Wishes for Indonesian zoos & aquariums (Fantasy)

[Caribbean Flamingo]

Speaking of TSI Bogor, here are my wishlists for TSI Bogor:

• Add thamin, brazilian tapir, and bornean bearded pig to the safari journey.
• Re-introduce roan antelopes to the safari journey.
• Replace sunda porcupines with malayan porcupines in the porcupine exhibit in safari journey.
• Phased out the white lions/striped hyena from their exhibit in baby zoo and move them to the safari journey. An aardvark will occupy it's exhibit.
• Demolish the smooth-coated otter exhibit in baby zoo and build a false gharial exhibit just like the indian gharial exhibit at night safari singapore. Painted terrapins and chinese softshell turtles will also occupy the exhibit.
• Move the sunda pangolin from the primate center to the nocturnal tunnel.
• Add channel billed toucans and mindanao bleeding-hearts to the aviary.
• Move the black-and-white lemur from the australian outback to the orangutan exhibit in baby zoo and black swans will swim in the moat.
• Phased out the dolphins from TSI Bogor and refurbished it's exhibit on the parking C zone into an aligator gar exhibit.
• Phased-out the asian-small clawed otters from it's exhibit in baby zoo and weber's sailfin lizards will occupy it's exhibit.
• Revamp the fishes at the aquarium in the reptile & nocturnal tunnel.
• Add an aquarium which houses chinese softshell turtle across the elevator area on the 1st floor at the panda palace.
• Revamp the macaque exhibit in the baby zoo into a glassed exhibit housing sunda slow loris and red giant flying squirrel.

 

[Fargusno]

My wishes for LPZ, Bazoga and Paris van Java based on my August visit:

Lembang Park & Zoo:

• Turn the first saltwater crocodile exhibit into an exhibit for Siamese crocodile or Chinese alligator.
  
• Turn the former Gading exhibit into an exhibit for dwarf caiman.
  
• Turn the last saltwater crocodile exhibit near Taman Reptil's exit (the one with the underwater view) into an exhibit for false gharials with the water on the exhibit's pool refilled and replenished.
• Phase out the albino pacus in the megatank and introduce new fishes such as goliath tigerfish, silver arowana, barramundi and perruno catfish.
• Phase out the "king red arowana" and use its exhibit for piranhas.
• Replace the red-eared sliders in the anaconda tank with Podocnemis unifilis.
• Phase out the leopard geckos and replace them with Madagascan day geckos.
• Replace the pied ball python with a normal one.
• Phase out the ivory reticulated python and replace it with a California kingsnake.
  
• Phase out the red-eared slider turtles and replace them with black marsh turtles and red-bellied sideneck turtles.
  
• Phase out the albino common snapping turtle and use it as the turtle exhibit's expansion area.
  
• Find mates for the sun bear, orangutan and smooth-coated otter.
• Phase out the white peacock in the former golden cat exhibit and replace it with great argus or golden pheasant.
  
• Move the zoo's surplus pelicans to the new Kampung Bebek exhibit (the open top waterfowl exhibit with pelicans and swans) and add Canadian goose there.
• Use the former pelican exhibit for the zoo's Japanese cranes and white-naped cranes. They will be moved from Kampung Satwa.
• Move both caracals to its main exhibit and use its adjacent small exhibit for fennec foxes.
• Phase out all of the glofish from the Lisung Gunung aquarium.
• Phase out every farm animals from Kampung Satwa except for the Watusis. Replace the Merino sheeps with sitatungas, the donkeys with barbary sheeps and the turkeys with helmeted guineafowls. The axis deers could be phased out too.
  
• Phase out the Bengal tigers (including the white and tabby tigers) and replace them all with Siberian tigers.
• Turn the former Siberian tiger exhibit into an exhibit for gray wolves or timber wolves.

Bandung Zoo:

• Use the old herpertarium for foreign reptiles and the new one for native reptiles, The central crocodile exhibit could be refurbished to house caimans.
• Fill the adjacent empty exhibit near the ostrich exhibit with sitatungas.
• Move the pignose turtle to the alligator gar tank. Its former exhibit will house red-belly sideneck turtles.
• Fill the alligator gar tank's water up and stock it with compatible ancient fishes such as silver arowanas and bichirs.
• Turn the lone binturong exhibit near the animal show stage into an exhibit for the leopard cats.
• Refurbish the old-looking exhibits and clean them up.

Paris van Java:

• Move the mall's lone palm civet to the empty squirrel exhibit and get a mate for it. Or restock them with squirrels again like it was during pre-COVID.

