Zoo trends that are overdone.

owensluis

owensluis

Active Member
We all like zoo's and even travel too zoo's for specific animals or habitats.
But which trends, animals or designs are you over with.
For me for example it the greater rhea being everywhere or the wallay walkthroughs.
 
Spike said:
Definitely kangaroo walkthrough exhibits. They’re just so repetitive
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As someone who has a responsibility to consistently make zoo exhibits look as unique as possible, it's getting more and more difficult to make good content when certain zoos don't even try to be different. Some of my viewers wonder why I can't stand and want to avoid featuring "kangaroo walkabouts", "lorikeet landings", "stingray bays", "African savannas".
 
Spike said:
Definitely kangaroo walkthrough exhibits. They’re just so repetitive
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Personally I don’t mind the concept. However at least in the US it is irritating to see the same two macropods (red kangaroos and red-necked wallabies) being used over and over. I am aware that there are walkthroughs with other species as well such as ZooTampa’s walkabout with yellow-footed rock wallabies and Brevard having muntjac and emu when I visited back at 2019. Sadly those are exceptions, not the rule.
 
I think a lot of interactive experiences remain repetitious because I imagine very few zoos are willing to take the risks of experimenting freely with human and animal interactions - until one facility has the ambition to prove something is possible and reduces the sense of risk for everyone else. I definitely agree most interactive experiences are repetitious and "overdone" but unlike a lot of other repetitious themes, like Asian temples, I can understand why.
 
JVM said:
New I think a lot of interactive experiences remain repetitious because I imagine very few zoos are willing to take the risks of experimenting freely with human and animal interactions - until one facility has the ambition to prove something is possible and reduces the sense of risk for everyone else.
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That's exactly why for the US - particularly given the tendency for suing over injuries/safety. Gambling with a species that might or might not work isn't usually something zoos want to deal with here. Elsewhere in the world walkthroughs seem to be a good deal more extensive in their species choice.
 
HowlerMonkey said:
When zoos build Savanna exhibits that display the diversity of Africa and then it’s just Giraffes, Zebras and, Ostriches in a large field.
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I agree to a point with this, however, looking at the bigger picture, your general zoo visitor would be more than happy to see this. Although among zoo geeks and enthusiasts, we would be much more interested in a Savannah exhibit which held rare ungulate or bovids, general zoo visitors wouldn't be pay much interest in said rare ungulate.

I concur that there's many exhibits which house giraffe, zebra and ostrich together in a large field, but, ultimately if they weren't housed in that exhibit, other exhibits would/could be built for them and therefore taking away space for potential more interesting species for zoo enthusiasts and zoo geeks such as myself to take advantage of. :p
 
Baringogiraffe12 said:
I agree to a point with this, however, looking at the bigger picture, your general zoo visitor would be more than happy to see this. Although among zoo geeks and enthusiasts, we would be much more interested in a Savannah exhibit which held rare ungulate or bovids, general zoo visitors wouldn't be pay much interest in said rare ungulate.

I concur that there's many exhibits which house giraffe, zebra and ostrich together in a large field, but, ultimately if they weren't housed in that exhibit, other exhibits would/could be built for them and therefore taking away space for potential more interesting species for zoo enthusiasts and zoo geeks such as myself to take advantage of. :p
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I was thinking the same thing about the general visitor not having much interest outside the ABC savanna species when I wrote it. I think what I needed to add is when all the exhibit information itself is about the diversity of life on the savanna and then it’s just the common 3 species (Giraffe, Zebra, Ostrich). I almost always want to say you couldn’t add in some other birds like Guineafowl or other ground bird to showcase the diversity a bit better :p. Especially when the price tag for the exhibit was not small.
 
  • Using guereza colobus as the only representative species for old world monkeys. I wish zoos would mix it up, especially as from a behavioral perspective the colobines are much more inactive than the cercopithecines. I'd love it if some zoos opted for either guenons or mangabeys instead of guereza colobus.
  • Housing gorillas in large, grassy fields. Gorillas don't live in the savannas, is it too much to ask to give them shady habitats!
  • Underwater viewing on hippo exhibits, when the exhibits are simply too small and don't house natural social groupings.
  • Flight-restricting birds, especially parrots and vultures. I'm hesitantly okay with flight-restricting waterfowl, as they aren't as reliant on flying as parrots and vultures (even though I think aviaries should always be the way to go if feasible), but with parrots and vultures in particular this style of management is simply inexcusable.
  • Using ring-tailed lemurs as the only representative lemur species, as there are many other fascinating lemur species in much more a need of new holders.
  • Having fascinating conservation programs behind-the-scenes (especially for native species), but at a disconnect with the rest of the zoo. I'd love it to see more zoos find ways to display their conservation programs, or at the very least highlight more signage about them.
  • African Lions.
  • Red Pandas.
 
PossumRoach said:
ZooTampa’s walkabout with yellow-footed rock wallabies and Brevard having muntjac and emu when I visited back at 2019. Sadly those are exceptions, not the rule.
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Brevard's upped their game even more since then - in addition to the muntjac and emus, they now also feature I believe Aldabra giant tortoises (may have been Galapagos or sulcata but my gut says it was Aldabra) as well as the only proper viewing into their dingo enclosure. Such a breath of fresh air for what I typically agree is such an exhausted concept that I'm much more partial to non-walkthrough macropod enclosures.

Unless I missed something, though, I don't think Tampa has a walkabout currently. Shame, because the rock wallabies are still absolutely captivating.
 
I'm torn about some of these. Yes, I visit a lot of zoos, and yes, these features can be very repetitive. When I go to a new zoo, I'll often take only the briefest of glances at their giraffe feeding deck, or take a quick stroll through the kangaroo walkabout - and then spend twenty minutes in a crouch waiting for a bird that I've never seen before in the aviary to come into view. I get why a lot of this stuff might seem exhausting or uninteresting to folks on this forum.

A lot of people, however, don't go to a lot of zoos - maybe only a tiny number over the course of their life - and for them, these things that are boring or overdone are absolutely magical. I remember seeing a girl I went to high school with but hadn't spoken with in ten or fifteen years post pictures of a zoo where I worked at the time on her facebook page, pics of her and her kids in the 'roo walkthrough, and later feeding the giraffes, then the lorikeet aviary, and her mind was absolutely blown by the experience. She's never thought in a hundred years that she would do something like that. For me... it was a Tuesday at work.

Zoos repeat these experiences over and over because a) they work very well, being tried and true, b) they satisfy the vast majority of the public as great experiences. I'm always excited when I get to see something new and different that breaks the mold, but I acknowledge that the mold is there for a reason.
 
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