Making African Sections More Unique

It seems like the AZA standard for African exhibits is basically as many of the big 4 (giraffe, elephant, hippo, rhino) as possible, the standard lion, cheetah, and painted dog, meerkat, then some random antelope cobbled together.

I'd like to see more hyenas and actual African leopards as well as baboons. You have to do a bit of work to find zoos with hyenas even if they may not exactly be considered a super-rarity.

Personally, I think it would be great for both species diversity and animal welfare if zoos didn't try so hard to sell out for the big 4. A park could do a lot more if it wasn't working to give most of it's space to animals that need a lot of it. Have one or two of the big 4, then have some more interesting smaller species to compliment them.

Also, I'd love to be able to see cape buffalo in the US. It's sad to see them become almost completely. non-existent.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
It seems like the AZA standard for African exhibits is basically as many of the big 4 (giraffe, elephant, hippo, rhino) as possible, the standard lion, cheetah, and painted dog, meerkat, then some random antelope cobbled together.

I'd like to see more hyenas and actual African leopards as well as baboons. You have to do a bit of work to find zoos with hyenas even if they may not exactly be considered a super-rarity.

Personally, I think it would be great for both species diversity and animal welfare if zoos didn't try so hard to sell out for the big 4. A park could do a lot more if it wasn't working to give most of it's space to animals that need a lot of it. Have one or two of the big 4, then have some more interesting smaller species to compliment them.

Also, I'd love to be able to see cape buffalo in the US. It's sad to see them become almost completely. non-existent.
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I can’t think of a single modern US African exhibit that keeps all 4 giants in the same general area. Memphis and Cheyenne Mountain are close, but their hippos are in their own areas. Fort Worth has 3 but has Asian Elephants. Typically, most zoos just don’t have the space for quality habitats for all 4 giants. Usually, the elephant or hippo is left out due to elephants taking up the most space and hippos requiring water and land.
Agree on the buffalo. I think Denver is the only non-Safari park to keep them in the US (might be wrong, probably wrong). It’s just that they require similar space to rhinos, and at that point, why not just have a rhino? I also suspect their temperament is holding them back, too.
 
Corangurilla said:
I can’t think of a single modern US African exhibit that keeps all 4 giants in the same general area. Memphis and Cheyenne Mountain are close, but their hippos are in their own areas. Fort Worth has 3 but has Asian Elephants. Typically, most zoos just don’t have the space for quality habitats for all 4 giants. Usually, the elephant or hippo is left out due to elephants taking up the most space and hippos requiring water and land.
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Technically Milwaukee will count once the future rhino house is complete. The giraffe area is older, but still considered part of Adventure Africa along with the newer exhibits for elephants, hippos and rhinos.

One of the most unique African exhibits is the Etosha house at Basel, which focuses exclusively on unusual small mammals, birds and insects. Here is an overview alongside a showcase of other unique African houses: Europe's 100 must see exhibits
 
pachyderm pro said:
Technically Milwaukee will count once the future rhino house is complete. The giraffe area is older, but still considered part of Adventure Africa along with the newer exhibits for elephants, hippos and rhinos.

One of the most unique African exhibits is the Etosha house at Basel, which focuses exclusively on unusual small mammals, birds and insects. Here is an overview alongside a showcase of other unique African houses: Europe's 100 must see exhibits
Click to expand...
With Milwaukee, how come they didn't make their elephant enclosure larger? I feel like, with a totally new area to play with, they totally could have made it big enough for a herd
 
pachyderm pro said:
Technically Milwaukee will count once the future rhino house is complete. The giraffe area is older, but still considered part of Adventure Africa along with the newer exhibits for elephants, hippos and rhinos.

