America's 100 Must See Exhibits

Chlidonias said:
I don't know what I'm missing here, but I've read through this several times and I still can't see why it is "must see" - especially when you have followed it up after the photos by saying "Similar Exhibits: There are countless African savanna complexes across the continent, far too many to name here and several that will appear on the list later on."
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I have to agree. I have frequently heard about this complex but fail to understand what is so amazing and unique about it. Some elements remind me of the North Carolina Zoo's Africa exhibits, but in a slightly more cheesy way.

Also the exhibit being an trail that must be backtracked and a warm-month only display leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
Chlidonias said:
I don't know what I'm missing here, but I've read through this several times and I still can't see why it is "must see" - especially when you have followed it up after the photos by saying "Similar Exhibits: There are countless African savanna complexes across the continent, far too many to name here and several that will appear on the list later on."
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This was my knee-jerk reaction as well. But I do think this has the best cheetah run around (at least that I’ve seen) and that certainly warrants consideration. Not to mention there are two other savanna exhibits within two hours (Toledo and Cincy) that don’t come close to this. Certainly overdone but few are this good.
 
DavidBrown said:
I'll come out and say it. We all know what has happened with dolphin deaths at the Indianapolis Zoo. Over three dozen dolphins have died in this exhibit. Can any exhibit with this kill record be considered a great exhibit, no matter how spectacular it is from a human visitor perspective? It's an important question if we are being honest about the animal welfare dimension of an exhibit.
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Three dozen deaths is definitely an attention grabber, but it's important to remember that context matters here. Not all of these deaths were because of the same reasons - some were elderly individuals, rescues who were injured, calves who didn't make it, etc. I agree that it's higher than it really should be, but this is a particularly sensitive species in question here and it's not the only exhibit on this list that has flaws from an animal welfare perspective (although there aren't many and it will be addressed if they do).
Chlidonias said:
I don't know what I'm missing here, but I've read through this several times and I still can't see why it is "must see" - especially when you have followed it up after the photos by saying "Similar Exhibits: There are countless African savanna complexes across the continent, far too many to name here and several that will appear on the list later on."
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nczoofan said:
I have to agree. I have frequently heard about this complex but fail to understand what is so amazing and unique about it. Some elements remind me of the North Carolina Zoo's Africa exhibits, but in a slightly more cheesy way.
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I'll concede that it's hardly the most holistic African exhibit out there, but this is one of the most realistic savanna landscapes in the country and has one of the best predator-prey illusions you'll find in a zoo. The waterhole habitat in particular is an entirely unique and innovative display that was difficult to execute, yet pulled off very well, meaning you'll see something different every time you run through. What really gave it the edge for me is the theming of the complex. It's an example of a widely believed troupe of American zoos being in love with dramatic theming, but here it's done in a way that both benefits the animals and engages visitors. Is it cheesy? Sure. But in a way, that aspect is a big part of why I consider it "must-see." It is a perfect example of what foreign zoo enthusiasts expect from a US zoo, but subverts expectations by also having a high standard of exhibitry.

The "similar exhibits" comment was simply to reiterate that there are plenty of other savanna enclosures around that could be compared to it. There will be other African savannas on this list, some that can be argued to be better than Heart of Africa, but in my opinion this complex very much deserves a place in the thread for the reasons I mentioned above
nczoofan said:
Also the exhibit being an trail that must be backtracked and a warm-month only display leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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I fail to see why being a warm-month only display should prevent an exhibit from being included. I don't think you realize how many exhibits that would disqualify from being on this list or the Europe list. What about zoos that are only open during warmer months of year? It wouldn't seem very fair to not include exhibits from those collections based on that fact. It's not like the exhibit completely closes either, you're still able to view the up to the lion exhibit - although I admit some indoor exhibits would have been a good addition to the area.
 
Chlidonias said:
I don't know what I'm missing here, but I've read through this several times and I still can't see why it is "must see" - especially when you have followed it up after the photos by saying "Similar Exhibits: There are countless African savanna complexes across the continent, far too many to name here and several that will appear on the list later on."
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The sheer size of the multi species exhibit warrants it to be must see.
 
Pleistocene891 said:
The sheer size of the multi species exhibit warrants it to be must see.
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Well, that’s not exactly what I was getting at. :p Yes that’s an impressive element of the exhibit, but there are plenty of savanna habitats on this list that are even larger. My reasoning for including HoA was for its theming and the extremely well done panoramas, not just it’s size.
 
Pleistocene891 said:
The sheer size of the multi species exhibit warrants it to be must see.
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At that rate you might as well tack on the main savannas from Dallas, SDZSP, DAK, NC, and the other various safari style parks. Size does not necessarily mean it is interesting or well executed. (Not that I'm implying none of the ones I mentioned shouldn't make the cut, rather that size and multi-species aren't enough on their own.)

