A European fantasy zoo

Here is a more accurate run-through of what is going on. I will start new threads for each continent, which will have separate zoos for each displaying the animals there. The zoos will all be part of the same organization - the Biota Association.

Th first zoo is the one I have started already: The European branch of the association. It is called Bioparc Morzine. It is located in a valley around a large ribbon lake, as mentioned earlier, with a large variety in habitats.
The second zoo will be on the outskirts of Mandurah, Australia, in a region with a Mediterranean climate, well suited to representing the rest of the continent.
The third zoo will represent North American fauna and be based in Ottawa, Canada. The area around the zoo is predominantly coniferous forest and so is well suited to displaying Northern fauna, while the desert and wetland fauna of the US will be represented in Indoor spaces.
The fourth zoo will be representing South American fauna and be based just outside Rio de Janeiro in the slightly more mountainous but still tropical area of the city.
Next will be the zoo representing Asian fauna, which will be based on Hong Kong (a large city without a sizeable zoo) next to the Tai Lam Chung reservoir North-West of the city centre.
And finally the last zoo will be based in Nyeri, Kenya, on Nyeri Hill. This makes it near the Aberdare NP, which means that inspired young people might participate in conservation efforts to support dwindling populations of Mountain bongos, Mountain reedbucks and Eastern black rhinos in the area.

The Biota Association has the support of the governments of these countries and the zoos are partially funded by the governments of those countries. This allows the zoos in Africa and South America in particular to have low entry fees to allow everyone in. This, along with the zoos' variety of species and immersive habitats means that education levels increase and more people are motivated to contribute to conservation.
 
OK, switching back to Europe for now. The Great Deserts of the West map is taking quite a long time so won't be finished for a while yet. In the meantime, here is a map of the areas I plan to cover in this thread:

European fantasy zoo map ranges.png
There will be 14 areas in total, of which one is not shown on the map:

Scotland: Highland to Loch (yellow)
England's Green and Pleasant Land (bright green)
Iberia (red)
Camargue (very pale blue)
Alps (sky blue)
Bavaria (grey-blue)
Italy (purple)
Sardinia and Corsica (brown)
The High Atlantic (not depicted)
Aegean to Adriatic (light green)
Crossroads between Continents (orange)
Balkans and Carpathians (burgundy)
Eastern forests (dark green)
Scandinavia (dark blue)
 

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Actually, Bavaria will be combined with Eastern forests to form Great forest of the North, an area spanning from Bavaria, through Poland and Belarus and into Russia.

Here is the order in which I will run through the European exhibits:

Great Forest of the North
Scandinavia
Scotland: Highland to Loch
England's Green and Pleasant Land
Alps - Roof of Europe
Italy
Sardinia and Corsica
The Camargue
Iberia
The High Atlantic

Great Forest of the North should be finished in about a week - I'll be quarantined so might be even earlier.
 
OK, from now on I have decided to post my exhibits in smaller chunks to not only make it more readable but also to make my contributions to this thread more regular :D

Anyway, here is Great Forest of the North - Part 1

Visitors start off where we left off in Balkans and Carpathians, on a limestone path crossing a sort of wetland-bog. The path bends slightly to the right, towards a large mesh aviary. As they approach the entrance, they notice that the aviary is comparatively scarcely populated. They turn right and enter through double doors and a sign greets them immediately, informing them about the species held in the aviary. Having read the sign and thoroughly looked at the illustrations to be able to identify the birds they see, the visitors walk on further into the aviary.

They approach a wooden platform looking over the lake in the centre of the aviary. At first, nothing is visible, but then, unexpectedly, a Marsh warbler rockets out of the reeds and plunges back down towards the lake. The walkway turns around an especially tall clump of reeds and the visitors now see the stars of the aviary. A large group of waders of varied species is gathered on a mudbank. Visitors, with the help of another group of signs, manage to identify the birds. Among them are Marsh sandpipers, Great snipes, Terek sandpipers and Broad-billed sandpipers. The walkway turns back towards the main path on which they started, and as they get a glimpse of the lake and the waders, the visitors exit the aviary and find themselves back on the limestone path.

