underwater viewing into the river, where multiple different fish swim, including sturgeons and carp. There also seems to be a tunnel leading out here, wonder what that's about...

Our next section of the village is near houses E and F. Once again we can see two small separated enclosures. The smaller one is home to Japanese Silkie chickens, and is has a slightly barren design. A small climbing structure for the chickens but not much else, as you would expect for a chicken coop. On the other side, however, is a larger aviary, with again a foresty interior. This aviary holds Brown eared pheasants and Azure-winged magpies.

House F also has the indoor holding for both these aviaries, where the magpies are allowed to go to both sides if they want to (though I expect them to stay mostly in the larger aviary).

House E greets you with a large window. This is the indoor enclosure for the Chinese alligators, and also their home when temperatures get too low for them to be outside. The enclosure is sandy with only a smaller water pool, this is to allow for them to hibernate for the time they are here. When the alligators are hibernating during the winter, the doors to their outdoor garden will be removed, to allow the birds to go in if they please. The netting on top remains, though. As we don't want them to get too comfortable in here, the gators will return in May, after all...

Finally there is the village square, with a koi pond in the middle and a good view of the temple. The koi pond also has two small islands, surrounded by reeds and lilies. The small house D hides the filtration for the pond. Speaking of hiding things: the un-lettered mini-houses actually hide supply places for zookeepers and guides, the latter of which are always present in the different regions of the garden to educate guests and make sure they don't litter or harass the aninals.

Now on to the favourite part of the garden, as far as the average zoochatter is concerned: The Riverine temple (A).



You enter through two large doorways. On the lower floor of the temple are five enclosures.

To the right are two large glass windows, where most (Dutch) adults can still see above the water's surface. The enclosures are open-topped and there are bushes above the water's surface. People who are familiar with my designs might notice a new colour: turquoise! This represents a marsh area. In the case of these enclosures, there are shallow areas in the aquariums with reeds and other shallow water plants.

These two aquariums are both home to four Chinese salamanders, making a total of eight salamanders, which would arrive from Prague zoo. The salamanders are held together with a large group of tropical Chinese fish, including Chinese perch, Red bitterling and Formosan Pale Chub. Both enclosures have the same types of fish, which can not be said about the giant aquarium on the other side of the temple...

On the other side of the temple is an even large aquarium, this one being home to Japanese giant salamanders. A large group of ten animals would arrive from Japan. These will be held together with fish more resistant to cold water (in comparison to the Chinese salamander aquarium), including rainbow trouts, sturgeons and paradisefish, among others.

Both of the enclosures will have intricate underwater designs with live plants, large sunken logs and a bottom made out of large rounded stones. Above both enclosures there are also open areas in the wall, which would allow for the passerines to enter the temple. This way the temple seconds as partial indoor holding for the birds.

In the middle of the temple is a raised platform with on top a shrine to a large bronze statue of a giant salamander, along the walls are multiple murals to different endangered East Asian animals. Including Red-crowned cranes, Japanese crested ibises, Formosan pangolins and Blue-crowned laughingthrush.

Also in the middle of the temple is central plateau with a glass-surrounded enclosure for Newts native to a relatively small island between Japan and Taiwan.

Of course, we're not stopping there. Between the entrances there is a staircase to a second level, with seven smaller enclosures (at least, in comparison to the giant aquariums downstairs. The enclosures are still larger than the average enclosures for these species).



Enclosures 2, 3 and 4 are mostly visible above water, with smaller, shallow pools to allow for the animals to bathe if they wish. Enclosures 1, 5 and 7 have deeper waters, and can be well-viewed both above and below the water line. Enclosure number 6 is the only one with no aquatic area.

The smaller enclosures are home to Snakes and Lizards, while the larger paludariums house some of China's most endangered turtle species. There is also a bridge in the middle to allow for visitors to walk in a circle instead of having to turn around.

The best visualization I could find for the temple is this one:


Here's a simplified side view of the temple:


Now that we have the temple described, we can move on to the semifinals: the forest ridge.



From the back of the village you can enter the great wall. Through a circular staircase or a hidden elevator you can travel to the top of the wall to get a good view of the other side. From here you can get a view over the whole aviary, especially the large valley, backed up by a large mountain. This valley is home to Chinese gorals and Reeves's muntjacs. (Number 2)

The enclosure is mostly grassy, with pine trees and bamboo bushes breaking up the landscape, as well as large boulders in the forest. A ledge in the back of the enclosures allow the Gorals to climb to a higher area. A stream also flows through the valley, with multiple small waterfalls. Also visible from this area is the larger waterfall that starts at the mountain.

