recently in hungary i saw takin mixed with indian rhino in sosto! And white cheeked gibbons mixed with asian elephants inside! very cool
Theres a site called Zoo Lex that posts pictures of enclosures that zoos have made. The pictures are pretty old in some of them but still cool all the same
Emmen has an enclosure where bisons and moose live together, allthough they are separated when they have offspring, because tensions rise at those moments. Canadian cranes also inhabited this enclosure, but that stopped because the bisons gave them too much stress. At the moment there are plans in emmen to combine dholes with indian rhino's, coati's with spectacled bears, and large mammals in an aviary ( tapirs and capybara).
My favorite mixed exhibit is the swamp in Kingdoms of the Night at the Henry Doorly Zoo. There is one behind glass that has a lot of different kinds of turtles, baby alligators, catfish, and gar in the water. Above it there is land that looks like cypress roots and raccoons live on the land portion.
Cincinnati Zoo used to have Bharal with Japanese Macaque on a small island exhibit. The Macaque were always jumping on and riding the Bharal. I was happy to see it gone.
They used to have cheetah and white rhino together at the Cleveland Zoo (Ohio, USA), but they don't anymore. (I haven't read this whole thread, so sorry if someone has already mentioned this).
I think in general mixed exhibits are good. It shows how animals interact in their natural environment.
Many people think this, but in fact, while several species in the wild may live in the same area, and share the same environment, they nearly always avoid any direct form of interaction and keep large distances from each other. Mixed exhibits in Zoos promote this fallacy but the animals don't have any choice as they are forced to live in much closer proximity with the other species that share their enclosures. With Ungulates I think mixed species exhibits can and do often work okay-though there can be specific problems even here e.g. zebra/antelope calves, mothers with young, males of different species fighting etc. But some other mixings are highly unnatural- e.g. the Spectacled Bears/Tapirs/otters etc or the Pygmy Hippos/Mandrills, both at South Lakes in the UK to give two of the more extreme examples. Just because they come(not the Otters) from the same country or habitat is not a good reason to force them to live in close proximity in captivity, and I am sure it is stressful for at least some of the species concerned.
Pertinax makes a good point. What I think would be ideal to replicate the wild is an idea that has only been tried on a very limited scale (in fact, I can't remember any I have seen personally). That is to have connecting exhibits where animals from the same region are rotated throughout the day. Just like at a water hole in East Africa you might see impala at one point, and lions at another, etc. Like I said, I have not seen any but have read on ZooChat about the Point Defiance (Washington) setup for Asian animals. Also, the proposed South American rainforest to be built at Los Angeles Zoo is supposed to have this. Anyone have some good examples?
Louisville Zoo has the islands exhibit and rotates Babirusa, Sumatran Tigers, Siamangs, Orangutans, and Malayn Tapirs. I saw the exhibit on "The Ultimate Zoo" on animal planet, and it seemed pretty neat. Three main exhibits and the 5 species are rotated each day on no schedule. Both Sumatran Tigers and Babirusa have bred.
We have discussed these rotation exhibits elsewhere. http://www.zoochat.com/22/exhibit-rotation-11191/ http://www.zoochat.com/2/louisville-zoo-multi-species-rotation-exhibit-77259/ My opinion (as I've written in those threads) is that none have been done well as yet. With several different species rotating through, you can't design for one - considering its preferences, needs and behaviors - to create a lush environment and so you end up with the least common denominator: a rather bare cage. I do think these could be done well, but they are going to have to get much bigger. Usually the rotation is from one day to another rather than day to day. Rotating animals takes time to be done so it is safe for all concerned including keepers. To do it during the day would require the exhibit to be closed to the public (or at least to have few animals visible) for some period.It might well be possible to overcome this through design, but again would require more space and in the end greater start-up cost. It would also require additional keeper staff. Cleveland Zoo's new elephant exhibits will allow keepers to move elephants from one yard to another during the day in a simple manner that will add to the visitor's experience.
Check out these photo from South Lakes of a dispute between a bear and a tapir. I hope the tapir was ok! Poor thing. Bear vs Tapir - a set on Flickr
Not the first time thats happened I`ve seen it happen myself at South lakes but it was all over before I could get my camera out of the bag,except when I saw it happened away from the pool.Also I doubt it will be last time that it happens.
I do think common sense has to be one of the major factors in deciding animals to mix. tapir's and bear??? several; questions need to be taken into consideration which seem pretty obvious: iss the one animal inclined to attack the other? is there enough space for more than one species so that they can escape from each other? will it add anything to the exhibit? etc I also think that animals do not have to come from the same area to create a good mixed exhibit. Whislt it may lose the educational aspect (and could even give false impressions if an asian antelope and an african antelope could be found next to each other), if the education is based on a particular type of habitat then it could work. one humble example would be Newquay's tropical realm containing, bali starling, aracari, chevrotain, tamarins, fruit bats, sloth, imperial pied pigeon etc etc. the point is there is a non geographic mix which stills works well by showing a rainforest enrvironment
I agree. Generally, I would say those unnatural mixes are very much stretching the boundaries of mixed exhibits. Like the Indian Rhino and dhole mix mentioned above, I think the dholes may have some stress with the rhinos nearby, which should be avoided. There are some animals that just can't with other animals and should be avoided like black rhinos, most carnivores, and zebras can be jerks out in their savanna enclosures. There are also some of these weird that turn out to work pretty well like Pheonix's Maned Wolf and Giant Anteater mix. I sat watching those two species for awhile when I was their enclosure. It's like there were two species acting as if they were in different enclosures and being completely oblivious of each other. What would be cool is if zoos displayed species together that have symbiotic relationship and use this to educate the public. Anyone know of an exhibit that does this or two species that have a symbiotic relationship that could be used. The only one I can think of right now is Axis Deer and Hanuman/common langur at the moment.
I think this has already been mentioned, but the San Antonio Zoo has Wattled Cranes and Gharials in the same exhibit. I don't remember where but there was an exhibit with tamarins, sakis, tortoises (maybe?) and different birds all together.
Apparently Planckendael Animal Park in Belgium is intending (or at least investing wether it's possible) to house Dybowski deer with Asiatic elephant in the 2011 scheduled new 2 ha Elephant exibit.
Morelia Zoo has White Bengal Tigers and Spotted Hyenas together. http://www.zoochat.com/1828/white-bengal-tiger-bengal-tiger-spotted-292699/ http://www.zoochat.com/1828/white-bengal-tiger-spotted-hyena-morelia-292704/ I don't know if this counts because they all live on the same continent but Disney's Animal Kingdom has many different African predators all mixed together in one exhibit on their safari ride (Nile Crocs, Cheetahs, Lions, ect.) I believe at one time the Beardsley Zoo had Warthogs and Galapagos Giant Tortoises together (years ago. Neither species is at the zoo anymore but they're looking for a giant tortoise. The exhibit they were in is now home to the Northeastern U.S.'s first Chacoan Peccaries and its first Chacoan Peccary piglet).
I don't think Disney's predators all live in the same enclosure. Warthogs were only here in 2007, and tortoises weren't at the zoo then, so that mix isn't possible. Also, we're not really sure if they are looking for a new tortoise at the moment like you said.
