Zoo New England ideas

[iluvwhales]

The Franklin Park Zoo in Boston is constructing an outdoor exhibit for their gorillas, transforming one of America's most derided gorilla zoo into a better one. The Franklin Park Zoo news thread has been active with discussion about this zoo's potential to develop the dead space across its 72 acres. That, combined with the "How would you change the Tropical Forest" thread made me start thinking "how would I revamp this stagnant zoo in one of America's most celebrated cities?" What follows is my answer to that question. Note: the title of this thread refers to the organizational body that manages FPZ and the Stone Zoo. This is intentional as I intend to fantasize ideas for the Stone Zoo in a separate post on this thread.

West Africa
This region will encompass the current Tropical Forest, Outback Trail, and Bird's World exhibits.

Tropical Forest will focus on Nigeria. The focal point will be a troop of Western lowland gorillas. Inside and out, they will have many opportunities for climbing and enrichment. A family of pygmy hippos (extirpated from Nigeria) also feature, mixed with a family of patas monkeys. The monkeys have access to an escape enclosure that is also home to a pair of red river hogs. There is a pond exhibit where free-flying birds can go. The free-flying birds are rose-ringed parakeets, grey parrots, Senegal parrots, cattle egrets, African pygmy geese, fulvous whistling ducks, blue-naped mousebirds, violet turacos, common pochards, and palm nut vulture. The free-flying birds are forbidden access only to the gorilla and crocodile exhibits. Other denizens of this dome are gaboon viper, saddle-billed storks, slender-snouted crocodiles, dwarf crocodile, straw-colored bats, African fat-tailed gecko, and African clawless otters.

On the site of the Outback and Birds World exhibits is a Namib Desert exhibit. The marquee attraction here is a herd of Angolan giraffes. Mixed with the giraffes are springboks, warthogs, gemsboks, and mountain zebras. The giraffe barn allows for winter viewing for giraffes and warthog. Nearby is a dedicated exhibit for spotted hyenas. There is a flight cage for lappet-faced vultures that is also home to great white pelicans, ring-necked doves, African green pigeons, rosy-faced lovebirds, and bay duikers. Another feature is a petting kraal with pygmy goats and Ankole cattle. Also, a small lake with a flock of greater flamingoes greets guests as they come in through the Giraffe Entrance.

Inside the building are also dedicated exhibits for smaller wildlife from Namibia such as puff adder, common slender mongooses, blue-cheeked bee-eaters, helmeted guineafowl, crested porcupine, African pygmy falcon, and leopard tortoise.

Live from the 45
Encompassing the current Serengeti Crossing, Kalahari Kingdom, and Tiger Tails exhibits, this is a complex dedicated to wildlife living above the 45th Parallel. Greeting guests is a Glacier National Park exhibit housing genetically pure bison, Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. Nearby are dedicated exhibits for coyote, bald eagle, and North American river otters.

Down the path is representation for Asia, largely Mongolia, Japan, and Russia. Where the current lions and tigers live are Amur tigers and Asiatic black bears (giving Boston its Bruins. That's a little joke for my fellow hockey fans. ) Where the current hoofstock are (camel, red river hog, bustard) are dedicated exhibits for Stellar's sea eagles, tanuki, and a mixed exhibit with Przewalski's wild horses and Bactrian camels.

Outback Trail
On what is currently Giraffe Savannah, there will be Outback Trail, where visitors can encounter Australia's and New Zealand's wildlife up close. Greeting guests will be a a meshed-in walkthrough exhibit with Bennet's wallabies, red kangaroo, budgerigars, cockatiels, rainbow-lorikeets, and blue-faced honey eaters. Inside is a dedicated exhibit for emus. After leaving the walkthrough, guests enter a small building with a selection of New Zealand wildlife: North Island brown kiwis, tawny frogmouths, and keas (outdoor exhibit viewed from indoors).

The Children's Zoo and Farm will basically stay the same.

So what do you all think? I'll work on and post a plan for the Stone Zoo in a few days with the goal of creating a year-round family-oriented small zoo to complement Franklin Park.

 

[Smaggledagle]

I have to say great concept but a few ideas

1. The birds probably shouldn't have access to the otter exhibit, that just seems like an accident waiting to happen.

2. I think getting rid of lions at the zoo is a bad idea. Maybe think of getting rid of the hyenas, and add a little interactive area with facts about the vanishing population of desert lions.