Other wishes for Bandung:

• Build a mini zoo/LPZ lite at Kiara Artha Park, in the former site of Papa Dino Bandung since they closed down recently due to unknown reasons.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

Kampung Papua in Taman Safari Bogor is in my opinion one of the park's least popular exhibit, but to me its a interesting concept and have a lot of potential. An specific geography-based theme exhibit is my favorite, especially involving islands like Papua as seen in Cisarua. I wish we can see Kampung Papua as an proper Papua-based exhibit, as currently it seems like the Papua-theming of the exhibit revolved around the southern cassowary, several wallabies, and occasionaly grizzled tree-kangaroo more, with other exhibits housing several species that could've been housed in other exhibits, like the non-Papuan alligator snapping tortoise.

Here is my version of Kampung Papua:

• The current exhibit for a pair of southern cassowary is decent and also somewhat the main exhibit of Kampung Papua. It was formerly a Komodo dragon exhibit before the Komodo Dragon Island was built in early 2010's, making it a bit unfitting for the cassowaries in regard to decoration and foliage (For some reason barely unchanged from when the dragons were still in this exhibit). Though I can see the cassowary stay with revamping the exhibit to be more fitting, I do wish to see something else in this rather nice exhibit. Though honestly a very wishful thinking, I can see this exhibit housing several New Guinea singing dogs, of course with safety measures to prevent people and things from falling over to the exhibit (Like the wires around the fences in the white tiger exhibit in Cisarua's Baby Zoo). This dogs are present in several US zoos that if Cisarua interested in might be able to work with, as opposed with trying to sourcing them locally (Which may involve shady business).
• The two aviaries do houses Papuan birds (Blyth's hornbill and palm cockatoo) and black-backed swamphen, but I feel like adding birds-of-paradise would be more fitting and would make Kampung Papua even stands out, being regarded as one of the natural icons of Papua. Cisarua already held three species; lesser (Minor and finschi), red, and twelve-wired bird-of-paradise. I feel like the aviaries should hold the twelve-wired bird-of-paradise and the finschi lesser bird-of-paradise in the aviaries. Adding other passerines or pigeons could be risky, species like the masked lapwing and pied stilt might work as they dwell in the bottom of the aviaries, reducing risk of agression by the birds-of-paradise and to make the aviaries more attractive.
• The large pond in Kampung Papua held several non-Papuan species like the black swan, Amboina box turtle, and the hidden Alligator snapping turtle. Previously, this exhibit held several young saltwater crocodiles, which does present in the island of Papua. But, since there are already six salties exhibit in Cisarua (All four exhibits in "Crocodile Park" held salties of various sizes), the New Guinea crocodile would be even more fitting for Kampung Papua. With younger crocodiles, it would be possible to add several Papuan turtles and fishes. Cisarua already held pig-nosed turtle, elseya branderhorsti (Transferred from Royal Safari Garden resort), and elseya novaeguinae, either of the elseyas and the pig-nosed turtle could be displayed here along with a group of red-bellied short-necked turtle and a pair of northern snake-necked turtle (Transferred from Jakarta Aquarium). More water could be filled to make a underwater view section in the already present underground section of Kampung Papua, where it would be possible to see the pig-nosed turtle and various species of rainbowfishes more clearly.
• The main macropod exhibit is often very empty, with only several agile wallabies and occasionaly dusky pademelon and grizzled tree-kangaroo. I'll like to see this exhibit to house a large mix of macropod, each species in a small group, which include all three said macropods and a couple of white-striped dorcopsis from the other exhibit in the mix.
• The two nocturnal exhibits is one of the interesting part of Kampung Papua, currently housing a mix exhibit with sugar glider and four-toed hedgehog as well as one housing Javan mongoose. In my pitch, the sugar glider obviously would stay with the hedgehogs being replaced by an Irian Jaya blue-tongued skink from the Reptile Tunnel. The mongoose exhibit will see an common spotted cuscus returning to this exhibit (As previously does prior to 2019). If possible, I do wish to see some of the Raffray's bandicoot being transferred from Prigen for display in Cisarua. Maybe one or two could be housed together with the cuscus, as the exhibit is actually quite big and the cuscus hopefully prefer staying above to minimized interaction with the bandicoots.
• Aside from a glassed below view for the pond and several exhibits, the undergound area of Kampung Papua only have several stuffed wallabies and birds-of-paradise. To make it more interesting, I consider adding multiple terrariums similar to the indoor wombat cave in Prigen. There will be five planted terrarium ranging from small to large. Two small terrariums houses red-eyed crocodile skink and emerald tree skink, the third medium-sized terrarium houses green tree python, two larger terrarium houses an Darwin carpet python and a pair of blue tree monitor.
• The last exhibit is a quite large, unsigned exhibit that houses several dorcopsis. I assume this is a temporary holding cage, but the dorcopsis has been there for a long time. As the dorcopsis is moved to the main macropod exhibit, this exhibit will be where the cassowaries housed in, as this exhibit do actually houses the southern cassowaries when the Komodo dragons were still in their future exhibit and since I feel like cassowaries is kind of a must in Papua-based exhibit (Being as popular as the birds-of-paradise in being the icon of the island). Though, I see the northern cassowary to be more fitting as they're exclusively from that island (Unlike the southern species that can be found in the Mollucas and northern Australia).

