@jayjds2 I actually saw this exhibit in person, and it was just... disappointing. I never actually saw the old nocturnal wing, but from pictures, it looked like a more exciting experience. Sure, the vampire bats' exhibit was a bit small for them, but you had echidnas, sugar gliders, striped possums and striped skunks, a decent collection. The Philadelphia Zoo never really replaces animals once they pass away or add to the collection. They have yet to acquire a new okapi, and I can see them phasing out polar bears for something else. Anyways, as for the actual enclosure, I am going to compare this to the aye-aye experience the Zoo also has. When you enter the aye-aye exhibit, it's dark. There is an interlude of a soft blue light. You walk up to the windows and see into the habitat, with an aye-aye scurrying about. You run to another, you see another aye-aye. There is the sound of crickets (could be wrong, going off of memory) and then you walk back into the daylight, with a new sense of how awesome and cryptic and mysterious these critters are. As for the vampire bat exhibit, you walk in, it's dark. You see a decent-sized glass enclosure with a mural that looks like a five-year old did it (viewing from a distance). There is an obvious blue light. You see the bats, but they are all huddled in one corner. That's all, folks. All-in all, an improvement for husbandry, but the loss of a decent collection and a disappointing experience overwhelmingly counter the positives. What are your thoughts?
I saw the nocturnal wing once, but I was just six or seven years old and barely remember it. I remember the echidnas, but that's just because they were unique. I imagine only the vampire bats got to stay because they are the best known. It'd be nice if they had just redone the whole Small Mammal House. It wasn't particularly bad, but I know there is a lot of space currently that's just behind the scenes holdings that could be converted into bigger or more exhibits. The bat exhibit was indeed disappointing, and I agree the aye-aye exhibits were much better presented. Also, I'm not sure about their process of acquisition/de-acquisition but I did see an okapi on my visit in November.
@jayjds2 maybe the small mammal house could be converted into a new nocturnal building? Something like a smaller-scale Kingdoms of the Night, with a Central American Forest for vampire bats (already built) an African Bushveld for Aardvarks with a daylight section for the meerkats (pre-existing, could possibly be expanded into the Sloth habitat) an Australian Forest for Echidnas and sugar gliders, etc.
That's an interesting proposition. I think the confined space would make that a bit much of a challenge to be too extensive. Also, nocturnal exhibits are very expensive to upkeep, so both the renovation and the result would be costly, perhaps too much so. That is why nocturnal exhibits are often closed these days, and very few new exhibits are built. I suppose we'll just have to see what the zoo does do with building, if it can do anything. I don't know if it is prevented from extensive renovation or demolition by any historical society or the like.
I walked into this area earlier this week. The first difference I noticed was how the walls were so closed in from the previous wing. This space used to be a lot bigger, but they seemed to shrink it down for the one exhibit. Unfortunately, this building is not very exciting anymore. However, it's still nice to see an aardvark and it's excellent to venture in when the sloths eat their breakfast because its their most active period of the day.