 

[iluvwhales]

I have to say great concept but a few ideas

1. The birds probably shouldn't have access to the otter exhibit, that just seems like an accident waiting to happen.

2. I think getting rid of lions at the zoo is a bad idea. Maybe think of getting rid of the hyenas, and add a little interactive area with facts about the vanishing population of desert lions.

Thanks for your feedback!
1. That's fair. Oversight on my part.

2. I initially didn't think there would be room for big cats. While I won't claim to be "married" to the hyena exhibit, I'd like to include them because hyenas are so maligned and I think it's a good opportunity for visitors to be inspired to care about them. It's the morning after I posted my ideas, I'm checking the zoo's map, and now I see we could fit lions and maybe cheetahs (I'm kicking myself for forgetting the latter of the two live in Namibia) where there are currently playgrounds and Things Wild gift shop, and we could-per your suggestion- nix the hyenas to give the cats even more room. Also, I want to add damaraland mole rats and aardvarks to the giraffe house.

 

[15399]

The Franklin Park Zoo in Boston is constructing an outdoor exhibit for their gorillas, transforming one of America's most derided gorilla zoo into a better one. The Franklin Park Zoo news thread has been active with discussion about this zoo's potential to develop the dead space across its 72 acres. That, combined with the "How would you change the Tropical Forest" thread made me start thinking "how would I revamp this stagnant zoo in one of America's most celebrated cities?" What follows is my answer to that question. Note: the title of this thread refers to the organizational body that manages FPZ and the Stone Zoo. This is intentional as I intend to fantasize ideas for the Stone Zoo in a separate post on this thread.

West Africa
This region will encompass the current Tropical Forest, Outback Trail, and Bird's World exhibits.

Tropical Forest will focus on Nigeria. The focal point will be a troop of Western lowland gorillas. Inside and out, they will have many opportunities for climbing and enrichment. A family of pygmy hippos (extirpated from Nigeria) also feature, mixed with a family of patas monkeys. The monkeys have access to an escape enclosure that is also home to a pair of red river hogs. There is a pond exhibit where free-flying birds can go. The free-flying birds are rose-ringed parakeets, grey parrots, Senegal parrots, cattle egrets, African pygmy geese, fulvous whistling ducks, blue-naped mousebirds, violet turacos, common pochards, and palm nut vulture. The free-flying birds are forbidden access only to the gorilla and crocodile exhibits. Other denizens of this dome are gaboon viper, saddle-billed storks, slender-snouted crocodiles, dwarf crocodile, straw-colored bats, African fat-tailed gecko, and African clawless otters.

On the site of the Outback and Birds World exhibits is a Namib Desert exhibit. The marquee attraction here is a herd of Angolan giraffes. Mixed with the giraffes are springboks, warthogs, gemsboks, and mountain zebras. The giraffe barn allows for winter viewing for giraffes and warthog. Nearby is a dedicated exhibit for spotted hyenas. There is a flight cage for lappet-faced vultures that is also home to great white pelicans, ring-necked doves, African green pigeons, rosy-faced lovebirds, and bay duikers. Another feature is a petting kraal with pygmy goats and Ankole cattle. Also, a small lake with a flock of greater flamingoes greets guests as they come in through the Giraffe Entrance.

Inside the building are also dedicated exhibits for smaller wildlife from Namibia such as puff adder, common slender mongooses, blue-cheeked bee-eaters, helmeted guineafowl, crested porcupine, African pygmy falcon, and leopard tortoise.

Live from the 45
Encompassing the current Serengeti Crossing, Kalahari Kingdom, and Tiger Tails exhibits, this is a complex dedicated to wildlife living above the 45th Parallel. Greeting guests is a Glacier National Park exhibit housing genetically pure bison, Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. Nearby are dedicated exhibits for coyote, bald eagle, and North American river otters.

Down the path is representation for Asia, largely Mongolia, Japan, and Russia. Where the current lions and tigers live are Amur tigers and Asiatic black bears (giving Boston its Bruins. That's a little joke for my fellow hockey fans. ) Where the current hoofstock are (camel, red river hog, bustard) are dedicated exhibits for Stellar's sea eagles, tanuki, and a mixed exhibit with Przewalski's wild horses and Bactrian camels.

