As much as it's a eye soar the old bear grottos would be great for the Andean bear the sun bear and asiatic black bear and maybe move the sloth bear over there 2, then on the side of that where they have the beer tent every so often you could put a wolverine, a badger and or foxes, for the hoofstock add more antelope species like mixed exhibit as for the pachyderm area more tapir species, re open the old reptile house that is now for schools and put in crocodillian species of the world with other reptiles such as pythons and anacondas while connecting that building with the swamp as for forest Africa utilize the old Forrest buffalo and red river hog exhibits if not used for mixed species of antelope and pigs or just bring back the Forrest buffalo and put the red river hogs with the Duiker, if not that re open the old antelope building and have a wild pigs of the world exhibit. It would be nice to see the great apes have a outdoor exhibit but if no room move the gorillas to where the colobus monkeys are and vis versa, also give the orangutans access to the entire exhibit and move the small clawed Asian otters.
Changes You Would Make to Your Zoo
- Thread starter MountainBongo
- Start date
For Lincoln park zoo add more antelope species for the hoofstock yard or more less mixed species move the alpacas to the farm with the cows add on another portion of building to house the bonobos and make a area for the orangutan and Gibbons to utilize. Bring back the drill or man drill. Utilize the other big cat exhibits for rarer cats not commonly seen or get rid of the old reptile house that is now a converted cafe to house even more cats like Cincinnatis night hunters
Cleveland has a huge open space next to their rhino exhibit, including two unused exhibits. I think this would be the perfect spot to bring hippos back to the zoo.
Some other ideas:
Yagga Tree: Replace the crocodile animatronic's cave with maybe a Snakes of Australia exhibit. That cavern's creepy enough as, so it'd work perfectly theme wise.
Lions: Remove/Relocate the flamingo exhibit and bring the lion yard around so they encompass the food court. Maybe even being able to cross ala Elephant Crossing
Aldabra Tortises: They can be move down from PCA
Some other ideas:
Yagga Tree: Replace the crocodile animatronic's cave with maybe a Snakes of Australia exhibit. That cavern's creepy enough as, so it'd work perfectly theme wise.
Lions: Remove/Relocate the flamingo exhibit and bring the lion yard around so they encompass the food court. Maybe even being able to cross ala Elephant Crossing
Aldabra Tortises: They can be move down from PCA
Attachments
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Randomname0183
Well-Known Member
For Bioparc Valencia:
- Add some more climbing frames for the Chimp and Gorilla exhibits
- Add some more foliage to the Leopard Exhibit
- Bring in some lesser flamingoes to supplement the greater flamingoes at the entrance
For Oceanografic
-Demolish the Arctic dome and expand the Penguin exhibit
-Move the Sea Turtle from the Seal And Sealion exhibit to one of the other exhibits
- Bring back the Humboldt penguins (alternatively switch them out for magellanics)
- Add some more climbing frames for the Chimp and Gorilla exhibits
- Add some more foliage to the Leopard Exhibit
- Bring in some lesser flamingoes to supplement the greater flamingoes at the entrance
For Oceanografic
-Demolish the Arctic dome and expand the Penguin exhibit
-Move the Sea Turtle from the Seal And Sealion exhibit to one of the other exhibits
- Bring back the Humboldt penguins (alternatively switch them out for magellanics)
Singapore Zoo
- add a couple more hoofstock and birds to Wild Africa (ostriches, antelopes, crowned cranes, ground hornbills, guineafowl)
- give the African penguins a way better enclosure, they're very easy to miss and its quite tiny compared to most other penguin habitats
- Old polar bear enclosure was going to be a sea lion enclosure but they turned it into something else pretty random, so continue construction for the sea lions
- put something in that old warthog enclosure next to the pygmy hippos or at least use that space
River Wonders
- bring back Chinese alligators to the Yangtze River section, move that baby false gharial somewhere else
- Mississippi River area should return, alligator gars, beavers, American paddlefish and both snapping turtles
- make the African rivers, Congo, Ganges and Mary River areas fully shaded as the glare is horrible
Night Safari
- fill that empty aviary that used to have those flying squirrels, probably more nocturnal birds that aren't owls
Jurong Bird Park
- don't really have issues with this one, so I hope the new bird park is just as good, need to visit this again before it closes
- add a couple more hoofstock and birds to Wild Africa (ostriches, antelopes, crowned cranes, ground hornbills, guineafowl)
- give the African penguins a way better enclosure, they're very easy to miss and its quite tiny compared to most other penguin habitats
- Old polar bear enclosure was going to be a sea lion enclosure but they turned it into something else pretty random, so continue construction for the sea lions
- put something in that old warthog enclosure next to the pygmy hippos or at least use that space
River Wonders
- bring back Chinese alligators to the Yangtze River section, move that baby false gharial somewhere else
- Mississippi River area should return, alligator gars, beavers, American paddlefish and both snapping turtles
- make the African rivers, Congo, Ganges and Mary River areas fully shaded as the glare is horrible
Night Safari
- fill that empty aviary that used to have those flying squirrels, probably more nocturnal birds that aren't owls
Jurong Bird Park
- don't really have issues with this one, so I hope the new bird park is just as good, need to visit this again before it closes
Persephone
Well-Known Member
I have three zoos I know better than the others. I’ll go through my proposed master plans / changes here. I’m trying not to alter recent changes, even if I don’t really like them.
Indianapolis Zoo
The problem with planning for Indianapolis is that they might be able to build into the parking lot, but they might not be. Their original plan was to use a plot of land off site as a parking lot and have shuttles to the main entrance. This has not come to fruition for what I’m told are political / zoning reasons. As such this plan assumes that they cannot substantially build into their lot. If they could, that opens up a lot of possibilities.
