Here is we can discuss the stupidest themed exhibits ever. Here are a couple I found: Prairie Dog dojo at COEX Aquarium And the Disco Hippos at Adventure Aquarium (couldn't find a photo in the gallery). What other stupidly themed exhibits do yo know?
I opened this with the intention of mentioning disco hippos A lot of dolphin shows tend to be awful, as well.
The stupidest exhibit I've seen? I'd say this American alligator pool at the trashy little Phipps Park Zoo in Illinois fits right in. American Alligator Pool - Reptile House by pachyderm pro posted 29 Apr 2018 at 4:40 PM
That reminds me! The small, indoor-only "White Tigers of Maharaja’s Temple" exhibit at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. The one in Denver isn't too bad, it's rather large and multi-story with plenty of climbing opportunities and several water features within the natural-themed exhibit, but this one is awful.
I don't know if it counts as "themed", but the Red Ape Church at Indianapolis Zoo is worthy of a mention... PC @DAKFan
It is a stimulating enough for the animals. Does it have to be naturalistic to be good, surely it helps, but it meets all their needs.
I should add some context to my submission. I don't personally think it's a bad exhibit, although I definitely think it is architecturally sterile and excessive and way too much money was spent on it. From a husbandry standpoint it fares better in my eyes, although I'm still skeptical of whether it was the best design they could've gone with. I mostly included it because it received visceral and disgusted reactions from many ZooChatters when pictures of it were first posted; I assumed someone would bring it up eventually.
That is true. It is very "odd" in a sense but it is a pretty innovative design, just maybe adding some naturalism could be done to make it better.
From the thread @Kakapo posted, I'd like to add this one to the discussion: an open-topped Vinegaroon terrarium! (World Aquarium, St. Louis, MO) PC @birdsandbats
Mouse kitchen (Oct 13th, 2018) | ZooChat Mouse kitchen (May 2nd, 2015) | ZooChat (Images made and posted by me, at and from GaiaZoo, Kerkrade, the Netherlands) This "Mouse kitchen" and other similar exhibits like this housing mice or rats in mock-ups of a kitchen or other rooms of a house. I personally really dislike these kinds of gross (and usually also rather smelly) displays for what most optimistically are prey/feed animals and at worst plain vermin.
How can this be described as "stupidest", this is part of their natural habitat and range, is it a quality issue???
While they are often used as feeder animals, I do think the humble house mouse deserves a little more respect. Besides, they can certainly be interesting as display animals.
I really like the idea of this exhibit! And it is definitely an enriching environment for such a small animal that is rarely provided much space in captivity.
I actually like these sorts of exhibits for House Mice and Rats too, think they are quite fun...Bristol has one for Black Rats in the nocturnal house, always go for a look.
