America's 100 Must See Exhibits

[ThylacineAlive]

Detroit has three top tier exhibits and a few good to great ones. That conceal that most of the zoo is just… good. Fine. Better than average. The highs are high, the lows are average, and most of the space is empty. It has the bones of a top ten zoo, but I don’t think it’s put enough meat on the skeleton to qualify.

I was going to make a whole comment about Detroit in general, but you've about summed up my feelings. Pretty much all the indoor spaces are superb, but the outdoor areas often leave a lot to be desired. The vast spans of virtual nothingness are incredibly frustrating at times, especially for such a, well, elongated zoo.

I refuse to accept this is a coincidence...

And get a fun coincidence it was! At least on my end my only gripe with this exhibit is that there are a series of terrariums only visible from a kids' cave tunnel. It'd be one thing if it helps only common species, but it houses cave salamanders too!

I do suspect (and hope) that this won't be the last we see of Detroit in this thread.


Fun fact for those interesting, if you're looking for who to thank for this exhibit, he's now the herp curator at Brookfield Zoo as it happens!

~Thylo

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Are the sea spiders gone then?

I saw no sign of them, sadly.

~Thylo

 

[Emanuel Theodorus]

Nah, the real question is if it's worth waiting 90 minutes in line for.

Never been to Disney but I would 100% believe it is. You can never convince me a chance of seeing Nile Hippos in a pod and seeing some of the best exhibits for Black Rhinos, Hippos, African Elephants, as well as other savannah ungulates is not worth the wait.

100% deserved the list and the wait.

 

[Emanuel Theodorus]

Nah, the real question is if it's worth however absurd money DAK admission is.

Yes. 100% yes without a heavy doubt.

 

[Great Argus]

Yes. 100% yes without a heavy doubt.

Given that none of the species themselves are unique to DAK, the relative cost has sunk Disney fairly low on my priority list. Many of their exhibits are quite nice, but I'm not sure they up things quite enough to shell out for it. Going just for the animals does make it a bit steep, even more than SeaWorld (which have a lot more unusual/rare species.)

 

[Emanuel Theodorus]

Given that none of the species themselves are unique to DAK, the relative cost has sunk Disney fairly low on my priority list. Many of their exhibits are quite nice, but I'm not sure they up things quite enough to shell out for it. Going just for the animals does make it a bit steep, even more than SeaWorld (which have a lot more unusual/rare species.)

I guess I'm biased given that I heavily LOVED theme park areas and not just the zoo aspects of it, I think it'd be 100% worth it to visit that park. You definitely can't forget the fact that this is also the same park that held Expedition Everest as well as Pandora, an experience you cannot find anywhere else in the world. On top of that, the world of Africa will always impress me with its theming, given the look and feel as if you're in an actual african village and you were given the immersion to dive into the culture of it.

But of course, I guess I shouldn't be expecting this much fan on that section on ZOOchat afterall.

Still don't think anyone can ever argue Kilimanjaro Safaris deserved to be on this list, for not only having some of the most immersive African savannah in North America, but also some of the best exhibits you can ever find for hippos, rhinos, and elephants.

I also 100% predict Gorilla Falls will get an honorable mention when Bronx's Congo Gorilla Forest gets the spot on the list.

 

[Emanuel Theodorus]

Also gonna predict the Hippoquarium style exhibit for Nile Hippos will be at least getting a spot on the list. My money is on Zambezi River Hippo Camp of Memphis Zoo for not only having bigger land area for hippos to walk on, combined with the great strengths of great underwater viewing area, but also great complexes for Nile Crocodiles, Okapi, and Flamingos as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if San Diego's beautiful and extremely clear underwater view of the tank filled gets the spot or Saint Louis with its overall great viewing area or Toledo's Hippoquarium, which while not as impressive, they are the pioneers of hippoquarium style exhibit that we all know today.

Honorable mentions that are unlikely going to get on the list but most likely will be listed in similiar exhibits include San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Busch Gardens.

Cincinnati will definitely get a dishonorable mention though.

