Re-Imagining New England's Zoos

Hello Everyone,

As much as I love all of my local zoos in New England, all of them have plenty of areas where they can improve. I'm starting this thread to detail my ideas for re-imagining New England's Zoos. I will post a plan for each zoo in New England, with the first coming out later today.

 

The first zoo I will re-imagine is the Roger Williams Park Zoo, in Providence, RI. With redesigning this zoo, one of my top priorities was ensuring the zoo can continue housing elephants long-term, as the current habitat is not sustainable after the current girls die. To do this, an expanded elephant habitat will be built- encompassing the zebra, cheetah, crane, and giraffe habitats. The barn will be modified to include a larger indoor area, with sand stalls. This area will be renamed African Elephant Journey. The aoudad exhibit will be renovated to house another popular African animal, African Lions. The pathway will include a new indoor area to view the lions, with large glass windows overlooking the habitat. The habitat will stay relatively similar to how it is now, with only minor changes to better accommodate the 1.3 lions the zoo will acquire. The current river hog exhibit will be netted over, and renovated for a group of Patas Monkeys. While this may seem like the zoo is drastically decreasing its African collection to accommodate elephants, the African collection is in fact growing- and this is one of three African-themed complexes in the zoo.

The North America exhibit is one of the less popular exhibit complexes at Roger Williams, so I feel the zoo would benefit from a complete re-working of the area- into the brand new African Savannah Overlook. The current pronghorn and bison habitats will be combined into the large African savanna, housing Masai Giraffe, Ostrich, White-bearded Wildebeest, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Springbok, and Greater Kudu. This combination of new and old species for the zoo will make a very interesting mixed species habitat. A new barn will be constructed near the current tortoise habitat to provide winter viewing of the giraffes. The wolf habitat will be renovated to bring back a species the zoo formerly held- African Wild Dogs. A small pack of these dogs could become a very popular exhibit among visitors, and would be a good use of this exhibit. The eagle habitat will be netted over, and renovated into a mixed species habitat for Rüppel's Griffon Vulture and African-Crested Porcupine.

Part Two of Roger Williams coming soon.

 

These two new African complexes should definitely create a lot of interest in the zoo, and will serve as popular attractions for visitors. However, there are still many other areas of the zoo in need of improvement. The seal exhibit and farmyard will both be demolished, to make room for a third African habitat, Africa on the Rocks. This exhibit will focus on many smaller species, and will have entrances both from near the vultures and near the elephants. The largest habitat in this area will be a large rocky habitat for a fascinating primate species, Geladas. The gelada are only kept in two US Zoos, so this will be an animal that allows the zoo to stand out while still being popular amongst visitors. Smaller habitats in this area will house Klipspringer, Dwarf Mongoose, and White-fronted Bee-eaters. Ending this section will be the return of another fan favorite species, penguins! A large new habitat will be constructed for African Penguins, featuring underwater viewing so visitors get the best view possible.

After the penguins, visitors will be greeted by an improved Faces of the Rainforest. The interior will stay largely the same as it is now, but will receive some additional foliage and a larger bird collection, with new species including the Green-backed Trogon, Venezuelan Troupial, Red-crested Cardinal, and Boat-billed Heron.

Outside of the building is where most of the improvements will happen. A larger, walk-through aviary will be constructed for the Chilean Flamingos, who will once again share their exhibit with South American Waterfowl. The anteater exhibit will also be turned into a mixed species exhibit, housing Chilean Pudu in addition to the Giant Anteater. A new habitat will be built near the outdoor primate habitat for Jaguars or Ocelots. Ideally Jaguars, but if it is too small of a foot print ocelot would be a fine alternative.

Another change to this area will be reutilizing the old Tropical America building, by featuring the Rainforests of another continent, with the opening of Southeast Asian Rainforests. The canopy pathway will be reopened, and the saki habitat renovated for Francois' Langurs. The old tamarin habitat will house Raggiana Bird of Paradise and Greater Malayan Chevrotain. The old aracari habitat will house Prevost's Squirrel. Free-ranging animals will include Malayan Fruit Bat, Bali Mynah, Eastern Rosella, Metallic Starling, Jambu Fruit Dove, Green-naped Pheasant Pigeon, White-winged Wood Duck, Luzon Bleeding Heart Dove, and more. The former bat exhibit will be renovated for Pygmy Slow Loris.

