It's just concept art so that could just be a extra detail and nothing more. It would be really cool though and I hope it does happen, but with Milwaukee I've learned its best to wait and see before getting excited.
So the new indoor area will not feature a pool? I assume the existing pools will be used in that case. It'll be great to see hippos with a lot of indoor land area though.
@nczoofan it doesn’t appear this portion of it will, but the 2008 “Hippo Home” indoor extension is being maintained and that does feature an indoor pool. I think there will also be another off exhibit pool. I actually don’t mind that as there is probably going to be more land area in this indoor exhibit then the outdoor one so I think that’s a fair trade.
@pachyderm pro I agree. Sound like a great addition to the zoo and overall a wise investment (especially considering how it will adapt existing infrastructure).
The bird in the bottom right corner looks a lot like a cattle egret with buff breeding plumage, I think, although admittedly it is not drawn entirely correctly.
@birdsandbats I did a bit of research and apparently Eastern cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis coromandus or B. coromandus, depending on which taxonomy you follow) have much more buff, also extending to the neck and throat, in their breeding plumage than the Western nomimate subspecies (or species B. ibis). But I believe most, if not all, European and American zoos keep the Western form, which is also the form that has spread to and is now found in the wild in Europe and America.