Outback Trail
On what is currently Giraffe Savannah, there will be Outback Trail, where visitors can encounter Australia's and New Zealand's wildlife up close. Greeting guests will be a a meshed-in walkthrough exhibit with Bennet's wallabies, red kangaroo, budgerigars, cockatiels, rainbow-lorikeets, and blue-faced honey eaters. Inside is a dedicated exhibit for emus. After leaving the walkthrough, guests enter a small building with a selection of New Zealand wildlife: North Island brown kiwis, tawny frogmouths, and keas (outdoor exhibit viewed from indoors).

The Children's Zoo and Farm will basically stay the same.

So what do you all think? I'll work on and post a plan for the Stone Zoo in a few days with the goal of creating a year-round family-oriented small zoo to complement Franklin Park.

Do you realize that some of the animals you picked aren't managed by the AZA and wouldn't be realistic options? These include African Clawless Otters, a few of the bird species, Angolan Giraffe, Bay Duiker, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Slender Mongoose, and Asiatic Black Bear.

The masterplan you gave also calls for getting rid of multiple historic structures that shouldn't be demolished (Flight Cage and Bird's World).

I also wouldn't reccomend swapping where the giraffes and Outback are, as that seems like an unnecessary waste of funding when they could just improve the exhibits where they already are.

I'll post my own ideas for the zoo later.

 

[Smaggledagle]

Do you realize that some of the animals you picked aren't managed by the AZA and wouldn't be realistic options? These include African Clawless Otters, a few of the bird species, Angolan Giraffe, Bay Duiker, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Slender Mongoose, and Asiatic Black Bear.

The masterplan you gave also calls for getting rid of multiple historic structures that shouldn't be demolished (Flight Cage and Bird's World).

I also wouldn't reccomend swapping where the giraffes and Outback are, as that seems like an unnecessary waste of funding when they could just improve the exhibits where they already are.

I'll post my own ideas for the zoo later.

It's named Fantasy Zoos for a reason

 

[iluvwhales]

Do you realize that some of the animals you picked aren't managed by the AZA and wouldn't be realistic options? These include African Clawless Otters, a few of the bird species, Angolan Giraffe, Bay Duiker, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Slender Mongoose, and Asiatic Black Bear.

The masterplan you gave also calls for getting rid of multiple historic structures that shouldn't be demolished (Flight Cage and Bird's World).

I also wouldn't reccomend swapping where the giraffes and Outback are, as that seems like an unnecessary waste of funding when they could just improve the exhibits where they already are.

I'll post my own ideas for the zoo later.

Thanks for the feedback!
1. I admit Angolan giraffe is a longshot, (for the intention of fully an accurately representing Namibian wildlife. Masai giraffes don't live in Namibia) but I thought the all of the other species were well enough represented in AZA zoos to be considered for inclusion. If nothing else, some of the rarer captives (e.g., all the vultures) would benefit from another place willing to hold them (yes, you'd be right to say "the interest of all the zoos in America won't save something as rare in captivity as (insert species here.)") Researching the mongooses, although slender mongooses are (I assume) present in captivity on Earth (the Wikipedia article shows an image of one at the zoo in Prague, but I don't know that that's still accurate), I admit now to having confused them for the more common-in-captivity banded mongoose which would may or may not work for the giraffe house (they live in Namibia, but probably not the Namib Desert)

2. The flight cage would stay for the vultures. I didn't know the Bird's World House had official historic status, let alone restrictions against renovation, demolition, etc.. I just searched for it on the National Register of Historic Places website and couldn't find that specifically. Upon further research, I see now that the park was designed by Frederick Olmsted and the park is listed under NRHP as "Olmsted Park System", so I can see where restrictions come from. If there is a source where I can find better information about this, please let me know. The only (significant) building I demolished was Bird's World. What else did I touch that I wasn't supposed to?

3. I swapped the giraffe and Outback spaces in the interest of having a coherent Africa region as opposed to two+ fragmented Africa exhibits (i.e., a "Congo Dome" and a giraffe savannah. Heck, as FPZ currently stands, they have three: Giraffe Savannah, Kalahari Kingdom, and Serengeti Crossing. That number goes up if you include the hoofstock area past the lions and tigers as well as the Tropical Dome even though not all of the animals in those areas are African. I was definitely married to an Australian macropod walkthrough as well as the kiwi exhibit, and it's current spot, Giraffe Savannah, and Serengeti Crossing appeared to be the only spots large enough for it. One thing I considered was putting it where Serengeti Crossing is as half of an Australasia exhibit.

