The World's 50 Greatest Zoo Exhibits

It seems the list does nothing for innovation, I mean several of those exhibits look plainly outdated, but they get a pass because they are at a "traditional" zoo. Where is the recognition of innovation? Looks like a lot of bias towards not just European Zoos but also the big names in Zoos even those that are resting on their laurels.

 

Okay, how about starting a list of the "50 most innovative zoo exhibits." It is asking a different question and would no doubt be interesting and spur at least as much conversation as this thread has!

 

Mouse House Is Not That Great

The mouse house is not the best American exhibit. I love the Bronx Zoo but the mouse house is a mess. Several of the animals don't even have plaques telling you what they are. Congo Gorilla Forest is amazing.

 

It's probably the best display in the United States in terms of rodents. The sheer amount of rodents to be found in there is probably what earned it its place on the Top 50 Zoo Exhibits.

 

I think That Dublin Zoos African Savannah is a good exhibit (even if it dosnt have grass)

 

I'm equally surprised about Arctic Ring of Life. I didn't see it mentioned in the thread until you brought it up. At one point, it seemed to be considered one of if not the best exhibit in the US. What happened to it in the last five years to make it into chopped liver?

 

As I stated in my introduction to the article in question..it was/is an accumulation of exhibits chosen by a variety of zoo professionals and well-travelled enthusiasts that I happen to know and filled in by me(that accounts for my over-representation).Arctic Ring of Life-well weve been here before,it was trumped by Copenhagens similar thing,marine mammals?..sorry folks Harderwijk in Holland got the vote.Favouritism and nostalgia played its part and I think that made it a good read.It did not however,claim to be definitive.

 

I hope this list will be a guide for zoo directors planning new exhibits!

To be fair, exhibits should be perhaps divided into expensive, medium and cheap. It is easy to make a great exhibit if you raise $20m!

Some choices are a bit strange, do I understand well that it was only one exhibit per every type of animal?

I would personally think about: Snow leopards (Zurich), Etosha and Gamgoas exhibits (Basel), Nocturnorama (Kerzers), African panorama (Hamburg), Burger's Ocean and Bush (Arnhem), Gorillas and squirrel monkeys (Apenheul), Migratory bird aviary, praire dogs, bat cave and Asian elephant house (Rotterdam), Brown bear forest (Rhenen), orangutans and probably several more exhibits from Singapore zoo, giant aviary (Jurong bird park) and several others.

And what to do with absolutely stunning exhibits, where a zoo was lucky to have native habitat on the grounds, for example most of Arizona's Sonora Desert Museum, lynx forest (Dortmund), polar bears at Orsa, Sweden, and several small local animal parks in Germany and Switzerland?

Perhaps exhibits might be also ranked separately by native habitat/non-native, and also large and small (again, if you have 2 ha of land with natural vegetation, it is easy to make great exhibit for native animals...)

Some chocies are a manner of taste. But still it is difficult to agree, why somebody would choose Eismeer in Hamburg, with its puny, small exhibit and stereotyping polar bears? Or ape house at Koeln, over probably a dozen more modern ape houses eg. Pongoland in Leipzig? Or white wagtail exhibit in Frankfurt, where such exhibits are dime a dozen (including Amazonia bird/fish exhibit 10 meters away in Frankfurt)...

 

Interesting read. Thanks to all who took time to put this together. I'm sure it will turn out to be a valuable resource in the future.

 

I totally agree with the hyrax enclosure at Edinburgh since its so spacious and is home to a family of rock hyrax. It used to house Gentoo penguins temporarily for the new penguins exhibit. The pond was drained when the penguins went into Penguin Rock and has a huge log in case the hyraxes get stuck at the bottom and cant get out. Its a good and recommended enclosure for the hyraxes

 

It has been two full years since this list (that I admittedly contributed to) appeared in Zoo Grapevine magazine and then was reproduced here on ZooChat. Out of curiosity, does anyone have suggestions for new exhibit complexes that have opened in the past two years that perhaps deserve to be given the title of world-class?

Possible contenders:

Chester Zoo - Islands
Wroclaw Zoo - Afrykarium
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo - African Grasslands (which has not fully opened yet but it has cost $73 million and covers 28 acres at one of the world's truly great zoos)

 

Definitely Wroclaw's Afrykarium, which I saw last year and was tremendously impressed.

I might also suggest Beuval's new giant panda complex, with a terrific Chinese theme. Also Pairi Daiza's Chinese area, also with new giant pandas, is very, very good.

While I haven't been there yet, I might also suggest that some of the exhibits from Singapore's River Safari park might qualify for this.

 

There is world-class zoo exhibit design going on in Fresno, California.

Their sea lion exhibit and African complex are certainly world-class.

 

I'd consider the new Tasmanian exhibit at Copenhagen -- the walkthrough zone with wombats, kangaroos is fairly typical -- but the setup for the devils was impressive, it's expansive, interesting sightlines with several exhibit areas housing the 10+(?) devils. Clearly breeding well, and obviously a rarity outside Oz. I've seen several exhibits in Australia for devils, Taronga probably being the best, and I may be putting a bias here on the importance of this breeding program. Also in fairness, San Diego's Australia exhibit is probably pretty darn good?

Also - how about Zurich's elephantpark? It was under construction when I visited in 2014 but it looked very impressive with the under-water viewing.

 

Not sure about top 50 in the world, but the SD Safari Park's new Tiger exhibit is world class IMO.

 

Fresno savanna yes.
SD Safari Park tigers yes.
Zurich elephants no.

(my opinion, but I have seen the latter two in person)