Closed Zoo Exhibits You've Visited
- Thread starter JVM
- Start date
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Oh and speaking of Smithsonian, I just remembered about the old Elephant House there.
Yes, with hippos and giraffes!
Indeed I was referring to "Elephant Island" which had underground dens.
Like you, I would like to have seen the old London Zoo Elephant House, built 1869 and demolished shortly before the Second World War.
AnActualFan
Well-Known Member
I still remember the smallest bit of World of Darkness and how cool it was. The frustrating thing is I barely remember it and it makes me go crazy to not remember it enough, but I have a huge soft spot for nocturnal exhibits and small mammals especially.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
And Indian rhino until sometime in the 90s. At that point they also had African elephant mixed with the Asians
I forgot about the rhino! I have a few photos of the elephants, somewhere.
After listing former exhibits at London Zoo it seems logical to do the same for Whipsnade: this list will be much shorter because, although the species may be different, most of the ungulate paddocks have changed very little in all the years I've been visiting Whipsnade.
- Bison Hill
- Wolf Wood
- the Lubetkin Elephant House
- the sealion exhibit (former Dolphinarium)
- the sealion exhibit (former chimpanzee island)
- the polar bear exhibit
- the spectacled bear cage
- the Kodiak bear pit
- the original lion enclosure
- the original tiger enclosure
- the old cheetah cages
- the old Indian rhino paddock (near the giraffes)
- the old Children's Zoo (which became the bird garden)
I also remember Whipsnade's hyena enclosures
I remember when the old hyaena enclosure was used for African hunting dogs but I don't think I ever saw hyaenas housed there.
There was one enclosure for striped hyenas and one for spotted hyenas, but I was very young when I saw the enclosures.
I was told by a friend that, back in the late 1950s / early 1960s, it was split into three for spotted, striped and brown hyaenas but I have no recollection of seeing hyaenas there; I only remember seeing hunting dogs.
As someone who has been visiting Chester Zoo since 1958 (I think), I can safely say that the giraffe house is the only animal building in the zoo that has hardly been changed since that time (although the paddock as been enlarged considerably). Everything else has been modified internally or externally or demolished completely. A few areas are still exist (I think), but are out of use, like the old chimp viewing gallery and the sun bear and kangaroo house, just inside the old entrance. The Aquarium building is virtually unchanged externally, but remodelled internally. The Elephant House and the Monkey House, both built when the zoo expanded over Flag Lane in the 1960s, were completely rebuilt on the same sites years ago.
The exhibit I miss the most is the old Small Mammal House, on the site of Cafe Bembe. It had relatively simple, but spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures for a range of small mammals that the zoo has largely ignored since it closed. I'd love to see plains and mountain viscachas again.
The exhibit I miss the most is the old Small Mammal House, on the site of Cafe Bembe. It had relatively simple, but spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures for a range of small mammals that the zoo has largely ignored since it closed. I'd love to see plains and mountain viscachas again.
The Small Mammal House was the only place where I've seen a mountain viscacha. I also liked the row of enclosures for small cats. including a Central Chilean pampas cat.
Before it’s renovation in the nineties Chapultepec zoo in Mexico City had mediocre exhibits not worth remembering. However from visits to Spain, I remember that Barcelona zoo had a nocturnal house and a Madagascar house. Both are now gone. Also Madrid zoo had a decent reptile house, also now gone. I was studying in Chicago during the eighties and have many fond memories and some guidebooks of the exhibits at Brookfield and Lincoln park zoos which have been mentioned here.
At Roger Williams Park Zoo, I saw the old Tropical America exhibit on a number of occasions, including the adjacent Conservation Corner back when they actually exhibited burying beetles! I also as a child really enjoyed the Australasia exhibit, which has since been renamed to "World of Adaptations" and displays more of a hodgepodge of species. Back then, the exhibit had parma wallabies, chinese alligators, archerfish, a walk-through aviary, tree shrews, and a number of small herps that are no longer part of the collection. Across from Australasia/next to Tropical America was a kangaroo exhibit that was demolished when Faces of the Rainforest was built. Only in this past year, the old Aoudad exhibit has also been demolished, in order to make way for a new Education Center, which is sorely needed. I'll still miss that exhibit, however, as it was one of my favorite parts of the zoo, especially back when they had a larger herd of aoudads.
At Buttonwood Park Zoo, I remember the old Aquatics Building prior to it being replaced with Rainforests, Rivers, and Reefs. I don't miss that one too much, however I regret not appreciating the shorebirds as much when they were there. At Capron Park Zoo, not many exhibits have left in my lifetime, however there were two small, standalone exhibits that got demolished in recent years- one which most recently held Southern Screamers, and the other Golden Lion Tamarins. For other local zoos, I don't really remember any exhibits closing during my lifetime, although I can recall some that changed significantly (e.g. Stone Zoo's old Flamingo exhibit was renovated for African Spurred Tortoises).
On a more national scale, my 2016 visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo I remember seeing Monkey Island.
At Buttonwood Park Zoo, I remember the old Aquatics Building prior to it being replaced with Rainforests, Rivers, and Reefs. I don't miss that one too much, however I regret not appreciating the shorebirds as much when they were there. At Capron Park Zoo, not many exhibits have left in my lifetime, however there were two small, standalone exhibits that got demolished in recent years- one which most recently held Southern Screamers, and the other Golden Lion Tamarins. For other local zoos, I don't really remember any exhibits closing during my lifetime, although I can recall some that changed significantly (e.g. Stone Zoo's old Flamingo exhibit was renovated for African Spurred Tortoises).
On a more national scale, my 2016 visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo I remember seeing Monkey Island.