 

[15399]

2. The flight cage would stay for the vultures. I didn't know the Bird's World House had official historic status, let alone restrictions against renovation, demolition, etc.. I just searched for it on the National Register of Historic Places website and couldn't find that specifically. Upon further research, I see now that the park was designed by Frederick Olmsted and the park is listed under NRHP as "Olmsted Park System", so I can see where restrictions come from. If there is a source where I can find better information about this, please let me know. The only (significant) building I demolished was Bird's World. What else did I touch that I wasn't supposed to

Those should be the only historical structures, along with the castle/tower thing near the lions, which could easily be worked around. I could be wrong on Bird's World having official historic status, but I would say that since it's an old building there would probably be backlash to destroying it, especially since it's still in okay shape and could easily be renovated for some more interesting bird exhibits. Especially the first and third rooms are still high quality bird exhibits, perhaps you could renovate it into different African biomes if you still want to African theme, or demolish it if you still think that's warranted.

 

[15399]

I thought the all of the other species were well enough represented in AZA zoos to be considered for inclusion.

- African Clawless Otters are either very rare or nonexistent in the AZA. Spotted-necked Otters are a more common and better choice.
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters aren't present at all in US Zoos. If you want bee-eaters, the three species you could choose from are carmine, white-fronted, or white-throated.
- Asiatic Black Bears are a phase out species. There are only around 15-30 bears left in the country, all of which are post-reproductive age.
- Bay Duikers are very rare, if not nonexistent, I the AZA. Yellow-backed, Blue, or Red-flanked Duikers are more realistic choices.
- Blue-naped Mousebirds are extremely rare in the US. Speckled mousebirds would be a better choice.

I'm not very well-versed in vultures, so can't comment on how realistic they would be. Most of the other species you've chosen for the zoo *should* be fine choices, although there are a few I don't know too much about so aren't sure on.

 

[15399]

It's named Fantasy Zoos for a reason

I acknowledge it is in a fantasy zoo forum, however the original poster framed the thread as a realistic choice of what would happen if they were in charge of the zoo. No matter how much the poster may want certain things to happen, they won't happen within the constraints of being an AZA-accredited zoo in the United States in 2021. We aren't taking about some fictional, nonexistent zoo, but an alternate version of a real zoo that exists.

 

[iluvwhales]

- African Clawless Otters are either very rare or nonexistent in the AZA. Spotted-necked Otters are a more common and better choice.
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters aren't present at all in US Zoos. If you want bee-eaters, the three species you could choose from are carmine, white-fronted, or white-throated.
- Asiatic Black Bears are a phase out species. There are only around 15-30 bears left in the country, all of which are post-reproductive age.
- Bay Duikers are very rare, if not nonexistent, I the AZA. Yellow-backed, Blue, or Red-flanked Duikers are more realistic choices.
- Blue-naped Mousebirds are extremely rare in the US. Speckled mousebirds would be a better choice.

I'm not very well-versed in vultures, so can't comment on how realistic they would be. Most of the other species you've chosen for the zoo *should* be fine choices, although there are a few I don't know too much about so aren't sure on.

Lappet-faced vultures are present in AZA zoos. Palm nut vultures are also present, but I believe less common. I don't know how rare in AZA zoos bay duikers are, but I can confirm they still exist here, at least in ZooTampa. Are southern carmine bee-eaters in US zoos, because those would work with the Namibia theme? As for the otters, I suppose I confused my African otter species. I'm more familiar with the North American and Asian river otters. Spot-necked otters would work. I think I recall that Asiatic black bears are on their way out, so I admit a brown bear ought to work better.

My goal was to find species in captivity, period, not just exclusively in American or AZA facilities. I not well versed in birds, so I found it challenging to find some cool bird that would work for an exhibit in captivity, period, let alone in America or AZA parks. Yes, the odds of importing something from somewhere is low, but I believe that as long as a species is reasonably numerous in captivity on Earth, individuals of that species could wind up at any zoo on Earth.

 

[15399]

Are southern carmine bee-eaters in US zoos, because those would work with the Namibia theme?

I think Southern are present, but it might just be northern. Someone else would probably know better than me.