Indy has a lot of ABC species, but their collection isn’t very deep. Some of their exhibits are also outdated for the species they house. I’m trying not to remove too many of their core animals as that does seem to be the strategy they’re taking as a zoo. With all of that said, here we go:
Add more native species exhibits into part of the White River Gardens gift shop. The shop always struck me as needlessly large for a secondary gift shop and there aren’t many Indiana species in the zoo. In addition to the hellbenders currently on display I would add a mid-sized aquarium for Lake Michigan or Ohio River species, and displays for one or two of porcupines, skunks, badgers, or some other small mammal.
Also a small sloth area could be built in the main indoor garden since the zoo has a lot of sloths and no permanent display area for them at the moment.
Replace the California Sea Lions with sea otters. The exhibit just isn’t up to modern standards for the species. Otters fit much better, and they don’t have any otter species right now.
Get rid of the whale shark projection and fill it in with exhibits. The zoo used to have pacific octopus and chambered nautilus here. Those would be cool, small exhibits.
Replace the touch tank. It used to be very hyped up as a shark touch tank but those are fairly common now, and they seem to be steadily phasing out sharks anyway. There used to be an Amazon area here. That’s an option for the replacement. The other option is to just build a larger, deeper tank for bigger sharks into the room. Kind of surprised they don’t have sandbar or sand tiger sharks already for a zoo so committed to ABC species.
I don’t know what I’d do with the room between the shark area and sea lions. A place for smaller exhibits for sea horses makes sense, but it’s a little underwhelming now.
People seem to really love the macaque species they have. Problem is, they don’t swim and there is a very large underwater viewing area. Maybe replacing them with Japanese macaques and turning the underwater area into a hot springs setup would make more sense?
The walrus exhibit could probably use a facelift but I absolutely would not phase out the species.
And now we reach the dolphinarium. I have come up with a handle of options for it. At present it does not seem well suited for dolphins given the concrete walls and little in the way of enrichment features. Dolphins are also being steadily (if informally) phased out by AZA zoos. It may be difficult to source them into the future. So here are the options:
1) Upgrade the dolphinarium to meet modern standards. This may include phasing out shows or even expanding the tank into the current show seating area to get more space. More enrichment would also be excellent.
2) Move the walrus indoors and retheme the area to an Arctic or Cold Waters building. The old walrus exhibit can be given to the sea lions and seals. One of the old dolphin holding tanks could also potentially be retrofitted into a bigger penguin space. Then some of the bleachers could be cleared away and replaced with exhibits for puffins, Arctic foxes, and maybe Arctic hares. The Indianapolis Zoo is currently the only US facility other than Sea World to have walruses. I think they could capitalize on that with an entire indoor complex to keep them cool year round and display them better.
Moving on to the desert dome, my only real change would be replacing the current row of terrariums behind the large snake area with a “cave” for bats. I’m not sure if space would need to be taken away from the snake area but some could be sacrificed there to take one of the pythons off display.
Bring back giant tortoises or Komodo dragons to the path between the desert exit and the rest of the zoo.
I would completely overhaul the forest. I would expand it into the kangaroo area, too, if that hadn’t literally just opened. First, expand the Tiger exhibit into the current red panda habitat. If the zoo really wants to keep red pandas they can move them into the current lemur exhibit. Then bring back the small-clawed otters in the gibbon habitat. Replace the bear and aviary exhibits with a complex for the chimpanzees the zoo has behind the scenes.
I would love it if they reopened the old Encounters building with dedicated space for smaller animals, but it seems unlikely at this point. You can’t really take away the playground or carousel since there aren’t that many areas for children left. I might see if another, permanent aviary could be built for the birds of prey they recently acquired. If the Arctic foxes are moved to a rethemed Cold Waters building hornbills or the birds of prey can be moved into that space.
The Lion habitat should be expanded into the baboon area and Tembo Camp. The latter doesn’t actually add much space for the elephants in practice.
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo
I haven’t been yet this season. Correct me if anything is outdated.
The Central Zoo renovations have kept on going for the last few years. I don’t want to replace anything they’ve renovated. I would potentially expand the sea lion exhibit towards the penguins. It just doesn’t have a lot of swimming space at present. After that no notes. It might be cool to tear out the Penguin, sea lion, and part of the alligator area for a large capybara / flamingo complex, but that does get rid of a lot for questionable gain. The alligators could be moved back into the pond if that happened.
There are a few parts of Africa I would want to see replaced. First, the penguins could be moved to the current area by the old jeep to free up room in Central Zoo. Then I would take out the ski lift. It takes up a lot of space for not that great of views. I would start by bringing back the Painted Dogs in the southern portion. That was a cool exhibit and I like the species a lot. The Lion and hyena habitats could be expanded into the newly freed up space in the upper parts of the ski lift.
I would seriously change the forest section. It wasn’t really touched up during the area’s renovations and it’s showing some age. I would remove basically everything there except for the owls / culture. Then I would replace it with three or four exhibits: a Pygmy hippo area in the ponds and part of the leopard exhibit, a lemur exhibit since they don’t have any on display anymore, a Fossa exhibit, and if room a mandrill exhibit. Removing the leopards may be controversial but they aren’t even an African species.
Put something in the old black stork area. Ideally Duikers or southern ground hornbills. Maybe flamingoes since they don’t have any.
I don’t actually like the Australia update much. The Devils are great, but the area just feels bland. Like it needs another draw. I would move the alligators to the pond and build in an exhibit for cassowaries in the old exhibit and the area around the education building. Ideally they could also get koalas to go into the education building or replace the stingrays, but that may not be possible.
Indonesia needs the most changes. I would start by building an outdoor orangutan exhibit into the old pony ride area. The building is fine, although it could maybe use a few more birds. I don’t know the topography of all of the forest that currently isn’t used but is in zoo property or could be ceded from the park. Ideally a summer exhibit for Komodo dragons and a space for Malayan tapirs could be added along the current boardwalk. Fishing cats would also be great. Sun bears might be a pipe dream or there might not be space that can be built into, but that would be the dream.