One of the most unique African exhibits is the Etosha house at Basel, which focuses exclusively on unusual small mammals, birds and insects. Here is an overview alongside a showcase of other unique African houses: Europe's 100 must see exhibits
Click to expand...
I guess Milwaukee counts, even if they don’t have rhinos at the moment.
And on the topic of unique African exhibits in Europe, how has this thread gone on for five pages without a proper mention of the Africarium?!
I don’t know much about European zoos, but that exhibit is one of the coolest, most unique, and just plain fun exhibit ideas I’ve ever heard of! Penguins, fur seals, hippos, crocodiles, African Manatees?!?! It’s like Adventure Aquarium’s hippo exhibit but better and without that tacky disco theme they hopefully ditched. I wouldn’t be surprised if Water’s Edge: Africa at CMZ was partially inspired by this exhibit.
 
elefante said:
This would be a great idea. An ancient Egyptian theme could also be done.
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I feel like you could make a cool ancient Egypt themed exhibit based around Egyptian mythology - "Gods on Earth", or some such thing. Exhibits of live animals, such as sacred ibis, hamadryas baboon, hippo, crocodile, and jackal - alongside statues of their respective deities. You could even have an exhibit of actual mummified animals (in a climate controlled setting). I've seen ancient crocodile, ibis, and baboon mummies in museums before, so it would be neat to incorporate some of those. The nearest US exhibit I can think of that mirrors this is the new(ish) Nile croc exhibit at St. Augustine
 
Aardwolf said:
I feel like you could make a cool ancient Egypt themed exhibit based around Egyptian mythology - "Gods on Earth", or some such thing. Exhibits of live animals, such as sacred ibis, hamadryas baboon, hippo, crocodile, and jackal - alongside statues of their respective deities. You could even have an exhibit of actual mummified animals (in a climate controlled setting). I've seen ancient crocodile, ibis, and baboon mummies in museums before, so it would be neat to incorporate some of those. The nearest US exhibit I can think of that mirrors this is the new(ish) Nile croc exhibit at St. Augustine
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“Gods on Earth” is such a raw name and I love it. And if we’re talking Egyptian gods, how could you leave out Lanner Falcons and African Wildcats? Maybe some terrariums for scarabs and cobras, too?
This is my favorite exhibit that doesn’t exist.
 
Aardwolf said:
I feel like you could make a cool ancient Egypt themed exhibit based around Egyptian mythology - "Gods on Earth", or some such thing. Exhibits of live animals, such as sacred ibis, hamadryas baboon, hippo, crocodile, and jackal - alongside statues of their respective deities. You could even have an exhibit of actual mummified animals (in a climate controlled setting). I've seen ancient crocodile, ibis, and baboon mummies in museums before, so it would be neat to incorporate some of those. The nearest US exhibit I can think of that mirrors this is the new(ish) Nile croc exhibit at St. Augustine
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This needs to happen. Also terrariums with scarab beetles and something with scorpions and cobras.
 
tigris115 said:
So, as "African sections" go, what are some actual examples of ones that are good, mid, and bad?
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I may not be the best authority, but one of the best African sections I've seen (which, to be fair, is subdivided into a couple subsections) is the one at the Prague zoo. The huge African savannah for giraffes and antelopes, plus the "Africa house", the hippo complex, the incredible small mammal menagerie of "Africa up close", and the upcoming gorilla exhibit are absolutely amazing, in my opinion, and it still comes across as fresh, seeing how it has some very rare species, like the much acclaimed brown hyenas, and some typical savannah mega-mammals, like elephants, lions and cheetahs, are in different parts of the zoo, plus the first two are the Asian species/ subspecies.
 
Corangurilla said:
Whoops… but if multiple US zoos can have Amur Leopards in their African sections, then this isn’t a problem.
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There is nothing wrong with using standard ins if the appropriate subspecies is unavailable. The general public isn't going to notice the difference between an Amur and African leopard just like they wouldn't notice a Malayan tiger standing in for a Bengal.

Perhaps this is taking it off topic a bit, but why do African exhibits seem to always house only two hippos and not herds?
 
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