Not far away is another aviary of similar size for equally intriguing species. As they turn left into the aviary, the visitors notice another diverging path to the right that leads towards some low buildings. They make a mental note to return to it later, but pass through the double doors of the aviary and are plunged into a large grassland area. Part of the exhibit is heathland, which then morphs into long, yellow grass, punctuated by trees and thickets, until at the far side of the aviary visitors reach a small copse of trees.

Immediately the visitors see the largest inhabitants of the exhibit. A pair of female Pallas's sandgrouse are wandering through the heath and waddle away when the visitors approach. The wooden walkway through the exhibit isn't elevated but a short wooden fence on both sides of it keep visitors on track. Having watched the sandgrouse move away, visitors turn their attention to a thick clump of reeds in the centre of the exhibit. Next to it is a small pond, adorned with a few lilypads and seaweed. As the visitors watch, Little buntings take it in turns to swoop down to the surface of the water and drink. They then return to the safety of the reeds. Intrigued by the small birds, the visitors don't notice the larger spectacle preparing itself elsewhere in the aviary. But, startled by a creaking wood board on the path, a large flock of Rosy starlings shoots out of the long grass further into the exhibit and circles around the exhibit, landing again in the slightly more forested area of the exhibit after a few laps of the aviary.

The starlings do not repeat their spectacle so the visitors move on. A colourful bird lands on the handrail of the fence along the path in front of them. With the help of a sign, they identify it as a Red-flanked bluetail. Further on, they spot the last two inhabitants of the exhibit. A River warbler and a Citrine wagtail are perched on a low branch of a tree in the corner of the exhibit, one resting and the other watching the starlings, who have now taken off again, intently.

The visitors finally exit the aviary and start to walk back down the main path towards the buildings they saw earlier.

Part 2 will focus on the Reptile House, then move on towards exhibits for smaller mammals.
Part 3 will be the final section, and will include the larger mammals in the exhibit, a large aviary, and a rodent complex.
 
Great Forest of the North - Part 2

The visitors enter a quiet pine pathway. Slowly, the tree cover thins and visitors find themselves in an unruffled expanse of steppe. The ground has a slight slope to it and the thick, yellow grass hides a rocky, almost mountainous terrain. A simple low picket fence surrounds the next enclosure. The inhabitants are however almost immediately apparent. The exhibit houses energetic Yellow ground squirrels and the less lively Horsfield's tortoises. One of the squirrels even pauses on top of a tortoise to survey the surrounds and then sprints back off across the steppe. The picket fence is puntuated now and again by glass panels through which the visitors can get closer to the tortoises and the squirrels. Nearby a couple of panels tells visitors about the species. They talk about how the tortoises are vulnerable due to industrial activities in its native habitat and about the squirrel burrows. A neighbouring sign refers to the well-known fable 'The Hare and the Tortoise'.

Moving on around the left of the exhibit, visitors enter a long building which extends towards the left, in parallel to the original path. They enter and the building is darkened. Only the exhibits are lit by simple lamps hanging from their ceilings. The first few exhibits generally have dry, wrinkled grass growing in them, several large, flat rocks and a small pool. But the special feature of these exhibits is that many are connected by pathways embedded into the walls of the house. These pathways encourage the reptiles to move around their exhibits, get more exercise and thus be more healthy. The first ten terraria on the left are for various agamid species, which then morph into a zone for geckos, and then snakes. Slowly, as they pass through the building, visitors notice that it gets brighter until at the snakes, a glass roof is implemented to bring more light to the exhibits. To the right is a constant flow of signage for the exhibits, including some interactive areas. Visitors walk along the row - they spot a pair of Caucasian agamas in the corner of their exhibit, a Steppe agama scuttling under a rock, a Spotted Toadhead agama bathing in its pool and a Secret Toadhead agama in a tunnel between its exhibits. Children can follow the tunnels and link exhibits to find out which species are in which terraria. Finally, they spot a reclusive European Toad-headed agama inside a tunnel, hidden behind a rock. When they approach it, it scuttles quickly into another exhibit and submerges itself in a pool.