Riverbanks Zoo
I’m not touching the plans for the bridge expansion. Seems cool. Don’t know enough details to work around it. I will say that the possibility of using the space between the zoo and botanical gardens could allow for really cool expansions in the future.
The aviary is showing its age. One of Riverbanks’ strengths is its bird collections. Updating the building a little could help show that off.
My main problem is with the hoofstock area to be honest. The exhibits are bland. I might expand the giraffe area into the zebra / ostrich one or even back to the sulcattas. Have a multi species exhibit with ostrich, wildebeest, zebra, and giraffes.
Get rid of the rhino and babirusa (?) area and bring back hippos in the space. Use any land left over for meerkats, ratel, and okapi in that order.
Indianapolis Zoo
The problem with planning for Indianapolis is that they might be able to build into the parking lot, but they might not be. Their original plan was to use a plot of land off site as a parking lot and have shuttles to the main entrance. This has not come to fruition for what I’m told are political / zoning reasons. As such this plan assumes that they cannot substantially build into their lot. If they could, that opens up a lot of possibilities.
Indy has a lot of ABC species, but their collection isn’t very deep. Some of their exhibits are also outdated for the species they house. I’m trying not to remove too many of their core animals as that does seem to be the strategy they’re taking as a zoo. With all of that said, here we go:
Add more native species exhibits into part of the White River Gardens gift shop. The shop always struck me as needlessly large for a secondary gift shop and there aren’t many Indiana species in the zoo. In addition to the hellbenders currently on display I would add a mid-sized aquarium for Lake Michigan or Ohio River species, and displays for one or two of porcupines, skunks, badgers, or some other small mammal.
Also a small sloth area could be built in the main indoor garden since the zoo has a lot of sloths and no permanent display area for them at the moment.
Replace the California Sea Lions with sea otters. The exhibit just isn’t up to modern standards for the species. Otters fit much better, and they don’t have any otter species right now.
Get rid of the whale shark projection and fill it in with exhibits. The zoo used to have pacific octopus and chambered nautilus here. Those would be cool, small exhibits.
Replace the touch tank. It used to be very hyped up as a shark touch tank but those are fairly common now, and they seem to be steadily phasing out sharks anyway. There used to be an Amazon area here. That’s an option for the replacement. The other option is to just build a larger, deeper tank for bigger sharks into the room. Kind of surprised they don’t have sandbar or sand tiger sharks already for a zoo so committed to ABC species.
I don’t know what I’d do with the room between the shark area and sea lions. A place for smaller exhibits for sea horses makes sense, but it’s a little underwhelming now.
People seem to really love the macaque species they have. Problem is, they don’t swim and there is a very large underwater viewing area. Maybe replacing them with Japanese macaques and turning the underwater area into a hot springs setup would make more sense?
The walrus exhibit could probably use a facelift but I absolutely would not phase out the species.
And now we reach the dolphinarium. I have come up with a handle of options for it. At present it does not seem well suited for dolphins given the concrete walls and little in the way of enrichment features. Dolphins are also being steadily (if informally) phased out by AZA zoos. It may be difficult to source them into the future. So here are the options:
1) Upgrade the dolphinarium to meet modern standards. This may include phasing out shows or even expanding the tank into the current show seating area to get more space. More enrichment would also be excellent.
2) Move the walrus indoors and retheme the area to an Arctic or Cold Waters building. The old walrus exhibit can be given to the sea lions and seals. One of the old dolphin holding tanks could also potentially be retrofitted into a bigger penguin space. Then some of the bleachers could be cleared away and replaced with exhibits for puffins, Arctic foxes, and maybe Arctic hares. The Indianapolis Zoo is currently the only US facility other than Sea World to have walruses. I think they could capitalize on that with an entire indoor complex to keep them cool year round and display them better.
Moving on to the desert dome, my only real change would be replacing the current row of terrariums behind the large snake area with a “cave” for bats. I’m not sure if space would need to be taken away from the snake area but some could be sacrificed there to take one of the pythons off display.
Bring back giant tortoises or Komodo dragons to the path between the desert exit and the rest of the zoo.
I would completely overhaul the forest. I would expand it into the kangaroo area, too, if that hadn’t literally just opened. First, expand the Tiger exhibit into the current red panda habitat. If the zoo really wants to keep red pandas they can move them into the current lemur exhibit. Then bring back the small-clawed otters in the gibbon habitat. Replace the bear and aviary exhibits with a complex for the chimpanzees the zoo has behind the scenes.
I would love it if they reopened the old Encounters building with dedicated space for smaller animals, but it seems unlikely at this point. You can’t really take away the playground or carousel since there aren’t that many areas for children left. I might see if another, permanent aviary could be built for the birds of prey they recently acquired. If the Arctic foxes are moved to a rethemed Cold Waters building hornbills or the birds of prey can be moved into that space.
The Lion habitat should be expanded into the baboon area and Tembo Camp. The latter doesn’t actually add much space for the elephants in practice.
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo
I haven’t been yet this season. Correct me if anything is outdated.
The Central Zoo renovations have kept on going for the last few years. I don’t want to replace anything they’ve renovated. I would potentially expand the sea lion exhibit towards the penguins. It just doesn’t have a lot of swimming space at present. After that no notes. It might be cool to tear out the Penguin, sea lion, and part of the alligator area for a large capybara / flamingo complex, but that does get rid of a lot for questionable gain. The alligators could be moved back into the pond if that happened.
