The most reliably active crowd pleasing animals

I think that piranhas and sharks tend to attract visitors.

 

Yes, particularly a displaying male. Always draws attention.

 

So, if we're going literally by the question, sharks are the absolute best answer. Sharks more or less are exciting to visitors doing just whatever, and it's a big bonus if they're being fed. The crowd-pleasing sharks (blacktips bull shark etc), no matter where they're exhibited, will be visible and act generally the same, every single time.

 

I worked with one that would appear when someone was doing an encounter session with something like a giant millipede, and totally upstage it.

 

I think that activity is the main draw. Part of the attraction of sharks and dolphins is that they have to keep swimming, sea turtles are pretty good too, except when they are resting on the bottom. A group of animals which interact with each other is good for the same reason, particularly if there are some youngsters because they are generally more active than adults. I think that's the main explanation for the baboon example, but it works with many others too, from a herd of elephants to a flock of village weavers building their nests, displaying and raising chicks. Noise and spectacle are good too, favouring the peacocks, sea lions, otters and chimps for example and a talking parrot will usually have an audience.
The real test is an animal that can draw a crowd even when it is doing nothing. Giant pandas do, but they don't generally hold people's attention for long. Koalas likewise. I think the polar bear wins. I wonder if an adult bull walrus would be its equal, but I have never seen one, so I don't know.

 

I think common hippopotamus come into this category; I've seldom seen a hippo exhibit that hasn't attracted a crowd of spectators, even when the hippos are doing nothing.

Adult walrus certainly attract lots of attention but, sadly, you seldom see a captive walrus with impressive tusks....One with large tusks definitely draws a crowd.

 

Another vote for meerkats, penguins and flamingo. I also agree that small primates usually seem to be active. I really like otters, but I have mixed luck with them. I have never ever seen them at Hamerton, for example, yet have never failed to see them at Dudley.

 

Ducklings. Whether wild Mallard or on a pond in an aviary, small ducklings always attract attention. In fact, having a duck species parent rearing in an aviary is a good way of people not walking past with an 'it's-only-birds-in-there' attitude. Instead, they stop and goo over the little fluffies, and just might notice the tanagers or whatever that are also in there

 

Elephants should probably also be mentioned because there's practically a 100% guarantee of seeing them active in any zoo that keeps them - they're too big to hide, they usually have viewable indoor exhibits, and they sleep very little. Maybe a minus point or two for the fact that they're not active in the way that the public wants animals to be active - they don't (usually) dash about and play the way that otters or monkeys do.