The education center will be torn down, and a new education center will be built near the entrance as in the current master plan. This now-empty space will turn into the perfect contrast to the Rainforest dome, Deserts. This new Desert Dome will primarily house North American species, including Black-footed Ferrets, Burrowing Owls, Greater Roadrunner, Nine-banded Armadillo, Swift Fox, and various reptiles and inverts. Some African species will also be included, however, most notably Aardvark and Black-footed Cats.

Part 3 of Roger Williams to follow.

 

The current World of Adaptations area is another part of the zoo in need of some renovation, specifically in the teeming department. I liked this area much better as Australasia, and will therefore return to this more geographical theme. The interior of Australasia will be renovated into a large mixed-species exhibit, with Matschie's Tree Kangaroo, Tammar Wallaby, and Queensland Koala. This habitat will take over the current dragon, tortoise, hornbill, and tree roo exhibits. The current mynah/Fruit Dove aviary will be removed, in favor of a row of small terrariums, for Woma Python, Australian Snake-necked Turtle, Green Tree Python, and more. The former indoor alligator exhibit will be renovated for a Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, if acquirable, or a second komodo dragon exhibit if not. Outside, the trail will remain rather similar to how it is now. The Kokomo dragon will move into the Wallaby exhibit, Fishing Cats will be acquired for the river otter habitat, Clouded Leopards will live in the binturong habitat, and Babirusa will remain in their current habitat. I would also bring back the walk-through aviary, housing Masked Lapwings, Spotted Whistling Ducks, and more.

The Marco Polo Trail will stay as an Asia habitat, but the name will be changed to Wild Asia due to some changes in species list. Takin, Snow Leopard, Red Panda, and Crane will all remain the same, though the cranes will be mixed with a Tufted Deer. Sloth bears will take over the moon bear exhibit and a new exhibit will be constructed next to the cranes for the White-cheeked gibbons. The old gibbon exhibit (not in this area) will contain the radiated tortoises and bring back lemurs, Ideally Coquerel's Sifaka. The camel exhibit will be renovated for Gaur, if possible, or Przewalski's Wild Horse, if not possible.

The former Madagascar area will be torn down, though I'm not yet sure what would be the best use of that space. This may turn into a cat exhibit, for either the tigers the zoo wants, or Jaguars if they don't fit near Faces. I'm open to other ideas though if you have any suggestions.

The wetlands trail will stay largely unchanged, though if it is possible I would add a moose exhibit on the trail, which brings us to the Children's "Zoo", which needs animals. I would bring back a revised version of the New England plan, bringing in North American Porcupine, North American River Otters, American Beaver, Bald Eagle, Canada Lynx, and Striped Skunks.

I would appreciate any suggestions people have for my Roger Williams Zoo plan. I will move on to other New England Zoos soon.

 

These are some really cool ideas. I really liked how you would expand the elephant habitat, instead of phasing the species out. I feel like RWPZ is so short on land space, since the zoo is sandwiched between the highway and the wetlands. But you have done a really good job of A) making more space for the elephants, while B) maintaining a great collection of other African species.

 

Thank you! I definitely feel like the zoo would benefit from keeping elephants long-term, but didn't want to eliminate the rest of Africa either, so chose to get rid of the rather weak North American section, and bringing in some other popular species like lions, penguins and koalas.

 

As promised, I will use this thread to describe my plans for the rest of New England's Zoos as well. Since the recent announcement that the zoo will be designing a new masterplan, I will next feature my home zoo- Capron Park Zoo. This will be the only zoo whose plan includes an expansion, expanding the zoo by about 2.5 acres on the field between the zoo and parking lot. Ideally for this zoo, I would like to see a focus on many small species that still have the potential to attract guests, while building new, innovative habitats for some of the zoo's biggest stars: lions and sloth bears. My next post will be describing the first part of my plan for Capron Park Zoo.