There are a few parts of Africa I would want to see replaced. First, the penguins could be moved to the current area by the old jeep to free up room in Central Zoo. Then I would take out the ski lift. It takes up a lot of space for not that great of views. I would start by bringing back the Painted Dogs in the southern portion. That was a cool exhibit and I like the species a lot. The Lion and hyena habitats could be expanded into the newly freed up space in the upper parts of the ski lift.
I would seriously change the forest section. It wasn’t really touched up during the area’s renovations and it’s showing some age. I would remove basically everything there except for the owls / culture. Then I would replace it with three or four exhibits: a Pygmy hippo area in the ponds and part of the leopard exhibit, a lemur exhibit since they don’t have any on display anymore, a Fossa exhibit, and if room a mandrill exhibit. Removing the leopards may be controversial but they aren’t even an African species.
Put something in the old black stork area. Ideally Duikers or southern ground hornbills. Maybe flamingoes since they don’t have any.
I don’t actually like the Australia update much. The Devils are great, but the area just feels bland. Like it needs another draw. I would move the alligators to the pond and build in an exhibit for cassowaries in the old exhibit and the area around the education building. Ideally they could also get koalas to go into the education building or replace the stingrays, but that may not be possible.
Indonesia needs the most changes. I would start by building an outdoor orangutan exhibit into the old pony ride area. The building is fine, although it could maybe use a few more birds. I don’t know the topography of all of the forest that currently isn’t used but is in zoo property or could be ceded from the park. Ideally a summer exhibit for Komodo dragons and a space for Malayan tapirs could be added along the current boardwalk. Fishing cats would also be great. Sun bears might be a pipe dream or there might not be space that can be built into, but that would be the dream.
Riverbanks Zoo
I’m not touching the plans for the bridge expansion. Seems cool. Don’t know enough details to work around it. I will say that the possibility of using the space between the zoo and botanical gardens could allow for really cool expansions in the future.
The aviary is showing its age. One of Riverbanks’ strengths is its bird collections. Updating the building a little could help show that off.
My main problem is with the hoofstock area to be honest. The exhibits are bland. I might expand the giraffe area into the zebra / ostrich one or even back to the sulcattas. Have a multi species exhibit with ostrich, wildebeest, zebra, and giraffes.
Get rid of the rhino and babirusa (?) area and bring back hippos in the space. Use any land left over for meerkats, ratel, and okapi in that order.
So for the Bronx Zoo, I think I have an idea for how the zoo can maintain elephants on the Wild Asia monorail without the need to build a new mega complex (I'd use the Asia parking lot). Maybe this can be a sort of preview before said hypothetical mega complex
1. Get the babirusa out of their enclosure. They can have some space in Jungleworld, either sharing with tapirs or on the ground where the silverly lutungs are
2. Extend the elephant yard into the former babirusa yard as well as some others ways
3. Refurbish the barn as well as the backspace to just be nicer
4. Wait for Happy and Patty to pass on
5. Make it a bachelor elephant area for about 3 bulls.
I think with the success of Denver, Houston, Antwerp, Birmingham, etc., it can really work. And to be a technical nerd, they said "we'll never keep elephants like this again," so the future's open.
1. Get the babirusa out of their enclosure. They can have some space in Jungleworld, either sharing with tapirs or on the ground where the silverly lutungs are
2. Extend the elephant yard into the former babirusa yard as well as some others ways
3. Refurbish the barn as well as the backspace to just be nicer
4. Wait for Happy and Patty to pass on
5. Make it a bachelor elephant area for about 3 bulls.
I think with the success of Denver, Houston, Antwerp, Birmingham, etc., it can really work. And to be a technical nerd, they said "we'll never keep elephants like this again," so the future's open.
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Cleveland Zoo:
Seals. Remove the unused snack stand next to the exhibit expand the exhibit that way. Currently the seals are held in a rather ancient pool. This would finish the impr
ovements to the Northern Trek area of the zoo, which has been slowly making improvements.
Seals. Remove the unused snack stand next to the exhibit expand the exhibit that way. Currently the seals are held in a rather ancient pool. This would finish the impr
ovements to the Northern Trek area of the zoo, which has been slowly making improvements.
Attachments
More moles.
Personally, I'd also make one of the outdoor orangutan enclosures more forested and natural.
As well, try adding more naturalistic and aesthetically pleasing elements to their indoor area.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
Here are some changes I'd make to the Phoenix Zoo:
Arizona Trail
Arizona Trail
- Pretty much perfect, save for the ugly Cougar exhibit, but that's getting an upgrade anyways.
- Firstly, I'd add another big animal to the savanna to replace the Elands and Watusi. Cape Buffalo? Kudu? Move the White Rhinos here and do something else with their current habitat?
- Do away with the current Mandrill/Baboon area and use the space to bring Gorillas back to the zoo (although maybe keep the Mandrills, too). That way, the zoo will have two great ape species, and the mascot for the Phoenix Suns will actually make some degree of sense!
- Renovate the current porcupine exhibit for an aardvark or two.
- With the Jaguars eventually moving to the Arizona Trail, I think their current exhibits should be given to Clouded Leopards and Binturongs, respectively.
- Once Indu passes, bring in some bull elephants and make a bachelor herd. I think the zoo might be doing this, but I'll have to confirm on my next visit. The only specific bull that I had in mind was Beco, but we all know what happened to him... (RIP)
- Go a little harder with the Australian theming. And no, I'm not asking for another "Walkaroo Kangabout" (a derogatory term I've created for the sheer amount of Australian exhibits that have been popping up lately). I'm talking something more like LA's Australia exhibit. Give us cassowaries! Tree kangaroos! Tasmanian Devils! Echidnas! Koalas! Wombats! Maybe a saltwater crocodile? Go crazy!
