Changes You Would Make to Your Zoo

Akron Zoo. I won't be including Wild Asia or Pride of Africa given those two areas are less than 5 years old.
Legend of the Wild
  • Remove the seasonal bird exhibit. Move both the Macaw and Trogopan to Garden View Place.
  • Merge the Snow Leopard and Vulture exhibit into one exhibit for the Leopards. Cranes can be moved elsewhere in the zoo.
  • Remove the play area with the hanging bridge/tunnel for a small habitat.
Komodo Kingdom
  • Remove the long defunct touch tank in Curious Creatures.
  • Make the Curious Creatures area into permanent reptile exhibits, making Komodo Kingdom the zoo's offical reptile center. Move the snakes from Legend of the Wild here.
Wild Prairie/Zoo Gardens
  • Make Garden View the boundary for Zoo Gardens. Everything else in the area is enveloped into Wild Asia.
  • Wild Prairie is converted into exhibits for higher elevation Asian animals given its higher in the zoo.
  • Theater is expanded and made into the offical event center (Think similar to Stillwater Place at Cleveland).
Grizzly Ridge
  • Bring in Black Bears and have them rotate with the Grizzlies. Give a bit of variety to the exhibit.
  • Remove the canoe play area. Build a larger play area in the space between the Eagle exhibit and the Grizzlies.
 
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
This plan is being designed around Primate Forest being completed, so The RainForest is excluded

African Savanna
  • Remove the Flamingo exhibit. The Flamingos can move to the Savannah exhibit.
  • Give the Lion Exhibit the same treatment as Bear Hollow. Fill in the moat and add a second yard. Possibly rotate a second Lion pride Ala Akron.
  • Renovate the picnic ground and former Leopard/Red Panda exhibit and former Monkey Island holding into a Cheetah exhibit. Move the Cheetahs down from PC&A
Australian Adventure
  • Reopen the Reinberg Homestead.
  • Yagga Tree is completely renovated. Tree and slide are removed but the bottom floor (caverns)is converted into small reptile exhibits. The animatronic crocodile is removed and that space becomes exhibits.
  • Next to the cavern a new reptile building is added. It's open year round and includes a small eatery.
Primate, Cat, and Aquatics Building
  • Gutted entirely. The exterior walls are all that remain. Outdoor cage exhibits are also demolished.
  • Inside is split into two halves- primates and Aquatics.
  • Aquatics features not only fish but aquatic reptiles, such as Crocodillians and turtles. Highlights include African Penguins and an outdoor Pygmy Hippo exhibit where the Cheetah exhibit used to be.
  • Primates features Lemurs and other small primates in state of the art exhibits. The hillside where the cage exhibits were is redeveloped for outdoor exhibits for lemurs and primates.
  • Tortoises are moved to African Savanna and their exhibit and the playground are used for a new exhibit space.
  • Cafe stays the same, as does the deckwalk up.
Wilderness Trek
  • Seal pool is demolished.
  • The zoo uses the Bear parking lot for expansion. New American Bear exhibits are built, similar to those in Akron's Grizzly Ridge.
  • The Grizzly and American Black Bear exhibits are reworked for Mountain Goats.
  • Forest behind Asian Highlands are reworked for a nature trail, creating a North American loop around the Asian center of the area (Tigers, Bears, Highlands)
 
This is all such dreamy stuff. For the institution where I currently work, we're about 100 acres and $160 million short :) Reality sucks. But I do love my career!
 
