Depopulated Exhibits

[JVM]

Brookfield Zoo's iconic Tropic World, intended to allow visitors to be fully immersed in a tropical rainforest with a variety of birds and mammals, has formerly housed dozens of species; but over the years as the building has become more and more aged behind modern husbandry, many residents have left. There are no mandrill, no red-faced spider monkey, the pygmy hippopotamus and tapir now have better outdoor holdings, the giant anteater is often moved to other habitats, there is talk of the gorilla moving outside permanently, and so forth... while the animal welfare has improved with these changes, the original exhibit feels emptier and emptier.

I have recently heard that Jungleworld has also been depopulated some over the years, but I don't know much about the history of this exhibit, but it made me curious to ask -- are there any other large, immersive exhibits that have been depopulated over the years, without major renovations to the exhibit itself? Mixed species exhibits that were forced down to fewer animals? I would be curious for some stories about this.

 

[Jaguar_X]

This is not really a large high budget exhibit, but it certainly has seen better days.
My local zoo Emerald Animal World (Smallish zoo in South Africa owned by Pretoria zoo) has an exhibit for hoofstock next to its Safari Park. Over the years this exhibit has housed some amazing species.

It started out as a field for their breeding herd of Asian Water Buffalo. This species is quite rare in South Africa and Emerald had a large herd because it is owned by the largest zoo in South Africa size and species wise. (Joburg I am pretty sure has since surpassed it with its collection.)

Later it turned into an exotic hoofstock yard and house Red Forest Buffalo, Arabian Oryx, Axis Deer (Chital), Fallow Deer, Nyala (a local species) and even Addax which is now not kept in South Africa any more to my knowledge. The yard still sometimes had the Asian Water Buffalo in it and the hoofstock rotated between 3 yards. (This was some time ago so I am unsure which species were housed together but I know the Nyala and Red Forest Buffalo were mixed at least.)

After the buffalo got sent away it started to go downhill. The Nyala, Addax and Arabian Oryx all disappeared over the next few years and the Axis deer herd declined until only one Stag was left. (He has since moved to a new enclosure also housing a warthog and a potbelly pig.)

The enclosure then stood open for a while before they moved in some Springbok, keep in mind this enclosure is next to the Safari Park which has a ton of Springbok in it.

But to top it all of, they have recently removed the Springbok and moved in... Domestic Goat. Not even a rare breed. Boerbok, the most common goat breed in South Africa since it is a local breed and super cheap.

The enclosure also use to have very cool education where there were antelope skulls with boards underneath each skull that you could lift up to see what species it belonged to and some facts about the species. This has also since been removed and replaced by a very plain board that still says the enclosure houses springbok even though this is not true anymore.

 

[Dassie rat]

Blijdorp Zoo's Riviera Hall had a varied collection of several species but deteriorated over the years

 

[Corangurilla]

The Phoenix Zoo was my home zoo for 11 years, and I’ve noticed that their African Savannah exhibit has been feeling rather empty as of late.
These days, it keeps Masai Giraffe, Thompson’s Gazelle, Ostrich, Crowned Crane, a few species of Old World Vultures, and Guineafowl. In the past however, there were Generic Giraffe, Yellow-Billed Storks, Eland, and Watusi. It’s still a fine collection, but without the Eland or Watusi, there aren’t any mammals between the giraffes and the gazelles in size. On top of that, neither the giraffes or the gazelles like to hang out near the front of the exhibit, which just makes the whole thing feel empty. Thanks to the construction for Predator Passage, you can’t go to the back of the exhibit, and the lookout tower at the front is still closed off, which means there’s good way to get a better view.

 

[SwampDonkey]

the lookout tower at the front is still closed off, which means there’s good way to get a better view.

Any reason why? It was open when I went there in January this year, any idea how long it will be closed?

 

[Corangurilla]

Any reason why? It was open when I went there in January this year, any idea how long it will be closed?

Wait it was open this year? I was at Phoenix in January this year, too, so maybe I’m just misremembering? It was definitely closed when I went in July.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Wait it was open this year? I was at Phoenix in January this year, too, so maybe I’m just misremembering? It was definitely closed when I went in July.

Yeah, it was definitely open at the very start of the year, I climbed up with my son on January 1st. I'm going back in October so I can check again.

 

[cloudedleopard611]

St. Louis Zoo's Primate House, but its for the better. Now that there's Canopy Trails, which is great, most of the species that were housed in the primate house are often outside. I went in there recently and it was like a ghost town.

 

[JVM]

Appreciate the stories so far, guys. Very interesting stuff.

St. Louis Zoo's Primate House, but its for the better. Now that there's Canopy Trails, which is great, most of the species that were housed in the primate house are often outside. I went in there recently and it was like a ghost town.

Who is left in the old Primate House now? I did read up on Canopy Trails a little.

 

[Moebelle]

Appreciate the stories so far, guys. Very interesting stuff.


Who is left in the old Primate House now? I did read up on Canopy Trails a little.

From my understanding, every species but the sloth can go outside at some point. However, a few primates will stay inside if the outdoor enclosures are filled up. Last time I was there the Sakis, Marmosets and Tamarins remained indoors - although I think the two latter stayed in by choice.

 

[Astrotom3000]

The Streamside exhibit at the NC Zoo certainly feels like it had gone through this, even prior to its 2019 renovation (which only targeted the exhibits in one of the buildings).

During my first several visits, the upper building was full of different reptiles and amphibians; many of the exhibits were mixed-species and many interesting species on display (tree frogs, mud turtles, queen snakes, etc). The larger aquarium in the lower building had more fish species and individuals.

In the latter half of the 2010s, it seemed like the on-exhibit collection in both buildings got smaller and smaller with each visit; it soon became common for half of the terrariums to be empty on my visits. The aquarium in the lower building also feels way more empty.

They did eventually renovate the exhibits in the upper building (mostly filling in pools in to create all-land exhibits, a change I was not particularly fond of), but even after that, the building has felt emptier than it used to.

 

[Charles]

This might not be completely relevant but the rise and fall of seals/sea lions in uk zoos, there are barely any in the UK anymore and the ones that are there are bachelor herds which seem to be shrinking