Does any continent-themed area at your zoo display an animal not native to said continent?

Here's a list of some of the examples I've seen:

NEW Zoo's Wisconsin Trail has Red Wolf, Red Panda, Helmeted Guineafowl, American Alligator, and Barrow's Goldeneye.

Deep Wisconsin Woods at the now-closed Special Memories Zoo has Whooper Swan and Egyptian Goose.

Milwaukee County Zoo has an exhibit called Africa/Asia/South America.

Milwaukee County Zoo's Lake Tanganyika tank has a Fly River Turtle.

Australia at Brookfield Zoo has Egyptian Fruit Bat and Rodriguez Flying Fox.

Columbus Zoo's Asia Quest has Black Rhino, Blue-faced Honeyeater, and Magpie Goose.

Columbus Zoo's Congo Expedition has Aladabra Tortoise, Black Swan, and Radiated Tortoise.

Columbus Zoo's Australia and The Islands has Dalmatian Pelican, Golden Pheasant, Village Weaver, and potentially a few more depending on how one defines "The Islands".

Detroit Zoo's Asian Forest has Ring-tailed Lemur.

Detroit Zoo's African Grassland has Chilean Flamingo, Turkey Vulture, Japanese Macaque, Laughing Kookaburra, and Linnie's Two-toed Sloth.

Detroit Zoo's American Grasslands has African Spoonbill, Hooded Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, Cinerous Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Matscie's Tree Kangaroo, European Fallow Deer, and Pink-backed Pelican.
 
One I've noticed is that in Congo Gorilla Forest, there's a little exhibit for pygmy marmosets. I think this is to show the largest primates compared to the smallest ones.
 
Buttonwood Park Zoo has some odd choices of residents for its Rainforests, Rivers, and Reefs Building. Each of the four habitats is supposed to represent a country (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia), but a lot of the species on display aren't even neotropical- African Pygmy Goose, Cabots Tragopan, and Montezuma Quail for instance.
 
Neil chace said:
Buttonwood Park Zoo has some odd choices of residents for its Rainforests, Rivers, and Reefs Building. Each of the four habitats is supposed to represent a country (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia), but a lot of the species on display aren't even neotropical- African Pygmy Goose, Cabots Tragopan, and Montezuma Quail for instance.
Click to expand...
I heard about BPZ about its controversial elephant exhibit.
 
Alex Roman said:
I heard about BPZ about its controversial elephant exhibit.
Click to expand...
The elephant exhibit is definitely old and on the small side, but the purpose of this thread is to discuss zoos with geographically incorrect theming, not controversial elephant Exhibits. Personally, I think Buttonwood is an INCREDIBLE small zoo, and the elephant and seal habitats are really the only parts of the zoo that can be criticized.
 
Neil chace said:
The elephant exhibit is definitely old and on the small side, but the purpose of this thread is to discuss zoos with geographically incorrect theming, not controversial elephant Exhibits. Personally, I think Buttonwood is an INCREDIBLE small zoo, and the elephant and seal habitats are really the only parts of the zoo that can be criticized.
Click to expand...
According to Wikipedia, it says when the elephants pass, the exhibit would be inhabited by Indian rhinos. Apparently, Central Florida Zoo's Indian rhino habitat was the former elephant habitat.

I first visited CFZ in fall of 2017 and they had the rhinos. I never saw their elephants. Anyhow, I think the elephants ought to be rehomed to somewhere warmer.
 
Alex Roman said:
According to Wikipedia, it says when the elephants pass, the exhibit would be inhabited by Indian rhinos. Apparently, Central Florida Zoo's Indian rhino habitat was the former elephant habitat.

I first visited CFZ in fall of 2017 and they had the rhinos. I never saw their elephants. Anyhow, I think the elephants ought to be rehomed to somewhere warmer.
Click to expand...
It is a true fact that the zoo plans to replace elephants with rhinos after their passing. There are two serious problems though with relocation-
1. The elephant girls are old and huge. The act of relocating a multi-ton animal is a serious feat that shouldn't be taken lightly, and would be a logistical nightmare.
2. One of the elephants (I think Ruth, but possibly Emily) has had a lot of problems getting along with other elephants in the past. Even if she was moved somewhere else, introducing her to other elephants would likely be impossible.
Most controversy having to do with Buttonwood's elephants have to do with a singular incident that happened years ago in which one of the elephants accidentally wasn't locked inside during cold winter weather and got some frostbite. If it wasn't for this instance, which is irrelevant to their current, higher care standards, then much of the controversy wouldn't be as serious.
 
