Tropical House - the exhibit for Lesser Malay Mouse Deer

Copenhagen Zoo October 2009

Nicely furnished exhibit, size perhaps 40 sq meters. But the question of course remains: is it reasonable to keep mammals indoors 24/7? (Been debated recently at the site.)

Could´n´t see the animals, but then I didn´t stay long by the exhibit. Will stay longer the next time - I bet they are fascinating to watch.

This exhibit look great!

It is a good exhibit. Size-wise it is fine. The undergrowth and tree cover is dense which provides cover for the mouse deer and the roof is glass so lots of natural light comes through.

Keeping the mouse deer outside would cause at least two major problems that I can just think of:

1) Climate. The mouse deer is a delicate species and would only get to spend a short time each day outside in the summer months.

2) Noise. The glass in this exhibit takes up a lot of the noise from the visitors which is good since mouse deer are quite shy. This would be impossible outside.