Join our zoo community

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

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by DavidBrown, 5 Sep 2011.

  1. zooman

    zooman Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    4 Jul 2008
    Posts:
    1,849
    Location:
    Australia
    Interestingly, l was just reading that a European zoo. I think it was Rotterdam had a display of insects in 1902.
     
  2. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    19 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    3,357
    Location:
    Everywhere at once
    Singapore zoo seems to have "absolute best exhibits" for most animals. :)
     
  3. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,867
    Location:
    California, USA
    Can you tell us what some of the major highlights are for you? Someone posted some video of their giant flying squirrel exhibit which was fantastic (maybe it was you).
     
  4. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    27 May 2011
    Posts:
    3,704
    Location:
    Birmingham, UK
    Sorry for the late reply, missed your post completely and was wondering why you never got back to me. :eek:
    It's interesting to know that the fencing doesn't bother you even though you're a keen photographer, I know it puts some people off. And as far as I can recall the exhibits you mentioned are set back for the cats well-being and for breeding which both Aspinall parks do very well at. :)
     
  5. Simon McGlary

    Simon McGlary Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    4 May 2009
    Posts:
    217
    Location:
    Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
    I haven't seen any mention of Edinburgh Zoo's Budongo Trail for chimpanzees. An exhibit that comes with the Jane Goodall seal of approval! It's also been planted with the chimpanzees in mind, including an interesting primate seed mix developed by the gardens team which provides a mix of edible and toxic plants which the chimpanzees seem to know which plants are safe to eat. Indeed the chimps at Budongo have been seen eating plants which are related to ones that in the wild would be used to "self medicate". A huge range of very natural behaviours have been noted by researchers.
     
  6. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,867
    Location:
    California, USA
    This sounds cool Simon. Over in the Kansas City Zoo photo gallery several of us marveled at some of the photos of their chimpanzee exhibit posted by KCZooFan. Perhaps Kansas City's exhibit is the North American equivalent to Edinburgh.

    Where are the best bonobo exhibits in Europe? For that matter where are the best bonobo exhibits period?

    The only bonobos that I have seen are the ones at the San Diego Zoo and SD Safari Park. The exhibit at the zoo is great. Watching the social dynamics of these animals is great fun. The exhibit at the SDWAP is unfortunately no longer viewable since they messed up their monorail tour.
     
  7. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,867
    Location:
    California, USA
    New question: Where are the great zoo bat exhibits? I'll split this into Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera.

    Disney Animal Kingdom has a fantastic flying fox exhibit. Oakland Zoo has the only equivalent on the West Coast. It is very good but not as atmospheric.

    The best cave bat exhibits that I have seen are in the Kingdom of the Night complex in Omaha.

    I would love to hear other opinions on bat exhibit excellence.
     
  8. KCZooFan

    KCZooFan Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9 Aug 2010
    Posts:
    838
    Location:
    Olathe, Kansas, USA
    The caves in Omaha are great, but the bat collection is outstanding. Short-tailed fruit bats, Greater bulldog bats, Ruwenzori long-haired fruit bats, spear-nosed bats, Egyptian fruit bats, little golden-mantled fruit bats, and giant Indian fruit bats all live down there. There are also Seba's short-tailed bats, common vampire bats, straw-colored fruit bats, and Egyptian fruit bats in different areas of the zoo.

    Omaha, Sedgwick County, and Topeka have large Megachiroptera bats free-flying in their rainforests. Species are Egyptian fruit bats, Indian flying foxes, and Ryukyu flying foxes respectivly.
     
  9. Terp

    Terp Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    2 Mar 2011
    Posts:
    90
    Location:
    Washington, D.C., USA
    I particularly enjoyed the up close, eye-level viewing of the Malayan flying foxes within Singapore's Fragile Forest.

    To answer an earlier question - Singapore, in my opinion, has quite a few exhibits that are right up there. Of particular note, exhibits for gharials, pygmy hippos, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, saltwater crocs, Hamaydras baboons, are all fantastic when compared to other exhibits for these species I've seen.

    For my money, the free ranging orangutan 'exhibit' at Singapore Zoo is the best exhibit of any kind that I've seen - my definite favorite.

    Also, looking back at this thread I'd throw in to the mix Prague's mixed species Savannah exhibit (including 13 giraffes I believe) - it has the feel of a San Diego WAP type safari park but within a traditional zoo setting - not too fancy, but huge space.
     
  10. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,867
    Location:
    California, USA
    Thanks for your feedback Terp924. Can you describe the Singapore orang exhibit? Can you watch them climbing through real trees or do they have some kind of climbing set up like the O-Line at your own local National Zoo?

    What species does Prague have out on its savanna? Do they have rhinos, giraffes, antelopes, and birds mixed together like at SDWAP? I'll look to see if there are pictures of it in the gallery.

    I found this picture by the late Sun Wukong: http://www.zoochat.com/416/prague-zoo-2011-a-225566/
    This does look especially impressive for an urban zoo (or is the Prague Zoo out in the country?).
     
