The absolute best zoo exhibits in the world that are models for other zoos

Personaly favorite elephant exhibits


Asian - Kolner Zoo, Amersfoort(new), Emmen (nice herd)

African - Without a doubt Zoo Beauval

 

The African elephant exhibit at Zoo Beauval looks very nice in the pictures on their website. Thanks for the input.

 

the best african savannah exhibit, african congo exhibit, african wetland exhibit and Elephant exhibit are Disney's Animal Kingdom imo

 

Spanish safari parks Cabarceno (Africans) and El Castillo (Asians) are among the best. Actually, few zoo lovers ever been there.

Most Europe has climate with cold winters, unlike southern Spain or Florida. If you exclude safari parks, from these temperate exhibits, Cologne is probably best. If you look from American perspective of constructed habitats, try Rotterdam or Chester.

 

Miami is mediocre at best. Doue LaFontaine probably has the best enclosure and it is almost 4 times bigger than Miami. Brasilia is still very good at 2 x times 600m². Cuiaba has the biggest at 4280 m². Chestnut is also good, Leipzig has some weak points, but is still good. Chester and Eskilstuna (when finished) will probably put anything in the US to shame with severel hundred square meter size enclosures. Dortmund is still good and even Duisburg isn't so bad compared to Philadelphia, Jacksonville or DWA. As for the criteria, check the husbandry guidelines

 

Size is not the only criterion for judging the quality of an otter exhibit. Underwater viewing and overall naturalism need to be accounted for as well, from the perspective of the public experience. Miami provides both of these things. While the Chester enclosure is big and no doubt will be wonderful for the otters, from images here it looks rather like a bucolic English countryside duck pond, not the Panatanal or Amazon.

 

No, size is not the only thing that matters and I would not rank Chester as a role model. It still beats the US enclosures though (maybe except Galveston).

Underwater viewing is somewhat of a curse for giant otters. Some zoos think the can not use soft, loose natural substrates, because those might get the water murky or filters clogged. While that is not true (if done correctly), it is still often assumed with bad consequences for the otters. They get tiny thin land strips with just concrete and rock or hard packed dirt which is extremely unhealthy for the otters. Maybe some small sand area, if they are lucky. Giant otters are dependent on substrates to stay healthy, dry off, reduce stress, play, dig, exercise and - among many other things - rear cubs without high failure rates.

The European giant otter population has doubled since 2009 while that clearly did not happen in the US. This is mostly because European zoos mostly followed the ISB guidelines. A giant otter enclosure for a pair should be at least 240m² with 60% land and 40% water. Keep in mind that this will get too small very fast once a pair starts breeding. It is normal that up to three generations live together. Doue is good in any regard.

 

Small Cats - 1) Le Parc Des Felins (France)

Snow Leopards - 1) Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden), 2) Zurich Zoo (Switzerland)

African Elephants - 1) Nashville Zoo (USA), 2) Dallas Zoo (USA)

Reptiles - 1) Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (USA), 2) Fort Worth Zoo (USA)

Antelope/Hoofstock - 1) San Diego Safari Park (USA), 2) Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (USA), 3) Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (UK), 4) Northwest Trek (USA)

Rhinos - 1) Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (UK), 2) Out Of Africa (USA), 3) Reid Park Zoo (USA)

Dogs and Hyenas - 1) The Living Desert (USA), 2) Denver Zoo (USA), 3) Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (UK)

Pumas - 1) Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (USA), 2) Northwest Trek (USA)

 

Shouldn't the San Diego Safari Park be #1 in this list? I would also add the Bronx Zoo into this list.

 

@Arizona Docent: As you are one of the resident cat experts I wondered if you could elaborate on some exhibits for small cats that you find particularly good for specific species. Small cats seems difficult to exhibit well given the secretive nature of many of the species. For instance, the Santa Barbara Zoo has a nice black-footed cat exhibit, but the animals are almost with out exception never actually out in the exhibit.

What does Le Parc Des Felins do well for small cats, and are there other small cat exhibits at other zoos that you would recognize as models of excellence?

 

Has anyone experienced a truly outstanding rhino exhibit that is not a mixed-species savanna type of experience like San Diego Safari Park or Disney Animal Kingdom?

frican Now that I think about it the Bronx Zoo has a great Indian rhino exhibit. Where are the great stand-alone African rhino exhibits? I'm not sure that I have experienced a great stand- alone rhino exhibit that showcases the animals in more than a basic paddock. Where can I find one (or more)?