 

I think maybe the children's zoo could be a hybrid of like New England native animals, as well as farm animals so you wouldn't have to entirely remove the Barnyard area from the zoo.

 

You know, I'm definitely not opposed to that idea. One complaint I have with the new farmyard is that it no longer keeps some of the rarer heritage breeds the zoo used to, I could definitely see the appeal of including a small "New England Heritage Farm" within the Big Backyard, specializing in the breeds traditionally kept in New England. This wouldn't be a top priority for me, but is something I could see being valuable, in addition to the native species I already mentioned.

 

Mhm, also there could be an exhibit for bald eagles or another bird of prey that would be in that hilly loft section adjacent to the zebra, wildebeest, watusi, and ostrich exhibit, and entrance to the cheetah exhibit. If not bald eagles, maybe put the griffon vultures down there instead of Africa on the Rocks exhibit and replace the vultures with hyenas or jackals?

 

Well, as I mentioned in my first post, that whole area is being changed into a large elephant habitat, including both the cheetah and zebra habitats going away. I thought about hyenas, since I'm a big fan of striped hyenas, but felt most visitors wouldn't care about seeing both hyenas and the wild dogs, and I chose African Wild Dogs instead since they can live in larger groups.

 

I know that in the plan the zebra and cheetah exhibits would be removed, just had no way of explaining what I was talking about and didn't know about the wording if I should have included "former" or not.

 

Okay. I'm not so sure about that space, but on second thought I could see another habitat near the current aoudad/in my plan lion habitat working, in this habitat I will place the Rüppel's Griffon Vultures and Cape Porcupine, replacing their current exhibit with Striped Hyenas, another rare in zoo species that would make a great addition!

 

As promised, I will now start detailing my plans for the Capron Park Zoo, starting with my proposed expansion. This expansion of approximately two acres would include one new indoor exhibit and three outdoor habitats. The first of these outdoor habitats will be a half-acre habitat providing a new home for the zoo's most popular residents, African Lions. This lion habitat's main draw will be its large glass viewing windows, providing an intimate and up-close view of the lions. Next to the lion habitat will be a predator-prey habitat paired with it, featuring two fascinating antelope species that could make great additions to the zoo: Springbok and Nyala. These two antelope species will be very exciting additions to the zoo, which for years now I have felt would benefit from adding some ungulate species. The third outdoor habitat will also feature an ungulate exhibit, in a unique interactive fashion. This habitat will be for Pronghorn. I saw on one of the recent AZA Ungulates TAG videos on Facebook a zoo with a pronghorn feeding habitat/pronghorn ambassadors, and I would love to see this idea replicated and it could be a real exciting draw for this small zoo.

The Desert Dome will be another exciting new addition to the zoo, as it would be only the sixth US Zoo featuring an indoor Desert habitat. While not as big as Omaha's, it could still feature a lot of interesting species. The Desert Dome will be slightly over half an acre, and not have a focus on a specific Desert. Inside, the habitats will feature:

• Black-footed Cats (two glass-fronted habitats, breeding pair)
• Slender-tailed Meerkats (half-wall of glass in front of this sandy habitat provides an upclose view of these popular animals, which the zoo already houses)
• Klipspringer/White-headed Buffalo Weaver/Carmine Bee-eaters/Blue-bellied Rollers/Australian Crested Doves (largest habitat in this Dome will be the free-flight area, featuring these unique bird species and a fascinating small antelope, of which a breeding pair is housed)
• Angolan Python (a large glass-fronted terrarium would house this fascinating species in a naturalistic setting)
• Burrowing Owls and Greater Roadrunner (Large floor-to-ceiling harp wire habitat will house these two bird species)
• Swift Fox (large rocky habitat at the exit of the dome will house this fox species, which has the potential to become a popular species)
• Tammar Wallaby (a large, scrubland habitat with a halfwall of glass will feature a small colony of these adorable marsupials)
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, African Plated Lizard, African Pancake Tortoise, Woma Python, San Esteban Chuckwalla, Rio Fuerte Beaded Lizard, etc (a row of naturalistic reptile habitats will feature these species, amongst others.

