Walk through Enclosures

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garyjp

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
As zoos continue to develop and displays are changed it seems gradually over the years walk through exhibits seem to be becoming more and more common. There have always been walk through bird enclosures but we have wallaby,lemur and squirrel monkey walk throughs . Any others that you guys have been through or would think that could work and do you think this actually is the future for all zoos etc.We will also take it as a give me the clore at London and Amazon World on Isle of Wight - mixed small species
 
The entrance hall to the Reptilianhouse of Antwerp Zoo has been for a long time been a walk-through with reptilians. Now-a-days there are still some reptilians - Green iguanas and some tortoises in some kind of enclosure - but it's now mainly a walk-through with birds.
 
Talking about monkeys, Apenheul in the Netherlands has a lot of walk-through areas:
Squirrel monkeys with rheas and turkeys
Lemur area with red and black and white ruffed, ring-tailes and red-bellied
Barbary monkey with barbary monkey and goats and a walk-through aviary with bald ibisses
2 South American areas with loads of south american species
Langur "aviary" with Hanumans.
 
A number of zoos have walk-thoughs with medium-sized ungulates like fallow, sika and muntjac deer or alpine ibex.

I know also of mara, capybara, mousedeer, fruit bats, pelicans, red-bellied squirrels, sloths and armadillos.

Weren't tamanduas also in walk-thoughs in Singapore and London?
 
You are correct, Jurek - Southern Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla tetradactyla) are indeed found in a walkthrough enclosure at London.
 
Curraghs Wildlife Park in the Isle of Man is a huge walk through exhibit with 4 or 5 zones. The largest animal being Guanaco but over the years he has been restricted from direct public access, but he used to be able to walk straight up to you.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
You are correct, Jurek - Southern Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla tetradactyla) are indeed found in a walkthrough enclosure at London.
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The walkthrough rainforest exhibit at London (the one that houses the tamanduas) is my favourite exhibit at London and one of my favourite of all time. It houses primates which can come up to the visitors but has a pit area with vegetation and various animals that can't get up to where the visitors are. There are also some free flying birds and various tanks around the edge. This combination of primates and birds that could come up to visitors, tanks with fish and inverts around the egde and a pit allowing an area seperate from the visitors and animals but still with great a view without bars and natural substrate and vegetaion is what I like about this particular walkthrough exhibit.
 
In general, walk through exhibits are my favourites and I always spend the most time in them. For example, in Warsaw Zoo (my local zoo which I visit about twice a month), I always visit the walkthrough tropical aviary which is probably my favourite part of the zoo and spend some time there, I like the mixed bird species and the fact that the animals can come up to you if they want or hide amongst the foliage (it also has 3 species of pigeons and doves which is another reason I like the exhibit).
 
Also remembered:
Night monkeys (Emmen)
Blackbuck (Beekse Bergen, Netherlands),
Klippspringer and Rock Hyrax with assorted birds (Valencia)
Yellow-spotted hyrax, African ground squirrel and spurred tortoise (Cottbus, Germany)
Praire dogs (Rotterdam)
Alpine marmots (somewhere in France).
Boa constrictor and mandarin snake (Randers, Denmark)
 
Jurek7 said:
A number of zoos have walk-thoughs with medium-sized ungulates like fallow, sika and muntjac deer or alpine ibex.

I know also of mara, capybara, mousedeer, fruit bats, pelicans, red-bellied squirrels, sloths and armadillos.

Weren't tamanduas also in walk-thoughs in Singapore and London?
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The rainforest in the Clore in London contains sloths, armadillos and tamanduas. The female sloth gave birth in 2014 and it was amazing to get really close to the baby. The armadillos, of course, live on the ground and are best seen from the viewing area on the lower level. As for the tamanduas, they regularly climb onto the balcony walkway and come right up to you.
 
Actually, there are no tamanduas in the ZSL rainforest exhibit at the moment: "Tammy" recently succumbed to old age (she was 13), and Ria is enjoying (at least I hope she's enjoying) a little privacy off show with a new mate. That still leaves emperor tamarins, red titi monkeys and golden headed lion tamarins who will share the walkway with humans when they feel like it. Not sure you can call it a "walkthrough" though.
 
volvox said:
Actually, there are no tamanduas in the ZSL rainforest exhibit at the moment: "Tammy" recently succumbed to old age (she was 13).
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Oh how sad, I didn't hear that, was at london last month and Tammy was the highlight of my visit climbing over the balcony and coming to sit at my feet, she looked very healthy so i'm quite surprised.
When did this happen? Are there any articles about it?
 
I know, we do all miss her terribly! It was a couple of weeks ago: she was fine but went downhill quite quickly – really, it was a very good age for a tamandua.
 
I didnt really want to start a new thread but who actually benefits from walk hrough enclosures animals or public or a bit of both ? And what would you like to see in a walk through - species wise
 
I can only speak from experience – which is that the squirrel monkeys at London appear to enjoy their walkthrough enormously: it's very spacious with interesting planting and ropes etc, and has a wonderful supply of human beings wandering through, a rich source of entertainment and possible food/cameras/bags for plundering (shame about the volunteers getting in the way!). The humans enjoy it too...
 
The brilliant birds at Edinburgh is wonderful, it looks like a rainforest with a hut and bridge. The birds are not afraid of you and seem to enjoy their home.

Ozzy :cool:
 
garyjp said:
I didnt really want to start a new thread but who actually benefits from walk hrough enclosures animals or public or a bit of both ? And what would you like to see in a walk through - species wise
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I think that if done correctly, both animals and the public can benefit from walk through enclosures. The way that the animals can benefit is by allowing a larger enclosure. This can be achieved because space doesn't have to be taken up by path ways outside the enclosure. For example, in walk through aviaries they can be much larger than if there were only separate cages with a path going past them. However, if the visitors are not appropriately controlled then having the public going through the enclosure can be detrimental to animals living within it due to noise and disturbance, particularly at times when the zoo is busy. Though if there are areas provided that are only accessible to animals in which the animals can retreat then I think animals benefit overall from walk through enclosures. There is also the enrichment aspect that visitors walking through an enclosure can provide for the animals.

In terms of visitors, I personally really like walk through enclosures and they tend to be my favourite parts of a zoo. I think most guests like to be able to get close to animals and walk through enclosures allow this better.

I personally like walk through aviaries with free-flying birds, but I think that when possible, a large variety of species should displayed in walk through enclosures as it provides another dimension to an exhibit.
 
Generally I agree on all comments the monkeys/lemurs & birds can bugger off up high if the public become too annoying - it just concerned me animals like wallabies haven't the luxury in most cases of clearing off.
Also i would like to see perhaps adifferent type of walkthrough could racoons,coatis or red pandas fit the bill would it work ? or perhaps may be Colobus or Vervet monkeys ?
 
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