 

Lynx - Zoo Dortmund
Clouded leopard - Zoo Dortmund
Jaguarundi - Zoo dortmund
Polar and Brown (kamtjatska and kodiak) bear - Zoom erlebniswelt (gelsenkirchen)
Wolf and bear mixed - Ouwehands Zoo
Sealion and Dolphines - The laguna at dolfinarium hardewijk
Sealion - Zoom erlebniswelt (natural)
Sealion - Zoo Amneville (show)
Bird of prey - Zoo Amneville (show arena + falconery)

 

Saint Louis has avery good black rhinoceros exhibit, probably the best of its kind in the US. It is of a fairly good size, and is full of lush plants and even has some water features.

 

@ David Brown:

1) Excellent stand-alone white rhino exhibit is Out Of Africa because it is filled with fairly dense (and pre-existing) shrubs. Perhaps Mesquite trees (not sure), but it is very thick and rough looking and reminds me a lot more of what the African bush would look like than the dirt yards or grass golf courses that most zoos and parks use. Look through the Out Of Africa gallery for a picture I posted a while back.

2) Small cats are great at Le Parc Des Felins because their enclosures are the same size as what most zoos use for big cats like leopards. Built into a pre-existing forest, so completely natural with minimal construction costs. While most of their (also excellent) big cat exhibits are seen through chain link, many of the small cat exhibits have glass viewing windows.

3) Another first rate cat exhibit is clouded leopards at Nashville Zoo.

 

@Arizona Docent, as a cat fanatic AND an American how do you view the cat enclosures compared to the USA? I know you're a fan of Howletts from what I've read on here and I wonder if the lack of immersion bothers you? Thanks in advance.

 

I am actually a fan of their sister park Port Lympne, as I have never been to Howlett's. I don't mind (lack of immersion) because the actual exhibits are well foliated and quite natural (especially the grouping at Fishing Cat Corner). The only thing I don't like are the few exhibits that are set way back from the railing and impossible to photograph, namely clouded leopard and black footed cat.

I would like to visit both Howlett's and Port Lympne next time out, if I have the time. As for USA, small cat exhibits of any kind are few and far between. And not many stellar ones, but a few that seem good (some I have seen in person and some photos only) are fishing cat at San Diego and National, clouded leopard at Nashville, bobcat at Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and Northwest Trek (plus several others), canada lynx at Northwest Trek, caracal at Living Desert and Oregon, serval at Out Of Africa.

 

Model Zoo Exhibits, Invertebrate Edition:

Cephalopods

What are people's favorite cephalopod (octopus, squid, nautilus, cuttlefish) exhibits?

The Monterey Aquarium has an octopus exhibit with great interpretation and interactive talks at regular intervals. The Steinhart Aquarium has a great dwarf cuttlefish exhibit where you can actually watch them change color and pattern.

I remember that the St. Louis Zoo had an impressive model of a giant squid. Does anyone know if it is still there?

Arachnids

Does anybody have a favorite spider exhibit?

The Los Angeles Zoo had a great temporary exhibit called "Spider City" in the old koala house, but it only was around for about a year. Hopefully there will be some spiders in the new herp/invertebrate house.

The Oakland Zoo has a windowless exhibit with an orb spider so that you can see the critter at work up close and personal.

Has anybody been in the Louisville Zoo giraffe house? Supposedly there is a spider exhibit in there. I have searched around for reviews or mention of it here on ZooChat, but found nothing. I think the giraffe house was closed when snowleopard visited and reviewed the zoo.

 

Lincoln Park Zoo, has an amazing exhibit that is actually just a dark corner with a light, l don't remember the spider species, however there were no restraints to the space. Apparently the spider only stayed where the soft light was.

 

Another windowless orb spider exhibit at National Zoo (DC). When I was there, a docent had a bucket of (dead) crickets and put one on the web and immediately a spider came down. The docent explained (while it was happening) how the spider would inject venom, wait for it to start dissolving the tissue, then injest the insect. Best zoo demonstration of predator-prey relations I have ever seen.

 

While the one at the National Zoo was cool, the one at Lincoln Park was incredible. zooman describes it very well. Next to it is an equally brilliant exhibit for hissing cockroaches (closed during my visit). Of course I am not much of an insect fan, but Saint Louis's Insectarium has a pretty good collection of different spider species.

And yes, Saint Louis has large models of giant squid, white shark, hammerhead shark, and manta ray hanging in the entry building.