Next post I will describe my plans for the current parts of the zoo, and the changes (many of which are rather modest), I would make.

 

Next up for the plan will be renovating the current zoo, starting with the entrance building. The entrance building is something that would be better off replaced than renovated, in my opinion. The new building will be two stories, with offices and the education department going on the second floor so that there is more room on the first floor for animal exhibits and the new Capron Park Café, which would have entries from both the park and zoo. The second floor would also include space for a larger animal ambassador collection. This larger collection would be hugely advantageous for the zoo's ambassador programs and provide a more diverse and unique collection that could inspire guests. The first-floor, in addition to the Cafe and zoo entrance/gift shop, will include a new animal exhibit, Small Animal Discovery Center. Exhibits will include a number of endangered, small animals, many in dynamic, mixed-exhibit displays. The theme will be the vast diversity of the world's animals, and the collection will be designed to replicate that, housing various unique neotropical species.

• Pied Tamarin, Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth, Red-rumped Agouti (Rainforest Mammals exhibit, glass-fronted)
• Green-backed Trogon, Sunbittern, Ringed Teal, Venezuelan Troupial, Red-crested Cardinal (South American birds habitat)
• Caiman Lizard/Red-footed Tortoise/Turtles Mixed Exhibit (unique mixed habitat featuring some fascinating reptile species in a riverside exhibit)
• Poison Dart Frogs, Amazon Milk Frogs, Red-eyed Tree Frogs (multiple exhibits for multiple Dart Frog and tree frog species)
• Caribbean Coral Reef Tank (large, dynamic saltwater fish tank)
• Red-bellied Phiranas (freshwater fishtank)
• Leafcutter Ants
• Goliath Bird-eater Tarantula
• Possibly another invert habitat or two, and maybe another reptile

 

Perhaps the zoo's biggest waste of space is the large pond, and while I don't forsee draining the pond as realistic, there are definitely better ways to utilize the pond and surrounding areas. The square island will continue housing lemurs, however after the current ones they should be replaced with a eulemer species since they're slightly smaller, Ideally Mongoose Lemurs. The round island will also house eulemurs, ideally Blue-eyed Black Lemurs. The back end of the pond will have Waterfowl nesting areas built and a new Waterfowl barn, allowing the zoo to build a Waterfowl collection on the pond as well. Ideal species would be Red-breasted Geese, Baikal Teals, Coscoroba Swans, Scaly-sided Mergansers, Northern Pintail, and possibly more. Next to the pond, a new exhibit for the Red-crowned Cranes will also be built (between the pond and maintenance building). The area between the pond and entrance building will also become new exhibit space, called Sloth Bear Forest. This large habitat that overtakes the current splash pad and surrounding areas will house a breeding pair of Sloth Bears and a family group of Asian Small-clawed Otters. The habitat will also connect via Zoo 360 style trails to a second bear habitat, stretching from the current otter exhibit all the way through the pine grove. These two habitats will provide a much better display for Sloth bears than the current habitat, which I will detail my plans for in the next post. Also in this area, the former southern screamer area will become a new exhibit, for Red-billed Blue Magpies and Cabot's Tragopan.

 

I've been thinking some more about the Capron Park Zoo plan, and decided to make some changes:
- the expansion area will be turned into a Congo exhibit, featuring bonobos, which I will describe soon.
- for now, there will not be any animal exhibits in the entrance building. Instead, there will be a new, aesthetically pleasing outdoor entrance built as well as a new, state-of-the-art education building and restaurant.
- the pond changes will stay the same.
- the splash pad will no longer be removed. Instead, it will be expanded to go all the way to the entrance. I decided it wouldn't make much sense to remove something that's as popular as the splash pad. This means the sloth bear forest habitat will be unable to happen as planned, but will occur elsewhere in the zoo instead. A separate project will take over the otter building still, however. Lions and a Desert Dome are also still on the table, just not in the expansion space.