 

[Moebelle]

or Saint Louis with its overall great viewing area

Cincinnati will definitely get a dishonorable mention though.

Not sure how one could be honored over the other when it's hard to tell which is which at first glance - the only real difference is Saint Louis's land area is very bare. Both are roughly 3,500 sq ft, at one point both have held the same number of animals in recent years (3 and 4). If we're rating the exhibit based on it's viewing, Cincinnati's underwater view is over 20 feet longer than Saint Louis's, and from experience has always been the clearer of the two. Simply rating the enclosures alone, I believe both are equally poor habitats for hippos. STL gets more of a pass because they don't breed and their exhibit isn't on the newer side.

 

[Emanuel Theodorus]

Not sure how one could be honored over the other when it's hard to tell which is which at first glance - the only real difference is Saint Louis's land area is very bare. Both are roughly 3,500 sq ft, at one point both have held the same number of animals in recent years (3 and 4). If we're rating the exhibit based on it's viewing, Cincinnati's underwater view is over 20 feet longer than Saint Louis's, and from experience has always been the clearer of the two. Simply rating the enclosures alone, I believe both are equally poor habitats for hippos.

Ah yeah... actually scratch that. I remembered Saint Louis's was better for some reason. In that case, I think it's out of the list then.

And also, Cincinnati's getting a dishonorable mention for not just the rather poor and small exhibit, but also the management of the quite-obviously-overcrowded hippo herd there.

 

[groundskeeper24]

Kilimanjaro Safaris was as advertised when I saw it in 2016. The hippo and croc area was unlike any I'd seen. I also got to ride twice without too much of a wait, which was nice. The species may not have been super rare, but the visual side of things was interesting. It felt secluded from the rest of the park unlike Busch (nothing against Busch, I liked their safari as well).

As to the hippoquarium debate, I don't want to say they are played out. They're a great idea for an exhibit if a zoo can afford them while creating an otherwise adequate exhibit. Sometimes that's not the case. I was looking at the old outdoor nile hippo exhibit at Brookfield this summer. It has no window, obviously, and the indoor holding is antiquated. Despite those two negatives, I thought the yard was a really nice size compared to some newer hippoquarium enclosures I've seen. Even the pool was fairly large. I suppose newer isn't always better.

 

[pachyderm pro]

15. Desert Dome
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, NE
Opened: 2002
Size: 42,000 Square Feet (3,900 Square Meters)
Inhabitants: Roughly 80 species including Collared Peccary, African Wild Cat, Klipspringer, Coati, Dwarf Mongoose, >25 bird species and a large selection of reptiles, amphibians and fish.

There is arguably no better exhibit to demonstrate Omaha’s 'go big or go home' ideology than this one. The world's largest glazed geodesic dome, containing America’s largest indoor desert, featuring the world’s largest indoor rattlesnake exhibit. That last one is a tad more specific, although the rattlesnake canyon display is a gem and one of the building's real highlights. This is the exhibit Omaha has become synonymous with and it's all quite the spectacle at first glance, opening with a 30 foot tall red sand dune as an imposing first impression. It’s a technological achievement as well with over 1,700 acrylic windows designed to maximize shade in the summer and sun in the winter. As grandiose as it all is, when you look a little closer it isn’t always as amazing for the animals as it’s made out to be. The exhibit as a whole has a tendency to do too much, as displaying three different desert environments under the same roof means that many individual enclosures are rather cramped. A majority of the carnivores in the building suffer from some unfortunately small accommodations and there are also a few aviaries that are surprisingly tiny. Thankfully, the worst offenders like the wallaby and hyrax ledge displays have been emptied and there is certainly more good than bad to be found. The herp collection is incredibly extensive across the three areas and the walls of vivaria are all very high quality. The small pond for African teals is terrific and in general free flight birds do very well here. Some of the smaller mammals like dwarf mongoose and coati have much better enclosures and even the peccary exhibit is quite nice. Despite its flaws, it is surely one of the most iconic zoo exhibits in modern history.