 

[15399]

As I said I would, I'll post my own ideas for the zoo.

It makes most sense starting with the zoo's biggest attraction: Tropical Forest.
Once the outdoor gorilla exhibit opens, this will be a very solid exhibit that the zoo should maintain. However, I do think the zoo could benefit from making some modifications to this building, such as replacing the ring-tailed lemurs with Blue-eyed Black Lemurs, replacing the potto with Grey Mouse Lemurs, giving the pygmy hippos permenant access to the former capybara exhibit, mixing Orinoco Goose and Southern Screamers into the tapir exhibit, replacing the ruwenzori fruit bats with Pygmy Slow Loris, and adding a few more freeflight species, namely Great Blue Turaco, Green-backed Trogon, Plush-crested Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, and Boat-billed Heron.

I would also replace the spotted hyenas with Maned Wolves.

A Bird's World is an area of the zoo that could definitely use some TLC. I approve of the zoo maintaining the bird house, but would make some modifications to it. The first room is perhaps the best in the building, and I would keep the same setup, exhibiting Marbled Teal, African Pygmy Goose, Black Crake, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Orange Bishop Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, Emerald Starling, Red-crested Turaco, Madagascar Teal, Blue-bellied Roller, and Green Woodhoopoe. The second room isn't the greatest, but could be much better with some minor adjustments. I would remove the aracari exhibit to expand the main exhibit, and focus on Asian Rainforests, exhibiting Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Bali Mynahs, White-winged Wood Ducks, and Black-naped Fruit Doves. The third room would stay the same setup, but completely change species list into an African Desert Aviary, featuring White-fronted Beeater, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Spotted Dikkop, and Speckled Mousebird. The final room is my least favorite in the building, and would be completely gutted in order to build a Burrowing Owl Aviary.

The Crane, Kea, and Condor Habitats outside Bird's World will all stay.

Behind Bird's World is one of the zoo's largest patches of unutilized space, and could easily be used to build a new exhibit. One megafauna I believe the zoo would really benefit from are bears, which is why I would build a new Sloth Bear Forest complex, with a new mixed species habitat with Sloth Bears and Asian Small-clawed Otters. The complex would also feature a Dhole habitat.

I'll finish this later on, including reworking the Africa and Australia exhibits and making some modifications to the Children's Zoo.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

As I said I would, I'll post my own ideas for the zoo.

It makes most sense starting with the zoo's biggest attraction: Tropical Forest.
Once the outdoor gorilla exhibit opens, this will be a very solid exhibit that the zoo should maintain. However, I do think the zoo could benefit from making some modifications to this building, such as replacing the ring-tailed lemurs with Blue-eyed Black Lemurs, replacing the potto with Grey Mouse Lemurs, giving the pygmy hippos permenant access to the former capybara exhibit, mixing Orinoco Goose and Southern Screamers into the tapir exhibit, replacing the ruwenzori fruit bats with Pygmy Slow Loris, and adding a few more freeflight species, namely Great Blue Turaco, Green-backed Trogon, Plush-crested Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, and Boat-billed Heron.

I would also replace the spotted hyenas with Maned Wolves.

A Bird's World is an area of the zoo that could definitely use some TLC. I approve of the zoo maintaining the bird house, but would make some modifications to it. The first room is perhaps the best in the building, and I would keep the same setup, exhibiting Marbled Teal, African Pygmy Goose, Black Crake, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Orange Bishop Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, Emerald Starling, Red-crested Turaco, Madagascar Teal, Blue-bellied Roller, and Green Woodhoopoe. The second room isn't the greatest, but could be much better with some minor adjustments. I would remove the aracari exhibit to expand the main exhibit, and focus on Asian Rainforests, exhibiting Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Bali Mynahs, White-winged Wood Ducks, and Black-naped Fruit Doves. The third room would stay the same setup, but completely change species list into an African Desert Aviary, featuring White-fronted Beeater, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Spotted Dikkop, and Speckled Mousebird. The final room is my least favorite in the building, and would be completely gutted in order to build a Burrowing Owl Aviary.

The Crane, Kea, and Condor Habitats outside Bird's World will all stay.