Pittsburgh Zoo:


  • Make the Forest Passage an actual central/north Asian area, replacing the Canada Lynx with snow leopards and turning the current Komodo dragon and red panda areas into an exhibit for Takin. Move the red pandas elsewhere along the trail, in a habitat shared with tufted deer. I’m not sure how much room there would be, but I’d also like to add Bactrian Camels and possibly Gaur/Indian rhinos like I did in my speculative plan for Omaha’s Asian Highlands
  • Continue along with the Asian theme, making part of Kid’s Kingdom into a new habitat for Bornean Orangutans, as well as several other southeast Asian animals, such sun bears, komodo dragons, and siamese crocodiles. The exhibits would be visible from an elevated pathway, with aviary-like mesh surrounding them. The majority of the trail would be habitats for tropical birds/primates. Later along in my plan I’d turn Islands into an African forest area, so I figure it might be a good idea to move some Islands animals here.
  • The African Savanna habitats could remain essentially the same, but I’d definitely turn the rather bold Amur Leopard exhibit into one for african painted dogs. I’d like to add more elements of immersion here as well, and make the exhibits more naturalistic (a predator prey display with the lions and hoofstock would be nice). I’d also do something similar to what the more elaborate Pittsburgh masterplan on this site did, and make a “base camp” area with viewing into kopjes with the lions, painted dogs, and cheetahs
  • Connecting the savanna to the forest, I’d make the current gorilla area part of an African Forest exhibit-and with the orangs moved out, it’d open up a lot more room. I’d make the building similar to the Congo Gorilla Forest, providing viewing for other Congo primates indoors. The current islands area would become an African trail, with red river hogs, bongos, Okapi, and Pygmy hippopotamus
  • I’d expand the current polar bear area into the old bear grottos. It’s not too old, but it’s too small and boring for a contemporary polar bear area. In addition, once the current elephant seal dies, I’d replace her current exhibit with one for stellar’s sea lions-a pinniped I’d absolutely love to see become more popular in American collections
  • The PPG Aquarium is phenomenal-but I’d love to see more organized exhibits with better viewing. I’m not sure how I’d change that without a drastic renovation tho
  • I have a few ideas for the rest of the old bear areas and the jungle odyssey-I’m split between a Jacksonville style Amazonian exhibit and an Andean Foothills (an old plan from Omaha) style andean exhibit. I’d definitely add andean bears some of the remaining Bear grottos (with huge renovations) as well as jaguars, pumas, and maned wolves. A few other species could be added, but I’m really not sure at the moment.
  • Kid’s Kingdom is okay as is, but since I’m not a huge fan of children’s zoos, I’d like to add more unique animals in the remaining area. Otters, flamingos, prairie dogs, etc would all be cool
  • Also, the escalator situation-can we please get rid of that? Elevators/stairs would be much better, but tbh, I’m not sure what I’d do
 
Brayden Delashmutt said:
Pittsburgh Zoo:


  • Make the Forest Passage an actual central/north Asian area, replacing the Canada Lynx with snow leopards and turning the current Komodo dragon and red panda areas into an exhibit for Takin. Move the red pandas elsewhere along the trail, in a habitat shared with tufted deer. I’m not sure how much room there would be, but I’d also like to add Bactrian Camels and possibly Gaur/Indian rhinos like I did in my speculative plan for Omaha’s Asian Highlands
  • Continue along with the Asian theme, making part of Kid’s Kingdom into a new habitat for Bornean Orangutans, as well as several other southeast Asian animals, such sun bears, komodo dragons, and siamese crocodiles. The exhibits would be visible from an elevated pathway, with aviary-like mesh surrounding them. The majority of the trail would be habitats for tropical birds/primates. Later along in my plan I’d turn Islands into an African forest area, so I figure it might be a good idea to move some Islands animals here.
  • The African Savanna habitats could remain essentially the same, but I’d definitely turn the rather bold Amur Leopard exhibit into one for african painted dogs. I’d like to add more elements of immersion here as well, and make the exhibits more naturalistic (a predator prey display with the lions and hoofstock would be nice). I’d also do something similar to what the more elaborate Pittsburgh masterplan on this site did, and make a “base camp” area with viewing into kopjes with the lions, painted dogs, and cheetahs
  • Connecting the savanna to the forest, I’d make the current gorilla area part of an African Forest exhibit-and with the orangs moved out, it’d open up a lot more room. I’d make the building similar to the Congo Gorilla Forest, providing viewing for other Congo primates indoors. The current islands area would become an African trail, with red river hogs, bongos, Okapi, and Pygmy hippopotamus
  • I’d expand the current polar bear area into the old bear grottos. It’s not too old, but it’s too small and boring for a contemporary polar bear area. In addition, once the current elephant seal dies, I’d replace her current exhibit with one for stellar’s sea lions-a pinniped I’d absolutely love to see become more popular in American collections
  • The PPG Aquarium is phenomenal-but I’d love to see more organized exhibits with better viewing. I’m not sure how I’d change that without a drastic renovation tho
  • I have a few ideas for the rest of the old bear areas and the jungle odyssey-I’m split between a Jacksonville style Amazonian exhibit and an Andean Foothills (an old plan from Omaha) style andean exhibit. I’d definitely add andean bears some of the remaining Bear grottos (with huge renovations) as well as jaguars, pumas, and maned wolves. A few other species could be added, but I’m really not sure at the moment.
  • Kid’s Kingdom is okay as is, but since I’m not a huge fan of children’s zoos, I’d like to add more unique animals in the remaining area. Otters, flamingos, prairie dogs, etc would all be cool
  • Also, the escalator situation-can we please get rid of that? Elevators/stairs would be much better, but tbh, I’m not sure what I’d do
Click to expand...
A few comments on these ideas (out of curiosity, have you visited Pittsburgh before?)
  • The Canadian lynx exhibit was originally built for snow leopards, and was criticized for being too small and having little natural substrate. I do like the idea of highlighting a small cat species at the start, maybe something like Pallas' cat would be a good alternative as well? Past that the komodo dragon/red panda exhibit isn't enough room for takin even combined, and there's no room for Bactrian camels and especially gaur/Indian rhino.
  • Where in Kids Kingdom would all this go?
  • Yeah, to echo what @Aardwolf mentioned, there was a genuinely tragic incident that happened back when Pittsburgh had African painted dogs.
  • I'd personally love to amalgamate Tropical Forest, Islands and Jungle Odyssey into one zone since they all feature animals from the Tropics irrespective of continent.
    • Tropical Forest needs the most work as far as either giving the roof a powerwash or replacing it entirely and giving the monkeys/lemurs outdoor access. That and changing the viewing areas as the slanted glass panels are a bit awkward to view through.
    • More than anything, all three zones would have a consistent design philosophy as per Jon Coe's original mindset for the Asian Forest and African Savanna zones.
  • The polar bear exhibit and the old bear grottoes are *way* too far from each other to justify that level of expansion - that said, if Pittsburgh does continue with polar bears, there is a plaza and some adjacent pedestrian space that would be good to utilize.
  • The Aquarium's based on different types of ecosystems (A Freshwater Fortune, Colder Climates, The Coral Reef, The Open Ocean, Tropical Freshwater Forest). I do think the Aquarium did hemorrhage a bunch of species, which should either be brought back or replaced with other species never-before displayed at Pittsburgh.
  • An Andean Foothills section in the old Bear Grottoes is a fun idea, I've personally also toyed with a Himalayas section bringing back snow leopards and moving the red pandas over or mountainous species in general. There are four grottoes, which while they may not be suitable for bears anymore, could be suitable for animals like caprids, Hamadryas baboons/geladas, smaller carnivores, etc.
  • They do have otters in Kids Kingdom, alongside beavers, owls, kangaroos/wallabies, etc. Unfortunate they appear to have phased out skunks, I loved seeing them. Since I count the Worlds of Discovery building as part of Kids' Kingdom given its proximity, bats, meerkats, naked mole rats, rattlesnakes and an aquarium for misc. fish/giraffe catfish is a pretty stellar lineup.
  • Pittsburgh's on a hill. A very steep hill. They do have an elevator adjacent to the escalator as well as a separate trail that has to be winding given ADA regulations, but that escalator's the best option they could have gone with.
 