PITTSBURGH ZOO AND PPG AQUARIUM
These are the changes I would personally make to the Pittsburgh Zoo. This is based on a very extensive visit from a few days ago, and while I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, the zoo felt run down in a lot of places, and I wanted to document them here as a way of making my thoughts public.
General
These are the changes I would personally make to the Pittsburgh Zoo. This is based on a very extensive visit from a few days ago, and while I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, the zoo felt run down in a lot of places, and I wanted to document them here as a way of making my thoughts public.
General
- Have a consistent style for signage. I've seen loads of signage styles that were barely consistent with one another, as the zoo seemed to update some signage in some areas (signage near tigers, savanna, stuff like that) and keep the older 80's/90's signage in others (Tropical Forest being a MASSIVE throwback, but we'll get to that travesty when we'll get to that). A simple, clean, effective design like Philadelphia or even a continuation of the signage style in newer areas like The Islands and Jungle Odyssey would be neat to see. The PPG Aquarium's got a certain style of signage that is already perfect, and it is something that I would like to see maintained if the zoo even updates that area.
- Consistent design choices. The Jon Coe-era exhibits like Asian Forest (now Forest Passage) and African Savanna all have beautiful sightlines and subtle, but highly detailed rockwork/riverbanks. Contrast that to more hyper-themed areas like The Islands and Water's Edge, which have interesting ideas that ultimately fall flat because of understandable and legitimate reasons like budget. (E.g. stilt houses with obvious plaster walls, a fishing village that somehow has a boardwalk with underwater viewing panels...?), so if the zoo does address all this in an upcoming master plan, that would be amazing. That said, I'd rather have Cemrock-style rockwork than cartoonish theme-park style rockwork.
- In general, this zone would harken back to its original Asian Forest roots, but would have new species that would make sense in the context of a temperate Asian Forest. Nothing like snow leopards or komodo dragons, but definitely animals from the Amur/Kamchatka region of Asia or even Korea.
- The Canadian lynx habitat would be heavily renovated, either for something like Eurasian lynx or even a left-field species like wolverine.
- The Amur tiger habitat has actually aged well, and I love the sightlines/unique design. That said, maybe I would encourage ivy growth on the fence to further disguise it.
- The red panda exhibit makes little sense given the Indonesian design of the viewing area, back when it was a full komodo dragon habitat. I would move the komodo dragon (and some elements of the viewing area like the timber or the stone faces) to The Islands, and make this a full red panda habitat. Throw in some tufted deer or maybe demoiselle cranes and some waterfowl, and that would be fantastic. Or, another left-field move would be to highlight European wild boars, and move the Red Pandas to the old Bear Grottos.
- The Taiga Forest exhibit for Amur leopards is fine as is, and I'd agree with @Nicholas LionRider that it's kind of ballsy to just be straight up about having them in the African Savanna section rather than just having generic signage about leopards.
- I'm sure the West African dwarf crocodiles certainly don't mind the water quality, but if there isn't a filtration system in place already for that particular exhibit, one would be installed.
- The flamingos' habitat would be netted over in a nonobtrusive way, and the Caribbean flamingos would be replaced with lesser flamingos, and heaps of other waterfowl. Not to the point of overshadowing the nearby National Aviary, but definitely enough to spice up the exhibit. Maybe some sacred ibis, some white faced whistling ducks, an African spoonbill, the world's the zoo/bird curator's oyster.
- The Eastern black rhino exhibit would be modified in order to have a pool/mud wallow, along with other natural enrichment items like logs to push around.
- The African lion exhibit is beyond superb, and I love the way they are able to look down at visitors rather than the other way around. (Classic Jon Coe technique)
- Now for the big exhibits: the nyala/ostrich savanna, the African elephant savanna, and the Masai giraffe/plains zebra savanna. The original design is superb, but as time has moved on and space requirements have increased especially for the elephants and the giraffes, significant changes would have to be made. The illusion that guests are moving along an African river truly is sublime, and is a design element that I would maintain. I would prefer that if new rockwork was to be installed in the same place as the old rockwork, it should at least be in the same style. An economical way of expanding the environments for all five parties involved would be to expand into the neighboring cheetah habitat (for the giraffe savanna) and retool all three savannas to be "elephant/giraffe-proof". Installing a Denver-style rotation system would triple the amount of outdoor space for every party involved, and if great care was taken in maintaining existing trees/sightlines and not making everything obviously fenced in, the design would prove to be a true evolution of the original concept.
- The Elephant Care Center would be expanded, in the sense that the indoor viewing area for the first two stalls would become part of the elephants' space, and the guest hallway would be pushed back into the planted buffer between the building and the main path. Sand biofloors would be installed, and the skylights would be expanded. The elephants' private yard would also have a shade structure installed that also radiates heat, so they would be able to go outside comfortably during the winter.
- The giraffe exhibit would be expanded into the neighboring cheetah yard, and ultimately I'd say that the cheetahs would either have to be reincorporated elsewhere in the zoo or phased out entirely. Or even one of the older bear grottos could be utilized for them...
- There are a lot of elements that I actually do like about Tropical Forest, and the overall concept of it is something that I do appreciate. That said, it has aged less like wine and more like... milk. I've heard a lot of chatter about tearing down the building and starting from scratch, which is something I would wholeheartedly support if the building was in a state beyond saving. I believe there's a way to bring the building back up to snuff while completely improving the lives of all the animals inside/outside (well, at least the gorillas outdoors-wise)
- I would completely replace the roof. Either with ETFE panels or glass panels that allow as much light into the building as humanly possible. Bird-safe, of course.