Next are the geckos. They have slightly less naturalistic enclosures, owing to their tendency to inhabit houses or backyards. One wall in each exhibit is made of white cement to simulate a home, with a pile of firewood shoved against the side of the house and with some prairie land further away. Most of the four exhibits for geckos are similar to this set up, with the tunnel between the exhibits designed to look like a water pipe. Species housed in this area are the Caspian naked-fingered gecko and the Caspian straight-fingered gecko.

Soon visitors are plunged into the sunlight beneath the glass ceiling of the building. The snake exhibits are larger than the lizard ones and the tunnels between the exhibits are disguised as long, thin cracks in a rock formation, which mock rock cladding applied to the walls. This makes it look (hopefully) more natural, especially when exposed to the sunlight. The first exhibit is for the Magnificent viper, a species the visitors spot as it disappears into a tunnel. Visitors also get good views of the critically endangered Orlov's viper, a Caucasian subalpine viper and a Lotiev's viper. Finally, visitors come to a Slender racer exhibit, where they eventually spot the inhabitants hiding in a crack under a rock.

Finally, the visitors hit the amphibians. Two tall terraria represent the forest ecosystem for European gree toads and Moor frogs. They each have sizeable pools, and some like foliage. Now the visitors have a choice - they can turn left and go back towards the main path or they can continue along a shaded alley towards the next few exhibits, after which the alley rejoins the main path without having missed anything. The visitors decide to take the smaller alley. Along the path, they can see occasional photographs of what they assume are the next animals. The photos are taken and night and depict what looks like a long-legged mouse running from a fearsome-looking viper. Eventually, visitors enter a shelter where they learn the taxa in question's name. Two species of these long-legged rodents can be found at the zoo - the Tamarisk jird and the Midday jird. Two large window panes look out into the exhibit at ground level, allowing a more close-up view of the exhibit. The enclosures are small but very dense - packed with rocks of different sizes, desert plants and dry logs. In between the two viewing windows, the other panes allow visitors to look into their indoor accommodation.

A small path to the left of the Tamarisk jird exhibit takes visitors back around to the main path. They get one last look into the jird exhibits around the other size and continue to their right. The grassland aviary is still on their left as the path starts to climb up the flank of the mountain. Around a turn in the path (to the left), the visitors spot another exhibit emerging to their right and hear a squeal further up the path. The exhibit consists of a thick pine forest with a floor covered in soft substrate. The chippings and soil have however been heavily turned over in places, with roots ripped out and strewn all over the ground. Visitors realise that the animal held in this exhibit must be incredibly powerful and dangerous, yet the only thing separated them from it is a medium sized wooden fence.

Moving further along the path, visitors spot a large shelter which seems to contain viewing into the exhibit in question. They go up a few flat stairs and enter the shelter. The viewpoint is elevated around two metres above the exhibit, and an open air viewing balcony allows visitors to peer down onto a large family of Wild boars. A female is sprawled on the ground, surrounded by ten striped piglets around her, while a couple of larger boars are busy making massive dents and holes in the ground. Further into the exhibit, visitors can see shadows moving among the thick tree cover. To the right, below the viewing balcony, is a large mud bath. Inside it, the largest boar is noisily rolling over. Its impressive tusks are only visible when he stands up and sprints headlong into the forest, mud flying off him in all directions.

