Oh, deer: are there any truly exciting deer exhibits?

[DavidBrown]

As zoo nerds we get excited when we see new and different species of deer in zoos. I suspect that many of us are less excited about seeing exhibits of common species of deer. They are beautiful animals, but most deer exhibits are grassy or dirt paddocks.

Has anyone ever seen an exciting deer exhibit that made you interested in the animals beyond just saying "oh, it's a pretty deer" and moving on to something else?

The only semi-exciting deer exhibit that I can remember is the Asian deer exhibit on the Wild Asia monorail ride at the Bronx Zoo, but that may have been because I was generally excited to be at that zoo.

 

[jbnbsn99]

The only deer exhibit I've ever seen that was memorable was Oklahoma City's large Asian deer exhibit with Pere David's, Tufted, Indochinese Sika, and Hog Deer. Not a lot of animals, but nicely wooded and spacious.

 

[kiang]

Not an exhibit as such, but surely Woburn abbey's deer park a 3000 acre park with 9 species of deer, including several hundred head of its world famous Pere David's deer herd.

Deer Park ~ Woburn Abbey

 

[Arizona Docent]

On my recent visit to Highland Wildlife Park (Scotland), it was nice seeing several species of Eurasian deer with misty snow-covered hills in the background.

 

[elefante]

I've never seen this combination, but I think a wooded sambar or axis deer with peafowl would make a great exhibit for an Indian-themed area.

 

[reduakari]

Woodland Park's elk exhibit is nice, particularly as part of a predator/prey panorama with gray wolves separated invisibly.

 

[chrisbarela]

Funny, I always use "deer exhibit" when I describe what is wrong with zoo exhibit design - Deer (most hoofstock, really) exhibits are almost always dirt paddocks, since those are easiest to rake up, devoid of plants since the ungulates would eat them... Thus that makes them the single most boring exhibit at a zoo. And when the zoo lumps all of it's hoofstock in one long corridor of barren exhibits after barren exhibits (as did the San Diego Zoo before Elephant Odyssey) then you have a big chunk of your zoo that is only interesting to a small portion of your audience.

On the flip side, say you are walking down a trail in the woods and a deer steps out right in front of you. That can be a magical moment that you may talk about for years to come.

Why can't zoos capture that?
I would argue that, with a little bit of creativity a zoo can have a great deer exhibit.

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum has a multi-species enclosure with mule deer, jack rabbits and wild turkeys. There is a planted central island that the deer can not access, though the turkeys can. The whole exhibit looks like a dried river bed. It's beautiful.

 

[chrisbarela]

http://www.zoochat.com/541/mountain-woodlands-coues-white-tailed-deer-305245/

 

[Arizona Docent]

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum has a multi-species enclosure with mule deer, jack rabbits and wild turkeys. There is a planted central island that the deer can not access, though the turkeys can. The whole exhibit looks like a dried river bed. It's beautiful.

I do not ever remember jackrabbits. However, it is a very nice exhibit with white tail deer (not mule deer) and wild turkeys.

 

[tschandler71]

other than rutting bucks and liability what would stop from "capturing that moment" by having walkthrough deer exhibits? Of course not with Elk or Sambar but small or medium deer species?

 

[filipinos]

Zoo Santo Inacio has nice medium sized exhibit shared by Indian Muntjack and Lesser Flamingo. It works very welll and there´s always a crowd watching them.

 

[Pertinax]

Not an exhibit as such, but surely Woburn abbey's deer park a 3000 acre park with 9 species of deer, including several hundred head of its world famous Pere David's deer herd.

Deer Park ~ Woburn Abbey

Brilliant place. IMO the Pere David herd alone represents one of the best wildlife(although arguably not 'wild' ) spectacles to be seen in the UK.

 

[Monty]

I've never seen this combination, but I think a wooded sambar or axis deer with peafowl would make a great exhibit for an Indian-themed area.

All this one needs is the Peafowl

 

[Grant Rhino]

I've never seen this combination, but I think a wooded sambar or axis deer with peafowl would make a great exhibit for an Indian-themed area.

I like it - but Id have to add Blackbuck (Indian Antelope) in as well - many zoos often keep blackbuck and axis deer (Chital) together - they are a good match because even someone who doesnt know much about animals can still see the difference between the two.

Axis Deer
Blackbuck
Peafowl
Sambar Deer

what else is in?

Id also look to add in Rhesus Macaque monkeys and Common Langur monkeys - it would make a great Indian exhibit

 

[FBBird]

Oh deer...

I'd pass on the monkeys but add Demoiselle Cranes, Ruddy Shelduck, Spotbills & Bar-headed Geese.

 

[Grant Rhino]

I'd pass on the monkeys but add Demoiselle Cranes, Ruddy Shelduck, Spotbills & Bar-headed Geese.

OK - we are getting somewhere now - our Indian mixed species deer and antelope exhibit will now have a lake in it where waterbirds can nest. This would also make the exhibit look more attractive (which addresses the original question posed by this thread).

I still havnt given up hope on the monkeys though! Deer and monkeys work very well together in the wild (the monkeys drop food from the treetops which the deer eat, and both sound warning alarms when a tiger is present).

 

[Monty]

I like it - but Id have to add Blackbuck (Indian Antelope) in as well - many zoos often keep blackbuck and axis deer (Chital) together - they are a good match because even someone who doesnt know much about animals can still see the difference between the two.

Axis Deer
Blackbuck
Peafowl
Sambar Deer

what else is in?

Id also look to add in Rhesus Macaque monkeys and Common Langur monkeys - it would make a great Indian exhibit

Gaur or Bantang

 

[Grant Rhino]

Gaur or Bantang

Yes - good idea. Gaur though (not Banteng - as Gaur are native to the same geographical area whereas Banteng arent I dont think)

So our exhibit is currently at:

Axis Deer
Blackbuck
Sambar Deer
Gaur
Peafowl
Lake with waterbirds
Rhesus Macaque (optional)
Common Langur (optional)
Indian Rhino (optional - and conditional on them not killing anything)

Perhaps the monkeys are better in an exhibit next to the deer one but which looks like a mixed exhibit to the visitor?

I also thought that Indian Rhinos would be good with this mix but then I heard something on this forum that when this happened the rhino was killing newborn fawns (of Axis Deer) - and we cant have that happening... Although I did see a photo of this mix in Vienna Zoo.

The other reservation about rhinos and monkeys is that they could destroy the nests of the waterbirds.

 

[lintworm]

Maybe it comes close to wat you are discussing, but I can think of 2 quite interesting deer exhibits.

First is in Burgers Zoo, it combines Eld's deer, hog deer, banteng, muntjak, pig-tailed macaque and siamang.

Further there is the "Maidan" exhibit in Zoo Parc Overloon, a walk through exhibit with axis deer, blackbuck, vietnamese sika deer, dalmatian pelican, demoiselle crane and some ducks. In the past it also held muntjak.

 

[elefante]

Blackbuck are a great addition to a an Indian-themed area. I agree that smaller deer like fallow deer or axis deer would be a great for a walk-through exhibit as long as the bucks aren't in rut.