These are my wish for Kampung Papua in the future, despite being flawed, its still one of my favorite exhibits in Taman Safari Bogor. I'll try writing my wishes and ideas for other least popular exhibits (The Asian forest tortoise exhibit and the meerkat-mandrill-proboscis monkey-Japanese macaque complex are in my mind) in the next few days.

For the indoor wombat cave area, it would be better to use Australian endemic animals such as olive python (Liasis olivaceus), woma python (Aspidites ramsayi), shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa), Argus monitor (Varanus panoptes), and frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Incidentally, some of these animals have been kept by hobbyists in Indonesia, so, naturally, they should be bred in Taman Safari.

 

[Fargusno]

Kampung Papua in Taman Safari Bogor is in my opinion one of the park's least popular exhibit, but to me its a interesting concept and have a lot of potential. An specific geography-based theme exhibit is my favorite, especially involving islands like Papua as seen in Cisarua. I wish we can see Kampung Papua as an proper Papua-based exhibit, as currently it seems like the Papua-theming of the exhibit revolved around the southern cassowary, several wallabies, and occasionaly grizzled tree-kangaroo more, with other exhibits housing several species that could've been housed in other exhibits, like the non-Papuan alligator snapping tortoise.

Here is my version of Kampung Papua:

• The current exhibit for a pair of southern cassowary is decent and also somewhat the main exhibit of Kampung Papua. It was formerly a Komodo dragon exhibit before the Komodo Dragon Island was built in early 2010's, making it a bit unfitting for the cassowaries in regard to decoration and foliage (For some reason barely unchanged from when the dragons were still in this exhibit). Though I can see the cassowary stay with revamping the exhibit to be more fitting, I do wish to see something else in this rather nice exhibit. Though honestly a very wishful thinking, I can see this exhibit housing several New Guinea singing dogs, of course with safety measures to prevent people and things from falling over to the exhibit (Like the wires around the fences in the white tiger exhibit in Cisarua's Baby Zoo). This dogs are present in several US zoos that if Cisarua interested in might be able to work with, as opposed with trying to sourcing them locally (Which may involve shady business).
• The two aviaries do houses Papuan birds (Blyth's hornbill and palm cockatoo) and black-backed swamphen, but I feel like adding birds-of-paradise would be more fitting and would make Kampung Papua even stands out, being regarded as one of the natural icons of Papua. Cisarua already held three species; lesser (Minor and finschi), red, and twelve-wired bird-of-paradise. I feel like the aviaries should hold the twelve-wired bird-of-paradise and the finschi lesser bird-of-paradise in the aviaries. Adding other passerines or pigeons could be risky, species like the masked lapwing and pied stilt might work as they dwell in the bottom of the aviaries, reducing risk of agression by the birds-of-paradise and to make the aviaries more attractive.
• The large pond in Kampung Papua held several non-Papuan species like the black swan, Amboina box turtle, and the hidden Alligator snapping turtle. Previously, this exhibit held several young saltwater crocodiles, which does present in the island of Papua. But, since there are already six salties exhibit in Cisarua (All four exhibits in "Crocodile Park" held salties of various sizes), the New Guinea crocodile would be even more fitting for Kampung Papua. With younger crocodiles, it would be possible to add several Papuan turtles and fishes. Cisarua already held pig-nosed turtle, elseya branderhorsti (Transferred from Royal Safari Garden resort), and elseya novaeguinae, either of the elseyas and the pig-nosed turtle could be displayed here along with a group of red-bellied short-necked turtle and a pair of northern snake-necked turtle (Transferred from Jakarta Aquarium). More water could be filled to make a underwater view section in the already present underground section of Kampung Papua, where it would be possible to see the pig-nosed turtle and various species of rainbowfishes more clearly.
• The main macropod exhibit is often very empty, with only several agile wallabies and occasionaly dusky pademelon and grizzled tree-kangaroo. I'll like to see this exhibit to house a large mix of macropod, each species in a small group, which include all three said macropods and a couple of white-striped dorcopsis from the other exhibit in the mix.
• The two nocturnal exhibits is one of the interesting part of Kampung Papua, currently housing a mix exhibit with sugar glider and four-toed hedgehog as well as one housing Javan mongoose. In my pitch, the sugar glider obviously would stay with the hedgehogs being replaced by an Irian Jaya blue-tongued skink from the Reptile Tunnel. The mongoose exhibit will see an common spotted cuscus returning to this exhibit (As previously does prior to 2019). If possible, I do wish to see some of the Raffray's bandicoot being transferred from Prigen for display in Cisarua. Maybe one or two could be housed together with the cuscus, as the exhibit is actually quite big and the cuscus hopefully prefer staying above to minimized interaction with the bandicoots.
• Aside from a glassed below view for the pond and several exhibits, the undergound area of Kampung Papua only have several stuffed wallabies and birds-of-paradise. To make it more interesting, I consider adding multiple terrariums similar to the indoor wombat cave in Prigen. There will be five planted terrarium ranging from small to large. Two small terrariums houses red-eyed crocodile skink and emerald tree skink, the third medium-sized terrarium houses green tree python, two larger terrarium houses an Darwin carpet python and a pair of blue tree monitor.
• The last exhibit is a quite large, unsigned exhibit that houses several dorcopsis. I assume this is a temporary holding cage, but the dorcopsis has been there for a long time. As the dorcopsis is moved to the main macropod exhibit, this exhibit will be where the cassowaries housed in, as this exhibit do actually houses the southern cassowaries when the Komodo dragons were still in their future exhibit and since I feel like cassowaries is kind of a must in Papua-based exhibit (Being as popular as the birds-of-paradise in being the icon of the island). Though, I see the northern cassowary to be more fitting as they're exclusively from that island (Unlike the southern species that can be found in the Mollucas and northern Australia).

