Species that would improve your local zoo

I may as well add species to other zoos I believe could do with some more species diversity:

- Bioparc Valencia; ignoring the rumored "Southeast Asian waterpark" expansion (which sounds... Absolutely tone-deaf and terrible), I'd keep going with the African theme. I suggest adding:
• Coquerel's sifaka
• Blue/black wildebeest
• Cheetah
• African hunting dog/ Caracal
• Olive baboon
• Vervet/patas monkey
• Eastern black rhinoceros
• White-throated monitor
• Common agama
• Puff adder

- Wellington Zoo: Including some rumored planned species;
• Snow leopard (replacing the Sun bear)
• Komodo dragon (near the monkey islands or at Kamala's)
• Chamois, ibex or some other mountain caprine to replace the hamadryaa baboons
• Return of the collared peccaries to the exhibit near the entrance

 

While I do agree on giving the Madagascar area a boost, I must admit that I don't fully agree with giving the zoo an Asian area, seeing how it might step over with the Menagerie, which has more of a focus on Asian and Australasian animals. Yes, you could add Asian animals the Menagerie lacks (such as tigers), but I would continue the current geographical theme and add either;

- West African rainforest, with chimpanzees/bonobos/gorillas, pygmy hippos, bongos, dwarf crocodiles, turacos, Gaboon vipers, emperor scorpions...
- North American plains, with American plains bison, brown/black bears, prairie dogs, turkey vultures and bald eagles, with the Puma as a transitional animal.

I'd have either of these new areas put in that empty corner between the African Savannah and the Pampas.

 

And perhaps a Florida wetland themed area as well. However, I do think that if they were to do an Asian themed area it would be done very differently to the way the Menagerie represents this fauna. For starters, they would probably have rainforest Fauna or Himalayan fauna, which is quite different to the Menagerie's Central Asian theme with the Pallas' cats, camels, markhors, Ural owls etc.

 

A Floridian area is a good idea indeed, with black bears, alligators and even a new home for the manatees perhaps, or a marine aquarium.
I do feel, however, that the Menagerie does have plenty of Asian rainforest (Bornean orangutan, Malayan tapir, binturong...) And Himalayan (Snow leopard, takin, red panda...) Animals. If anything, I suggest it replaces its vicugna and rhea paddock (as they already have that at the zoo) and the now empty fallow deer enclosure with some missing Asian animals; maybe the Takins could be moved to the latter area and a tiger habitat be built in the area of the takin and Patagonia paddocks.

 

I've got 3 facilities near me all of which I'll use in this prompt. They each can be added to in their own unique ways.

1. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
PDZA sticks to species found in the Pacific Ring of Fire, so I always found it bizarre they have next to no species from Japan, New Zealand, and even the United States. I say they repurpose the old North Pacific Aquarium and maybe expand it a bit if possible and turn it into a reptile/amphibian/invertebrate house. Reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates from the Pacific coasts of Canada, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and New Zealand would be great. Tarantulas, skinks, iguanas, frogs, toads, salamanders, crayfish, maybe even crocodilians or tuataras (which would be crazy) would be amazing additions.


2. Woodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo is interesting; I feel it could expand on its collection in a few areas but it is mostly very good. However, I feel there is one way they could bring back an old favorite while simultaneously spicing things up a bit: yes, by re-opening, for the second time, the Night Exhibit. I never went to the Night Exhibit, though I did have the fortune to visit the fantastic Reptile House that replaced it. Though the reptiles were amazing, I think Woodland Park had the right idea with a nocturnal exhibit. Nocturnal animals such as lorises, bats, bushbabies, tarsiers, some lemurs perhaps, bilbies, bandicoots, echidnas, possums/opossums, night monkeys, quolls, owls, porcupines, frogs and some snakes, armadillos, maybe some other tropical arboreal mammals like kinkajous would all be great and would certainly have me running back.


3. Seattle Aquarium
This one's simple: add American Minks to the collection. The River Otter exhibit is great and I think by maybe restructuring it a bit maybe with more land area it could make a great mink exhibit, with the otters and mink being rotated. Seattle Aquarium unfortunately just doesn't have much space for any more new species unless it adds space, so I think this would be best with the space they have.