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

Similar Exhibits: The Desert Dome is not an entirely original concept. Before Omaha completed its extravagant take on the idea, North Carolina Zoo and Indianapolis Zoo already had their own Desert Domes, albeit on a much smaller scale. They aren’t even remotely close to Omaha in size and ambition, but the focus on smaller species is much more appropriate for the space allotted.

North Carolina Zoo

@Coelacanth18

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

Indianapolis Zoo

@Moebelle

@Grizzly Hound

@pachyderm pro

 

[Pleistocene891]

15. Desert Dome
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, NE
Opened: 2002
Size: 42,000 Square Feet (3,900 Square Meters)
Inhabitants: Roughly 80 species including Collared Peccary, African Wild Cat, Klipspringer, Coati, Dwarf Mongoose, >25 bird species and a large selection of reptiles, amphibians and fish.

There is arguably no better exhibit to demonstrate Omaha’s 'go big or go home' ideology than this one. The world's largest glazed geodesic dome, containing America’s largest indoor desert, featuring the world’s largest indoor rattlesnake exhibit. That last one is a tad more specific, although the rattlesnake canyon display is a gem and one of the building's real highlights. This is the exhibit Omaha has become synonymous with and it's all quite the spectacle at first glance, opening with a 30 foot tall red sand dune as an imposing first impression. It’s a technological achievement as well with over 1,700 acrylic windows designed to maximize shade in the summer and sun in the winter. As grandiose as it all is, when you look a little closer it isn’t always as amazing for the animals as it’s made out to be. The exhibit as a whole has a tendency to do too much, as displaying three different desert environments under the same roof means that many individual enclosures are rather cramped. A majority of the carnivores in the building suffer from some unfortunately small accommodations and there are also a few aviaries that are surprisingly tiny. Thankfully, the worst offenders like the wallaby and hyrax ledge displays have been emptied and there is certainly more good than bad to be found. The herp collection is incredibly extensive across the three areas and the walls of vivaria are all very high quality. The small pond for African teals is terrific and in general free flight birds do very well here. Some of the smaller mammals like dwarf mongoose and coati have much better enclosures and even the peccary exhibit is quite nice. Despite its flaws, it is surely one of the most iconic zoo exhibits in modern history.

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

Similar Exhibits: The Desert Dome is not an entirely original concept. Before Omaha completed its extravagant take on the idea, North Carolina Zoo and Indianapolis Zoo already had their own Desert Domes, albeit on a much smaller scale. They aren’t even remotely close to Omaha in size and ambition, but the focus on smaller species is much more appropriate for the space allotted.

North Carolina Zoo

@Coelacanth18

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

Indianapolis Zoo

@Moebelle

@Grizzly Hound

@pachyderm pro

The desert dome is the perfect representation of Omaha before Dennis Pate. An exhibit that puts the visitors before the animals with its amazing presentation but poor, cramped enclosures.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

The desert dome is the perfect representation of Omaha before Dennis Pate. An exhibit that puts the visitors before the animals with its amazing presentation but poor, cramped enclosures.

I wouldn't describe all the habitats as poor or cramped. Some definitely are not good, but the Cougars and rock-wallabies have since been removed and either replaced by more appropriately sized animals, or had the displays closed entirely.

The Desert Dome isn't perfect, but it is definitely an excellent piece of American zoo architecture. The combo with Kingdom of Darkness houses beneath the building makes the complex an absolute must-see.

It will be interesting to see how this space evolves over time, if the habitats are further updated and of the building will inevitably be maintained and refurbished. I happened to visit on a particularly rainy afternoon, and boy are there quite a lot of cracks and holes in that roof..

~Thylo

 

[15399]

A great selection for this thread, and a style of exhibitry I wish was more common. Only five US Zoos have indoor desert exhibits- the three mentioned above plus ZooAmerica and Brookfield Zoo. It's a real shame there aren't more zoos featuring Deserts extensively, as these are really fascinating ecosystems with a lot of really cool species (including some crowd pleasers). With the number of zoos investing in indoor rainforest buildings, it'd be great appreciated if some decided to invest in naturalistic replications of other biomes instead/as well, especially in cold climate zoos that often need strong indoor areas by default to be successful.