Behind Bird's World is one of the zoo's largest patches of unutilized space, and could easily be used to build a new exhibit. One megafauna I believe the zoo would really benefit from are bears, which is why I would build a new Sloth Bear Forest complex, with a new mixed species habitat with Sloth Bears and Asian Small-clawed Otters. The complex would also feature a Dhole habitat.

I'll finish this later on, including reworking the Africa and Australia exhibits and making some modifications to the Children's Zoo.

I'd also move the tigers to that new asia section, and then combine the current tiger and lion habitats into a larger lion exhibit.

 

[15399]

I'd also move the tigers to that new asia section, and then combine the current tiger and lion habitats into a larger lion exhibit.

Moving the tigers was a real possibility I considered. However, I wanted to make sure the sloth bears were the stars of the new complex, and felt that moving the tigers next to them would take away from featuring the sloth bears, so I opted for a dhole habitat instead. The tigers also aren't from the same region as the other three species, which are all Indian. Good suggestion though!

 

[ZooElephantMan]

Moving the tigers was a real possibility I considered. However, I wanted to make sure the sloth bears were the stars of the new complex, and felt that moving the tigers next to them would take away from featuring the sloth bears, so I opted for a dhole habitat instead. The tigers also aren't from the same region as the other three species, which are all Indian. Good suggestion though!

Good point. I guess putting Tigers in the India area would be like how some zoos, like the San Diego zoo, use amur leopards in their African sections.

 

[Animallover360]

Here is my idea:
Tropical Forest:
The Tropical Forest is a very popular area of the zoo that has slowly changed over the years. I think that the new outdoor gorilla exhibit is very good in its public image. I would make the former capybara yard a yard for the opposite Pygmy Hippo for the two can rotate (when Ptolemy leaves this will be home to only 2 hippos), and I would put Golden Lion Tamarins in the current cotton top tamarin exhibit near the Pygmy hippos. (There would still be cotton-tops with the sloth). I would get rid of the saddle billed storks and make their exhibit an area for the free flight birds and maybe add some new waterfowl species. I would turn the hippo theater into an exhibit for southern black howler monkeys. (Yes, I understand that one may be an unpopular opinion. To be honest, I’ve seen the hippo in the pool maybe once in that habitat). Also, I would renovate the crocodile exhibit to improve it. I would also get rid of the hyenas and then make their exhibit into an exhibit for clouded leopards. (I would add climbing structures and net the enclosure over).
Kalahari Kingdom/Tiger Tales/Hoof stock Yards
I would get rid of the tiger exhibit and expand the Lion exhibit into the former tiger yard. I would move the red river hogs into the Kori Bustard yard, and get rid of the Kori Bustards, and I would make the former RRH yard into a yard for okapis, yellow backed duiker, and saddle billed storks. The camel yard will stay the same, and the yard in between the RRH yard and camel yard will be for bongos. Now, I’m not sure how many abandoned yards there are in the behind the scenes area, but I’ll make a yard for white rhinos, a yard for impala and plains zebras, a yard for American Bison, and a yard for schimatar oryx.
Outback Trail
For the Outback Trail, I would make it a walk about in the bigger yard for red kangaroos and gray kangaroos, and the smaller yard will be home to the emus. I would keep the kiwi/tawny Frogmouth house the same, and I would add a koala house in the field near Aussie Aviary and Bird World.
A Bird’s World
The outside of Bird’s World would stay the same, with renovations to the bird cages to meet modern day standards. The inside of Bird’s World will be completely gut the inside and make a room for North American Waterfowl (North America Wood Duck, North American Ruddy Duck, Cattle Egret, etc.), a room for Australian Birds (Black Swan, Gouldian Finch, Blue tounged skink, Laughing Kookaburra), and a room for Asian Birds (Golden Pheasant, Bali Mynah, Great Argus, Victorian Crowned Pigeon, Chinese Alligator, etc.).
Serengeti Crossing
I wouldn’t really change the layout of the exhibit, except adding greater flamingos where the wattled Crane exhibit is and adding Sable Antelope to the main yard.
That’s what I would change at Franklin Park Zoo, The Giraffe Savannah, Children’s Zoo, and Farm would stay the same! Feel free to share feedback!

 

[15399]

As I said I would, I'll post my own ideas for the zoo.

