A zoo with 2 very special walk-through enclosures as well as some intresting free-roamers is the Crococun Zoo in Cancun - Mexico : - Walk-through enclosure with crocodiles Crocodile walk through by vogelcommando posted 22 Feb 2014 at 10:46 AM - Walk-through enclosure with Yucatan white-tailed deer : Yucatan white-tailed deers by vogelcommando posted 6 Mar 2014 at 9:19 PM Loads of birds and small reptiles free-roaming at this place but most intresting was a family-group of Yucatan spider monkeys with baby.
A walkthrough with crocodiles sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Are you sure there’s no barrier between the crocs and guests?
"It was pretty cool! It was last summer and the crocs minded their own business it was a guided tour so everyone was supervised to ensure both animals and guests were safe" ~ Azamat Shackleford It's a very real walkthrough. With a small rock barrier deviding the path, but the crocs can easily cross is Crocodile walk through - ZooChat walk-through enclosure ! - ZooChat Walk-through Crocodile enclosure - ZooChat
LOVE IT! It is a very educative exhibit. Many people could learn how degenerated is the legal system in their home country. I hope it inspires the young generation to make a change.
At Hagenbeck Hamburg - Germany quite a number of animals are free-roaming in the park. Species which I've seen myself : - Muntjac : Free-ranging muntjac by vogelcommando posted 17 Jun 2013 at 8:53 PM - Mara : Free-ranging Mara by vogelcommando posted 8 Mar 2020 at 10:08 PM - Capybara ( seen but no photo made by myself ) : Capybara by Hanjo posted 28 Jul 2019 at 8:33 PM
German book Zootierhaltung - Vögel mentions some interesting facts: 'In suitable climate of San Diego, brush turkeys were kept free-roaming. There were however, soon problems, because the birds flew over the fence surrounding the zoo and regularly tried to build nest mounds on the edge of a busy road.' 'Blue eared-pheasants can be kept free-running in larger gardens and parks.' In Zoo Basel, Tasmanian Native-Hens were kept fully free-roaming. They established territories of about 7000m2, moved freely and regularly bred.' (TNH is a large flightless rail which breeds cooperatively in groups, not currently kept anywhere outside Australia). Pity that no zoo currently seems to keep any of these free-running. Except maybe wild brush turkeys somewhere in Australia. I think all would be interesting displays, especially behaviorally!
From Texas to Florida, alligators are quite common in public parks, golf courses, reserves and suburban canals, often basking very close to paths and roads. Millions of American people live there. The only difference is that these alligators are legally wild, so people are themselves responsible for their own safety.
I'm not going to advocate "crocodile / alligator walkthroughs" but I thought I would add to what Jurek has said here and give an interesting example albeit not from a zoo. In many parts of Africa where people practise animism or ancestor worship the crocodile is either a totemic animal or one that is imbued in mythology and symbolism and is not viewed negatively (crocodile attacks in many parts are often not even registered as such but instead as witchcraft). In Ghana there is a village called Paga inhabited by a tribe called the Kassena who are animists and worship crocodiles. The Kassena have a very interesting relationship with West African crocodiles in the local pond which are tamed and handled (interestingly same species that was used in the Ancient Egyptian temples).
The Greensboro Science Center has free roaming peacocks and chickens, and had free roaming guinea fowl and a turkey.
Also in The Gambia there are several places where people can come in contact with crocodiles. Tourists can even touch sunbathing crocodiles ( some of them 3 - 4 meter long ! ) and for the Gambians the crocodiles are seen as animals which can improve fertility in women. At the place I visited there where small shower cabins in which the women could take a shower with water from the large pool in which the crocodiles where living....
Thats really interesting, thanks for sharing @vogelcommando ! Really interesting symbology, I've never heard about crocodiles being a symbol of fertility but it doesn't suprise me at all as these are very culturally salient animals to many African peoples. Also when you think about the clutch size of crocodiles and the way that the mother protects the neonates it really makes sense why there would be that kind of association towards this reptile within these cultures.
I may be wrong, but I think there may be an issue (BIAZA/zoo licensing?) with free ranging wild species not being permitted to leave a zoo premises. This doesn’t apply to domestics, so ‘domestic’ peafowl and chickens are allowed, but not Red Junglefowl or any other pheasants. Various UK zoos that used to have Red Junglefowl free ranging, no longer have them.
I believe peafowl are down to a single male. For many years the Zoo had a fox proof boundary fence, facilitating long established breeding populations of Red Junglefowl and Blue Peafowl. In the absence of that fence……
A few more interesting examples I have seen: -Several zoos (for example Lincoln Park) have spider walk-throughs using Golden-silk Orbweavers. -Brookfield Zoo has free-roaming Golden Lion Tamarins. -Some zoos have White-tailed Deer walk-throughs. Not something I would want to be in during the rut in fall! -Some of the more surprising birds I've seen in walk-through aviaries include potentially dangerous birds such as cranes, storks and swans. I've also seen Black Swans (and Emus) in Australian walkabouts, which kind of freaks me out. -Menominee Park Zoo has a free-roaming African Spurred Tortoise, and encourages visitors to pet it. This isn't that notable, but there's also a huge wild Common Snapping Turtle that lives on the zoo grounds, and I'm always worried someone will try to pet it instead.
At one time Zoo Tampa (Lowry Park Zoo at the time) had free ranging Golden and Cotton Topped tamarins, but eventually they put them back in their enclosures (I don't know why). They were on the very large oak tree outside between the restrooms and the former chimp habitat. The Zoo Tampa Wallaroo Station section also had (until recently) a walkabout with wallaby and emu. They are both still there, but it is not a walk through any longer. It still has a walk into flying fox enclosure.
