The closest hippos to me are at Bristol Zoo, and dispite it being one of my favourite zoos, it's enclosure is really disappointing. What pygmy hippo enclosures would you say are the most impressive in terms of both the visitor and animal?
Plzen for outdoor viewing, and Berlin for indoor. Dvur Kralove for night-time viewing (!). I can't really think of a single exceptional one in the UK.
I'd agree with Berlin! Never seen Plezen. Id say London zoos is okay, far better than Bristols at least.
London's is ok, they've got a good land area, some water and a decent indoor house. Whipsnade's outdoor area is good, although I rarely see them outside (think they often hide in the little shelter boxes, maybe it is a little exposed for them?), but the indoor house isn't great, although it does provide relatively more space for the pygmy hippos than it does for the common hippos at also live there
The Problem with that speices is-in most zoos, the indoor exhibts are defintely too small with a too hard ground ( rain forest animals do need a soft floor substarte!) so Berlin, Marwell ( I like their outdoor exhibit-its huge, but without a Pool-it seems, nobody at Marwell know how to keep Hippos) Plzen, Bristol to name just a few. We have a long Winter time in Europe, so PH have to spend six or seven month a year inside in this tiny indoor quarters.... Leipzig Zoo has good indoor exhibt , but no outdoor exhibit, so Thumbs down for that point. Zoos still have to learn so much about the welfare of both Hippo species.
It's gotta be either San Diego or Singapore Louisville also has a decent one, and Pittsburgh is opening one in two weeks and it looks like it's going to be fantastic
I only recall seeing a couple here in the States - San Diego and Gladys Porter (also Reid Park years ago, that one is long gone). None are great, but SD is ok (aesthetically pleasing and well shaded, but a bit small).
I think Louisville is the best that I've seen (I've seen a few here and there). Hopefully Pittsburgh's will turn out nicely.
I've never seen a good one in the USA. Hogle Zoo had a concrete pool years ago, Brookfield Zoo had them in a concrete exhibit in what some Zoochatters call Tragic World (Tropic World, not sure if they still do) and Omaha has them in a concrete box in the Lied Jungle exhibit. I've never seen one with natural substrate.
I thought Tanganyika had a pretty decent one. It's nothing crazy in design like San Diego's but I only had positive feelings towards it.
I can understand why you find Bristol Zoo's pygmy hippo exhibit somewhat disappointing. However, if you think it is small for the pygmy hippos, bear in mind that it used to house black rhinos and they really did look cramped in there. Nevertheless the black rhinos bred successfully there several times (including the first UK breeding of the species).
Singapore could be the best for underwater viewing, but have very little land area. Pygmy Hippo exhibit, Singapore Zoo | ZooChat
The pygmy hippos at Brookfield now live exclusively at the Pachyderm House, with outdoor enclosures that have large pools for them to submerge in. In the US, pygmy hippos are still held indoors year-round at Lincoln Park, Franklin Park, and Henry Doorly. San Diego is the best that I've seen, but I've only seen them there and at the two Chicago zoos, so it's not much competition.
