What is it: Goat. Where is it: Central Park Zoo, USA Which enclosure: Over the Fly River Turtle tank in the Tisch's children's zoo What year: 2018 Score: 1.5 out of 5 Fake Goat | ZooChat
What is it: Crocodile skull Where is it: De Zonnegloed Sanctuary, Belgium Which enclosure: ? What year: 2018 Score: 4 out of 5 Fake crocodile skull | ZooChat Additional comments: Very good except for the teeth looking like they are fused to the jaw and being pristine white.
What is it: Half a tree Where is it: Emmen zoo, Netherlands Which enclosure: Jungola What year: 2016 Score: 4.5 out of 5 Jungola - Fake tree with invertebrate enclosures | ZooChat
What is it: Crocodile Where is it: Dierenpark De Oliemeulen , Netherlands Which enclosure: N/A What year: 2016 Score: 5 out of 5 Escape ? | ZooChat Additional comments: Possibly a cast of the real thing.
What is it: Dead tree Where is it: Chester zoo, UK Which enclosure: Monsoon Forest, south west orang enclosure. What year: 2015 Score: 2.5 out of 5 Monsoon Forest: south west orang enclosure | ZooChat
What is it: Zebra carcass Where is it: St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, USA Which enclosure: Birds of Africa (Cape Griffon vulture, hooded vulture, West African crowned crane and marabou stork) What year: 2012 Score: 3 out of 5 Birds of Africa - Zebra Carcass | ZooChat
What is it: Rocks Where is it: Marwell zoo, UK Which enclosure: Cheetah What year: 2011 Score: 4 out of 5 Turkus the cheetah at Marwell Wildlife on 3rd September 2011 | ZooChat
What is it: Termite mound Where is it: Hamerton zoo park, UK Which enclosure: Giant anteater What year: 2011 Score: 5 out of 5 Squirrel House at Hamerton, 08/10/11 | ZooChat
What is it: Baobab tree Where is it: Bioparc Valencia, Spain Which enclosure: Main savannah What year: 2011 Score: 5 out of 5 Main Savannah at Bioparc Valencia, 28/05/11 | ZooChat
You can also nominate whole zoos for overall worst and best executed theming. My types: Worst: Hannover Zoo, Germany, especially THE geyser. Best: Burgers Zoo, Netherlands, especially for its Desert and Ocean. Note: I visited Burgers desert exhibit years before I visited real Joshua Tree National Park. Only there I found that more unreal rocks in Burgers were actually exact copies of real rocks in Joshua Tree NP. What perplexes me is that there is no objective reason why zoos continue to build fake monstrosities. Great landscaping at Burgers is older and not obviously more expensive than very fake landscaping at Hannover. By the way, good and bad theming can include not only how realistic rocks are, but also: -does the rock type fits the locality? - Does cultural theming fits the culture of the locality? - Are plants matching the locality? - And is whole landscaping coherent (so e.g no artificial house next to the realistic termite mound, no artifical rocks with obvious, not concealed door in the middle)?
The ones at Pairi Daiza are not signed, they are just decor, they have real jellyfishes just a bit further on....
I wondered the same. I don't know about in real life but from the photo they looked fairly realistic. @birdsandbats @lintworm I've seen some pretty convincing videos of robotic jellyfish in the past. Are the ones in the photo above made to move/pulsate like real jellyfish or are they just dragged around motionless by the current in the tank?
What is it: Mock rock Where is it: Burgers' zoo, Netherlands Which enclosure: Desert house What year: 2018 Score: 4 out of 5 Rock valley pathway in the Desert (Sep 16th, 2018) | ZooChat
What is it: Titan arum Where is it: Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore Which enclosure: N/A What year: 2018 Score: 4 out of 5 Model Titan Arum - Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum | ZooChat
What is it: Saber-toothed cat head Where is it: State Darwin museum, Russia Which enclosure: N/A What year: 2017 Score: 1.5 out of 5 Saber-toothed cat model | ZooChat