40-Acre Mixed-Species Exhibit

August 3rd, 2010. Species list: white rhino, ostrich, sitatunga, gemsbok, Nile lechwe, blesbok, Thomson\'s gazelle, greater kudu and defassa waterbuck.

The outstanding "Watani Grasslands" exhibit was awarded a significant achievement exhibit award in 2009, and here is the 36-page document:

http://www.aza.org/uploadedFiles/Membership/Honors_and_Awards/exhibit09-nczoo.pdf

There is an almost 40-acre African grasslands exhibit, and an adjacent 7-acre elephant exhibit that is separate and contains 7 African elephants. Here are the species found in the enormous exhibit:

Scientific Name Common Name Number

1. Loxodonta africana African elephant 7
2. Ceratotherium simum simum Southern white rhinoceros 7
3. Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi Blesbok 1
4. Gazella thomsonii Thomson’s gazelle 11
5. Tragelaphus strepsiceros Greater kudu 9
6. Oryx gazella callotis Fringe-eared oryx 3
7. Oryx gazella gazella Gemsbok 1
8. Kobus ellipsiprumnus ellipsiprumnus Common waterbuck 3
9. Kobus megaceros Nile lechwe 15
10. Plectropterus gambensis Spur wing goose 4
11. Struthio camelus Ostrich 3

I can only imagine how hard it would be to spot the single Gemsbok and Blesbok! Especially the Gemsbok as I can only imagine it could be difficult to distinguish it from the Fringe-eared Oryx from such a distance.

Another interesting note is that they list the Fringe-eared Oryx as a sub-species of Gemsbok when it is widely accepted that the East African Oryx (Beisa and Fringe-eared) is a seperate species from the Gemsbok.

Kudu21 said:

Another interesting note is that they list the Fringe-eared Oryx as a sub-species of Gemsbok when it is widely accepted that the East African Oryx (Beisa and Fringe-eared) is a seperate species from the Gemsbok.

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That seems to be the consensus currently, but it's been back and forth a few times over the years. In the current splitter-friendly climate it looks set to stay as two species.

I still have to stop myself from typing Oryx gazella gazella for Gemsbok... force of habit!

Looks very nice, but the artificial termite mound seems out of place with that temperate forest backdrop.

Its definitely spacious enough but does look more suitable for grazing domestic bovine.

Blackduiker said:

Its definitely spacious enough but does look more suitable for grazing domestic bovine.

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Personally I'd much rather see exhibits of this scale use the local landscape rather than try to theme/replant a large area. It's unnecessarily expensive and usually not a great success. Whereas this looks for the most part very attractive.

Although, if I was designing this exhibit, like AD I wouldn't have put that termite mound there...

Blackduiker

Maguari said:

Personally I'd much rather see exhibits of this scale use the local landscape rather than try to theme/replant a large area. It's unnecessarily expensive and usually not a great success. Whereas this looks for the most part very attractive.

Although, if I was designing this exhibit, like AD I wouldn't have put that termite mound there...

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Which is my point. If you're going to put in termite mounds, then replace the trees with maybe a few acacias. But if not, lose the fake mound and keep the natural surroundings.