The great wall is topped with two guard towers, which is where the staircases end and start. The tower on the river side goes from the wall to the village, the tower on the other side goes down and leads into the Siberian aviary, which will be described at a later date.

Welp, that concludes our travels through the oriental garden. I'll be uploading the animal pictures separately, as there's too many pages to include them in this same message.

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Wait, what do you mean secret tunnel?



Oh yea, that secret tunnel thing.

Before you enter the village, you can also go into a side entrance that leads downward into a small underground area with two separated enclosures and three large windows for underwater viewing.

This is also the reason the Rock squirrel indoor exhibit is sloped, it's to have the downward staircase be hidden from the village side. The enclosures are home to various species.

In the beginning of the park's opening, the larger enclosure will be home to Giant flying squirrels, while the smaller enclosure will be home to Siberian weasels. However, the enclosures are designed for other animals.
Plans are to get Formosan (Chinese) pangolins from Taipei, which would be held together with the flying squirrels in the larger enclosure. Trough a small tunnel, the squirrels can also go up to the second level, which ends up in house C. The pangolins are confined to the lower area, which has dim lights to replicate a nocturnal setting (sunlight from the second floor is minimal).

In the smaller enclosure is room for Palm civets, which would also arrive from Taiwan.

The tunnel comes out in the lower area of the village. I also pictured the Water deer indoor holding area.

Here's some side more side views to hopefully clarify some of the areas:

Side view of the whole aviary, showcasing the heights:

(In total, the netting's highest points are about 20 meters tall)

The lower village area, Alligator garden and Tunnel/Squirrel enclosure:


I used different colours throughout the layout to signify the basic heights of the walls, here's a representation of that:


Ok, NOW we're done.

Let me know what you guys think! I'm personally very proud of how it turned out. ZC's maximum image count in one message is ten, and there have been 9 in this message. So I'm going to upload the animal imagery in a separate message, but that shouldn't matter too much.

Also: I have been typing for about two and a half hours straight and I might take a nap, lol.

 

Free-roaming animals in the garden:


Separated enclosures in garden and forest:


Separated enclosures in the village:


Fish inhabiting the river:


Animals of the Riverine temple:


Animal names with a star* signify the need for these animals to be shipped in from Taiwan, Japan or Singapore.

It was actually incredibly difficult to research which animals occurred in China and were available. The Beluga and Sterlet are the only animals that do not occur in the region that this aviary represents, but they are stand-ins for the endangered sturgeons of China, which are unavailable as far as I'm concerned... As well as the European fish in the river, of course. But those are there mostly to prevent invasive species from getting out

 

A separated island will hold Mantled guereza and Kirk's dikdik

 

This is an awesome project that I will definitely be keeping an eye on. I really like the intricate and detailed designs, as well as the choice of represented habitats and regions. I'm looking forward to seeing the other parts of this impressive project.

 

Of course, it wouldn't be a Mr Gharial thread if I didn't forget some part of the design...

Hidden in the bottom right corner of the layout map, there is another dark grey square. This is actually a viewing hut from outside the aviary, where you can get a better look at the rice paddies. The colour is supposed to be purple, of course. I forgot about this aspect of the design quite early on, before I started the colour-coding process. Let's all just collectively pretend this was in the original message, lol.

 

Very excited to see what comes next for this zoo design!

 

Alright then, the second of the gardens is finished. "Het Weiland", aka The Meadow.

This garden is based on the fields and wetlands of the Netherlands. The European wetlands have been vulnerable because of the constant expansions of farmlands. Especially in the Netherlands.

In recent years, Wetlands have been making a return because of continued re-wilding efforts. Even if it's only to prevent flooding, it's still good to see. Many migratory birds call the Dutch Wetlands home, especially the recogniseable European Spoonbill.

This aviary is split in two regions: the farm and the forest.


Luckily (for me) it's not as intricate as the Oriental Garden, so I can just explain it with the numbers.

Number two is a Typical Dutch channel. Not the ones from Amsterdam, but the ones found in the farmland regions. Between the path and the Channel (number three) is a row of Knotted willows, creating a very typical Dutch landscape. There is a floating platform where people can have a better view into the water.
The channel is home to Barbels, Rudd and Graylings.


On the other side of the channel (number one), the actual Meadow of the aviary is visible. The back of the meadow is lined tall trees.
This whole area is very similar to the old migratory bird aviary in Rotterdam zoo. An aviary that has since been demolished, but it still visible in Google maps view. Because they apparently haven't updated that in over 10 years.
There are multiple fences that don't block off anything in particular. These are made more to provide structure for ground-nesting birds than to block off animal escapes.

