Zoos on Paper: An Investigation of Zoo Maps

What are people's thoughts on cardinal orientation? I've noticed that zoos tend to orient their maps in all different directions with no clear pattern. Sometimes it annoys me a little if they aren't North-East-South-West oriented from top going clockwise as is the standard with most geographical maps I've seen, but I don't think it really makes much difference.

See the Detroit Zoo map above. The size and shape of the zoo pretty much requires that it be laid out with west on top.
 
Zoo Map – Philadelphia Zoo
my home zoo's current map. i think it looks pretty good but kinda bland.

It's nothing special but it gets the job done.

I prefer the more representational maps but that may be just me; I have poor spatial coordination and I get lost easily, and I prefer maps where it's easy to tell where you are and where you want to go. I have, by the way, talked to some Detroit visitors who are clearly from out of town, mentioned a bit about Zoo Chat, and asked how they see the map. Most people say it's fine, it lets them see where they are and want to go.
 
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Here is a map I made for a fantasy zoo exhibit based on Turkey. Took around a month of pretty solid work. Opinions? Not very effective for your average visitor given that some of the drawings are too small/bad to effectively depict an animal, especially when the visitor does not know of the animal, but I'm wondering more about the landscape/style. Thoughts?

Full map - Map of Turkish exhibit - ZooChat

full
 
Here is a map I made for a fantasy zoo exhibit based on Turkey. Took around a month of pretty solid work. Opinions? Not very effective for your average visitor given that some of the drawings are too small/bad to effectively depict an animal, especially when the visitor does not know of the animal, but I'm wondering more about the landscape/style. Thoughts?

Full map - Map of Turkish exhibit - ZooChat

full
Great color scheme, easy to read animal icons, and overall very beautiful to look at. In all honesty, this is one of the best maps I've seen!
 
Great color scheme, easy to read animal icons, and overall very beautiful to look at. In all honesty, this is one of the best maps I've seen!

Of course I made it for Zoochat, so hopefully a few of the drawings are at least mildly recognisable. However, to your average visitor...
Thank you for your compliment though, although I would say that the maps for zoos like SDZ and the two ZSL zoos are similar in style but better and it is much easier to tell which animals are depicted.
 
While not as bad as some on this thread, I feel like Pittsburgh Zoo’s map needs improvement. It doesn’t label any of the animals, and the website only includes a few. I had no clue they kept certain species (fossa, Pygmy hippo) and missed them, simply because I had no clue they were even there from the map. At least Atlanta’s says what animals they have. IMG_3404.jpeg
 

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While not as bad as some on this thread, I feel like Pittsburgh Zoo’s map needs improvement. It doesn’t label any of the animals, and the website only includes a few. I had no clue they kept certain species (fossa, Pygmy hippo) and missed them, simply because I had no clue they were even there from the map. At least Atlanta’s says what animals they have. View attachment 672185
I agree. While it looks gorgeous it doesn't work that well when it comes to finding an animal or where you are.
 
An evolution of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo through maps-
1996. From my own archive, won it on Ebay a few months ago.
Zoo Map 1996.png
2005. Removes the Birds of the World building, which had been closed/demolished in 2004. Pic credit to @snowleopard in the CMZ Gallery
Zoo Map 2005.jpeg
2010. Shows the construction zones as the Pachyderm Building is rebuilt as Elephant Crossing. Pic credit to @snowleopard again.
2010.jpeg
2013. Features African Elephant Crossing and is honestly the worst map I've seen for CMZ. Everything just looks muddy and unclear. Credit to @Moebelle in the CMZ Gallery.
48d.JPG
2016. Features the new Tiger Passage, 4D theater and Nature's Ridge play area. This would be used until 2022, the only change being removing Monkey Island when it was demolished.
2016.png
2023. The current map. Photo by me. How long this map lasts with Primate Forest on the way, nobody knows.
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I searched for historical maps of Marwell, which is my local large zoo and found this site which has a selection of them from 12 different years. The earliest being 1974 and the latest 2019.

https://www.leszoosdanslemonde.com/documentation.marwell-zoo.php

What I find interesting is that the maps seem to be going full circle. The early maps show the zoo layout with animals labelled roughly whereabouts they are in the zoo. Each iteration then gets a bit more detailed. It peaked in my opinion with the 1987, 1995 and 2000 maps. Each enclosure is shown with what species they contain. After that it regresses again. The most recent maps don't show each enclosure. It just has a cartoon images of animals showing approximately where they are in the zoo and several species are not shown at all.
 
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