 

Originally when designing this plan, I knew there were four major goals I wanted, which still stay true: New lion and bear habitats, the addition of a Desert Dome, and adding a new ABC animal in the form of a large primate, with the original thought of placing geladas in the lion/bear habitats. However, upon further research, I have realized that bonobos may be a better choice for a large primate at the zoo, so will be turning the 3 Acre expansion into a new exhibit, Congo Journey. The real stars of the attraction will be the troop of bonobos, likely starting with the three individuals Columbus was going to send to Tampa for their now-canceled bonobo exhibit. The outdoor bonobo habitat will be half an acre, and provide up-close glass viewing of these fascinating great Apes, who will be a signature conservation program for the zoo. The outdoor habitat will connect to both an on-exhibit and off-exhibit indoor housing, with the on-exhibit housing closely resembling the indoor ape areas at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and totaling around 15,000 Square feet of indoor exhibit space- providing a dynamic home for these animals even in the winter. However, bonobos will not be the only species housed in this 3-acre complex. A second primate habitat will be home to debrazza's monkeys, a species already held by the zoo. These Monkeys will be given a much larger habitat, at 2,000 square feet providing a much more naturalistic home for them, which will still be indoors. A new walk-through aviary will also be included, housing Violet Turaco, Emerald Starling, Purple Glossy Starling, Violet-backed Starling, African Pygmy Goose, Blue Duiker, Green Woodhoopoe, Taveta Golden Weavers. Indoors will also be a large tank for African cichlids, giving the zoo fish on display for the first time, and outdoors will be another large habitat, for a male okapi. Okapi are a personal favorite of mine, and I would love to see the zoo become another holder of a surplus male for the SSP. The okapi will share its habitat with red-flanked duiker. This new exhibit should provide a very interesting new addition, with multiple new species being added to the zoo in modern, naturalistic habitats. The bonobos will likely be able to rival the lions for the zoo's most popular species as well, and both bonobo and okapi are kept no where else in New England.

The rest of the zoo will be as follows:
- mild renovations to pond to start a Waterfowl collection
- expanded splashpad
- crane and red-billed magpie habitats described above.
- replacing the otter building with a new, large African Lion habitat. This habitat will stretch all the way through the pine grove and provide a much larger and dynamic home for this star species of the zoo.
- renovating the existing lion and bear habitats, and replacing the existing goat habitat, with Sloth Bear Forest, two large habitats allowing the zoo to resume breeding of sloth bears. If realistic, the habitats will be mixed with Asian small-clawed Otters as well.
- a Desert Dome habitat will take over the current footprint of the Kangaroo exhibit and concessions area. Will be described in the next post.
- current Leopard habitat will house pallas' cat, Red Panda will share habitat with a reeves muntjac, and the former warty pig/crane habitats will be combined into one larger habitat for the Amur Leopard.
- renovating the interior of Sadler into a new Nocturnal exhibit, housing Rodrigues Fruit Bats, Aye-Aye, and two yet-to-be-decided species.
- mild updates to the Rainforest Building, and changes to the species list.
- yet-to-be-decided changes to current Nocturnal Building.

One more post for this zoo will be coming soon.

 