- All the primate enclosures would have a significant portion of concrete completely jackhammered out in favor of natural substrate, with the riverbank design being maintained only as a retainer for said substrate. They would also be interlinked with one another, so the six smaller primate enclosures become one BIG primate enclosure, with said primates being shifted on an unpredictable basis. (And the signage would reflect this as well)
- The ORANGUTAN conundrum. I love orangutans. I loathe seeing them in that dark, depressing, derelict dungeon. (Ayo, where's @snowleopard when you need him for stuff like describing this work of exhibitry?) The same jack-hammering I proposed for the small-primate enclosures would also be employed for this enclosure and the neighboring gorilla enclosure. I would also add a hallway and a chute that leads to an outdoor netted-over orangutan exhibit that takes advantage of the hillside, with a new service road extension that would either go under or around said outdoor orangutan expansion. If this isn't possible, another option is to just phase the orangutans out entirely and make that an auxiliary gorilla dayroom.
- More small mammal/herptile/invertebrate exhibits would be added as well. The neotropical rattlesnake could be moved here from Worlds of Discovery, maybe some goliath birdeaters, northern tree shrew, black-breasted leaf turtle, etc. Just to spice up the building.
- IF THIS IS POSSIBLE, outdoor netted exhibits (with separate viewing via a boardwalk jutting from the main path) would be constructed along the building's perimeter, and as this is a two-story building foundationwise (and not counting the glass atrium), overhead passageways would be installed connecting the holding cages through the keeper hallways to these hypothetical outdoor habitats. Ideally, they would employ similar viewing areas/design techniques to Melbourne Zoo's Treetop Apes and Monkeys exhibit, with a direct focus on nature and subtle exhibit design. I sketched out a rough example using Google Earth and my phone, as shown here:
- The outdoor gorilla habitat IMO is severely lacking in imagination. I would plant the living daylights out of that space, a slight hybrid approach between Woodland Park and Bronx plant-pallette wise. I'd do my best to let the plants establish as much as possible, employing hotwire wherever necessary. Proper climbing structures would also be added in order to provide the gorillas as much enrichment as humanly possible, and signage would be posted mandating that guests remain silent or speak in whispers around the gorillas.
- A couple of the exhibits (Phillippine crocodile/false gharial, Visayan warty pig) seem a bit *too* boxy, and this is where my inner designer would go and try to shape these areas in a more organic sense.
- The siamang habitat would be as heavily planted as humanly possible, making Woodland Park's Trail of Vines siamang habitat look like a desert by comparison. Exaggerations aside, bamboo and dense bushes would be utilized to create some good undergrowth. And the dayroom/clouded leopard dayrooms would be renovated to include brighter skylights/more biofloors as well as a more consistent style of decoration.
- The outdoor clouded leopard exhibit is fine, although I would plant it a smidge more to get rid of crossviews.
- I would replace the outdoor Aldabra tortoise exhibit with a new komodo dragon space.
- The giant anteater exhibit would be redone as far as the pool (making it look like an actual river bottom), and covering the holding building with rockwork. Bringing back capybara would be nice as well.
- The fossa/ocelot exhibits are very much well done.
- The pygmy hippo habitat would also see a redo, with the viewing areas being themed as a research outpost and the fencing/holding building/pool all being redone to be more "immersive". Maybe throw some blue duikers in there as well.
- I've thought long and hard about what I would do with this space that would pay homage to the WPA workers who toiled away at creating these dens, and I've thought of a few options the zoo could adopt. Whatever they do, ANYTHING is better than dumping dirt and plants on the WPA workers' efforts and calling it a day.
- Bringing back snow leopards and moving the red pandas from Asian Forest, and bringing in Himalayan tahr, Pallas' cats or even dholes to make a Himalayan Hills section.
- Moving the cheetahs over from African Savanna, bringing in spotted hyena, banded mongoose and warthogs to create an African Predators/Kopje section.
- Netting the dens over and creating raptor aviaries.
- A South American "cloud forest" with interconnected dens that would be shared by Andean bears and white-nosed coatis.
- A good friend of mine has always talked about how zoos should highlight native conservation efforts, and it may be possible with this area to do a native Pittsburgh-themed exhibit. Highlighting smaller, misunderstood animals like raccoons, foxes, porcupines, ravens, pigeons, and even insects like ants. The whole area would also be planted with native wildflowers, and act as a pollinator garden, with signage about bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Hey, anything's better than kangaroo walkabouts, "Asian Lantern" festivals or... *animatronic dinosaurs... ick.*
- This space used to be more diverse with fish, and while the building itself has been maintained pretty well, some high-profile species (ARAPAIMA) are missing. I'd say restock the tanks as much as possible with cool and rare fish, stuff like lampeye killifish, Tongan canary blenny, bowfin, etc. @Ebirah766 is probably the best person to reference as far as what used to be in the aquarium and what should be brought back/brought in.
- If the zoo does go with bringing in Andean bears, the loss of polar bears wouldn't be as deep. That said, given that there was a whole capital campaign in bringing them BACK to the zoo in 2006, it's clear that the community isn't willing to give them up, even now with a single elderly bear. I would expand the polar bear exhibit into the Arctic Express plaza, still leaving enough room for people to gather as they exit the PPG Aquarium and look out at the Lord of the Arctic. Of course, grass and other natural elements would be implemented, and the polar bears would be able to look out at their surroundings better with a more prominent "pride rock" formation.
- The sea otter/elephant seal exhibits are fine, although I would decorate the elephant seal exhibit more and HAVE A SCHEDULE FOR WHEN THE SEA LIONS ARE IN THAT EXHIBIT AND WHEN THE ELEPHANT SEALS ARE IN THAT EXHIBIT.
- I would renovate and expand the current California sea lion exhibit, retrofitting it to have saltwater and more advanced holding facilities.
- The "Nature Trail" area is wonderful, although I would bring back the Beaver Dam display that the former "Niches of the World" building used to have, before it was converted into Water's Edge.
- The Kangaroo Walkabout is fine, although I would probably throw in some swamp wallabies or a cool wallaby species in general.
