It seems as if every single exhibit at Nashville Zoo is stunning. There's been a whole bunch of new stuff built since I visited in 2010 (spider monkeys, tapirs, Andean bears, tigers, etc.) and much of it is outstanding. Not to mention monkeys in the bathrooms!
@snowleopard And I could not see those monkeys because of my gender
I do agree with you about the zoos excellent quality. Its amazing to think that a big city like Nashville didnt even have a zoo until the mid-90s. Every year they seem to belt out another award-winning exhibit and I'm excited about the upcoming African Leopard Forest area.
My only gripe with all these wonderful areas are that theyre huge and beautiful spaces that are only dedicated to a single species. Tiger Crossroads is really great but its a shame they couldnt add some more animals to the section. Langurs, deer or a wild pig could of fit perfectly. Even a small aviary or some Asian herp terrariums inside the indoor tiger viewing building would of satisfied me. Expedition Peru has the same issues, though they at least have Pudu (and domestic guinea pigs + a tank with repeat lizards/fish) there. Leopard Forest will hopefully rectify these issues as I've heard a couple of monkey species and some other mammals are also going to inhabit the area.
Yes, @SusScrofa you definitely make some good points here. One thing I like about the maze that is Lost Jungle at San Diego Zoo is that around a corner from the Pygmy Hippos is a long wall of terrariums. Elsewhere, there are aviaries galore near the Tigers and Malayan Tapirs. Primates are on one side, a croc pool in a little alleyway zone, yet more aviaries in another section. That area is packed, which is in stark contrast to Nashville's approach.
All seriousness, I've yet to see Nashville as far as being able to objectively compare the two design approaches, but from my experience with Lost Forest, even if different phases opened with different design philosophies (Tiger River having Indonesian inspired architecture compared to the more modern designs of Gorilla Tropics/Bonobo Road, Monkey Trails and Forest Tales, Absolutely Apes, Ituri Forest, Birds of Australasia and even the classic "modernized" aviaries like the Scripps, Owens and Parker Aviaries), they all blend together in a truly cohesive manner. And their being packed together funnily helps highlight how biodiverse a rainforest ecosystem truly is, in the abstract yet beautiful way that only San Diego could pull off.