StoppableSan said:
A few comments on these ideas (out of curiosity, have you visited Pittsburgh before?)
Click to expand...

Indeed I have!

StoppableSan said:
  • The Canadian lynx exhibit was originally built for snow leopards, and was criticized for being too small and having little natural substrate. I do like the idea of highlighting a small cat species at the start, maybe something like Pallas' cat would be a good alternative as well? Past that the komodo dragon/red panda exhibit isn't enough room for takin even combined, and there's no room for Bactrian camels and especially gaur/Indian rhino.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd agree. Maybe eurasian lynx too? I do think that wolverines could work, if we're just going for a carnivoran

StoppableSan said:
  • Yeah, to echo what @Aardwolf mentioned, there was a genuinely tragic incident that happened back when Pittsburgh had African painted dogs.
  • I'd personally love to amalgamate Tropical Forest, Islands and Jungle Odyssey into one zone since they all feature animals from the Tropics irrespective of continent.
    • Tropical Forest needs the most work as far as either giving the roof a powerwash or replacing it entirely and giving the monkeys/lemurs outdoor access. That and changing the viewing areas as the slanted glass panels are a bit awkward to view through.
    • More than anything, all three zones would have a consistent design philosophy as per Jon Coe's original mindset for the Asian Forest and African Savanna zones.
Click to expand...
Also, do you think the zoo will ever get painted dogs back? I find their lack of canids disturbing (jk, it's totally understandable if they don't)

StoppableSan said:
  • They do have otters in Kids Kingdom, alongside beavers, owls, kangaroos/wallabies, etc. Unfortunate they appear to have phased out skunks, I loved seeing them. Since I count the Worlds of Discovery building as part of Kids' Kingdom given its proximity, bats, meerkats, naked mole rats, rattlesnakes and an aquarium for misc. fish/giraffe catfish is a pretty stellar lineup.
  • Pittsburgh's on a hill. A very steep hill. They do have an elevator adjacent to the escalator as well as a separate trail that has to be winding given ADA regulations, but that escalator's the best option they could have gone with.
Click to expand...

That's fair. Also, when I attended I actually missed Kids Kingdom because I thought it was just a normal children's zoo, only for me to get to my hotel and realize what I missed out on after looking at zoochat. Thanks for your advice btw, anything else?
 
I’ve already made a separate thread about this, but I figured I’d add my plans for Omaha here as well. Omaha is my home zoo and I hold it in high regard, however there are definitely a few things I’d change.


  • Add Komodo dragons next to the wild kingdom pavillion.
  • Renovate the entrances to the Lied Jungle and Aquarium, and redo the faded murals in the Lied Jungle to fix the broken immersion. I haven’t covered the indoor exhibits in my masterplan thread, so I don’t plan to cover them here (there’s simply too many ideas I have which I haven’t made a formal plan for yet)
  • Use the old cat complex area for an Equatorial African area as planned. Move bongo and okapi here, as well as red river hogs. Add outdoor viewing areas for Hubbard gorilla valley with major modifications to the building itself.
  • Expand the sea lion complex into some of the current pathways, including the current underwater viewing. Add underwater viewing near the training area. This would fix the break in immersion from the sea lions to the gorillas…
  • Redo the African Grasslands pathway to be more naturalistic. Add a better backdrop for the elephants, using rockwork and native plants.
  • Move the cheetahs into a predator prey exhibit next to the Savannah, where the rhinoceros currently are
  • Move the rhinos to the previous cheetah exhibit. Expand the lagoon to resemble the Zambezi River delta, let it flow into the elephant, cheetah, and Savannah exhibits.
  • Add Nile crocodiles next to tusker grill, and hippos in the old pink-backed pelican exhibit.
  • With bongos being moved to Equatorial Africa, move African wild dogs into their current exhibit with major modifications. We have no large canids, so I think wild dogs would be an almost mandatory inclusion if a renovation were to happen. Then add another lion exhibit with viewing into the sable antelope habitat, so the lionesses don’t have to be off display all the time.
  • Significantly shrink glacier bay landing, and use much of said area for polar bears. Make a large, coastal themed exhibit with underwater viewing and multiple vantage points. Having only one bear is criminal.
  • Expand the children’s zoo and add the currently bts african penguins here (as well as North American river otters as previously planned)
  • The Simmons Aviary renovation was a downgrade if anything. Remove the path which obstructs much of the area and add back the thick vegetation and large amounts of avian diversity that once filled the aviary
  • As for the previously planned andean foothills area, I have two plans that could hypothetically work…

