The World's 50 Greatest Zoo Exhibits

Perhaps it is time for zoochatters to get together and choose their top 50 exhibits.

 

Sooty, you weren't the only one to vote for the Alfred Brehm house...

 

The one that surprises me that isn't on the list is the Artic Ring of Life at the Detroit Zoo. With the almost flawless underwater sight lines and the first use of an underwater tunnel with polar bears it is a breathtaking exhibit. Add onto this the sheer size and you have what is surely considered a showstopper exhibit that practically takes your breath away. Sadly, the migratory bird aviary at the Columbus Zoo did not have the same breathtaking effect on me(Personally, I prefer the one with wild birds and a more intimate setting at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.) Overall though, I think that american marine mammal exhibits on this list are a bit lacking considerring that neither the Artic Ring of Life, the Oceanarium at Shedd Aquarium, or the Dolphin Dome at the Indianapolis Zoo are listed.

 

Okay...and now to the person that started the whole thing off!(Ive been abroad looking at zoos as ever,and as an "older" person feel little need to keep in touch with the internet whilst travelling)...the dilemma for any paper publication is of course the amount of writing you can give away free gratis on the jolly old internet, most folks here haven't seen the publication as has been pointed out,but it HAS provoked substantial debate and where the printed word still wins (especially over chatrooms) is frequently the depth of coverage and,on occasion, quality of input. Zoo Grapevine cannot hope to keep up with news offered so quickly on Zoochat (and others) so it has to do something rather different.The choices were personal,for instance Arctic Ring of Life-speaking personally I don't like naturalistic exhibits with lamps in them,the barrier between the foxes and bears is all too visible,the sight lines are poor apart from underwater,one exhibit was entirely empty when I was there and the interpretive material way behind Copenhagens new Arctic Ring-so I selected the latter.As has been pointed out I do state that the article is not definitive but I would also point out that the contributors have a wide ,even "expert",opinion totalling over 1400 zoos and as such, it has to be worth a read(which it is).

 

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of AROL. While the concept is great, and the tunnel view is spectacular, the poor attention to details throughout defeats the intention to "take visitors to another place" (the Arctic), so in that regard it does not rise to the top. The shadeless, largely concrete (fake snow) "ice pack" side of the duo of bear exhibits must be broiling in the steamy Detroit summers, so even that zoo's much-vaunted animal welfare bona fides could be questioned in this case.

 

This has been a fascinating thread (so far). But a lot of the 'why was this chosen?' comments are clearly explained by the magazine's participants. You need to read the whole thing to understand the list. Join the IZES.

 

Interesting list. I don't agree with all the choices of course, but that is to be expected. I am quite surprised to see LA's elephant exhibit singled out, though. I've been there twice and have not been that impressed with it. I mean it's solid, but nothing great. Also, the amount of elephants and likelihood of getting good views of them is important, and that is not a strong suit for this exhibit.

 

This is a fantastic summary of the entire thread, and from what I understand there has been at least two more subscriptions for the IZES (Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society) magazine "Zoo Grapevine" since I began this dialogue.

On another note, I wonder how our perspectives are altered by personal experience. In regards to the Arctic Ring of Life complex at Detroit Zoo I agree that the hard-packed ice enclosure is nothing more than stylized cement. Yes, there is a ridiculous lamp in one section of the exhibit and the signage is perhaps not as good as other bear habitats around the world. I know that people like Allen Nyhuis, Tim Brown and others have been disappointed when they've seen inactive bears and perhaps Assiniboine Park Zoo's "Journey into Churchill" complex (opening this year) will far surpass the polar bear zone south of the border.

When I toured Detroit Zoo in 2008 I was mightily impressd with many things (Amphibiville, Reptile House, Great Apes) but Arctic Ring of Life was astonishing. This was pre-kids and so it was just my wife and I in the 70-foot long walk-through glass tunnel (we arrived early and headed straight there) and to see a massive polar bear a few feet above our heads was incredible. The big male kept placing his enormous paws on the tunnel and swimming above us while a couple of seals were seemingly in the same exhibit (the sightlines in the tunnel are exemplary). We then proceeded outside and saw a bear snoozing on the ice-pack and two others had a mock fight in the grassy paddock. At that time Detroit was housing some extra bears (from Columbus Zoo?) and the overall experience of seeing polar bears on grass, on an ice-field and in an underwater tunnel amazed us. Now that I'm hoping to pass my 200th zoo later this year I still rate my brief time in Detroit as one of my all-time favourite zoo experiences.