This is all I have; yeah these are basic summaries, but the majority of these animals are not huge crowd-gatherers like rhinos, bears, or elephants, just small species that rely on nicely-designed exhibits and the "Wow, I've never seen that before, what is that" factor.

 

One of Cabarcenos biggest flaws is that they exhibit more common species than rare ones. I would do these changes:

• Mishmi takin and Chinese goral in the yak exhibit.
• Arabian oryx and Dorcas gazelles right next to the Iberian fauna exhibit.
• More Spotted hyenas (The group has been reduced to a pair of individuals. Phase out the cheetahs to expand their exhibit again).
• Move the yaks to the Bactrian camel exhibit and add Eastern Kiangs.
• Przewalski's wild horses.
• Cape buffalo.
• Nyala mixed with Common zebras.
• Proper Sable antelope and Blue wildebeest herds in the main savannah.
• Get the gemsbok to the white rhino paddocks and add Common warthogs.
• Red river hogs and Bat-eared foxes in the gemsbok exhibit.
• Add Nubian ibex in the Guinean baboon exhibit.
• African wild dogs.

The list goes on and on...

 

Please continue, I like your suggestions so far!
I personally suggest reducing the number of brown bears myself.

 

The brown bear population has to be reduced, but I find that the tigers need most of the reduction in their group! More suggestions:

• Switch the generic zoo-tigers for a pair of pure Amur tigers. I would do the same with the lions (Add Asian, Barbary or Katanga lions), but they don't have the population problems that the tigers do.
• Add Beisa oryx and Roan antelope with the Grevy's zebras.
• Reform the whole farm area (The worst part of the park). Leave the exotic species (Porcupines, meerkats, prairie dogs,...) in reformed exhibits, and move some of the farm animals to the back paddock. Fill the rest of the reformed exhibits with small birds and mammals, like Kirk's dik-dik, Small aviaries (Hornbills, weavers, finches,...), Southern pudu, Cape hyrax,...
• Add some aviaries, Cabarceno really needs more birds that aren't raptors and ostriches.
• Add Spanish ibex to the Iberian drive-thru.
• Move the Monchina cattle/Horses and Tudanca cattle to the Farm area and put in Greater kudu and Hartmann's mountain zebra in the Tudanca exhibit+European moose and Wapiti in the Monchina exhibit.
• Build a paddock next to the Gaurs for Okapi and Natal red duiker. (I know this is too unrealistic but... One can dream).
• Add Visayan warty pigs to the now-empty wild boar exhibit.
• Vicuñas and Darwin's rheas in the Llama exhibit.
• Add a small nocturnal house in the gorilla house (Galagos, Pottos, Egyptian fruit bats,...)

The list goes on and on! I would write it all down, but it's too much!

 

These are also great suggestions! Nicely done!
Would you change anything about the reptile house?

 

I would make the terrariums bigger, and bring in some non-snake species (The only ones at the moment are Gila monsters and green iguanas, without taking under account the tortoises right outside of the building). I would also build some small buildings like suggested with the nocturnal house (Tamarin house, Birdhouse, Insect house,...). What are your opinions on Cabarceno? What would you change?

 

I unfortunately haven't visited it yet. By what I've seen, it's an amazing concept for a zoo, and the scenery is absolutely stunning, but there are some areas worth improving (most especially that overpopulation of brown bears)

 

It's definitely worth a visit. But it has many flaws that need to be solved, and I wouldn't say that the bear overpopulation is a huge issue, since they have plenty of space even from each other. I might post more updates soon .

 

I would argue that ANY species not currently in the collection would improve any zoo- as long as there is enough space to build an appropriate exhibit and that it does not replace a better exhibit.

 

For the most part I would agree with this. There are a few exceptions however, such as if a zoo following a theme got an animal that does not fit it. For example, if Alpenzoo Innsbruck obtained and exhibited a Capybara.

 

Queens Zoo: jaguars like they've talked about for years, maybe replace coyotes or pumas with jaguars.