Between numbers 4, 5 and 8 there is a small farmhouse that provides indoor holding for the larger birds. The wall to the side also has multiple smaller bird houses for the passerines living in the aviary. There are also bird seed dispensers where people can purchase handfuls of seeds to feed the birds, these can be purchased with special coins that visitors receive at the park's entrance (for 1 Euro extra, people can order one coin on top of their ticket. The coin can be exchanged once in certain areas of the park, here being the first one).

The two squares at number five are "small" (still 3x8 meters) vegetable gardens. Moestuin in Dutch. One with strawberries and one with multiple greens (Green beans, Tomatoes, Carrots). Number five is a smaller meadow home to three Dutch spotted sheep. The rows of trees at number eight are pears and apples. All the fruit in the aviary is mostly for decoration and theming, but birds and visitors alike can eat what they can find. Visitors can walk between the vegetable gardens and the sheep's pen toward the forest in the back.

The forest in the back isn't Veluwe-inspired like most of my previous designs were. Sadly, I can't find a particular swamp that looks like the swamp I'm inspired by. There are many smaller, unnamed swamps spread throughout the Netherlands. These are grown over with White willows and Birch trees. My local swamp, Beekbergerwoud, is partially similar to it. The boardwalk goes over the most marshy areas (number 6), these are more open and filled with lower plants like horsetails, reeds and chives. There are also some regions of open water. These waters are home to Minnows and rudd, which can swim between the pools. The swamp region are shallow and heavily planted, but the fish should still be able to swim between them, as well as through the stream.

(Of course, the boardwalk in the aviary will include railings)

The dry area of the forest has more varied flora, including oaks and maples. You can also see the start of the stream, with some sandy beaches (number 7) for the shorebirds present in the aviary.

Another path goes along the back of the farmhouse, where visitors can view the forest and along the stream. This also provides a separate path in case the boardwalk requires repair.

Species in the aviary:
Water birds:

Others:

 

Amazing work! This thread is already one of the best fantasy zoos I’ve ever seen!

 

Wow, two posts in and already the best.

Guess we'll pack it up here folks, my goal is complete

 

We're a bit out of order, but we're going back to the end of the Oriental garden. From the second watchtower on top of the wall you can take the stairs down and walk into a room made of wood. Here, you can have a high-perspective viewpoint into the next aviary: The Tundra!

Based on the vast and often frozen wasteland of Northern Russia, the aviary holds multiple different ducks, waders and a few birds of prey. Along with the large and imposing Siberian crane.



You enter the aviary at the bottom of the watchtower, which is designed after the Vartovka watchtower in Slovakia


The edges of the aviary have larger trees, consisting of almost exclusively coniferous trees, though it does have some smaller bushes. The larger, central area of the landscaping has is covered in herbal plants, heather, hairgrass and flowers. With very small coniferous trees breaking up the emptiness. These will be dug up every few years and replaced with younger trees. There are also a lot of rounded rocks and boulders spread throughout the grass, the largest of which I've drawn in, but there are also many smaller rocks in the landscape.


There is also a fast-flowing stream throughout the aviary. This is based around a typical mountainous river, also filled with rounded rocks and having small beaches at some spots. The stream has small waterfalls in some spots, but non taller than half a meter. Well, except for the waterfall that starts the stream, which is nearly six meters tall.


The stream flows into a central lake, which also has a very large marsh area with cattail reeds. The path goes past an underwater viewing area, which provides visitors with a view to the Sturgeons, Catfish and smaller fish living here as well as some of the diving ducks and grebes.

Other notable parts of the aviary include a path going through the larger forested area, a wooden viewing platform slightly raised over the water, and a log hut which covers the exit of the aviary.

Among the multiple free-roamers, there are a few in particular that live in larger groups. The Demoiselle cranes, Ruffes and Gadwalls, which live in groups of 20. The Black-winged stilts and Hooded crows live in groups of 50. The rest of the birds live in smaller groups

 

The Tundra is probably the least intricate of the aviaries, because of the environment it's based off. That's why I was able to finish it quickly. The other two gardens were nearly finished before I created the thread. I can assure you the rest of the aviaries will take a little while longer than the three that I've finished so far.

With the third garden complete, the layout currently looks like this:

 

In previous projects, I've changed or added areas or species lists in the background and failed to update these in the public threads. For this thread I hope to change this, and give an update every few backstage changes.