- I'd move the Galapagos/Aldabra tortoises to Kids Kingdom, either having them in the Tortoise Raceway area or even renovating the current Alpaca yard near the goats/Kunekune pigs/donkeys for the tortoises.
- Other than adding an outdoor meerkat exhibit and installing a better ventilation system for the bat flyway as it is... schtinky, there's really not much else I could do that would improve this building. Other than maybe expanding some of the snake terrariums to be twice the inhabitants' lengths, at least.
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Lincoln Park Zoo
Binder Park Zoo (revised)
- Give the Pepper Family Wildlife Center an African theme, so it's not a random collection of species anymore. Move the red pandas and snow leopards to a new Asian area at the south end of the zoo where the zoo apparently hopes to construct a new tiger habitat anyways. The Canada lynx would be moved elsewhere, maybe somewhere near the Children's Zoo if possible.As for the replacement species: the dream would be to obtain an African leopard or two to go in the snow leopard habitat, but since that's unlikely to happen, I vote for getting either a caracal or a serval to go in there. Whichever one of the aforementioned species doesn't go there would instead take the lynx habitat. I think a fossa would probably be the best choice to replace the red pandas.
Binder Park Zoo (revised)
- Add white rhinos to the large savanna in Wild Africa
- Add okapis, mandrills, and pygmy hippos along the forest trail of Wild Africa
- Move the southern ground hornbills to Wild Africa. Place spotted hyenas in their exhibit (which formerly housed African wild dogs) instead.
Detroit Zoo (revised)
- African Plains/Asian Forest
- Move the sloth and fruit bats elsewhere, maybe the Wildlife Interpreative Gallery, or the Bat Conservation Center that was supposed to replace the old Penguinarium. In the now-freed-up exhibit, I would put some kind of African mammal that likes to climb-- something like a fossa or a large-spotted genet, maybe a small troop of colobus monkeys though I feel it might be a bit small for them. A dream of mine would be for them to convert it into a nocturnal habitat for an aye-aye or two, but I want to be realistic here.
- Build a new habitat for the Japanese macaques that replaces the picnic site by the red pandas, as Detroit has far too many of those that hardly get used. In the former macaque habitat, put either Guinea baboons or Hamadyras baboons.
- There's another useless picnic area behind the eland and ostriches. I would use this space to construct a cheetah habitat, so we finally have a third cat species.
- Bring back Przewalski's horses and add them to the camel yard
- The aardvarks have way more space than they need, so restore the barrier between them and the former hippopotamus habitat. Give said former common hippo habitat to a pair of pygmy hippos.
- Bring Ruppell's griffon and limpet-faced vultures over from American Grasslands to the African bird habitat.
- Australian Outback Adventure
- Use the dead space between the giraffes and the kangaroo walkthrough to build new habitats for the cassowary and tree kangaroos.
- Add Tasmanian devils to the currently unused grotto behind the grizzly bears.
- Bring emus back to the walk-through yard. Add more Australian birds, possible candidates including magpie geese, Rajah shelducks, and Australian wood ducks.
- American Grasslands
- We find yet another unnecessary picnic area by the anteaters. I would use this space to construct a large, naturalistic jaguar habitat.
- With the cassowary habitat freed up, I would bring back the bush dogs.
- With the tree kangaroo also moved, I would use their habitat for a band of coatis.
- I believe nothing is currently occupying the pampas habitat, so we need to change that. Back in the day I believe this area housed capybaras and South American tapirs, so I'd like to bring both of those species back. While we're at it, I'd add some more foliage so the tapirs can feel more comfortable.
- Other
- Though I love having the sea otters at the zoo, they arguably don't fit the theme of the Arctic Ring of Life, with their range ending at southern Alaska. I would bring back seals, so we can have the predator-prey dynamic back with the polar bears, and construct a brand new sea otter habitat in the entrance plaza. There's a circular area of grass when you step in that's literally just that, and so I would use this space for the sea otter habitat.
- Use the grass field area of the Arctic Ring of life tp build a new Arctic fox habitat since the old one has been demolished, and add enclosures for reindeer and snowy owls.
- There's another giant picnic site by the beavers and otters. I would greatly reduce the size of this and turn it into a couple of primate islands, one for lar gibbons and the other for black-handed spider monkeys.
- I would use the strip of land between the pampas yard and the Asian Forest to build an extension of Africa. This would be a kopje area, featuring smaller mammals like meerkat, bat-eared fox, klipspringer, black-footed cat, rock hyrax, with maybe a couple climate-controlled terrariums in the rocks for herps like pancake tortoise, white-throated monitor, and black mamba. If room allows, I'd also like an aviary for either Von Der Decken's or trumpeter hornbills.
John Ball Zoo
- The current plans to add the pygmy hippo/sitatunga/white stork near the entrance are great, so no changes to those.
- Build a new snow leopard habitat in the Forest Realm by the tigers. Now that the current snow leopard habitat has been freed up, expand the cougar habitat into it.
- Replace the maned wolf with an ocelot, as I feel it would be a much better fit for the space.
- Expand the grizzly bear habitat further up the hill, as even after the renovation, it still seems too small.
Roger Williams Park Zoo is not a real zoo until it has Ringed-Neck Teals.
Guess what? It already has a Ringed Teal that lives in the greenhouse.
Or a teal zooI guess it’s a real zoo then!
Brookfield Zoo
- Knock down the old Bear Grottos, Pachyderm House and Tropic World.
- Reopen the Aardvark House at Habitat Africa.
- Construct a new gorilla habitat near Habitat Africa! The Forest, possibly with space for some additional African primate species such as Mandrill, Colobus, Allen's Swamp Monkeys and DeBrazza Monkeys. (Whatever works.)