Visitors are about to turn and exit the shelter when they see another viewing window in the corner. They instantly recognise the black, grey and white animal depicted on the signage - a Eurasian badger. Their exhibit is essentially a large hole in the ground and a small patch of forest beyond it. However, the visitors spot a small black nose peering out of the hole and soon the entire stripy face of a badger is staring at them. The chubby body pulls itself out of the hole and it scuttles towards the glass. The visitors watch it for a while and finally move on. As they rejoin the path, they spot another exhibit across the road from the shelter. This one is another shelter, but smaller and the steps descend into it this time. Smaller visitors find their heads at the same level as the ground in the exhibits now, peering at a couple of multilevel exhibits. A small stream cuts through one, while the other has a little green pool. The rest of the exhibits are representations of the forest floor, with leaf litter, small pieces of bark and moss and small thickets. The exhibit houses a small insectivore species, recognisable by its mane of spines covering its back - the Northern white-breasted hedgehog. Visitors only spot a single specimen out of the two pairs that live in the zoo, curled up and sleeping in a corner of the exhibit. They move on.

To be continue in Part 3.
 
Great Forest of the North - Part 3

Now as they rejoin the main path yet again they are met with two exhibits on either side of it. They go to the right first. The exhibit is essentially an area of pine forest covered over by a mesh canopy. Now and again, visitors small shapes darting through the trees. With the help of the signage, they learn that this is a species of bat called Eptesicus lobatus, from Ukraine. They now start to spot bats everywhere - a whole colony hidden in the trees. They almost look like dead leaves at a first glance.

Visitors now move to the left. Here, they have a shelter on stilts. The shelter has a balcony overlooking two meshed over exhibits housing two mammals who look similar from far away but who are in fact mortal enemies in the wild. The shelter sits on a very steep piece of land, so the visitors on the balcony are in the front at the level of the understory. This makes them best placed to spot the animals in the exhibit. To their right, they hear a rustle. What appears to be a squirrel at first is immediately recognisable upon closer inspection: a Pine Marten. Its beautifully cream-coloured bib and chocolate-coloured fur make it distinctive. It races through the thick pine forest of its exhibit, leaping deftly from tree to tree until in reaches a small wooden bowl full to the brim with scraps of meat. It feeds there for a minute, but soon raises its head once more and peers through a double layer of mesh into the neighbouring exhibit. A Caucasian squirrel has just appeared in the left exhibit. Visitors watch both animals intently as the marten prowls along the netting near the squirrel, who, oblivious, is leaping through the undergrowth. A second pine marten joins the other one, but this one seems less interested in the squirrel and instead finishes off the scraps in the bowl and returns to the wooden box in the corner of the exhibit. The visitors stay for a few minutes to marvel at the predator/prey interactions, and then emerge from the shelter and make their way back towards the main path.

Now visitors see a walkthrough aviary coming up ahead. It is significantly smaller than the other two they entered earlier in the visit, only containing around 12 pines underneath the tall mesh canopy. Inside, there is a peaceful and natural atmosphere about the aviary, evoking the silence of the Russian taiga. They can hear the birds faintly, but they are much harder to spot than before due to their smaller size. However, as they go around a particularly large pine tree, they spot a large group of Rustic buntings peppering the path ahead. Seeing the visitors, they shoot off back into the trees. The largest inhabitant of the aviary then shows itself - a Thrush nightingale calls loudly from an overhanging branch. A beautiful blue bird chirps over the visitors and they watch as the Azure tit bobs its tail repeatedly and then darts away. Finally, the last two species in the aviary are spotted as the visitors leave - a group of Common rosefinches are joined by a lone Two-barred crossbill.