Another encounter, which I've described before on this forum, was with the 3-acre jungle that the large chimpanzee troop inhabits at the Kansas City Zoo. My wife and I, with daughter in tow, paced back and forth looking at the vast emptiness before us. We kept waiting and in the end we were rewarded as one by one chimpanzees poured out of the undergrowth, dropping from trees and emerging from the darkness to squint up at the boiling Kansas sunshine. We ended up spending half an hour watching the apes interact with each other and the air-conditioned chimpanzee research station with its immense viewing windows was a welcome respite from the summer heat. Is there a bigger and better chimp exhibit in any zoo on the planet? Probably not, but then again I know folks who have stared at the same 3-acre jungle only to never see a great ape and that would surely cloud their experience.

 

Of course personal experience plays a role in judging of exhibits.

In the case of the chimp exhibit in KC, which I've also seen, I would guess that an experience like snowleopard had is rather rare. My experience there was ok. Stood there for quite some time and saw one chimp up in a tree and a couple in the grass, but closer to the trees. So my evaluation of that exhibit is influenced by the experience, but it's not as influenced as someone who had an amazing experience or a terrible one. Thus, while I think it's probably the biggest chimp exhibit and possibly the best for the animals, it is far from the best in terms of viewing IMO because the chance of not seeing any chimps are much higher than most exhibits and the chance of not getting great views seem to be pretty high.

Another example would be the LA elephant exhibit I mentioned being a questionable part of this list. Of course one can have a great viewing experience there, but the probability of that has to be lower than at either San Diego elephant exhibit regardless of your quarrels with Elephant Odyssey. They simply have many more elephants and at least at EO, better viewing opportunities IMO.

 

I wouldn't have picked the LA elephant exhibit either,but you've got to respect the person whose selection it was (Jonas Livet)...1000 zoos and still a young guy! As for San Diegos elephant exhibit it would win my award for "ugliest very expensive zoo exhibit in the world"-it does have (overall) one or two decent bits but at $50 million it should have!And yes,i too think the Los Angeles one to be better.

 

Oh, and I hated KCs Chimpanzee thing-I didn't see Chimps, I saw some small black shapes in distant trees that could have been crows over the state line so far away were they!

 

The amount of money spent is way overplayed on here IMO. They built on already developed land which adds a lot of cost and construction costs there are simply higher than most places. Plus, the elephant house is state of the art and obviously cost a lot. Anyway, I agree that it's disappointing and not aesthetically pleasing as the one in LA, but if my main goal was to have superior viewing of elephants, I would definitely go to SD over LA despite the issues with that exhibit, because it clearly provides better viewing IMO. The other SD elephant exhibit is IMO much better than LA when considering the animals actually in it.

 

The LA exhibit can provide wonderful views of the elephants if they are in the waterfall or the pond or in the area where the training demonstrations are. The exhibit was obviously built for more than just the few elephants that they have, so it can be frustrating when they are far away.

 

EO costs a pretty penny for everything that went in from below ground and up. It is also a narrow habitat to provide views of elephants in close proximity. Beyond the elephants, it incorporates other animals and habitats. Maybe if people stop nit-picking at the $50 million that goes beyond just the elephants, they can enjoy it more. Call it what you want, but San Diego is changing, and for the better. Name another Zoo in the U.S.A. that is revamping their facility at the pace they are? Is it for the better? Yes. Do people disgaree with the loss of animals to make room for others? Defnitely. That is fine. You're entiteld to that. Just look at the bigger picture, not just focused on what EO lacks. Costs add up quickly, yet they spend the money to better the care of their animals.

LA Zoo, no issues with seeing the Elephants. Just because they aren't in your face, that is fine. If you want something directly in your face, go to a service-oriented club and waste your money on the human talent.

 

What? No Baboon Reserve (Bronx Zoo)

 

Particular reason for so much Germany?

 

Yes, two....

1. It is possibly the best zoo country in the world
2. This is a European publication, so has a Euro-bias; if it was produced in South Dakota, it would probably be more biased towards the USA and Canada

 

Easily the best zoo country in the world....though The Netherlands gives them a run for their Euro's!

 

Euro bias makes sense and also it seems nothing opened in the last 5 or so years. None of the Trail/Rotational Exhibits on the list surprises me, I have wondered if "Zoo nerds" didn't like them.