I feel like Nocturnal House are dissapearing?
- Thread starter gerome
- Start date
Most older nocturnal houses had tiny enclosures that really don't stand up to modern welfare standards. It would be expensive to modify them to meet modern standards. In Australia, Taronga Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary have both rebuilt their houses with much larger enclosures and fewer species, while Sydney Zoo (as a zoo only about six years old) is an example of a new build nocturnal house.
Another factor is that zoos more and more seem to be concentrating on ABC species, and have less interest in diversity, another example would be the decline of birds in zoos.
Another factor is that zoos more and more seem to be concentrating on ABC species, and have less interest in diversity, another example would be the decline of birds in zoos.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Those types of displays, with lots of small enclosures inside closed buildings are disappearing, regardless of when the lights are on, be they bird houses, small mammal houses or nocturnal houses.
They were fascinating to visit in their day, but many were pretty dreadful, and even the best like the Clore and the Grzimek were truly appalling in places. Some of the others I remember at (Rotterdam, Arnhem and Antwerp for example) had some wonderful species, but were shameful. Reptile houses, insectariums and aquariums are still with us, but poorer standards and spacial requirements for these groups of animals have been slower to improve.
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Somehow I get the 'vibe' that there are two particular kinds of zoo that are host to nocturne houses. These two would be the dense inner city zoo, and then the smaller zoo hosted by someone with a particular passion.
In the case of the inner city zoo, many nocturne houses are in essence a 'remnant of their time' - in the ~70s era when zoos were keen on filling their land area up rather well. And so the nocturne house was seen as the answer to the question of making certain animals more viewable; and in a relatively small area of space to boot.
But as many things do the ideas that put that of the nocturne house fell out of favour, with the transition from borderline megalomania at the near-end of the twentieth century towards a more natural quality of life in the late 20th/first quarter 21st. And so the 'era of renovation' began. Enclosures gradually became larger on the whole; which had the effect that was desired - a more natural life provided in a larger area, but in some cases, like in Paris, the renovations also had the effect of sacrifices having to be done. And in the eyes of those who wished for a more naturalistic zoo, the relatively small, relatively 'closed-in' nocturnal house was a somewhat easy target.
And since then, not many totally new such enclosures have been built since in larger zoos.
Certainly in the US of A the prevailing model for new exhibits built in the first quarter of the 21st, amongst major zoos, seems to have been 'build atop what has been done before'. That is, the 510th iteration of the African Savannah or the totally new twist on the lion enclosure which is totally new because it's one of the only ones in your state. And to some degree Europe has followed along, in regards to what they have been building this quarter century anyways, but somehow has managed to maintain some deal of diversity between collections [Nocturama or none, Antwerp still has over 500 species listed on ZTL]. And that is to say that even in nocturnal houses as a whole there are some species which are or were 'expected'. Aardvark, sand cat, springhaas, bushbaby, doroucouli... and whichever speciality animal the zoo nerds come to see. And even then some city-zoos have reinvigorated their nocturne houses to make them more 21st-century appropriate... Berlin being one of them!
And so we get to the second type of nocturnal house... the ones less so of major zoos within a big European city and moreso smaller collections an hour in any direction of them. These on the other hand have had the longer end of the stick. I'd imagine part of the reason for their appeal in smaller collections is two-fold - part of it being 'we don't have the room for a rhino, but we can totally build a smaller area with numerous species within it', and part of it being 'if the big guys aren't going to maintain these species, then it's up to us!' And to speak from the UK, this is the main type of nocturnal house here now - mainly because there's only really one inner city zoo in the UK! [There used to be two; London and Bristol, but the latter closed in 2022. Both had nocturne houses] In the UK, nocturne houses have managed to become a staple of smaller collections, and even many larger collections seem to make room for a bat house or something of the sort. Longleat I think qualifies as a major collection of the UK, and they recently re-opened their bat house - and that was after they released a statement that it would never open again!
So I think in some respect, there is a certain decline of a certain type of nocturnal house, with bigger zoos that attract more visitors going the direction of the masses to provide a 'bigger' zoo experience which may be less species dense. And so we see the loss of various nocturnal houses in inner city zoos. But amongst smaller collections, they do seem to be a viable exhibit!
In the case of the inner city zoo, many nocturne houses are in essence a 'remnant of their time' - in the ~70s era when zoos were keen on filling their land area up rather well. And so the nocturne house was seen as the answer to the question of making certain animals more viewable; and in a relatively small area of space to boot.
But as many things do the ideas that put that of the nocturne house fell out of favour, with the transition from borderline megalomania at the near-end of the twentieth century towards a more natural quality of life in the late 20th/first quarter 21st. And so the 'era of renovation' began. Enclosures gradually became larger on the whole; which had the effect that was desired - a more natural life provided in a larger area, but in some cases, like in Paris, the renovations also had the effect of sacrifices having to be done. And in the eyes of those who wished for a more naturalistic zoo, the relatively small, relatively 'closed-in' nocturnal house was a somewhat easy target.
And since then, not many totally new such enclosures have been built since in larger zoos.
