Re-Imagining New England's Zoos

I really like your ideas for the freshwater dome and the tropical forest. I think the acquisition of manatees would be really cool, and love the idea of a better capybara habitat with underwater viewing.

What do you think you would do with the existing Tiger habitat and Zebra and Wildebeest habitats?

In my opinion, the Tiger habitat is really out of place in an africa-centric part of the zoo, and should be combined with the Lion exhibit to give the lions more space. I'm not sure if I'd move the tigers to another part of the zoo, or phase them out entirely. I think the Zebra and Wildebeest habitat is interesting, because it has a lot of space, but is really understocked. The same is true of Giraffe savannah. There are many zoos that keep larger giraffe herds in smaller exhibits, so I'd strongly consider acquiring more giraffes. I'd add southern white rhinos to the giraffe exhibit, as well. Rhinos are popular as an ABC animal, and adding a more cold tolerant species to the large habitat will make the vast stretch of the middle of the zoo feel less empty in the winter.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
I really like your ideas for the freshwater dome and the tropical forest. I think the acquisition of manatees would be really cool, and love the idea of a better capybara habitat with underwater viewing.

What do you think you would do with the existing Tiger habitat and Zebra and Wildebeest habitats?

In my opinion, the Tiger habitat is really out of place in an africa-centric part of the zoo, and should be combined with the Lion exhibit to give the lions more space. I'm not sure if I'd move the tigers to another part of the zoo, or phase them out entirely. I think the Zebra and Wildebeest habitat is interesting, because it has a lot of space, but is really understocked. The same is true of Giraffe savannah. There are many zoos that keep larger giraffe herds in smaller exhibits, so I'd strongly consider acquiring more giraffes. I'd add southern white rhinos to the giraffe exhibit, as well. Rhinos are popular as an ABC animal, and adding a more cold tolerant species to the large habitat will make the vast stretch of the middle of the zoo feel less empty in the winter.
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Well the Giraffe Savanna was attached to the Grasslands Dome, and I like the idea of adding white rhinos, as it would add another ABC animal.

I'm rather stumped on the tiger/Zebra exhibits as well. The Zebra/Wildebeest exhibit is kind of redundant, as there are plenty of hoofstock in other parts of my plan (including bringing back the old hoofstock row), but I'm not really sure what else could go there. The lion exhibit would be expanded over the moat, and I think that would be big enough of a lion habitat. Tigers should be phased out in my opinion, as there's plenty of other ABC species added to my plan. It's also not exactly a strong exhibit to begin with, so wouldn't be much of a loss. I'll try to think of some good use for that space.

EDIT: The Tiger exhibit would be "swallowed" by the lion expansion. Looking back at my plans, the lion expansion I originally proposed also took over the historic castle next door, so would need to be expanded in the other direction, to the Tiger exhibit. This leaves the Zebra/Wildebeest as the only area still in need of a plan.
 
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Since it's been in the news recently, I've been thinking about Mystic Aquarium the past few days and have come up with some ideas to re-imagine it. I'm not super knowledgeable about fish, so won't be going too in-depth on species for the interior, but will try my best and focus mainly on the mammals/birds/reptiles.

First off, whoever, is the Aquarium's main attraction, Arctic Coast. There are two possible routes for this exhibit, and I am not quite sure which is the better one. One option would be to continue maintaining Beluga whales. Up until this week, I would've easily said this is the better option, but given the bad press they've received and the problems with the Marineland import, I'm a little less certain know. My alternate proposal would be to retheme it as "Pinniped Point", and theme it to a naturalistic Russian Coastline, providing a new home for the zoo's Steller Sea Lions, Northern Fur Seals, and Spotted Seals. Grey Seals would be added into this exhibit as well. I'm not sure how well the sea lions mix, so if this is a problem the exhibit would be split into half, as there's more than enough space.

What happens to the existing pinniped exhibits would also change depending on which route is taken. While I'd love for the zoo to maintain steller's sea lions, their current exhibit isn't exactly the best sea lion exhibit. If the aquarium does keep belugas, I'm not sure keeping steller sea lions would be a realistic choice (at least not in that exhibit). Instead, in either scenario the steller sea lion exhibit would be renovated for Sea Otters. The seal exhibit would continue to house Harbor Seals, though if belugas are kept it would also continue to house the aquariums two other seal species.
 
A large plot of land sits empty between the current seal habitats and the current penguin habitat. This area would become the new, half-acre Sea and Shorebird Center. Birds are underrepresented at the aquarium, with only one species, so this unique addition would change that fact. Five exhibits would be included inside:
1. First off, would be a single-species habitat for a species that has been absent from New England zoos for a while now, Little Blue Penguins. A beach exhibit for these adorable birds would be a very exciting opportunity for the aquarium and could become very popular with guests!
2. An exhibit next to the penguins would be home to shorebirds of the American coasts. Black Oystercatchers could be a prominent inclusion, as could American Avocet and Killdeer. Some non-releasable rescues of whatever species they can would also be kept. From my understanding, shore birds tend to be an underrepresented group in Zoos, so it'd really end up being a "what can we get our hands on" thing.
3. A rockier habitat would be themed to the Incan Coast of South America, featuring Inca Terns and Grey Gulls. Some sort of Waterfowl (possibly steamer ducks?) may also be incorporated in this exhibit.
4. Designed to replicate the Maine Coastline, a puffin habitat would also be included. This habitat would be the first in the dome with underwater viewing, for Atlantic Puffins, Tufted Puffins, Common Eider.
5. The main highlight of this building would be the large Antarctic habitat, which would establish the aquarium as one of the country's largest penguin collections. In this habitat, which features multiple huge underwater viewing windows, are King Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins, and Southern Rockhopper Penguins.