- The former Pachyderm House site will be replaced by an Elephant/Rhinoceros rotating exhibit, with smaller but improved habitat for pygmy hippos. This will integrate with Habitat Africa and the Hoofstock Yards for a larger safari complex.
- Renovate the Fragile Hunters and Clouded Leopard Rainforest into a large Asian biogeographic complex, integrating the existing sloth bear, Amur tiger, Amur leopard and Snow leopard habitats as well as new exhibits for Sichuan Takin, Przwalaski's Horse, Malayan tapir, Orangutan, White-cheeked gibbon, Red pandas, Asian small-clawed otters, and more. This may stretch over Bear Grottos.
- The former site of Tropic World is replaced by South American exhibits including Jaguar, Giant Anteater, Capybara, Spider Monkeys, Sloth, Orinoco crocodiles, and possibly some more primates. This may stretch towards the Living Coast and Feathers and Scales.
- If Orinoco crocodiles are inregrated into the new South American exhibit, a new crocodilian will replace it in the Swamp building.
- Surrounding area and Wild Encounters (which is not scrapped but integrated) are re-developed into a new Australia complex with all of the current species as well as the recently discussed koala, tasmanian devils, return of the cassowary alongside the current goose, etc. The walkabout is preserved and the parakeet aviary is themed around lorikeets. The former red pandas are replaced per Asia. I think the other species as semi-domestics can stay.
- If possible, restore Walrus and Fur Seal to Pinniped Point. (I know, not realistic, but...)
Lincoln Park Zoo
- Redevelop the Antelope-Zebra area into a temperate Asian Trail habitat, preserving the Sichuan Takin and Bactrian Camel in new habitats as well as new habitats for Snow Leopard, Amur Tiger, Red Panda, and possibly Amur Leopard? Consider a gibbon/langur habitat or something similar.
- Minor renovations to African Journey to include a permanent new home for Colobus monkeys (which currently are not full-time residents that I know of) and for zebras, as well as restoring ostriches. If possible, add exhibits for Allen's Swamp Monkey and DeBrazza Monkeys.
- Minor renovations for Small Mammal-Reptile House to expand the Tropical Rainforest section to include more South American species, if possible?
- In all of the above cases, do whatever can be done to add new spaces for primates currently represented in the Helen Brach Primate House to clear the building for new development. If the South American species have nowhere else to go, renovate into a South American exhibit, since this continent is not currently represented at the zoo; if any of them can be integrated into the Small Mammal-Reptile House exhibit, consider renovating Primate House into an Australia exhibit.
I think a really interesting note is that both zoos represent North America and Africa quite well, but need some help in Asia, Australia and much especially South America! This leads to both sets of changes feeling a little repetitious, especially since they both involved relocating primates from taxonomic to biogeographic exhibits.
- Knock down the old Bear Grottos, Pachyderm House and Tropic World.
- Reopen the Aardvark House at Habitat Africa.
- Construct a new gorilla habitat near Habitat Africa! The Forest, possibly with space for some additional African primate species such as Mandrill, Colobus, Allen's Swamp Monkeys and DeBrazza Monkeys. (Whatever works.)
- The former Pachyderm House site will be replaced by an Elephant/Rhinoceros rotating exhibit, with smaller but improved habitat for pygmy hippos. This will integrate with Habitat Africa and the Hoofstock Yards for a larger safari complex.
- Renovate the Fragile Hunters and Clouded Leopard Rainforest into a large Asian biogeographic complex, integrating the existing sloth bear, Amur tiger, Amur leopard and Snow leopard habitats as well as new exhibits for Sichuan Takin, Przwalaski's Horse, Malayan tapir, Orangutan, White-cheeked gibbon, Red pandas, Asian small-clawed otters, and more. This may stretch over Bear Grottos.
- The former site of Tropic World is replaced by South American exhibits including Jaguar, Giant Anteater, Capybara, Spider Monkeys, Sloth, Orinoco crocodiles, and possibly some more primates. This may stretch towards the Living Coast and Feathers and Scales.
- If Orinoco crocodiles are inregrated into the new South American exhibit, a new crocodilian will replace it in the Swamp building.
- Surrounding area and Wild Encounters (which is not scrapped but integrated) are re-developed into a new Australia complex with all of the current species as well as the recently discussed koala, tasmanian devils, return of the cassowary alongside the current goose, etc. The walkabout is preserved and the parakeet aviary is themed around lorikeets. The former red pandas are replaced per Asia. I think the other species as semi-domestics can stay.
- If possible, restore Walrus and Fur Seal to Pinniped Point. (I know, not realistic, but...)
Lincoln Park Zoo
- Redevelop the Antelope-Zebra area into a temperate Asian Trail habitat, preserving the Sichuan Takin and Bactrian Camel in new habitats as well as new habitats for Snow Leopard, Amur Tiger, Red Panda, and possibly Amur Leopard? Consider a gibbon/langur habitat or something similar.
- Minor renovations to African Journey to include a permanent new home for Colobus monkeys (which currently are not full-time residents that I know of) and for zebras, as well as restoring ostriches. If possible, add exhibits for Allen's Swamp Monkey and DeBrazza Monkeys.
- Minor renovations for Small Mammal-Reptile House to expand the Tropical Rainforest section to include more South American species, if possible?
- In all of the above cases, do whatever can be done to add new spaces for primates currently represented in the Helen Brach Primate House to clear the building for new development. If the South American species have nowhere else to go, renovate into a South American exhibit, since this continent is not currently represented at the zoo; if any of them can be integrated into the Small Mammal-Reptile House exhibit, consider renovating Primate House into an Australia exhibit.
I think a really interesting note is that both zoos represent North America and Africa quite well, but need some help in Asia, Australia and much especially South America! This leads to both sets of changes feeling a little repetitious, especially since they both involved relocating primates from taxonomic to biogeographic exhibits.