Certainly in the US of A the prevailing model for new exhibits built in the first quarter of the 21st, amongst major zoos, seems to have been 'build atop what has been done before'. That is, the 510th iteration of the African Savannah or the totally new twist on the lion enclosure which is totally new because it's one of the only ones in your state. And to some degree Europe has followed along, in regards to what they have been building this quarter century anyways, but somehow has managed to maintain some deal of diversity between collections [Nocturama or none, Antwerp still has over 500 species listed on ZTL]. And that is to say that even in nocturnal houses as a whole there are some species which are or were 'expected'. Aardvark, sand cat, springhaas, bushbaby, doroucouli... and whichever speciality animal the zoo nerds come to see. And even then some city-zoos have reinvigorated their nocturne houses to make them more 21st-century appropriate... Berlin being one of them!
And so we get to the second type of nocturnal house... the ones less so of major zoos within a big European city and moreso smaller collections an hour in any direction of them. These on the other hand have had the longer end of the stick. I'd imagine part of the reason for their appeal in smaller collections is two-fold - part of it being 'we don't have the room for a rhino, but we can totally build a smaller area with numerous species within it', and part of it being 'if the big guys aren't going to maintain these species, then it's up to us!' And to speak from the UK, this is the main type of nocturnal house here now - mainly because there's only really one inner city zoo in the UK! [There used to be two; London and Bristol, but the latter closed in 2022. Both had nocturne houses] In the UK, nocturne houses have managed to become a staple of smaller collections, and even many larger collections seem to make room for a bat house or something of the sort. Longleat I think qualifies as a major collection of the UK, and they recently re-opened their bat house - and that was after they released a statement that it would never open again!
So I think in some respect, there is a certain decline of a certain type of nocturnal house, with bigger zoos that attract more visitors going the direction of the masses to provide a 'bigger' zoo experience which may be less species dense. And so we see the loss of various nocturnal houses in inner city zoos. But amongst smaller collections, they do seem to be a viable exhibit!
To be sociologically precise, Bristol Zoo was not an inner-city zoo either!
Birmingham Nature Centre *might* count, however - and does contain a small nocturnal house.
I agree with the points that many have made.
Modern indoor exhibits, such as tropical or desert houses, are now becoming large walkthrough exhibits. Even for species that aren't suitable for walkthrough and need their own enclosure in the building they will still have a lot more space than the old style buildings would have offered.
Such an approach wouldn't work for a nocturnal house.
I agree with the comments that they still continue to be a thing for smaller zoos. One of my local small zoos, Beale Wildlife Park, did open one 2 or 3 years ago.
Modern indoor exhibits, such as tropical or desert houses, are now becoming large walkthrough exhibits. Even for species that aren't suitable for walkthrough and need their own enclosure in the building they will still have a lot more space than the old style buildings would have offered.
Such an approach wouldn't work for a nocturnal house.
I agree with the comments that they still continue to be a thing for smaller zoos. One of my local small zoos, Beale Wildlife Park, did open one 2 or 3 years ago.
The future of nocturnal houses is, I believe, Night Safaris.
A whole facility dedicated to nocturnal animals during their natural activity time sounds much healthier than a box with imitated night, and most of all, fresh air (where possible)!
I would push for a movement of zoos in Europe to start clustering their nocturnal species to one part of the zoo, then hire night workers to guide people through the premises of the facility or putting inside fencing into the zoo to prevent anyone from going where they shouldn't.
A whole facility dedicated to nocturnal animals during their natural activity time sounds much healthier than a box with imitated night, and most of all, fresh air (where possible)!
I would push for a movement of zoos in Europe to start clustering their nocturnal species to one part of the zoo, then hire night workers to guide people through the premises of the facility or putting inside fencing into the zoo to prevent anyone from going where they shouldn't.
Wanderer
Well-Known Member
You could also do this with a nocturnal house (as in, a nocturnal house open only at night without the inverted lighting). This would allow actual plants to grow in the enclosures... the fact that nocturnal houses look really barren due to not having plants may be a contributing factor to their decline, as nowadays exhibit aesthetics matter more than in the past.
Birmingham's nocturnal house was one of the draws for me to visit. It was my first time seeing a smaller zoo's attempt at a nocturnal building and I think it one of the more interesting parts of the facility in that respect. They also had some particularly showy Potto! I do think it's a good model facility for a smaller zoo. But it does fascinate me to compare the species list of this smaller facility with other zoos,
I don't think we'll ever see insectariums and fish aquariums fully disappear, especially as the latter often pass successfully as biogeographic by treating the 'ocean' as one habitat, but I am curious about the future for Reptile Houses in particular, given they seem to be only traditional zoo building still standing as somewhat ubiquitous.
In general, it feels like zoo buildings are mostly on the decline, despite a rich heyday in the '80s/'90s, probably because indoor enclosures are always more subject to scrutiny.
Urban zoo is probably a better term.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
There is absolutely no reason why 'such an approach' wouldnt work for a nocturnal house. Both are simply large enclosed buildings with controlled climates. One has a solid roof and one a transparent one.
A nocturnal version with a solid roof, could be better insulated and therefore easier to control and manage.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Fake plants are of very high quality these days and often no more expensive than the real thing.
In partial light the best would easily pass scrutiny.