Two updates for right now:
I added the Critically endangered Chinese big-headed turtle to paludarium number 1.


I also upped the size of Het Moeras (The Pantanal aviary), and shifted Het Weiland upward to better match the river in De Delta (I already had the river laid out and it was easier to shift the aviary than it was to re-draw the Delta).


I'm also currently working on areas of the Wetlands house and taking a break on the netted gardens. Of course, it's going to take a little while before any next page of new design is going to come out. Though I will provide you with a rough layout of the Wetlands house (I'm gonna say that it can still change, but to be honest I tend to stick with my original designs with these things). This is only the upper floor of the Wetlands House, the lower floor will include many aquariums, and the building will be surrounded by medium-sized aviaries for different fish-eating birds (Bald eagle and Osprey being the only species I'm certain about at the moment)



Species lists for the Tierra del Fuego and Iceland hall are already complete, and I'm currently working on the great Amazon hall.
Unlike the Netted gardens, the regions of the Wetlands house will be named in the language of whatever the hall represents. The Iceland hall will be named Lundaeyja (Puffin island) and the Amazon hall will be named O Rio dourado (The Golden River), etc

 

Alright then. The design for Lundaeyja is finished so I'll be working on a more detailed description of the Wetlands house, some more mini-updates, and then the Lundaeyja design in full.
I hope to have them out either tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

The wetlands house!



The Wetlands house is a colossal, three-story building built in a central point in the zoo. It consists of five large greenhouses, all showcasing different interesting aquatic regions. As well as a central "Discovery hall" with enclosures for crocodilians and multiple large paludariums.

The five main halls:

Lundaeyja
“Puffin island”

The iceland hall.

A relatively small greenhouse designed after the rocky coasts of Iceland and the Faroe islands. Mostly taken up by an artificial sea with a tidal system and multiple wave machines in place. With large seastacks and small beach areas, it’s designed for multiple seabirds, particularly Atlantic puffins and Common murres. It also includes some North Sea fish and tidal pools.

Tierra del Fuego
“The land of fire”

The Falklands hall.

The same size as the iceland hall, but a lot more frigid. Based on the southermost archipelago of Chile and Argentina, home to multiple penguin species, as well as some geese and even ibises.

Rio Dourado
“The golden river”

The Amazon hall.

The biggest of the greenhouses, being nearly as large as Burgers' Bush. It is based on the great rainforest in the Northern area of South America (not to be confused with the Southern area of North America ). It features a huge river with colossal inhabitants, as well as many free-roamers, and two separated areas for larger reptiles.

Currenly unnamed Carribean hall

A large hall with free-roaming iguanas, a mangrove creek, and a dry forest region. If anyone has a good idea for a name, please tell me because I am blanking.

Thales̄āb phru
“The marsh lake”

The Indonesian hall.

A large hall with multiple free-roaming animals and a large lake filled to the brim with many small fish from Upper Indonesia and Thailand.

The Wetlands house also includes an underground area, with freshwater aquariums and paludariums, mostly from Europe. As well as the entrance to the underwater pathway dubbed "fish paradise", which partially goes through the outside lake and showcases a lot of different species of European freshwater fish.

 

Alright then, time for some mini-updates... again...

Frogs and geckos added to the Riverine temple:

Thrushes added to the Oriental garden and the Tundra:


I'm also gonna add some pictures of what some of the aviary's foliage looks like. At least, in Dutch terms. I'm gonna be looking for areas in the Netherlands (when I'm out in the wild) and taking photos of which areas look close to what I was envisioning. Partially to prove these areas actually can exist and thrive in the Dutch outside environment.

Starting with the Tundra and the Swamp (despite the latter's lack of design at the moment):

Heather and Small coniferous trees, as well as general grassy design of the Tundra:


Typical marsh plants design of the Swamp: (I don't know the name of the plants, but they're extremely similar to the typical plants of the Pantanal)


I'll also be looking for better photo's of the swamp region of the Meadow, but who knows if I can actually find one...


Something else I'd like to add in this thread: Animal pictures! As you might have noticed, I've got a lot of cutout animal pictures at my disposal to use in zoo projects like these. With previous design projects as well as the Zoo Guides I'm creating for the zoos of Belgium and the Netherlands. I've got at least 2000 different animal pictures saved in my crappy little laptop (it's a wonder it still works). So if anyone wants to add animal pages to their fantasy zoos or any other projects, feel free to send me a private chat so I can send some cutout pictures. I've tried to make a public database before, but there's simply too many images to completely move them into one place.