It makes most sense starting with the zoo's biggest attraction: Tropical Forest.
Once the outdoor gorilla exhibit opens, this will be a very solid exhibit that the zoo should maintain. However, I do think the zoo could benefit from making some modifications to this building, such as replacing the ring-tailed lemurs with Blue-eyed Black Lemurs, replacing the potto with Grey Mouse Lemurs, giving the pygmy hippos permenant access to the former capybara exhibit, mixing Orinoco Goose and Southern Screamers into the tapir exhibit, replacing the ruwenzori fruit bats with Pygmy Slow Loris, and adding a few more freeflight species, namely Great Blue Turaco, Green-backed Trogon, Plush-crested Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, and Boat-billed Heron.

I would also replace the spotted hyenas with Maned Wolves.

A Bird's World is an area of the zoo that could definitely use some TLC. I approve of the zoo maintaining the bird house, but would make some modifications to it. The first room is perhaps the best in the building, and I would keep the same setup, exhibiting Marbled Teal, African Pygmy Goose, Black Crake, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Orange Bishop Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, Emerald Starling, Red-crested Turaco, Madagascar Teal, Blue-bellied Roller, and Green Woodhoopoe. The second room isn't the greatest, but could be much better with some minor adjustments. I would remove the aracari exhibit to expand the main exhibit, and focus on Asian Rainforests, exhibiting Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Bali Mynahs, White-winged Wood Ducks, and Black-naped Fruit Doves. The third room would stay the same setup, but completely change species list into an African Desert Aviary, featuring White-fronted Beeater, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Spotted Dikkop, and Speckled Mousebird. The final room is my least favorite in the building, and would be completely gutted in order to build a Burrowing Owl Aviary.

The Crane, Kea, and Condor Habitats outside Bird's World will all stay.

Behind Bird's World is one of the zoo's largest patches of unutilized space, and could easily be used to build a new exhibit. One megafauna I believe the zoo would really benefit from are bears, which is why I would build a new Sloth Bear Forest complex, with a new mixed species habitat with Sloth Bears and Asian Small-clawed Otters. The complex would also feature a Dhole habitat.

I'll finish this later on, including reworking the Africa and Australia exhibits and making some modifications to the Children's Zoo.

The next exhibit in the zoo is the Australia exhibits. I would keep the kangaroo and emus exhibit, but will also mix in Tammar Wallabies and adjust the viewing to make it more visitor friendly, possibly even a walk-through. I would tear down the kiwi house in order to build a new Australia building, housing Queensland Koala, Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Laughing Kookaburra, Tawny Frogmouth, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Masked Lapwing, and some reptiles. I would also add an outdoor Koala exhibit and possibly a Tasmanian devil exhibit if they're acquirable.

I would add Southern White Rhinos to the Giraffe exhibit, but otherwise keep it as it is now. The Serengeti exhibit would be slightly renovated, adding a watering hole area and some new species, specifically Nyala and an undecided Gazelle species. Next to the entrance, I will be adding an African Penguin exhibit next to the Savanna. Going down the trail next to the Savanna, it will be exclusively African species. Wattled Cranes will be maintained, the tiger exhibit will be renovated for Striped Hyena (or spotted if unacquirable), the moat around the lion exhibit will be filled in to expand their space. The camel exhibit will continue to house camels, an Okapi will live in the river hog exhibit, and the bustard exhibit will be renovated for Cheetahs.

The hoofstock area and Children's Zoo will be tackled in a part three.

 

[iluvwhales]

Those should be the only historical structures, along with the castle/tower thing near the lions, which could easily be worked around. I could be wrong on Bird's World having official historic status, but I would say that since it's an old building there would probably be backlash to destroying it, especially since it's still in okay shape and could easily be renovated for some more interesting bird exhibits. Especially the first and third rooms are still high quality bird exhibits, perhaps you could renovate it into different African biomes if you still want to African theme, or demolish it if you still think that's warranted.

The castle tower would certainly stay. An Africa-specific bird house could be nice there (a Congo room, a lake/riverine room, an desert room, and likely other ecosystems could be represented) or even that could be the smaller Namib animal house and the giraffe barn could just be dedicated to giraffe viewing. Again, the flight cage will remain, although the inside might be worked on a bit if there are to be terrestrial animals barring any status-based restrictions.

