This leopard exhibit, while nicely planted is too small imo. I also highly doubt it's bigger than the outdoor exhibits for similar cats at Omaha.
The snow leopard exhibit is great in comparison to other snow leopard exhibits. That a rather low bar though, I'm not sure this is a great exhibit when taking that factor out. It is very good though.
Other than this exhibit, JungleWorld is very nice, however doesn't provide near the feel of immersion that Lied Jungle does.
Snow Leopards are one of my very favorite animals, and I have yet to see them in a great exhibit. One of the reasons why I love the Bronx Zoo so much is they actually display them in a naturalistic- brilliant habitat. The Jaguar Cove of snow leopard exhibits is what I would consider Himalayan Highlands.
I do know that Central Park opened a new Snow Leopard exhibit last Spring, and it is amazing from the videos and pictures I have seen of it. It is 10,000 square feet, making it one of the largest snow leopard exhibits in America. Did you get a chance to see Central Park Zoo mweb?
You're right that it is a natural setting. The size is good, but not great imo, and while it's difficult with a cat like that, open viewing at one of the viewing spots would be great.
For big cats like Jaguars and Snow Leopard's, zoo's don't usually make the enclosure any bigger than 5000 square feet, especially if the enclosures are well-planted. If they make them bigger you would never see the animal, and the connection with the public would never be made. In the case of Central Park, that 10,000 square foot habitat is divided up into two different exhibits, and they also use many features to lure the Snow Leopards close to viewing windows (i.e. cooled rocks etc.) If an enclosure as planted as Himalayan Highlands was made 15,000 square feet, you would never see the Snow Leopards at all. In Jaguar Cove, at Woodland Park Zoo, the exhibit is 4000 square feet, and the jaguars are more often than not quite difficult to find.
Just to note, Himalayan Highlands almost made Jon Wassner's top 25 best exhibit list. For an exhibit that only has a few species and built 20 years ago that is pretty remarkable, and is a good indication that the exhibit is very good.
For big cats like Jaguars and Snow Leopard's, zoo's don't usually make the enclosure any bigger than 5000 square feet, especially if the enclosures are well-planted. If they make them bigger you would never see the animal, and the connection with the public would never be made. In the case of Central Park, that 10,000 square foot habitat is divided up into two different exhibits, and they also use many features to lure the Snow Leopards close to viewing windows (i.e. cooled rocks etc.) If an enclosure as planted as Himalayan Highlands was made 15,000 square feet, you would never see the Snow Leopards at all. In Jaguar Cove, at Woodland Park Zoo, the exhibit is 4000 square feet, and the jaguars are more often than not quite difficult to find.
Himalayan Highlands is divided into 3 different enclosures from what I can tell, and it seems like they have 4 or so cats. It's also not that heavily planted, nothing compared to the example of Jaguar Cove. And that's not a knock on the exhibit, it's just a matter of differences in creating realistic habitats for each animal.
Just to note, Himalayan Highlands almost made Jon Wassner's top 25 best exhibit list. For an exhibit that only has a few species and built 20 years ago that is pretty remarkable, and is a good indication that the exhibit is very good.
I'd just like to say that both Bronx's and Central Park's Snow Leopard exhibits are very nice. I've seen both and I've haven't had more than occasional glimpses of the cats at both as the two exhibits give the cats many places to hide. Central Park's is much more vegatated than Bronx's but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. CP's first leopard exhibit is designed like a forest while Bronx's seem to be designed more like a mountain setting like the ones where Snow Leopards mostly live. Finally, I believe Bronx's black Leopard exhibit was originally built for Clouded Leopards.