As they emerge, another, smaller aviary, appears to the right. Inside is a species of grey and white owl - the Ural Owl. They have around 5 pines and a thick undergrowth below. To the left of the path is another, much more complicated area. It is essentially a multi-level area for numerous different rodent species, with multiple ecosystems depicted within the 15 exhibits int eh complex. A small path leads into the centre of the outdoor complex. However, the path, instead of being elevated as is often the case, is submerged. The visitor pathway is about 80 centimetres below the exhibit level. The path is guided by tightly-packed soil walls on both sides, then glass panels rising 1.2 metres above that (making a total barrier of over 2 metres). Small steps for smaller visitors allow a ground level view eye-to-eye with the rodents. Each individual exhibit is separated by a natural barrier - for example a small stream or a column of rocks. Are there 5 small paths connected by a centre circle, allowing the visitors 2 viewpoints on each of the 15 exhibits in the complex. Species held in the rodent complex include: Hazel dormouse, Podolsk mole rat, Lesser mole rat, Sandy mole rat, Common hamster, Sibling vole, Bavarian pine vole, Major's pine vole, Northern mole vole, Nordmann's birch mouse and Strand's birch mouse. The Bavarian pine voles have three exhibits for three pairs to try and boost captive populations.

Having thoroughly explored the rodent complex, visitors rejoin the main path once more for the final exhibit in the Great Forest of the North area. The path joins a wooden ramp, which takes visitors onto an elevated walkway over a patch of untouched and pristine pine forest. The walkway gives them a great view of the woodland, passing over a sizeable stream and looking out up the mountainside to the right. Unaware that they have entered an animal exhibit due to the discreet barriers, the visitors enjoy the dappled sunlight on their faces as they stroll through the enclosure.
Suddenly a low growl erupts from the undergrowth and a massive male European brown bear comes shooting out of the thick forest, trailed closely by another, even larger specimen. They plunge into the river, where they start playfully batting at each other, causing massive splashes in the water. The visitors happily watch them for a while having overcome the initial shock of seeing them rocket out of the forest. A few minutes later, a couple of, and then a whole pack of, Tundra wolves melts into the clearly silently. They join the bears in the river to cool down and then turn and disappear into the forest darkness once more. Both species have areas where they can avoid each other, allowing for peaceful cohabitation. In any case, the exhibit is so large that they rarely come into contact anyway.

And with that final exhibit, the visitors leave the Great Forest of the North exhibit and walk towards the next installment - Scandinavia.

I'm also on about 13,000 words written for Europe so far... :D
 
Right, I'm reviving this thread. Apologies for the hiatus, I will get back to work asap.
However, I'm not entirely sure when the next installment will be done. As for maps, they will take a long time naturally but I hope to get some headway on that soon.

Coming up next should be Scandinavia and Svalbard, so I will try to get Svalbard's map done sometime soon as it stick out as one of the easier ones (a lot of fairly nondescript, blank landscape and not many species :D).

On my other thread on Oceania, as I previously said I have finished the species lists but maps are bound to take oodles of time. Apologies for the delay :)
 
I think the reason why Europe is so poorly represented in Fantasy zoos is b/c most faunas in Europe overlap with NA and Asia. When we talk about wildlife in Europe, the first coming to mind often include brown bear, wolf, lynx, ibex, badger, red fox, wild boar, moose, marmot, golden eagle, goshawk, eagle-owl, wolverine, you can find all of them on other continents. However Europe does not have that many "unique" species, by contrast, Asia has tiger, red panda, orangutan, gibbon, komodo dragon; Africa has gorilla, chimp, hippo, aardvark, lemur; Oceania has monotremes, kangaroo, koala, kiwi, tuatara etc, SA has anteater, sloth, capybara, guanaco. So these continents are frequently represented by realistic and fantasy zoos.
 
SInce this thread has been bumped, I feel as if I can ask whether you plan to continue with this and the Oceanian zoo.
 
I am totally looking forward to seeing The Scotland section: Highlands to Lochs
The England section:
The Alps section, the sections based on Iberia and Italy, and the high Atlantic and I especially can’t to see the Scottish, English and the section based on the alps because Scotland and England are a big part of my heritage along with the alps since a lot of my ancestors came from Switzerland and I also can’t wait to see the Scottish section since it is home to a magnificent creature that can only be found in Scotland and this creature is the Scottish wildcat.
 
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