 

[15399]

The next exhibit in the zoo is the Australia exhibits. I would keep the kangaroo and emus exhibit, but will also mix in Tammar Wallabies and adjust the viewing to make it more visitor friendly, possibly even a walk-through. I would tear down the kiwi house in order to build a new Australia building, housing Queensland Koala, Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Laughing Kookaburra, Tawny Frogmouth, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Masked Lapwing, and some reptiles. I would also add an outdoor Koala exhibit and possibly a Tasmanian devil exhibit if they're acquirable.

I would add Southern White Rhinos to the Giraffe exhibit, but otherwise keep it as it is now. The Serengeti exhibit would be slightly renovated, adding a watering hole area and some new species, specifically Nyala and an undecided Gazelle species. Next to the entrance, I will be adding an African Penguin exhibit next to the Savanna. Going down the trail next to the Savanna, it will be exclusively African species. Wattled Cranes will be maintained, the tiger exhibit will be renovated for Striped Hyena (or spotted if unacquirable), the moat around the lion exhibit will be filled in to expand their space. The camel exhibit will continue to house camels, an Okapi will live in the river hog exhibit, and the bustard exhibit will be renovated for Cheetahs.

The hoofstock area and Children's Zoo will be tackled in a part three.

The Children's Zoo, Farm, and Playground areas all fall under areas that I unhappily tolerate. They're not really my thing, but I understand their purpose. I would like it, however, if they added a habitat in the area behind the Children's zoo and next to the bathroom- Ideally for Chilean Pudu and Southern Screamers. The farm could use some mild upgrades, but nothing too drastic.

One of the biggest areas I want to change is reutilizing the former hoofstock area. These yards have sat empty for way too long and would greatly benefit from being reopened. An ideal species list would be:
Przewalski's Wild Horse
Transcapian Urial
Sichuan Takin
Chinese Central Goral
Turkmenian Markhor
Roan Antelope
Guanaco
Siberian Crane
Red-crowned Crane
Thorold's White-lipped Deer (if acquirable)
Kori Bustard

This area would also include any other cold tolerant hoofstock and large birds as space/availability allows.

One species you have noticed is missing so far is the tigers. I opted to replace them with hyenas when their generic tiger dies, but don't plan to phase out the species. Instead, they would get a new habitat between the camels and Tropical Forest. If this proves to be too small an area, the camels would be moved to the hoofstock trail and the Cheetahs eliminated from the plan. This tiger habitat would be specifically for Malayan Tigers.

 

[iluvwhales]

As initially promised, I will post an idea master plan for the Stone Zoo with the goal of creating a year-round family-oriented zoo characterized by floor to ceiling viewing areas and opportunities for up-close viewing. Full disclosure: I have not been to this zoo, only seen its map. *puts on helmet*

Treasures of the Sierra Madre
This will be expanded into the current Caribbean Coast and Animal Discovery Center exhibits. The Mexican wolves will be moved from Himalayan Highlands to here. A pair of Baird's tapirs will live in an exhibit at the entrance to the zoo to welcome guests to the zoo and the exhibit. On the site of the Discovery Center is an exhibit for peninsular pronghorns. Jaguars, pumas, Seba's short-tailed bats, gila monsters, and coati will remain here. Small exhibits for bark scorpion, Arizona blond tarantula, Mexican red-knee tarantula, common vampire bats, Bolson's tortoises, beaded lizard, and ocelots will exist. There will also be a community aviary with thick-billed parrots, burrowing owls, and greater roadrunners. Chacoan peccaries will remain as a proxy for collared peccaries.

Himalayan Highlands
Markhor, domestic yak, black-necked crane, and snow leopards will remain. The Mexican wolves will be replaced by a bachelor group of white-lipped deer. This species is definitely in need of more holders. Red pandas, Himalayan monal, and sarus cranes will be introduced to the collection. Himalayan Highlands will absorb the nearby Farm exhibit. It will become an Indian farm-themed exhibit for Indian runner ducks, zebu, gaddi sheep, Indian runner ducks, Aseel chickens, and Giriraja chickens.

Lemur Land
The whole Windows to the Wild and Treetops & Riverbeds section be a fully-domed Madagascar exhibit. You start at an area for small animals: lesser tenrecs, tomato frog, and Dumeril's boa. Next is an exhibit with a Nile crocodile. Next is a rainforest area with Coquerel's sifakas and foosas. Last is a spiny forest exhibit with a mix of ringtailed lemurs, collared lemurs, and radiated tortoises.

Yukon Creek and the crane exhibits will remain the same.