Personal speculation of the AZA Ciconiiformes/Phoenicopteriformes TAG

If there was institutional interest in the US would Japan send a few over? Black-Faced's are great because their crest and breast turn that golden color, unlike the Royal Spoonbill.

 

Sitatunga are fiercely protective mothers, so I would not be surprised if the walk-through was closed to avoid anyone being shanked by angry sitatunga cows... You really don't want to be on the receiving end of their incredibly sharp hooves. There's a lot of tenacity in those little bodies.

 

Are they only protective if you were to try to get close to the calves or is it full-on momma bear "I see anyone 100 feet of my baby I'll charge 'em!!!" kinda fiercely protective? What about Kudu's, Bongos, Nyalas, Bushbucks & other Tragelaphines? How are they as mothers in comparison? Sitatunga cows are pretty cute!

 

I think one major proponent as to why we may not be seeing large flighted birds in walkthrough aviaries could be the potential of lawsuits. Even when the human error was a key factor in an incident, the facility will have to handle a potential PR nightmare. This is not to say that it will stop it from being popular as they become more prominent but some want to be careful as to how they implement it and ensure guest safety. I do support the idea of seeing these large birds fully flighted, it would be quite a sight to see and hopefully can photograph them in flight

 

Aviaries in Europe often separate people from birds, for example by a shallow pool or some branches along the path, so visitors don't walk off the path. A CCTV camera may help, too, basically that people self-police.

 

That would be great to implement here, I do wish all these birds can exhibit their flying capabilities. I wish more people often did self policing here and unfortunately while a good majority do, there are those that ruin it for the rest of us

 

I agree with Julio here. There have been many cases where parents have been negligent to their kids for a few seconds and the kid ends up in a gorilla moat or a rhino enclosure. Therefore I can’t say that cool and innovative things in Europe such as cooler walkthrough aviaries or walkthrough primate enclosures will be a thing in the US anytime sooner.