Buffalo Zoo: chimps instead of gorillas (housed in the former elephant exhibit), collard lemurs and radiated tortoises mixed with the current ringtailed lemurs in the gorilla exhibit, and maybe moose.

 

Prospect Park Zoo: a macropod of some species, even if it's wallabies instead of kangaroos. A nice wallaby enclosure would be a great summer attraction. It would also solidify PPZ as NYC's most solid and complete collection of Australian wildlife. I'd also consider adding whooping cranes to the pond.

Bronx Zoo: *puts on helmet for protection* 1. Breeding herd of Asian elephants on site of Pere David's deer enclosure with bachelor male exhibit on site of white rhino exhibit at Zoo Center; 2. Move deer to Asia monorail (most likely in current elephant exhibit) OR Northern Lakes area and turn elephant area into a rhino enclosure and free up another rhino enclosure for the deer; and 3. Move white rhinos to African Plains (most likely in the southern portion with or near the zebras).

Central Park Zoo: Vampire bats in the Tropic Zone building.

 

Denver Zoo: Denver has some amazing exhibits already but they are missing a couple generally universal types of exhibits that most other major zoos have, a dedicated Australia exhibit and North American species. One of my gripes with Harmony Hill is the lack of different species that fit in the theme other than grizzly bears. They could have made simple but effective exhibits for NA porcupines, bald eagles, river otters, etc. The exhibit as is is missing a lot. As for an Australia exhibit, there will soon be a large empty space where Bird World currently stands that could be developed into a nice Australia exhibit with kangaroos, wallabies, cassowaries, and Tasmanian devils. Denver is a great zoo but is missing a charismatic rare species in zoos. Tasmanian devils or maybe koalas would do amazing for bringing people in the gates.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: When they redevelop Primate World, I'd like to see it developed into a "Fragile Forests" building and keep the theme of Palm Oil and deforestation education but expand the indoor facilities for the animals as they are kept indoors for a good portion of the winter. I'd love for Japanese macaques to be brought in as a species that can be exhibited outdoors all year. Monkey Pavilion and Bear Grottoes would be redeveloped into a South America or Andean Trek exhibit with the mountain tapir exhibit mostly remaining the same. Andean bears would replace Asiatic black bears and the grottoes would be demolished and replaced with a modern exhibit like Nashville's Andean bear habitat. Monkey Pavilion would be replaced with a small tropical house for New World primates and have overhead paths leading to rotating outdoor habitats.

 

On the subject of Harmony Hill, I could TOTALLY see them doing a smaller mixed species habitat themed after an abandoned sawmill for North American Porcupines, American Beavers, and a few waterfowl.

 

I think the Philadelphia Zoo could benefit from having:

• Elephants (African/Asian)
• Koalas
• Seals and Sea Lions
• Wolves
• Large Bears like grizzlies and polar bears
• Manatees( bit of a stretch, I know)
• seriously, does underwater viewing count?

 

North Carolina Zoo:

• Alligator snapping turtle
• Andean/spectacled bear
• Antelope/gazelle (the zoo has a good amount of antelope and gazelle, but their species are pretty limited)
• Bald eagle
• Banded mongoose
• Barnyard animals (the zoo lacks a barnyard/petting zoo exhibit)
• Butterflies (I think a butterfly house would be a nice add-on to the Honey Bee Garden)
• Cheetah
• Hippopotamus/Pygmy Hippopotamus
• Jaguar
• Leopard (clouded & Amur)
• Macaws (at least scarlet and blue-and-gold)
• North American porcupine
• Penguins (I'm thinking African and at least one other, e.g. king, gentoo, or rockhopper)
• Prairie dog
• Slender-tailed meerkat
• Tortoise (they have some but I think a large tortoise like a sulcata or Aldabra would be nice)

COMING 2023-2025:

• Cassowary (likely double-wattled/southern)
• Chinese alligators
• Cranes (not specified, Asian exhibit)
• Crocodile monitor
• Kangaroos (not specified)
• Komodo dragons
• Otters (not specified but I think they're Asian small-clawed otters since they're part of an Asia exhibit)
• Red pandas
• Tigers
• Wallabies (not specified)