Spec. Zoo Design questions

Sphenisciologist said:
Ah, okay. I was mostly considering the smaller and popular species often contained in a majority of NA zoos despite the size.
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Yeah for the well-known facilities that trio is certainly not wrong - just doesn't work for a start up.

Sphenisciologist said:
I was aware about the rhinos, I was just thinking in comparison to other ungulate species and depending on the size of a facility and the budget, they could potentially be an option — though not the best animal to start off with, I see more clearly now :p.
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Ungulates are among the easiest groups to get ahold of - the numerous unaccredited safari parks and hunting ranches provide many species at a reasonable cost. Oryxes, addax, the Tragelaphus, some of the gazelles, Nilgai, bison, banteng, zebras, deer, caprids, they're all pretty easily available with a few exceptions. Even giraffe isn't too hard, but they're more expensive to house.

birdsandbats said:
Meerkats are still AZA-locked in the US, although they are a very common species in the private trade in Europe (so if the zoo was located there, it would be an easy and inexpensive species to start with there).
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Given how Europe has cracked down on a lot of invasive species I'm kind of surprised they still allow Meerkat to be kept so readily.
 
I recently read something about a petting zoo in the Netherlands getting meerkats, and although the exhibit in the article looked decent, I find it somewhat dubious meerkats seem to be quite easily available.

Great Argus said:
Given how Europe has cracked down on a lot of invasive species I'm kind of surprised they still allow Meerkat to be kept so readily.
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Please don't give the EU legislators and the animal rights lobby groups any ideas to take even more interesting species away from zoos under the guise of controlling invasive species...
 
Great Argus said:
As far as I'm aware there's no real differences between them from the husbandry standpoint - Masai and Baringo/Retic hybrids are housed together at several facilities in the US. There are a couple of husbandry manuals available online from the mid-2000's, EAZA's being the best quality I think: EAZA Husbandry and Management Guidelines Giraffa camelopardalis http://www.zoocentral.dk/uploads/4/9/7/5/49755431/eaza-husbandry-guidelines-2006.pdf



Bearing in mind that they will hybridize - keeping mixed species herds requires monitoring. Usually a mixed group has one subspecies that isn't breeding.



I think there are some habitat differences/preferences, but carrying them out would be tricky as giraffes have a long reach.
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Thank for the speedy response. I'll look through the guidelines shortly. That's really useful!

I am curious because in my project, part of the goal is to define two giraffe species or subspecies distinctly, and I'm having trouble not making them sound interchangeable.
 
Do wading birds and waterfowl require meshed outdoor enclosures or can they thrive in a hypothetical "greenhouse" style walkthrough aviary? I can't think of any exhibits like this from the top of my head.
 
Komodo Dragon said:
Do wading birds and waterfowl require meshed outdoor enclosures or can they thrive in a hypothetical "greenhouse" style walkthrough aviary? I can't think of any exhibits like this from the top of my head.
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World of Birds at Bronx, Scripps Aviary at San Diego, Hidden Jungle at SDZSP, National Aviary, and Dallas World Aquarium are all prominent examples of more greenhouse style aviaries containing waterfowl and wading birds - and I can think of numerous other examples.
 
Great Argus said:
World of Birds at Bronx, Scripps Aviary at San Diego, Hidden Jungle at SDZSP, National Aviary, and Dallas World Aquarium are all prominent examples of more greenhouse style aviaries containing waterfowl and wading birds - and I can think of numerous other examples.
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I shall check those out for inspiration, thank you!
 
Not sure if this entirely fits in this thread, and if it doesn’t I will ask it where it does belong, but I’m legitimately curious as to whether anyone knows the most common African cichlid species are in zoos?
 
Van Beal said:
Not sure if this entirely fits in this thread, and if it doesn’t I will ask it where it does belong, but I’m legitimately curious as to whether anyone knows the most common African cichlid species are in zoos?
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Mbunas (rock-dwelling cichlids from Lake Malawi, from different genera) are pretty common, Nile and Mozambique tilapias are also reasonably common.