As promised, here's the plan for the Desert Dome. It will be fairly similar to the last one, but with some slight changes to account for the slightly smaller footprint. The Desert Dome will start with a rocky crevice, looking into the 500 square foot habitat for Burrowing Owls. These would be a new animal for the zoo, and a unique species no other New England zoos house. Next up would be a series of 5 open-topped exhibits, housing a variety of species in up-close views. Visitors would be on a boardwalk elevated about 2-3 feet off the exhibit ground, and will be able to see the animals through a half-wall of glass. The first of these habitats would be a reptile display, featuring African Pancake Tortoise, San Esteban Chuckwalla, Sudanese Plated Lizard, and possibly some more. While not geographically accurate, this mix should work fine and provide an interesting display of some new reptiles, something that the zoo doesn't have much of on display. Next up would be the largest habitat, housing klipspringer and african spurthigh tortoise. Following the klipspringer habitat, a smaller habitat will house the zoo's nine-banded armadillos and another habitat would house the hall's most popular residents, slender-tailed meerkats. Before coming across the final open-air habitat, visitors would be greeted by a small-glass fronted habitat built out of a rock crevice, housing an Angolan Python, and a second one opposite it housing Woma Pythons. The final open-air habitat would be home to Tammar Wallabies. Having access to all five habitats would be a number of freeflight birds, specifically Carmine bee-eaters, White-headed Buffalo Weavers, Blue-bellied Rollers, Australian Crested Doves, and Montezuma Quails. The quails would primarily reside with the Wallabies, while the more frequent fliers would predominately be set up above the klipspringer habitat. Finishing the hall would be two glass-fronted habitats for Black-footed Cats, a new breeding program the zoo would start. Dependent on space, an outdoor habitat would be built near the exit for Swift Fox.

For the new Nocturnal Building/renovated Sadler:
The two remaining habitats would house species already kept at the zoo. The debrazza habitat would be renovated for aye-aye, a unique new species for the zoo. The serval habitat would house the zoo's hoffmann's two-toed sloths and red-rumped agouti. The rodrigues fruit bat habitat would remain unchanged. The Meerkat habitat would house the zoo's brush-tailed bettong, and, if possible, a Tawny frogmouth.

One area I realized I forgot to mention previously was the Katie's Garden area. The habitat in this area would be replaced with a larger habitat, bringing a new ungulate into the zoo in the form of Chilean Pudu, mixed with the zoo's red-footed tortoises and Ringed teals. Southern Screamers would also be brought back to share this space. This exhibit would be netted over to allow flight space for the birds, and will also include the return of Golden lion tamarins and the addition of pied tamarins, and moving the sunbittern from the Rainforest. New birds could also be incorporated, such as Crested oropendolas.

For the current Nocturnal Building:

I'm honestly stumped of what to do with this space, as the exhibits are rather small. I'm open to any suggestions people have.

For Rainforest:

This building would return to housing exclusively Southeast Asian species. The pool would be expanded to house a Gharial (if possible) and Malayan Painted Terrapins, and freeflight birds would be Black-naped Fruit Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove, Metallic Starling, Nicobar Pigeon, Pied Imperial Pigeon, along with a Greater Malayan Chevrotain.The Kookaburra exhibit would be expanded and house Raggiana Bird of Paradise and Hooded Pitta, possibly along with some of the aforementioned species if necessary. The two snake exhibits would stay the same, and the caiman would be replaced with White-winged Wood Ducks. I'm open to adding more birds as well, I'm just blanking at the moment of what else I'd be able to mix with the gharial or bird of Paradise that's from Southeast Asia.

 

I'm going to make a few more changes to the Desert Dome. First off, the Meerkat and klipspringer habitats will be combined into one, since this species have been mixed successfully before this would lead to giving more space for both species.

The rest of these changes would be ideal, but cost dependent. The two Python exhibits would be removed, and the black-footed Cats would be replaced with an indoor swift fox habitat. This is due to the addition of a second floor. The floor described above would be the top floor, as those species would benefit the most from the natural sunlight of the geodesic Dome (similar to how Cleveland's RF puts most of the larger animals on the top floor and the reptiles on the bottom). The bottom floor would include the black-footed Cats, woma Python, and Angolan Python habitats originally on the second floor. New animals included on this floor would be a naked mole rat colony and a plethora of small terrariums built into the rockwork, featuring Rosy Boa, Vinegaroon, Tailless Whip Scorpions, Emperor Scorpion, Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula, California Kingsnake, Leopard Gecko, and possibly some more. An aviary near the building entrance would feature Laughing Kookaburra. There will also be one more large habitat on the lower floor (largest on this level), for Aardvarks. The aardvarks would be another popular, unique species I think the zoo would benefit from including. If this seems to be a smaller collection than the top floor, it is because of the inclusion of a small gift shop in the building as well.