These are my wish for Kampung Papua in the future, despite being flawed, its still one of my favorite exhibits in Taman Safari Bogor. I'll try writing my wishes and ideas for other least popular exhibits (The Asian forest tortoise exhibit and the meerkat-mandrill-proboscis monkey-Japanese macaque complex are in my mind) in the next few days.

Mind if I continue with my suggestions for TSI Cisarua Baby Zoo
Based on my last visit to TSI back in 2018 and new infos from Instagram:

Aviary:

• Reintroduce the mousedeers and turtles into the exhibit, preferably a mix of Amboina box turtles, black marsh turtles and red-bellied sideneck turtles. Some African birds like turacos, blue rollers and red-billed hornbills (a.k.a Zazu in Lion King) would be nice additions.

Pygmy hippo exhibit:

• Convert it into an exhibit for capybaras with underwater viewing. As much as it's popular as of recent times, capybaras really love to swim and the lack of deeper water areas in many capybara exhibits in Indonesian zoos including LPZ is kinda concerning.

Bengal tiger exhibit:

• It's kinda hard to decide on this one, probably convert it to an exhibit for sloth bears or just leave it as is, but replace the white tigers with normal bengal tigers. It's gonna be a hassle to replace the Taj Mahal miniature with probably a Russian palace miniature for Siberian tigers.

Mini aviaries:

• Leave them as is with bali mynas in it.

Macaque exhibit:

• As Caribbean Flamingo said, the exhibit can be used to house sunda slow loris and red giant flying squirrel. The macaques can be moved to the primate area.

Orangutan exhibit:

• Leave it as is

Baby orangutan mini exhibit:

• Turn it into an exhibit for small mammals, hoping for ferrets or fennec foxes.

Smooth-coated and binturong mixed exhibit:

• Leave it as is

Waterfowl (cormorant, egret and heron) mixed exhibit:

• Leave it as is

Sunda leopard cat exhibit:

• Refurbish it and give it some proper foliage

Asian small-clawed otter exhibit:

• Phase out the otters here and replace them with coypus/nutrias.

Striped hyena exhibit:

• Keep the hyenas here, don't replace them with white lions again. Or, phase out the hyenas (move them to the Safari Journey) and replace them with fossas (see below why).

Kangaroo and lemur exhibit:

• It's time for TSI Cisarua to send the kangaroos to Prigen and ditch the Australian theming in favor of a Madagascan theme with the resident ring-tailed and black-and-white lemurs as its main star. Other lemur species such as common brown lemur and red collared lemur may be added too. The small aviary that once held the kookaburras can house greater vasa parrots. Their predator, the fossas will be exhibited in the former striped hyena/white lion exhibit.

Big cat exhibit:

• Leave it as is

Photo booth exhibits:

• Demolish it and replace it with a "keeper's talk" area where visitors can learn more and get up close and personal with certain animals depending on availability and day.