  1. Use the now empty okapi exhibit and the surrounding area for the Andean Foothills. Start out with chilean flamingos near the aquarium, and then move maned wolves, giant anteaters, and other cerrado animals into exhibits nearby. Add llamas somewhere near here, alongside a South American restraunt/camp area. Much like the Asian Highlands, gradually increase in elevation, with habitats for jaguars and cougars being next along the trail. Finish off the exhibit with andean bears, leading into a second entrance for the jungle. If possible, add indoor viewing for the jaguars inside of the Lied Jungle
  2. Use the area where glacier bay is now (as well as some unused land) as was once planned. This would make it so that the current huge hill wouldn’t be as much of a struggle to get down, and wouldn’t be a boring wasteland. Start off the exhibits with flamingos, llamas, and a South American restaurant/camp area, then add the maned wolves, anteaters, and pumas/jaguars as planned. Finish it off with a large cloud forest exhibit for andean bears. The path would lead from here to the much smaller glacier bay landing and large polar bear exhibit.

  • As for the Asian Highlands, renovate it to use more East/Central theming with native plant life like bamboo. Rearrange the path to add more viewing areas for the current exhibits as well. The current exhibit is okay, but phase one in particular is rather boring and bland, IMO. Move the red panda exhibit and combine it with the tufted deer exhibit somewhere along the trail. An overhead passage would be nice.
  • Replace the Indian Rhinos with gaur, with heavy modifications to the current exhibit. Move Bactrian Camels into the previous gaur yards, allowing viewing from the train and main pathway. Replace the Sichuan Takin with golden takin, and use natural rockwork as a barrier instead of the boring chain link fence that’s used currently. In addition, use San Diego aviary style fencing for the snow leopards instead of the current mesh fence.
  • Add sun bears where the sloth bears are currently. This is just a far off wish of mine that I don’t think will ever be fullfilled since they’re a phase out, but I’d like to see sun bears return somewhere in the zoo since they were a huge part of my childhood

Long story short, here are my plans for Omaha Zoo. Feel free to critique them here or in the original thread.
 
I know it isn’t talked about very much on here, but Lincoln Children’s Zoo is one of my local zoos, so I figured I’d cover it on here.


  • Move lions into the current tiger exhibit. Turn the surrounding area into a themed African exhibit, and move the anteaters out to make room for the zoo’s growing cheetah population. For such new exhibits, the giraffe and cheetah areas already look outdated and really, really need some renovations as both are unsuited to their inhabitants.
  • The Secret Jungle is a great concept, but wasn’t done properly. While the architecture is great, the spider monkey area looks like a boring prison cell. Use natural substrate and plant life, while bringing in several other species such as sloths, parrots, and the displaced giant anteaters. An exhibit for jaguars would fit here as well, bringing a third big cat into the zoo’s collection.
  • The old entrance/train depot could be used as some sort of indoor exhibit, but honestly I’m not sure what I’d do there. Beyond the old entrance, almost of the exhibits are outdated and trashy, so renovations go without speaking.
  • While the whole tropical area definitely needs renovations (the primate exhibits really need to be redone) I’d move the Sumatran Tigers into the second cheetah exhibit, after combining it with several of the nearby yards to make room. An overhead passage would be awesome.
  • Phase out the dromedary camels, as they really don’t belong in a tropical area. Maybe bring in spectacled bears as a replacement?
  • Add an exhibit for red wolves near where the butterfly gardens are now.
  • Redo the entire interior of the animal kingdom building, as like the rest of the zoo, the exhibits are cramped and tiny. Phase out a major portion of the animals but bring a few more in that are suited to the exhibits
 
