Species kept in indoor rainforests

TheEthiopianWolf03

TheEthiopianWolf03

Well-Known Member
What species are commonly kept in these types of exhibits. I’m trying to design my own for Oakland zoo and I am lacking some ideas. I’m more interested in species from Central America but any animal kept in indoor rainforest exhibits will be great.

On another note, what is the line for mammals kept in indoor rainforest exhibits? I think pygmy hippos and tapirs would be the largest species kept but are those exhibits good enough for them? Thanks.
 
ThomasNotTom said:
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I’ve heard of this exhibit and I’m pretty sure it’s the best indoor rainforest in Europe but it is so massive. It can be it’s own zoo! The inspiration helps but I was thinking of the rainforest exhibits that people would see in any average zoo. The exhibit at Leipzig is unique that it can fit most things but for this design I’m thinking of something that is a little more limited in size. The idea for what species to put helps a bit though thanks.
 
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
I’ve heard of this exhibit and I’m pretty sure it’s the best indoor rainforest in Europe but it is so massive. It can be it’s own zoo! The inspiration helps but I was thinking of the rainforest exhibits that people would see in any average zoo. The exhibit at Leipzig is unique that it can fit most things but for this design I’m thinking of something that is a little more limited in size. The idea for what species to put helps a bit though thanks.
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There are plenty of zoo nerds who would comfortable place Gondwanaland in 3rd place, well behind Burgers' Bush and the Masoala hall. Another type of zoochatter more focused on star species and less on a rainforest feeling could prefer Gondwanaland though. The difference is that Gondwana is a rainforest-themed mini zoo, whereas the Bush and Masoala are more faithful replications of a real rainforest.

Tapirs are the largest land mammals I can think of kept in such halls (Randers, Omaha, Leipzig), but I have yet to encounter one that could be called spacious...
 
Here is a list of every species I have seen in indoor rainforests (only doing mammals because you specifically asked about them);

Henry Vilas Zoo: Rainforest Aviary
Golden Lion Tamarin
unidentified two-toed sloth

Minnesota Zoo: Tropics Trail
Ring-tailed Lemur
Straw-colored Fruit Bat
Egyptian Fruit Bat
Ruwenzori Long-haired Fruit Bat
Red River Hog
DeBrazza's Monkey
Black-and-White Colobus
Asian Small-clawed Otter
Northern White-cheeked Gibbon
Silver Leaf-eating Monkey
Malayan Tapir
Visayan Warty Pig
Red Panda
Transcaspain Urial
Long-tailed Chinchilla
Red-rumped Agouti
Bolivian Gray Titi
Cotton-tip Tamarin
Golden Lion Tamarin
Southern Three-banded Armadillo

Como Park Zoo: Tropical Encounters
Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth
Domestic Hedgehog
 
In Europe, standard are marmosets or tamarins, white-faced sakis, agouti, green iguanas and small to mid-sized birds, but usually not parrots nor toucans. Common are sunbitterns, crowned pigeons and Nicobar pigeons, which often are very unafraid under your legs. There are often also cayman and large fish, often separated by mesh.

Papiliorama and Stuttgart have free-flying Seba's short-tailed bats. Regular visitors are surprisingly skilled in finding them roosting under overhangs of artificial rocks.
 
lintworm said:
There are plenty of zoo nerds who would comfortable place Gondwanaland in 3rd place, well behind Burgers' Bush and the Masoala hall. Another type of zoochatter more focused on star species and less on a rainforest feeling could prefer Gondwanaland though. The difference is that Gondwana is a rainforest-themed mini zoo, whereas the Bush and Masoala are more faithful replications of a real rainforest.
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And now we have to see what this will be like:
Nouveauté 2020 : dôme équatorial | ZooParc de Beauval
 
All of this information is really helpful and I appreciate it. The design I’m trying to make will be situated in the current zoo meadow of Oakland zoo. The general theme of Gondwanaland at Leipzig is something I’d like to go for with the concept of rainforests from different continents since this is the current theme of the rainforest section of the zoo. This indoor rainforest won’t be massive like it’s inspiration but it will be split into an African, Asian, and Neotropical rainforest section. I was thinking of having a line of terrariums and then a free flight/open rainforest section between each continent. The largest one would be the Neotropical one and it would primarily focus on wildlife from Guatemala (The zoo is partnered with an organization that works with Guatemalan wildlife). The terrarium sections will include reptiles, amphibians, inverts, and any small birds or mammals that do okay in indoor exhibits with glass viewing. The free flight sections would house any free flying birds, separate aviaries, mammas, and large docile reptiles. Every animal that is currently at the zoo that fits these descriptions will be incorporated to this design.

Now for new species. Based on this relatively basic design, what animals can be incorporated? What birds and herps are seen in these indoor facilities? What species from Guatemala are found in these types of exhibits (namely birds)?
 
You might want to visit your local California Academy of Sciences and even the SFZoo to get a real feel for such environments. They are both limited by being entirely indoors without much natural light but they are local.
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
Every animal that is currently at the zoo that fits these descriptions will be incorporated to this design.
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Here is where you need to make decisions between quantity/diversity vs. quality of enclosure and animal welfare.
 