Outside, African Penguins will continue to be maintained in their current exhibit, which will be mixed with Cape Shelducks.
 
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Neil chace said:
A large plot of land sits empty between the current seal habitats and the current penguin habitat. This area would become the new, half-acre Sea and Shorebird Center. Birds are underrepresented at the aquarium, with only one species, so this unique addition would change that fact. Five exhibits would be included inside:
1. First off, would be a single-species habitat for a species that has been absent from New England zoos for a while now, Little Blue Penguins. A beach exhibit for these adorable birds would be a very exciting opportunity for the aquarium and could become very popular with guests!
2. An exhibit next to the penguins would be home to shorebirds of the American coasts. Black Oystercatchers could be a prominent inclusion, as could American Avocet and Killdeer. Some non-releasable rescues of whatever species they can would also be kept. From my understanding, shore birds tend to be an underrepresented group in Zoos, so it'd really end up being a "what can we get our hands on" thing.
3. A rockier habitat would be themed to the Incan Coast of South America, featuring Inca Terns and Grey Gulls. Some sort of Waterfowl (possibly steamer ducks?) may also be incorporated in this exhibit.
4. Designed to replicate the Maine Coastline, a puffin habitat would also be included. This habitat would be the first in the dome with underwater viewing, for Atlantic Puffins, Tufted Puffins, Common Eider.
5. The main highlight of this building would be the large Antarctic habitat, which would establish the aquarium as one of the country's largest penguin collections. In this habitat, which features multiple huge underwater viewing windows, are King Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins, and Southern Rockhopper Penguins.

Outside, African Penguins will continue to be maintained in their current exhibit, which will be mixed with Cape Shelducks.
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I wouldn't do steamer ducks, they can be highly aggressive (and deadly)
 
Bengal Tiger said:
I wouldn't do steamer ducks, they can be highly aggressive (and deadly)
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Yeah, I wasn't really certain what would be a good fit there. Those species are often mixed mixed Magellanic or Humboldt Penguins, but since I don't think the aquarium needs an eighth penguin species I figured a Waterfowl would be a better alternative to add ground-level interest to the gull/tern exhibit. I'll look into alternative species.
 
While sea birds will utilize some unused space and the marine mammal habitats would only require minor renovation, the changes to the aquarium's indoor area would require more work. There are three indoor areas to be covered:
1. The "Main" part of the Aquarium, home to sea lion viewing, sharks, most of the fish.
2. The Marine Mammal Theatre
3. The Other Gallery, which has changed a few times, but currently has Frogs! and some non-animal stuff.

The Marine Mammal Theatre will stay virtually untouched. The California Sea Lion show will remain, as it is popular with guests. If possible, Brown Pelicans would be incorporated into the theatre as well.

The Frogs Gallery would be the most changed, with that building being completely torn down to build a newer, more innovative exhibit. One area underrepresented in the aquarium is freshwater ecosystems, which is why I believe, taking inspiration from NAIB, a freshwater exhibit centered around one region would be a great idea. This Gallery would be over 5,000 square feet, and be themed to Southeast Asia. While there will obviously be fish species incorporated also, I'm not well-versed enough in fishes to give accurate/realistic lists of species. Instead, I will be focusing on the mammals/birds/reptiles. One focal point of the building is a large, streamside exhibit. In it, Tomistoma will be displayed, alongside some larger Turtle species. Freshwater Turtles will be a major focus of the dome, with 4-5 other tanks also housing various Turtle species, including the Fly River Turtle and Malayan Painted Terrapins, among others. Another large terrarium will house Reticulated Python. With signage highlighting evolution/Adaptations, a smaller terrarium next to the Reticulated Python will display a Super Dwarf Reticulated Python, to show how they evolved differently on islands. An exhibit with underwater viewing will house Asian Water Monitor. There will be some small tanks dispersed throughout the exhibit as well for smaller reptiles and amphibians, but I'm not tied to any specific species. For mammals, two large streamside habitats will hug either side of the tomistoma exhibit, one housing a family group of Asian Small-clawed Otters, and the other housing Fishing Cats. Rodrigues Fruit Bats would be displayed in a large colony, free-flight in the building. There will also be various birds free-flight, including Nicobar Pigeons, Metallic Starlings, Pink-necked Fruit Doves, Pied Imperial Pigeons, Victorian Crowned Pigeons, White-winged Wood Ducks, Indian Pygmy Goose, and Luzon Bleeding Heart Doves. Smaller aviaries will feature more delicate species, namely Bali Mynah, Raggiana Bird of Paradise, and Blue-crowned Laughing Thrush. These three aviaries would be located in various parts of the building, built into fake trees as to look realistic. Other than that, various fish species will be incorporated into this Dome, which gives a unique look into Southeast Asia's rivers.
 
tigris115 said:
Is there space for elephants in Franklin Park?
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Yes and no. Space is not an issue at Franklin Park Zoo. If elephants were a priority, the zoo could certainly figure out a way to incorporate them. However, I'm not sure many people on here would consider that a good idea. A good elephant exhibit costs money, and FPZ has certainly had financial troubles in recent years. What the zoo really needs is some semi-affordable projects that'd really fill up some of the empty space, and possibly some new ABCs in the form of bears, return of Flamingos, penguins, etc. In a dream world, I would love to see a revival of the "4 Domes Plan". However, that plan is not exactly realistic in the 21st Century. So elephants are definitely unlikely, but space constraints are not the reason why. If elephants were to happen, the best place would be to combine the old hoofstock area with the Serengeti habitat and lion/tiger habitats, which would total about 12 acres for an elephant complex.
 
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