 

[CGSwans]

I wonder if it's just a statistical anomaly, but we're only 15 zoos in and already the 'big 5' (Bronx, San Diego, Omaha, Columbus and Saint Louis) account for 7 of the selections. That might reflect that there's simply less depth and sheer quality in America's second tier collections.

 

[Pleistocene891]

I wonder if it's just a statistical anomaly, but we're only 15 zoos in and already the 'big 5' (Bronx, San Diego, Omaha, Columbus and Saint Louis) account for 7 of the selections. That might reflect that there's simply less depth and sheer quality in America's second tier collections.

I’m honestly expecting another 22 exhibits just from the “big 5”. I think it shows that there’s fewer and less diverse zoos in America than there are in Europe. The top tier American zoos just overpower the other American zoos.

 

[Great Argus]

I wonder if it's just a statistical anomaly, but we're only 15 zoos in and already the 'big 5' (Bronx, San Diego, Omaha, Columbus and Saint Louis) account for 7 of the selections. That might reflect that there's simply less depth and sheer quality in America's second tier collections.

I think the first three are pretty much solid in the top five for anyone, the other two are much debated. I do wonder about that as well, and we are currently sitting heavy in the upper Midwest, and those that aren't from that region have been at the giants. I have a fair few exhibits I'm holding out for on the West Coast, and so far none of them are in.

 

[15399]

To be fair, there's another 85 exhibits yet to come on this list. Plenty of time for more exhibits from other zoos and other parts of the country. If the exhibits were randomly ordered, by nature you would expect certain sections of the list to skew in different directions- in this case towards large zoos and the midwest specifically. We will see going forward if this skew remains or goes away, as it may not be a systematic bias in the list, but more so representative of the small sample size so far. Like @Great Argus, I also am holding out hope that a few local exhibits make the list, albeit some are niche enough I'm skeptical that they will.

 

[CGSwans]

To be fair, there's another 85 exhibits yet to come on this list. Plenty of time for more exhibits from other zoos and other parts of the country. If the exhibits were randomly ordered, by nature you would expect certain sections of the list to skew in different directions- in this case towards large zoos and the midwest specifically. We will see going forward if this skew remains or goes away, as it may not be a systematic bias in the list, but more so representative of the small sample size so far.

Hence...

I wonder if it's just a statistical anomaly...

 

[pachyderm pro]

I wonder if it's just a statistical anomaly, but we're only 15 zoos in and already the 'big 5' (Bronx, San Diego, Omaha, Columbus and Saint Louis) account for 7 of the selections. That might reflect that there's simply less depth and sheer quality in America's second tier collections.

I mentioned at the beginning of this thread that there wouldn't be quite as many zoos featured as the Europe thread, but that's not necessarily because there is less quality in the second tier of zoos. There are just less collections to choose from and it just so happened to work out that at least one exhibit from "the big five" made an appearance this early on. However, this is not indicative of the list as a whole. To give an idea of what the next 15 exhibits look like; Bronx, Omaha and Saint Louis will only have one appearance each, while San Diego and Columbus won't appear at all. Some major zoos that have multiple exhibits on the list won't start appearing until we get around the halfway point, while other major zoos will have all of their exhibits posted well before then.

I think the first three are pretty much solid in the top five for anyone, the other two are much debated. I do wonder about that as well, and we are currently sitting heavy in the upper Midwest, and those that aren't from that region have been at the giants. I have a fair few exhibits I'm holding out for on the West Coast, and so far none of them are in.

I think that's because the Midwest has a greater density of major zoos compared to the East and West Coast. Even so, California has the most exhibits included on this list and is the only state that reaches the double digits, so rest assured the west coast will be well represented outside of the San Diego parks. In fact, we have a truly exceptional one coming up next.