My revised fantasy master plan for the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium:

Arctic Encounter
  • Since the zoo plans on moving its parking lot to accommodate new exhibits, I would expand the polar bear habitat into what is currently parking space and add a grassy area, overall making the exhibit more akin to Detroit’s than it currently is.
Africa!
  • Phase out the Bactrian camels and reindeer because they break up a lot of the immersion of the area. Re-combine the enclosure currently housing them with the one holding the true African megafauna. Maybe the zoo could bring wildebeest back while they’re at it, as the savanna doesn’t feel quite the same without them.
Tiger Terrace
  • Aside from Flamingo Key, I would re-brand this part of the zoo to be North American-themed to better compliment the attached Kodiak Ridge.
  • Naturally, this will necessitate moving the tigers. Per the official master plan, a new enclosure will be constructed for them on the other side of the zoo. The existing tiger habitat will be combined with the current cougar enclosure to provide a larger home for the cougar sisters.
  • Re-purpose the dingo habitat to house bobcats or Canada lynx.
  • Give the mara enclosure to prairie dogs.
  • Move snow leopards to the other side of the zoo and build a new habitat for them to compliment the new tiger habitat. Give the current snow leopard enclosures to red pandas and make the necessary modifications.
Tembo Trail
  • The real master plan calls for building new elephant and rhino habitats on the north side of the zoo, on the site of the existing main parking lot. I would stick with this.
  • With the elephants and rhinos moving, I would overhaul the space given to the current elephant complex. I would make it instead a couple of large carnivore yards, giving one to lions and the other to African wild dogs OR spotted hyenas.
  • Assuming the zoo keeps the Indian rhino, I would combine its current habitat with what is now the yak habitat and give it to black rhinoceros.
  • Bring back the spotted-necked otters, they were a much better fit than the NAROs that have replaced them.
Primate Forest
  • As mentioned earlier, I would move the red pandas over from here to the current snow leopard habitat, so as to free up another enclosure for guests to see monkeys or lemurs in. Not sure I would change the actual species roster, although I do think it would be cool if they entertained bringing in a New World monkey species, like common squirrel monkeys or a spider monkey, as the zoo is pretty lacking in them currently.
Kingdom of the Apes
  • Phase out either orangutans or gorillas and stick with one of the species. The existing dayrooms seem way too small so I think some of them should definitely be combined. Expand/combine the outdoor habitats as well — if gorillas are the one to go, this will probably require some heavy modifications to the existing Gorilla Meadow to make it suitable for orangutans.
 
Brayden Delashmutt said:
I’ve already made a separate thread about this, but I figured I’d add my plans for Omaha here as well. Omaha is my home zoo and I hold it in high regard, however there are definitely a few things I’d change.