Dinosaur train ride:

• Get rid of the old-as-heck statues and replace them with animatronics. I want to see a Spinosaurus animatronic added in to the ride. The mammoth and caveman diorama can be replaced with the Spinosaurus. Also get rid of the "flamethrowers" that spew flame on certain points of the ride, which may pose a hazard to children and other visitors. It's pretty outdated. The outdated/wonky-looking fossils on the outer part of the ride can be replaced by warning signs to add more suspense to the ride.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

My wishes for Surabaya Zoo:

• The viewing tower area which is a path to see the barbary sheep should be made into a diorama area (the dioramas from Nocturama were moved here) on the 2nd and 3rd floors. And it would be better if this 5-story tower had an elevator built to ensure the safety of visitors and so that visitors do not have to bother climbing stairs.
  
• It would be better if the two green sea turtle enclosures in the reptile area were replaced with alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) and pig-nosed turtles (Carettochelys insculpta). Because it is unethical that the green sea turtle enclosure does not have an underwater viewing area. And because the estuarine crocodiles and false crocodiles are already outside the reptile area, several estuarine crocodiles and false gharial enclosures in the reptile area have been replaced with enclosures for Aldabra tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata).
  
• There is an abandoned 3-story aviary near the barbary sheep enclosure that should be demolished and rebuilt as the Surabaya Zoo Oceanarium. Later all the marine animals from the zoo's aquarium will be moved here like blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus), live sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates), longnose surgeonfish (Naso brevirostris), mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus), zebra moray (Gymnomuraena zebra), sailfin tang (Zebrasoma velifer), ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris), regal tang (Paracanthurus hepatus), red lionfish (Pterois volitans), emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator), etc. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) which was previously in the reptile area, will be moved to this oceanarium and a breeding area will be created like the Bali starling. Maybe some new species could be added to enrich the oceanarium as the only marine aquarium in Surabaya such as the common seahorse (Hippocampus kuda), long-spine porcupinefish (Diodon holocanthus), spotted garden eel (Heteroconger hassi), peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus), moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), golden cuttlefish (Sepia esculenta), bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana), big blue octopus (Octopus cyanea), and bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma).
  
• So the aquarium near the reptile area is enough as a freshwater aquarium only. Later new collections will be added such as red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri), tiger datnoid (Datnioides microlepis), avocado puffer (Auriglobus modestus), Papuan freshwater sole (Brachirus selheimi), harlequin lancer catfish (Bagroides melapterus), Boeseman's rainbowfish (Melanotaenia boesemani), thunderbolt crayfish (Cherax pulcher), vampire crab (Geosesarma dennerle), Xingu River ray (Potamotrygon leopoldi), samurai gourami (Sphaerichthys vaillanti), freshwater moray (Gymnothorax polyuranodon), and goonch catfish (Bagarius yarrelli). Incidentally, these animals are already widely kept by hobbyists in Indonesia.
  
• Continuing with the first point where the diorama was moved to the viewing tower, Nocturama purely contains nocturnal animals and there are additional collections such as Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus), Spectral tarsier (Tarsius tarsier), Senegal bushbaby (Galago senegalensis), small-toothed palm civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata), large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), ferret (Mustela furo), Prevost's squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii), and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). The albino python cage should be exchanged with a raccoon (Procyon lotor), and a binturong should be exchanged with a fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) because there are already many binturong enclosures at Surabaya Zoo.
  
• Because there are too many sun bear cages, the indoor sun bear cages will be replaced with several types of animals such as serval (Leptailurus serval), caracal (Caracal caracal), Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), Sumatran dhole (Cuon alpinus sumatrensis), and fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).

 

[Jonathan Harry]

And now, my suggestion for the Crocodile Park:

• Turn it into an exhibit for five different species of crocodiles that represents four different continents: Asia (False Gharial), Oceania (Saltwater Crocodile), Africa (Dwarf Crocodile), South America (Spectacled Caiman) and North America (American Alligator).
• As for Chinese Alligator, it might be better for the Panda Palace as it came from China.
• The rest of the Salties may be phased out and kept off-display.

I remember Taman Safari Bogor used to have a snow leopard collection. Would it be better if the camel ride at Istana Panda was replaced with a snow leopard enclosure?

 

[Fargusno]

I remember Taman Safari Bogor used to have a snow leopard collection. Would it be better if the camel ride at Istana Panda was replaced with a snow leopard enclosure?

Hmm... I'd preferably change the camel ride to an exhibit for a Mongolian fauna. Przewalski's horse, if could.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

For the indoor wombat cave area, it would be better to use Australian endemic animals such as olive python (Liasis olivaceus), woma python (Aspidites ramsayi), shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa), Argus monitor (Varanus panoptes), and frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Incidentally, some of these animals have been kept by hobbyists in Indonesia, so, naturally, they should be bred in Taman Safari.