Mbuna - Wikipedia
 
KevinB said:
I recently read something about a petting zoo in the Netherlands getting meerkats, and although the exhibit in the article looked decent, I find it somewhat dubious meerkats seem to be quite easily available.



Please don't give the EU legislators and the animal rights lobby groups any ideas to take even more interesting species away from zoos under the guise of controlling invasive species...
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Meerkats are very easy to obtain, ive seen them advertised allot, and they are usually around 400/600 euros a animal
 
Canihelpyou? said:
Meerkats are very easy to obtain, ive seen them advertised allot, and they are usually around 400/600 euros a animal
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I find that more than a little disturbing...

Mr Gharial said:
There are many species in the cichlid family that don't really look like cichlids. Like peacock basses
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There are even far more atypical cichlid, like the discus fish and the freswater angelfish. They don't even have the general bass-type fish look anymore, which peacock basses do.


I also have a question.

I am thinking about getting back into speculative zoo design - after not completing any projects for almost a year and a half now - and I have been trying some things, but I have come to realization that the highly detailed and intricate style I used for my last few projects will not work for me anymore if I ever want to do more projects.

I already looked at some of my previous simpler projects, but I am still looking for maps of existing zoos or fantasy zoo projects that have a simpler and less detailed style, but are still sufficiently clear and useful.

If anyone has any suggestions in that regard, please let me know.
 
While thinking of ideas for a western United States butterfly house, I found that a good number of small butterfly species are endangered. I thought about it, and couldn't come to a good conclusion. If a zoo wanted to display a small amount of threatened butterfly species to the public, what would be the best way to do so?

Walkthrough butterfly exhibits of course come to mind, but these can be dangerous for butterflies as there is a risk of being stepped on by unaware guests. Would this work as long as the walkthrough is staffed, maybe with docents "following" the butterflies to ensure no guests step on them? Or is there a better way to show these butterflies and engage the public without risk of being crushed?
 
Crotalus said:
While thinking of ideas for a western United States butterfly house, I found that a good number of small butterfly species are endangered. I thought about it, and couldn't come to a good conclusion. If a zoo wanted to display a small amount of threatened butterfly species to the public, what would be the best way to do so?

Walkthrough butterfly exhibits of course come to mind, but these can be dangerous for butterflies as there is a risk of being stepped on by unaware guests. Would this work as long as the walkthrough is staffed, maybe with docents "following" the butterflies to ensure no guests step on them? Or is there a better way to show these butterflies and engage the public without risk of being crushed?
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One thing that you could do it lowering the visitors path / making the "ground" area higher than the path. You could also partially cover the path area to make it darker, which should deter butterflies from going to that area
 
Mr Gharial said:
One thing that you could do it lowering the visitors path / making the "ground" area higher than the path. You could also partially cover the path area to make it darker, which should deter butterflies from going to that area
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Exactly what I was thinking. Either cover the path so the butterflies can’t/won’t go on the path, or raise the ground above the path level, which would also deter the butterflies landing on the path.
 
I'd like to ask two questions regarding macropods (specifically Red Kangaroo, Bennett's Wallaby and Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby), I had other questions but they fit other threads better.
Anyways, first, what are the ideal social groups for each species in zoos (currently have groups of 3.5 Bennett's, 2.4 Reds, and 2.6 Rock-wallabies). And second, how much space would a mix of these three species require?
 
Van Beal said:
I'd like to ask two questions regarding macropods (specifically Red Kangaroo, Bennett's Wallaby and Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby), I had other questions but they fit other threads better.
Anyways, first, what are the ideal social groups for each species in zoos (currently have groups of 3.5 Bennett's, 2.4 Reds, and 2.6 Rock-wallabies). And second, how much space would a mix of these three species require?
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I know if the Reds are castrated (like Indy) multiple males can be co-inhabitated.
 
More questions about social groupings.
What would the proper/recommended group sizes be for Western Capercaillie, Satyr Tragopan and Himalayan Monal? And is a 75 sq. meter aviary appropriate sizewise for said birds?
 
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