Frustrating Display of Nocturnal Prosimians

F

foz

Well-Known Member
I need a bit of a rant (just to warn you). It would seem every exhibit for loris's galago's and even aye-aye seems to be a nocturnal glass box. whilse these enclosures are perfectly adequate they seem to lack the WOW factor to display these animals to the best they can be. Im not even talking naturalistic enclosures (although these could be considered), but an imaginative and exciting exhibit/enclosure to really show these species well.

More can be done to display these unusual species, even if it is as simple as improving the lighting. Zoos need to make more fuss over these fantastic animals and could even go down the 'bushbaby path' - in my eyes that is building on the 'cute' and 'weird' brand built by documentaries featuring bushbabies to entice visitors to learn about these species.

The best ive seen in Britain is the night zone at Bristol zoo where the lighting (in the morning at least), really shows off the active loris's and aye-aye etc.

So are there any exciting unsual exhibits for such species out there? if not, why not?

Rant over.
 
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I share your frustration. Nocturnal primates get a raw deal, as do many other nocturnal species. Just imagine a display which would let visitors see angwantibo next to potto, greater galago next to Demidoff's, with douroucouli, mouse lemurs and aye-ayes of course. Add some tarsiers and pen-tailed tree shrews and any ZooChatter's eyes would go :eek:
I've not been impressed with any of the nocturnal exhibits I have seen: many of the animals are asleep, even during the 'night', or they are so hard to see that they might as well be asleep. I'm also disappointed to see species which are potentially active at other times of the day, confined to small indoor enclosures with reversed lighting. For example London always used to keep their fennec foxes in the old Moonlight World section of the Clore (I know they have changed its name now, but I'm too old to remember the new one) while Bristol and Paignton keep chevrotains (mouse deer) in very small dark enclosures, where they are almost invisible.
I think a specially designed exhibit, somewhere quiet but near the zoo's exit, could be opened for the last 90 minutes of the day for some of these species. It would have an indoor section on normal light cycle, but not open to the public, and a row of well-planted external cages facing east, shaded at dusk but getting some dawn sunlight. The animals would be allowed out overnight during the summer, but only at dawn and dusk in spring and autumn - but they would always be fed in the outdoor cages, one hour before the zoo closed. It might not suit all species, but I think it would give visitors much better views of healthier stock.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
I share your frustration. Nocturnal primates get a raw deal, as do many other nocturnal species. Just imagine a display which would let visitors see angwantibo next to potto, greater galago next to Demidoff's, with douroucouli, mouse lemurs and aye-ayes of course. Add some tarsiers and pen-tailed tree shrews and any ZooChatter's eyes would go :eek:
I've not been impressed with any of the nocturnal exhibits I have seen: many of the animals are asleep, even during the 'night', or they are so hard to see that they might as well be asleep. I'm also disappointed to see species which are potentially active at other times of the day, confined to small indoor enclosures with reversed lighting. For example London always used to keep their fennec foxes in the old Moonlight World section of the Clore (I know they have changed its name now, but I'm too old to remember the new one) while Bristol and Paignton keep chevrotains (mouse deer) in very small dark enclosures, where they are almost invisible.
I think a specially designed exhibit, somewhere quiet but near the zoo's exit, could be opened for the last 90 minutes of the day for some of these species. It would have an indoor section on normal light cycle, but not open to the public, and a row of well-planted external cages facing east, shaded at dusk but getting some dawn sunlight. The animals would be allowed out overnight during the summer, but only at dawn and dusk in spring and autumn - but they would always be fed in the outdoor cages, one hour before the zoo closed. It might not suit all species, but I think it would give visitors much better views of healthier stock.

Alan
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I think that chevrotains are best exhibited in natural daylight as they still seem quite active (for exmaple at Newquay zoo).

how do people feel about the RSC (rare species conservation centre in the UK) display (or previous display) of loris's in porthole designs?

http://www.zoochat.com/1030/slow-loris-rscc-15-august-2010-a-168141/

http://www.zoochat.com/1030/loris-portholes-rscc-31-07-10-a-165229/
 
To begin, most nocturnal displays are simply TOO SMALL and TOO BARREN. I think animals must also lack stimuli like ambient noises, smells and sights from the outside environment.

I wonder if anybody compared breeding success of animals kept in night houses vs normal exhibits for eg. foxes, small cats etc?

I always imagined ideal night house as a series of walk-through halls or rooms with bushbabys etc. partially running free, like tamarins.
 
I agree. Most nocturnal exhibits are too small or bare, but it's sometimes harder to notice because it's dark. Are there any nocturnal exhibits that aren't just totally glassed-in exhibits?

I would love to see a walk-through nocturnal house. It could easily be done for South America and Africa. Predatory species could be kept in separate, large exhibits. The only thing that might be an issue is keeping people quiet because many nocturnal animals have sensitive hearing.
 
@foz- I feel the sam way to. Denver's Eye-Eye exhibit is not what you would expect for an endangered and rarely exhibit species. Before the Eye-Eye's Denver had three nocturnal exhibits in the Emerald Forest Building. These were even worse. They were small glass boxes with a concrete floor and a couple of fake leaf, wood, and hollow gourds. Now they have made port holes between these exhibits for extra room for the Eye-Eye's. I guess that is kinda different for Denver. But the exhibit still lacks my amazement. I really wonder why zoos can't make nocturnal exhibits larger. If a zoo did make them larger and with a lot more cover we couldn't always see them.
 
Chester's Fruit Bat Forest is a Walkthrough, as if West Midlands Nocturnal Section, although once again, the Aye-Aye at WMSP is exhibit in a 'glass box' of sorts.

Although, on the subject of a Walkthrough Nocturnal Exhibit, little Shepreth Widlife Park in the UK has a Walkthrough Nocturnal House, exhibiting Egyptian Fruit Bats and Long Nosed Potoroo:

http://www.zoochat.com/1097/noctural-walkthrough-shepreth-05-04-10-a-143241/

Its not spectacular, but it certainly looks interesting.
 
Paix said:
Although, on the subject of a Walkthrough Nocturnal Exhibit, little Shepreth Widlife Park in the UK has a Walkthrough Nocturnal House, exhibiting Egyptian Fruit Bats and Long Nosed Potoroo:

http://www.zoochat.com/1097/noctural-walkthrough-shepreth-05-04-10-a-143241/

Its not spectacular, but it certainly looks interesting.
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It's nicely done and a great example of what can be done on (I assume) a low budget with a little imagination. It's also got reasonably sized and well furnished glass-fronted enclosures for two species of Loris (if my memory's correct, it may be one species & something else). It's all pretty dark but rewards a little patience as, during my visits, the animals have always been active.
 
My favorite nocturnal exhibit is Nocturama at Papiliorama in Switzerland. A large walk through dome with, sloths, douroucoulis, tree porcupines, pacas ect. Side exhibits house, anaconda, tamandua, kinkajous and spectacled owls. The path winds upwards so viewing is on two levels. The covering of the dome filters sunlight by 90 percent, giving a natural feeling of twilight.
 
Amersfoort Dierenpark in Holland got something similar like Papiliorama.

Antwerp Nocturnal House is one of my favorite's of the classical nocturnal houses: it's enclosures got at least some size, and at the end of the day you can visit it in upcoming day light (starting around 16 pm in winter) with active species in good viewing conditions.
 
Its all very good having walktrhoguh enclosures for bats (and some select species) but I feel the nocturnal pirmates would be too shy and therefore make an inneffective walkthrough species (I would think they are likely to go and sleep in the darkest corner they can).
 
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