It's implied in a recent post of Taman Safari Bogor that they have an shingleback. If that's true, acquiring these should be easy for them maybe minus the woma python which aren't very common in the trade here.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

I remember Taman Safari Bogor used to have a snow leopard collection. Would it be better if the camel ride at Istana Panda was replaced with a snow leopard enclosure?

Like @Fargusno mentions, it would better to house ungulates here instead. Like the Bactrian camel for example, but a group of onager or the Przewalski's horse might work if they're able to acquire them.

Since the giant pandas wouldn't be in Cisarua forever, if they didn't plan to extend the contract for the pandas to stay, animals like the Siberian tiger or the snow leopard, like you said, would be a fine replacement, but I lean towards the latter.

 

[Fargusno]

Like @Fargusno mentions, it would better to house ungulates here instead. Like the Bactrian camel for example, but a group of onager or the Przewalski's horse might work if they're able to acquire them.

Since the giant pandas wouldn't be in Cisarua forever, if they didn't plan to extend the contract for the pandas to stay, animals like the Siberian tiger or the snow leopard, like you said, would be a fine replacement, but I lean towards the latter.

All I knew that Surabaya Zoo once acquired kulans in the past, but yeah couldn't find any proof of Ragunan once having Przewalski's horses

I think snow leopards would be better as the pandas' replacement once they return back to China, but IDK if there will be policy changes as pandas are no longer endangered there (they got downgraded to Vulnerable as of recent times).

 

[Fargusno]

Like @Fargusno mentions, it would better to house ungulates here instead. Like the Bactrian camel for example, but a group of onager or the Przewalski's horse might work if they're able to acquire them.

Since the giant pandas wouldn't be in Cisarua forever, if they didn't plan to extend the contract for the pandas to stay, animals like the Siberian tiger or the snow leopard, like you said, would be a fine replacement, but I lean towards the latter.

Siberian tigers would make better replacements for the white bengal tigers in the Baby Zoo or in the Safari Journey, maybe the latter since they're pretty big. Sloth bears or Sri Lankan leopards can occupy the former bengal tiger exhibit instead.

 

[Mossman Joe]

It's implied in a recent post of Taman Safari Bogor that they have an shingleback. If that's true, acquiring these should be easy for them maybe minus the woma python which aren't very common in the trade here.

Given it's not an uncommon species in the Western pet trade, it's not unreasonable to eventually find a supplier for Womas or Black-headed Pythons if there isn't already one. Plus, having an animal that's quite rare in the market is a big plus for zoos.

For the indoor wombat cave area, it would be better to use Australian endemic animals such as olive python (Liasis olivaceus), woma python (Aspidites ramsayi), shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa), Argus monitor (Varanus panoptes), and frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Incidentally, some of these animals have been kept by hobbyists in Indonesia, so, naturally, they should be bred in Taman Safari.

Come to think of it, Ackie Monitors (Varanus acanthurus) and Three-lined Knobtailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis) are apparently already scarcely available in Indonesia, these could be better candidates seeing that the wombat cave has limited space for large vivariums.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

All I knew that Surabaya Zoo once acquired kulans in the past, but yeah couldn't find any proof of Ragunan once having Przewalski's horses

I think snow leopards would be better as the pandas' replacement once they return back to China, but IDK if there will be policy changes as pandas are no longer endangered there (they got downgraded to Vulnerable as of recent times).

Incidentally, I have a book called Ragunan Zoo published by PT. Dai Nippon Printing Indonesia in 1993. In this book, it is never recorded that Ragunan Zoo ever had a Przewalski's horse, instead, they once had animals like white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas), ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), Sumatran serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), and bonobo (Pan paniscus). Indeed, some of these species were moved to Taman Safari Bogor, perhaps because the temperature was more suitable.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

My wishes for Gembira Loka Zoo (Yogyakarta):

• The arboretum area because it only functions as a city forest but is not well organized, then it is better to add some animal enclosures/zones later. And for access to the path use a tram/cable car because the descent is steep, and the same thing is also applied in the Goa Sarpa area where there are many stairs and it is troublesome for visitors.
  
• Previously, Gembira Loka Zoo had an Africa Zone project that was supposed to be completed in 2024 but was canceled due to COVID-19. It can be realized in the arboretum area and later this Africa Zone will have a mixed-species enclosure area containing reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), plains zebra (Equus quagga), ostrich (Struthio camelus), and Ankole-Watusi (Bos taurus indicus). Nearby is a small enclosure for serval (Leptailurus serval), caracal (Caracal caracal), and banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). So instead, the early watusi and ostrich enclosures will be replaced with banteng (Bos javanicus) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak). The serval enclosure at Scratch Zone will be replaced with a Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi).
  