The largest animals I can think of off the top of my head are manatees (DWA), orangutans (Cleveland), jaguars (Tulsa I heard?), and anteaters (Heard Buffalo has them, do they?)
 
Another mammal not yet mentioned is the Prehensile-tailed Porcupine.

TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
Now for new species. Based on this relatively basic design, what animals can be incorporated? What birds and herps are seen in these indoor facilities? What species from Guatemala are found in these types of exhibits (namely birds)?
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Birds found in Guatemala and also available in zoos*:
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Ruddy Duck
Great Curassow
Ocellated Turkey
Band-tailed Pigeon
Double-striped Thick-knee
Black-necked Stilt
Wood Stork
Boat-billed Heron
American White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Northern Emerald Toucanet
Collared Aracari
Keel-billed Toucan
Yellow-headed Amazon
Scarlet Macaw
Green Jay
Montezuma Oropendola
Green Honeycreeper

* - not exhaustive, but species that are prevalent in zoos. While some of them are not rainforest birds by nature, they are routinely kept in rainforest exhibits in zoos.
 
Zooplantman said:
You might want to visit your local California Academy of Sciences and even the SFZoo to get a real feel for such environments. They are both limited by being entirely indoors without much natural light but they are local.

Here is where you need to make decisions between quantity/diversity vs. quality of enclosure and animal welfare.
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I’ve been to both places and I’m using the Californian academy example more than SF, just with a more horizontal path if that makes any sense.

Animal welfare always comes first so I looked through the current species lineup of animals that I think I could create a reasonable exhibit for in this indoor rainforest. The main species currently at the zoo are...

Squirrel monkey
Cotton top tamarins
Red-rumped agoutis
Great curassow
Malayan wreathed hornbill
Macaws
Aldabra tortoise

The various assortment of birds at the zoo can fit in a free flight section and most of the herps should be able to fit in well sized exhibits.

Since each section would be clearly separate from each other, I think I’ll follow the Californian academy model with the herps having terrariums but they will be within the free flight zone. Maybe have like a mock rock wall with the terrariums or something similar. I’ll do a written out design soon to explain this better.

For each section I think I’ll limit myself for the following. Please note that tanked exhibits don’t include any current small reptile/amphibian or invert the zoo has. Didn’t have the site in front of me so the numbers for them are very subject to change but should work with the additional species:

African rainforest = 1-2 medium sized mammal species, 1 single aviary for a large bird, 1 exhibit for a large reptile, free flight birds, 3-6 herp/tanked exhibits.

Asian rainforest = 1-2 medium sized mammal species, 1-2 single aviary for a large bird/ bird that is unable to be in a free flight system, 1 large reptile, 3-6 tanked enclosures, free flight birds.

Neotropical realm = 4 medium sized mammals but some exhibits might be mixed so the number of mammals depends on exhibit, 1 single large bird exhibit, 1-2 large reptile exhibits, free flight birds, 3-6 tanked exhibits.

The Neotropical realm would focus on species from Guatemala to educate people on the conservation efforts the zoo is doing. If these numbers are asking a lot please let me know. This hypothetical design would take up the current zoo meadow space and a chunk of space from the outback exhibit which in my design for a master plan, exists in a different form. If these numbers are good, what species along side the ones I’ve listed from Oakland zoo would be good picks? Or to ensure this thread isn’t thrown into fantasy and maintains its current topic, what species from Africa and Asia that fit these perimeters are commonly seen in indoor rainforests?
 
In Burgers Bush the species of mammals that are/were kept that pop in mind are:
- manatee
- aardvark
- capibara
- asian small-clawed otter
- rodrigues flying fox
 
How do bats fare in free flight situations? Do they mix well with the birds or are separate exhibits made for them in indoor rainforests?
 
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
How do bats fare in free flight situations? Do they mix well with the birds or are separate exhibits made for them in indoor rainforests?
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Both megabats and smaller bats fare very well in a free flight situation. Many zoos keep bachelor groups of Flying foxes in their rainforest house, but far from all. Mixing with birds does not appear to be a problem at all.
 
lintworm said:
Both megabats and smaller bats fare very well in a free flight situation. Many zoos keep bachelor groups of Flying foxes in their rainforest house, but far from all. Mixing with birds does not appear to be a problem at all.
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Examples of this in Europe: Burgers’ Zoo keep bachelor groups of Rodrigues and (possibly not anymore) Lyle’s flying foxes, as well as a bachelor group of Seba’s short-tailed bats in their rainforest house.
Likewise, until the recent fire, Krefeld kept Gambian epauletted bats in their ape house (which was kept at tropic levels of temperature/humidity), and keep two different species of leaf-nosed bat (southern long-nosed and Pallas’ long-tongued) in their rainforest house.
 
TheEthiopianWolf03 said:
How do bats fare in free flight situations? Do they mix well with the birds or are separate exhibits made for them in indoor rainforests?
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At the my "local" Omaha Zoo, the bats and birds are pretty much free flight in the Lied Jungle, and as far as I'm concerned there haven't been any problems considering they're still there.
 
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