what would be a unique exhibit/ building that you would like to see in zoos?

JezP100

JezP100

Well-Known Member
zoos over the past decade have become more unique and creative in demonstrating and exhibiting animals. however, i feel like we as a community can share some unique zoo exhibit ideas

ill start us off.

i came up with a concept of the Hall Of Fears! a building dedicated to showcasing animals that may represent someone's fears

here's some of the species I could see this exhibit having
1. an outdoor enclosure for spotted hyena (fear of clowns) 2. multiple snake exhibits (fear of snakes) 3. dogfish and ray touch tank (fear of sharks)

what I thought may be even cooler is instead of the arachnids being in terrariums, there could be a walkthrough tunnel for people to crawl through

what do you think
 
JezP100 said:
what do you think
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That's a really cool idea for an exhibit, and it would challenge some phobias and preconceptions.
I have made quite a few themed zoos and exhibits, but here's an idea; an exhibit based on the Africa-South America faunal interchange; it would be cool to contrast species of monkeys, caviimorph rodents, parrots and crocodiles from both sides of the Atlantic. What I'd suggest would be;
- Brown capuchin monkeys / Vervet monkeys
- Prehensile-tailed porcupine / African crested porcupine
- Gundi/ Rock cavy
- Red-lored amazon/ Congo grey parrot
- Morelet's crocodile/ West African crocodile
- Atlantic mudskippers
- White-faced whistling ducks
 
JezP100 said:
what I thought may be even cooler is instead of the arachnids being in terrariums, there could be a walkthrough tunnel for people to crawl through
Click to expand...
Based on my experiences with quite a bunch of visitors, I can guarantee you that the vast majority of people with arachnophobia would not even enter the building containing the enclosure, let alone crawl through it. This is not how you do exposure therapy, especially not without any supervision by qualified psychological experts.
You would also need to get a fully comprehensive insurance to cover both actions for damages (soiled pants, heart attacks...)and animal welfare violations...
 
JezP100 said:
what I thought may be even cooler is instead of the arachnids being in terrariums, there could be a walkthrough tunnel for people to crawl through

what do you think
Click to expand...
would the spider tunnel be more like one of those passages that aquariums sometimes have, underwater, except this would be with arachnids?
 
I'd love to see a zoo buck the Eastern Africa Savanna exhibit trend and pour their heart and soul into a Namib Desert exhibit.

Black rhino, Giraffe, Springbok, Greater kudu, Gemsbok, Lions, Ostrich, Mountain zebra and Vultures. Possibly elephants.

Or rather a series of Namib Desert themed exhibits, lol.

Black rhinos don't tend to share space with other animals as nicely as their distant cousins the White rhinos do, so would probably need their own enclosure. Might want to make that enclosures, since they don't form crashes like White rhinos do either, lol.

Eastern Black rhinos would be exhibited over the regionally accurate South-western Black rhino. They're more endangered and thus are given priority by the Rhino TAG. (I'm not sure South-western Black rhinos even exist in AZA zoos? I know South-central Black rhinos exist in a few places.)

Massi Giraffe over generic Giraffe. Again, not regionally accurate, but Angolan giraffes don't exist in AZA zoos and Massi giraffes have priority according to the Giraffe TAG.

Springbok, Gemsbok, Greater kudu and Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra can share space with the Giraffes. Ostrich too.

Are all Ostrich in AZA zoos generic? Or are specific subspecies available and thus given higher priority?

Can Gemsboks and Greater kudu hybridize with each other? I know that both species have interbred with other antelope in captivity before.

Appropriate species of Vultures -If they exist, otherwise other priority African species of Vultures can substitute- can have their own aviary. Pinioning large birds in AZA zoos is a tragedy and while exhibiting Vultures with the hoofstock (And Ostriches, lol) together would be lovely, it wouldn't be if it were done at the poor Vultures expense.

Lions? An obvious choice for the Namib Desert as a subpopulation of them do occur there. Just as obviously, they need their own habitat, lol.

And African Elephants to round everything out, the Namib Desert subpopulation is a fascinating one too! Probably can't mix them with the Black rhinos, but Elephants have done well with mixed with hoofstock in the past, yes? Just give the small animals sections of the exhibit they can retreat to.

You guys think a safari park type set up might be better than a traditional zoo for this type of thing? I'm just wondering if the Black rhinos could be mixed with the other species if given a large enough area to roam...
 
Another problem with a crawl through spider exhibit is some people may not be able to do it due to mobility issues even if they wanted to. Would there need to be a way for them to still be able to view it?
 
birdsandbats said:
A spider walk-through exhibit does exist at Lincoln Park Zoo (and Smithsonian National Zoo also used to have one in the Invertebrate House).
Click to expand...
London Zoo also has one on its Invertebrate House. Its basically a small loop around a little greenhouse like room. Definitely not for the arachnophobic! When I visited with my family my sister refused to go in.
 
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