• There will be Amphibia, a terrarium specifically for amphibians in the arboretum area. So all amphibians that were originally from Reptiles & Amphibians Park will be moved here like the Pacman frog (Ceratophrys cranwelli), green tree frog (Ranoidea caerulea), Javan tree frog (Rhacophorus margaritifer), false toad (Pseudobufo subasper), Borneo eared frog (Polypedates otilophus), African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus), axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), and greater siren (Siren lacertina). Later there will be additional new collections from Suraloka Zoo (Kaliurang) and some that used to be part of the GLZ collection such as blue poison arrow frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus"), Budgett's frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis), Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl), tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), northern crested newt (Triturus cristatus), and Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus). Amphibians are given their own zone and separated from the reptile zone because there is a special breeding place for Chinese giant salamanders.
  
• Because all amphibians were moved to Amphibia, the former amphibian enclosures will be filled with reptiles that were once part of the GLZ collection, such as panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis), Jackson's chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii), Fischer's chameleon (Kinyongia fischeri), veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus), and four-horned chameleon (Trioceros quadricornis). Some small hobby reptiles can also be collected such as ornate mastigure (Uromastyx ornata), emerald tree skink (Lamprolepis smaragdina), gargoyle gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus), and crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus).
  
• For aquariums near the Sumatran elephant enclosure, it would be better to add a tank in the middle of the aquarium and contain freshwater rays endemic to Indonesia such as white-edge freshwater whipray (Fluvitrygon signifer) and marbled whipray (Fluvitrygon oxyrhynchus). The central area of the aquarium is deliberately filled with a special tank for breeding these two species of rays.
  
• In the arboretum area, a Western Zone will be created which contains animals from the European and American continents, such as raccoon (Procyon lotor), bobcat (Lynx rufus), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), Carolina duck (Aix sponsa), and North American beaver (Castor canadensis) which previously existed in GLZ before 2012. Indeed, these animals are also at Suraloka Zoo.
  
• The hippo cave near the bird show should be demolished and rebuilt as Nocturama containing animals such as a large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), Malayan civet (Viverra tangalunga), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), and masked palm civet (Paguma larvata).
  
• Because the estuarine crocodile and false gharial enclosure are outside the reptile area, it is best to replace the estuarine crocodile and false gharial enclosures with Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) breeding enclosure, because coincidentally there used to be a Komodo dragon in GLZ.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

In this book, it is never recorded that Ragunan Zoo ever had a Przewalski's horse

The CITES database noted that Przewalski's horses arrived in Indonesia in 1997, four years after the publishing of that book. Though its still not confirmed if Ragunan ever had this wild horse species in their collection.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

@Jonathan Harry Gembira Loka, from my experience, is a rather small zoo, especially with the massive artificial lake in the middle that cut off a lot of space. I noted some spaces, especially around the petting zoo, that are rather empty as well as the museum that I believe aren't open anymore. These spaces might be able to hold some exhibits.

Previously, Gembira Loka Zoo had an Africa Zone project that was supposed to be completed in 2024 but was canceled due to COVID-19. It can be realized in the arboretum area and later this Africa Zone will have a mixed-species enclosure area containing reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), plains zebra (Equus quagga), ostrich (Struthio camelus), and Ankole-Watusi (Bos taurus indicus). Nearby is a small enclosure for serval (Leptailurus serval), caracal (Caracal caracal), and banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). So instead, the early watusi and ostrich enclosures will be replaced with banteng (Bos javanicus) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak). The serval enclosure at Scratch Zone will be replaced with a Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi).

Can you tell me more about this previous plan of a Africa Zone in GLZ? Wish it can be continued soon.

Maybe the meerkats can be moved here too? The ostrich occupy two exhibits in the old complex, so I can see the other one housing chital as well that are currently kept off-display. Realisticly, if they acquire the banteng, they would took over two exhibits like the Ankole-Watusi and nilgai (One for the adult male and the other for s group of females).

In the arboretum area, a Western Zone will be created which contains animals from the European and American continents, such as raccoon (Procyon lotor), bobcat (Lynx rufus), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), Carolina duck (Aix sponsa), and North American beaver (Castor canadensis) which previously existed in GLZ before 2012. Indeed, these animals are also at Suraloka Zoo.

Can you tell me more about this zone that existed prior to 2012? The collection, zone name, location within the zoo, and all?