  11. Terp

    Terp Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    2 Mar 2011
    Posts:
    90
    Location:
    Washington, D.C., USA
    The orangs in the free-ranging exhibit are in real trees, blended almost seamlessly into the forest that makes up a couple different areas of the park. One section in particular is right above a footpath, on my visit a curious young male hung above the crowd by his feet reaching down. (I've tried to attach a photo I took in April 2010, hope it works.) Also amazed to see a very young baby orang with mother high up in the trees. The O-line at the National Zoo is certainly a positive but it really doesn't come close. Honestly, in dozens upon dozens of visits I've actually never seen the orangs crossing the thing.

    There are a few existing threads regarding the Singapore exhibit, and Zooish has posted a number of photos which show the exhibit very well.

    The zoo in Prague is on the outskirts of town but easy to get to via subway/bus from the city center, so I'm not sure whether it's really urban. It is built in an interesting way on a large hillside, there are nice views of downtown Prague from the peak. The savannah encompasses a large plateau area at the top. There is a large barn where the animals are brought in at night, open during the day but empty except for three aardvarks during my visit. Based on my visit this past summer - Rothschild Giraffe, Ostrich, Grevy's Zebra, Lechwe, Eland, Blesbok, Beisa Oryx (also, meerkats and aardvark in smaller exhibits adjacent). No rhinos at the Prague Zoo at this time, they are currently building large elephant and hippo exhibits near the savannah area.
     

    Attached Files:

  12. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,867
    Location:
    California, USA
    Thanks for the info Terp924. The orang exhibit at Singapore Zoo does look amazing. I think that the National Zoo experience does attempt a similar experience, but of course it cannot match the real jungle of Singapore. My wife, sister, brother-in-law, 6 year old nephew, and 1 year old niece all spent a couple hours waiting to watch 2 orangs (Bonnie and Kyle) cross the O-Line. When they did it was one of the coolest zoo experiences that I have had, especially with the 6 year old narrating the crossing as we watched it. If you are ever around when the orangs are crossing, would highly recommend it.

    I am hearing a lot of good things about the Prague Zoo on this site. It sounds like it is one of the most highly regarded European zoos.

    National Geographic did a story on modern zoo exhibits in the early 1990s. Maybe it is time for an updated article?
     
  13. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    19 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    3,357
    Location:
    Everywhere at once
    Speaking of Prague, ibex and aoudad exhibits on a huge, natural, vertical cliffside are absolute best.
     
  14. AnaheimZoo

    AnaheimZoo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12 Jun 2011
    Posts:
    986
    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Mind adding a link to a picture of it/them? ;)
     
  15. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    12 Oct 2007
    Posts:
    5,388
    Location:
    Chesterfield, Derbyshire
  16. AnaheimZoo

    AnaheimZoo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12 Jun 2011
    Posts:
    986
    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Thanks, Maguari. Stunningly impressive. I believe you're right in saying that these are the best exhibits for their respective species, Jurek7. :) Especially the West Caucasian tur exhibit, probably my favorite of the three! And I realize this may be a stupid question, but were these exhibits build on these rock faces/cliffs, or were the formations made for the exhibits?

    (Yeah, I know... "Why would they even try making artificial cliffs?!") Told you it was a dumb question... :eek:
     
  17. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    12 Oct 2007
    Posts:
    5,388
    Location:
    Chesterfield, Derbyshire
    I don't know this as a certainty (they could be at least manipulated), but after seeing them it has never even crossed my mind that they are anything other than natural cliffs - perhaps with a little tree clearance.
     
  18. Shirokuma

    Shirokuma Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Sep 2009
    Posts:
    2,079
    Location:
    .
    Have the macaques ever escaped from the enclosure in Prague? It must work but looking at the picture, it does seem very easy for them to get out...
     
  19. GraysonDP

    GraysonDP Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24 May 2015
    Posts:
    618
    Location:
    Washington DC
    Here are my top 25 zoo exhibits that I've seen:
    1.Congo Gorilla Forest- Bronx Zoo
    2. Giants of the Savanna/Wilds of Africa- Dallas Zoo
    3. Arctic Ring of Life- Detroit Zoo
    4. Kiliminjaro Safaris- Animal Kingdom
    5. Watani Grasslands- North Carolina Zoo
    6. Asia Trail- National Zoo
    7. Monkey Trails and Forest Trails- San Diego Zoo
    8. Tiger Mountain- Bronx Zoo
    9. Polar Frontier- Columbus Zoo
    10. Field Exhibits- San Diego Safari Park
    11. Range of the Jaguar- Jacksonville Zoo
    12. Edge of Africa/ Serengeti Plain- Busch Gardens
    13. China- Memphis Zoo
    14. Baboon Reserve/African Plains- Bronx Zoo
    15. Ituri Forest- San Diego Zoo
    16. Museum of Living Art- Fort Worth Zoo
    17. American Prairie- North Carolina Zoo
    18. Jungle Trail- Cincinnati Zoo
    19. Regenstein Center for African Apes- Lincoln Park Zoo
    20. Giraffe Overlook- Jacksonville Zoo
    21. Asia Quest- Columbus Zoo
    22. African Savanna- Nashville Zoo
    23. Myombe Reserve- Busch Gardens
    24. Wings of Asia- Zoo Miami
    25. Lion Camp- San Diego Safari Park
     
  20. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    1 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    7,591
    Location:
    Abbotsford, B.C., Canada
    Just a quick note to say that for the most part this is an incredible list of top-notch exhibits. I've visited 24 out of 25, with the only omission being Polar Frontier at Columbus Zoo.