  • Add Komodo dragons next to the wild kingdom pavillion.
  • Renovate the entrances to the Lied Jungle and Aquarium, and redo the faded murals in the Lied Jungle to fix the broken immersion. I haven’t covered the indoor exhibits in my masterplan thread, so I don’t plan to cover them here (there’s simply too many ideas I have which I haven’t made a formal plan for yet)
  • Use the old cat complex area for an Equatorial African area as planned. Move bongo and okapi here, as well as red river hogs. Add outdoor viewing areas for Hubbard gorilla valley with major modifications to the building itself.
  • Expand the sea lion complex into some of the current pathways, including the current underwater viewing. Add underwater viewing near the training area. This would fix the break in immersion from the sea lions to the gorillas…
  • Redo the African Grasslands pathway to be more naturalistic. Add a better backdrop for the elephants, using rockwork and native plants.
  • Move the cheetahs into a predator prey exhibit next to the Savannah, where the rhinoceros currently are
  • Move the rhinos to the previous cheetah exhibit. Expand the lagoon to resemble the Zambezi River delta, let it flow into the elephant, cheetah, and Savannah exhibits.
  • Add Nile crocodiles next to tusker grill, and hippos in the old pink-backed pelican exhibit.
  • With bongos being moved to Equatorial Africa, move African wild dogs into their current exhibit with major modifications. We have no large canids, so I think wild dogs would be an almost mandatory inclusion if a renovation were to happen. Then add another lion exhibit with viewing into the sable antelope habitat, so the lionesses don’t have to be off display all the time.
  • Significantly shrink glacier bay landing, and use much of said area for polar bears. Make a large, coastal themed exhibit with underwater viewing and multiple vantage points. Having only one bear is criminal.
  • Expand the children’s zoo and add the currently bts african penguins here (as well as North American river otters as previously planned)
  • The Simmons Aviary renovation was a downgrade if anything. Remove the path which obstructs much of the area and add back the thick vegetation and large amounts of avian diversity that once filled the aviary
  • As for the previously planned andean foothills area, I have two plans that could hypothetically work…

  1. Use the now empty okapi exhibit and the surrounding area for the Andean Foothills. Start out with chilean flamingos near the aquarium, and then move maned wolves, giant anteaters, and other cerrado animals into exhibits nearby. Add llamas somewhere near here, alongside a South American restraunt/camp area. Much like the Asian Highlands, gradually increase in elevation, with habitats for jaguars and cougars being next along the trail. Finish off the exhibit with andean bears, leading into a second entrance for the jungle. If possible, add indoor viewing for the jaguars inside of the Lied Jungle
  2. Use the area where glacier bay is now (as well as some unused land) as was once planned. This would make it so that the current huge hill wouldn’t be as much of a struggle to get down, and wouldn’t be a boring wasteland. Start off the exhibits with flamingos, llamas, and a South American restaurant/camp area, then add the maned wolves, anteaters, and pumas/jaguars as planned. Finish it off with a large cloud forest exhibit for andean bears. The path would lead from here to the much smaller glacier bay landing and large polar bear exhibit.

  • As for the Asian Highlands, renovate it to use more East/Central theming with native plant life like bamboo. Rearrange the path to add more viewing areas for the current exhibits as well. The current exhibit is okay, but phase one in particular is rather boring and bland, IMO. Move the red panda exhibit and combine it with the tufted deer exhibit somewhere along the trail. An overhead passage would be nice.
  • Replace the Indian Rhinos with gaur, with heavy modifications to the current exhibit. Move Bactrian Camels into the previous gaur yards, allowing viewing from the train and main pathway. Replace the Sichuan Takin with golden takin, and use natural rockwork as a barrier instead of the boring chain link fence that’s used currently. In addition, use San Diego aviary style fencing for the snow leopards instead of the current mesh fence.
  • Add sun bears where the sloth bears are currently. This is just a far off wish of mine that I don’t think will ever be fullfilled since they’re a phase out, but I’d like to see sun bears return somewhere in the zoo since they were a huge part of my childhood

Long story short, here are my plans for Omaha Zoo. Feel free to critique them here or in the original thread.
Click to expand...

I’d also like to include that the overall backbone of the zoo would be much better if it was split into separate trails for different exhibits instead of the grueling walk that we have now
 
GraysonDP said:
Saint Louis
David’s deer and giant pandas.

5. Add Masai Mara exhibit with giraffes, zebras, lions, meerkats and antelope in state-of-the-art habitats.

6. Add jaguars, otters, swamp monkeys, crocodiles and tapirs to River’s Edge.

7. Open Wolf Woods.

8. Add new flamingo exhibit.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what parts of Saint Louis Zoo can be built on? Are any of the old grottoes left over?
 
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