The hippo cave near the bird show should be demolished and rebuilt as Nocturama containing animals such as a large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), Malayan civet (Viverra tangalunga), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), and masked palm civet (Paguma larvata).

I'm aware that this specific cave aren't particularly big. I wish they do the same as did Surabaya Zoo which incorporated a museum and a nocturnal house. The Asian palm civet and Malayan civet from the Primate Zone, which are honestly out-of-place, can be moved here. The Javan slow loris that are also kept off-display should be displayed here, along with the Javan mongoose that is only displayed for the mammal presentation.

Aside from the flying fox and masked palm civet, I hope they re-acquire the common spotted cuscus, small Indian civet, and red giant flying squirrel that were used to be displayed in the zoo to this hypothetical Nocturnal House.

Meanwhile, I can also see the small complex with the old aviaries and the albino porcupine exhibit to be the site for the nocturnal house instead.

Because the estuarine crocodile and false gharial enclosure are outside the reptile area, it is best to replace the estuarine crocodile and false gharial enclosures with Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) breeding enclosure, because coincidentally there used to be a Komodo dragon in GLZ.

The current crocodile complex near the aquarium are, in my opinion, good as its own complex. So, I found no reason to demolish them. Instead, there's also another exhibits for these two crocodiles within the Reptile Park, which aren't that special compared to the new crocodile complex. So, combining these two exhibits, plus the Asian forest tortoise's in between them, should be a decent exhibit for a pair of Komodo dragons.

Though, in my opinion, I much prefer re-acquiring the Komodo dragons into their original exhibit, which as of now houses a large group of Malaysian giant turtle. The exhibit were partially dried in my two previous visits so it could be mean something (?)

The turtles can instead be moved to one of the crocodile exhibits in the Reptile Zone.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

@Jonathan Harry Gembira Loka, from my experience, is a rather small zoo, especially with the massive artificial lake in the middle that cut off a lot of space. I noted some spaces, especially around the petting zoo, that are rather empty as well as the museum that I believe aren't open anymore. These spaces might be able to hold some exhibits.


Can you tell me more about this zone that existed prior to 2012? The collection, zone name, location within the zoo, and all?

Maybe not in 2012 but back then in what is now the agile wallaby enclosure (near the Malayan tapir & Brazilian tapir enclosure). Back then, the capybara enclosure was still there; next to them were the North American beavers.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

@Jonathan Harry Gembira Loka, from my experience, is a rather small zoo, especially with the massive artificial lake in the middle that cut off a lot of space. I noted some spaces, especially around the petting zoo, that are rather empty as well as the museum that I believe aren't open anymore. These spaces might be able to hold some exhibits.


Can you tell me more about this previous plan of a Africa Zone in GLZ? Wish it can be continued soon.

Maybe the meerkats can be moved here too? The ostrich occupy two exhibits in the old complex, so I can see the other one housing chital as well that are currently kept off-display. Realisticly, if they acquire the banteng, they would took over two exhibits like the Ankole-Watusi and nilgai (One for the adult male and the other for s group of females).

I found info about Africa Zone on the zoo map (after paying for the ticket) in 2017/2018. Besides about Africa Zone, it was written that a Ferris wheel would be built.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

I found info about Africa Zone on the zoo map (after paying for the ticket) in 2017/2018. Besides about Africa Zone, it was written that a Ferris wheel would be built.

Still remember the zone's placement within the zoo as shown in the map?

Apparently, I found out that Gembira Loka apparently had giraffes and rhinoceros (Unspecified species) in the past. They had planned to acquire another giraffes in 2014 but was postponned and as of now appears to be fully cancelled. @Jonathan Harry di you know any information regarding that and their history within the zoo?

I feel like the current camel exhibit would be viable to house a pair and maybe revamped into a savannah exhibit, though limited of course due to small spaces so it would be only be with ostriches and Grant's zebras that GLZ also used to kept.

 

[Jonathan Harry]

Still remember the zone's placement within the zoo as shown in the map?

Apparently, I found out that Gembira Loka apparently had giraffes and rhinoceros (Unspecified species) in the past. They had planned to acquire another giraffes in 2014 but was postponned and as of now appears to be fully cancelled. @Jonathan Harry di you know any information regarding that and their history within the zoo?

I feel like the current camel exhibit would be viable to house a pair and maybe revamped into a savannah exhibit, though limited of course due to small spaces so it would be only be with ostriches and Grant's zebras that GLZ also used to kept.

Yes, I know it's a matter of history, there was a giraffe at GLZ via the expo event at Ambarrukmo Plaza. Only when the dromedary camel enclosure is replaced with a mixed savannah exhibit, where will the dromedary camel be moved to?

And about the rhinoceros, it was actually only published in GLZ souvenirs.