Fantastic exhibits for less Pupoular animals

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foz

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Fantastic exhibits for less Popular animals

we all know of fantastic exhibit for large charismatic animals like gorillas, tiger, bears, orangutan etc

but what fantastic exhibits are there for lesser unpopular naimlas, for example I bet there isn't a superb, amazing exhibit for skunks? mice? squirrels?
 
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Outback at London Zoo. Such a fantastic design but what a waste of the Mappins on Emus, Wallabies and Waterfowl.
 
Looking on zoolex i found this exhibit:
ZooLex Exhibit
For owls. who in the uk often get a small wire cage rather than this splenid looking exhibit for nordic owl species. Or sometimes owls provide side animals to compliment other major exhibits (ie snow owls complimenting polar bears) it is great to see owls have there own exhibit devoted to them.
 
Toronto has a wonderful exhibit for their Lesser Snow Geese. They also have a nice, albeit older enclosure for Mouflon and Barbary Sheep. Perhaps one of my favorite exhibits at Toronto Zoo is the White-headed Vulture/Ground Hornbill/Impala/Kudu exhibit.

North Carolina Zoo has a lovely exhibit for Dik Dik, and a really nice mixed herd exhibit for their antelope.
 
Would the Twilight Zone at Chester be suitable?

Bats generally aren't a popular species, but Chester has done a good job of making them into a good exhibit.
 
"Mouse House," Bronx Zoo

"Little Africa" Prague Zoo (Everything from Ratels to Springhaas to Calabar pythons--all small animals)

"Life on the Rocks" (snakes, lizards, arthropods, small birds) Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Geladas/Ibex/Hyrax Bronx Zoo

Hutias, Rotterdam Zoo

Beavers Minnesota Zoo
 
My nomination is the house for small deer and antelopes at Edinburgh, which is between the penguin pool and the monkey house.
It's nothing special architecturally, just a low shed with four pens - I'd guess they are each something like 3m wide and 9m long. The pens are on a slight downwards slope, facing south. They are grassed and planted with shrubs and there are hiding places with longer grass and under branches. When I visited 10 days ago the occupants were two pairs of pudu, one with a fawn - in separate enclosures of course, and three lesser Malay chevrotains (I think a female and two well grown young).
The point is that these are species which are not well displayed in British zoos. In particular chevrotains are normally kept indoors in nocturnal exhibits and they are never easy to see and rarely look at ease. At Edinburgh they show themselves well and seem relatively relaxed - although they are obviously alert and nervous animals. Part of the secret may be that there is only a relatively narrow viewing area, separated by a low wall from the main path to the Monkey House, which is at a slightly lower level down the hill. Later this evening I will be processing photos of the chevrotains and a pudu buck.
I would love to see similar accommodation for species like these at other zoos. This house has held dikdiks and I think it would be suitable for the smaller duikers too; even some small wallabies and large rodents might do well.

Alan
 
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Jodea said:
What qualifies an animal as a popular animal?
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This tends to be the animals the average visitors will look for first for example elephants, any great ape, big cats, large canids, giraffes, bears, rhinos, hippos etc

- I'm really interested to know more about the rotterdam Hutia enclosure.
 
I would just like to say that I know how to spell popular but sort of rushed this thread and I have tried to change it unsuccessfully.
 
My fave animal is the Gemsbok and that's an un-popular with visitors. Chester's exhibit isn't fancy and expensive but i like it, as it's simple and so easy to see them and to be honest i prefer that exhibit to RoRA or other expensive exhibits in the zoo. Don't get me wrong I want chester to make new exhibits for their animals as some are getting old and don't fit the animals needs anymore but some exhibits childhood memories. I'm sad the otter exhibit is gone as I had really good memories of it.
 
ChesterGemsbok said:
My fave animal is the Gemsbok and that's an un-popular with visitors. Chester's exhibit isn't fancy and expensive but i like it, as it's simple and so easy to see them and to be honest i prefer that exhibit to RoRA or other expensive exhibits in the zoo. Don't get me wrong I want chester to make new exhibits for their animals as some are getting old and don't fit the animals needs anymore but some exhibits childhood memories. I'm sad the otter exhibit is gone as I had really good memories of it.
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It's a basic paddock :confused:

I understand you like gemsbok, but it can hardly be considered as a fantastic exhibit.

And for the bold part, I think you'll find most of the inadequete old enclosures have gone and the older ones which remain are pretty good (which is why they are still standing). Sorry for going off-topic
 
Melbourne Zoo has a huge pool for about a dozen common carp. In Australia they are about as unpopular as cane toads, foxes and their european cousins. Albeit their exhibit was built for pygmy hippos. :)
 
CZJimmy said:
It's a basic paddock :confused:

I understand you like gemsbok, but it can hardly be considered as a fantastic exhibit.

And for the bold part, I think you'll find most of the inadequete old enclosures have gone and the older ones which remain are pretty good (which is why they are still standing). Sorry for going off-topic
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I'm saying it's a fantastic exhibit because it's so simple and so easy for guests to view the animals and same goes for the lechwe/roans, zebra, ostrich/situanga and oryx paddocks.
 
ChesterGemsbok said:
I'm saying it's a fantastic exhibit because it's so simple and so easy for guests to view the animals and same goes for the lechwe/roans, zebra, ostrich/situanga and oryx paddocks.
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What about the horses? Or is it that they have a hill and tree in there enclosure so harder to view and there makes the enclosure not that great? :rolleyes:
 
Marwell have a great coati exhibit, ok its nothing fancy but it is such an active group with lots to do and climb on, I spend hours watching them. Some of the birds have fantastic exhibits but Ill not go into them but they are not very popular animals in zoos.
 
I know this is an old thread and I dont mean to re-establish old discussions, but there are a few thigns i would like to add:
1 - I would like to say sorry for the crude spelling of the word "popular"
2 - a few new exhibits to add: the ingeneous and novel exhibit of the black widow spider in Bristol zoo's bug world exhibit, The enclosure takes the frm of a toilet with glass going over the seat of the toilet. This exhibit is a educational and fun! the meerkat enclosure at chester zoo, going agains the norm of low-wall pit exhibits the enclsoure at chester has huge glass windows and a roof sheltering the public. It even has it's own meerkat bench. And the red ant colony within spirit of the jaguar at chester zoo.

it would also be nice to hear of fanstastic less popular exhibits from over the atlantic :)
 
Ah I love the meerkat bench at Chester.
Paignton has a great exhibit for cusimanse and fruit bats, species I forget. It's the old penguin pool, netted over with a raised walkway through it. The bats are on the side with the old penguin dens and they're free to fly around, and the cusimanse are confined to the other side. It's simple but really cool to show these species off.
 
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