Neil chace said:
It is a true fact that the zoo plans to replace elephants with rhinos after their passing. There are two serious problems though with relocation-
1. The elephant girls are old and huge. The act of relocating a multi-ton animal is a serious feat that shouldn't be taken lightly, and would be a logistical nightmare.
2. One of the elephants (I think Ruth, but possibly Emily) has had a lot of problems getting along with other elephants in the past. Even if she was moved somewhere else, introducing her to other elephants would likely be impossible.
Most controversy having to do with Buttonwood's elephants have to do with a singular incident that happened years ago in which one of the elephants accidentally wasn't locked inside during cold winter weather and got some frostbite. If it wasn't for this instance, which is irrelevant to their current, higher care standards, then much of the controversy wouldn't be as serious.
Click to expand...

Personally, the whole cold weather and frostbite thing is my main concern on the elephants' behalf. Fair enough if their shed was heated.
 
Alex Roman said:
Personally, the whole cold weather and frostbite thing is my main concern on the elephants' behalf. Fair enough if their shed was heated.
Click to expand...
Again, the frostbite situation was in 2014. It was a mistake. Mistakes happen. No problem of this kind has happened in the seven years since. The zoo has clearly learned from this mistake and updated whatever it was that caused the failure in the first place. The zoo is dedicated to proper elephant care and has updated/expanded their elephant yard multiple times, most recently in 2016. Have you ever been to Buttonwood Park Zoo and seen this Exhibit you criticize so much?
 
No, I never visited BWP (nor anywhere in Massachusetts for that matter). I read about it on one of the Worst Zoos for Elephants page years ago.
 
Neil chace said:
Again, the frostbite situation was in 2014. It was a mistake. Mistakes happen. No problem of this kind has happened in the seven years since. The zoo has clearly learned from this mistake and updated whatever it was that caused the failure in the first place. The zoo is dedicated to proper elephant care and has updated/expanded their elephant yard multiple times, most recently in 2016. Have you ever been to Buttonwood Park Zoo and seen this Exhibit you criticize so much?
Click to expand...

To be fair though, I could understand it's a zoo, and zoo's goals are conservation, and also, Asian elephants are an endangered species, so they should be conserved. In that case, I could forgive their mistake.
 
Alex Roman said:
I see, and also, how come, in your humble opinion is Worst Zoos for Elephants unreliable information about elephant exhibits?
Click to expand...
Because it comes from In Defense of Animals which is an anti-captivity organization with a bias against zoos. They will look at any negative thing that has happened and blow it out of proportion. Half of the places on their lists should be no where near it (such as Oregon, San Diego, Miami, etc.)
 
Echobeast said:
Because it comes from In Defense of Animals which is an anti-captivity organization with a bias against zoos. They will look at any negative thing that has happened and blow it out of proportion. Half of the places on their lists should be no where near it (such as Oregon, San Diego, Miami, etc.)
Click to expand...

I used to believe in the IDA boloney back when I was a PETA fanatic, which thankfully, I'm not anymore and I can justify captive animals being in zoos for the sake of conservation. TBH, animals in captivity, for the most part, don't bother me, so long the potential keeper knows what he or she is getting in to.
 
Neil chace said:
What @Echobeast said is very true and is very similar to my own opinion on IDA. IDA is in the same league of radical "animal rights" activists as PETA and HSUS.
Click to expand...

My least favorite thing about PETA, personally, is that they force vegan diets on people and also even to some extent, have their dogs and cats go vegan, and vegan diets are really unhealthy for the latter as they're obligate carnivores. These aspiring vegan cat owners ought to probably get something like guinea pigs or a bunny. They're herbivores.
 
Alex Roman said:
My least favorite thing about PETA, personally, is that they force vegan diets on people and also even to some extent, have their dogs and cats go vegan, and vegan diets are really unhealthy for the latter as they're obligate carnivores. These aspiring vegan cat owners ought to probably get something like guinea pigs or a bunny. They're herbivores.
Click to expand...
Besides, we ate meat for millennia. That's how we hunted down the woolly mammoths. If humans were vegan as PETA wanted to be for all our species's existence, then IMO, woolly mammoths could still be alive today.
 
Alex Roman said:
Besides, we ate meat for millennia. That's how we hunted down the woolly mammoths. If humans were vegan as PETA wanted to be for all our species's existence, then IMO, woolly mammoths could still be alive today.
Click to expand...
Human hunting wasn't the cause of the mammoth extinction though... And I agree veganism isn't realistic, not only for cats and dogs but for most humans as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top