I will say I'm also at a loss of understanding why Columbus's savanna area is in the top cut here from the photos, it looks average with a dash of odd items to spruce it up. I get why they chose the theming, but I really don't think it elevates it to top 100 status.
 
PSO said:
Heart of Africa if most definitely a must see. It has been one of the best Savannah exhibits I've seen in the last 15 years. Every body is going to have their opinion but I agree with @pachyderm pro. I say this having either visited or worked Savannahs at NC, Dallas, DAK, KC, Busch and WAP
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I was just about to say something similar. While it does have some repetitive qualities, Heart of Africa takes the concept of a typical savanna to the next level. I'm not the best when it comes to translating my opinions on exhibits online so I'll just say Heart of Africa always creates some sort of fantasy like atmosphere - much like I imagine Disney does. Not to pull out the cliches but this savanna does its job of taking you out of Ohio and dropping you into another world. Every time I get to that main savanna, it's something worth admiring for a few extra moments with each visit.

- The lion/savanna panorama is the best predator/prey setup I've ever seen.
- Depending on the day you'll either have the opportunity to dine or climb into a plane with a pride of lions right in front of your face.
- The designers did a fantastic job making the vervet monkey set up look as if they raided a campsite, all while viewing them from within a research rent.
- The wateringhole is my favorite part because you never know what you're going to see. Every time you pass through, there's something different in that exhibit: Lesser flamingos, warthogs, aardvarks, a jackal and even hyenas. It doubles as a cheetah run, again, the best I've ever seen - and triples as a fly over/hunting demonstration for hornbills
- Even something as overdone as the Camel ride station looks more professional or 'not as cheap looking' compared to others I've seen.

I've been to the Wilds, which is basically one giant savanna and is about as real as it gets, I've seen Watani Grasslands, I've been in the middle of Busch's Sarengeti Plain surrounded by giraffes but Heart of Africa is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of an African Savannah. I constantly rework my top preferred habitats to prepare for future videos, Heart of Africa is always in the top 10 and is definitely a must see exhibit in my book.
 
To add another perspective on Heart of Africa, which I agree deserves to be on this list, part of why I feel it is such a successful exhibit is that it doesn't try to achieve too much. The exhibit doesn't give a holistic look at the African Savanna, but that isn't what it tries to do. Instead, it provides an immersive experience into one aspect of the African Savanna, focused on the megafauna. Part of me feels that this exhibit is so successful due to this more narrowed focus- it includes a large mixed Savanna, stellar Lion and Cheetah exhibits, the watering hole, and a great exhibit for vervet monkeys, but doesn't include rhinos/hippos, aviaries, etc. Too often I find zoos trying to achieve too much, putting too much into exhibits so that they don't do any one thing to the best of their ability. Heart of Africa doesn't suffer from this common problem- instead choosing to focus on a less holistic approach but does so extremely well.
 
From a perspective of evaluating the design of the exhibit alone, HOA is as good as it gets. It basically provides the sense of awe a visitor would normally only get with a drive-through field exhibit in panoramic form. That's a big deal and a very difficult thing to achieve.

My main criticism is the extremely boring species list. It's a giant exhibit in terms of acreage with the most basic savannah species they could come up with, particularly the antelope. The most interesting species to zoo nerds, ie the hyenas and the jackals don't even have permanent exhibits, and the camel ride stations' presence in the fantastic complex are like putting Cheez Whiz on a 200 dollar filet mignon.

Columbus built a great hoofed stock exhibit in an era where it's not cool for zoos to keep interesting hoofed stock. Honestly, they had more interesting antelope species in the old Predator/Prey yards.

Oh well, I guess we'll always have for profit game ranches to keep things interesting.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
My main criticism is the extremely boring species list. It's a giant exhibit in terms of acreage with the most basic savannah species they could come up with, particularly the antelope. The most interesting species to zoo nerds, ie the hyenas and the jackals don't even have permanent exhibits, and the camel ride stations' presence in the fantastic complex are like putting Cheez Whiz on a 200 dollar filet mignon.

Columbus built a great hoofed stock exhibit in an era where it's not cool for zoos to keep interesting hoofed stock. Honestly, they had more interesting antelope species in the old Predator/Prey yards.
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Um, aren't there Slender-horned Gazelle in the savanna at Columbus? That's a rather rare-in-zoo species that's fairly interesting to most Zoo enthusiasts. Certainly more so than the hyenas. I'd also argue that we live in a time where it's great when zoos choose to invest in *any* sort of ungulates- as many zoos are completely omitting all but the most popular species (Zebra, Giraffe, Rhino, hippo) from new exhibits.
 
It's possible that they do. The site only shows Dama gazelle and wildebeest. Hyenas are much less common in US zoos than lions, cheetahs or wild dogs, so they are of interest.

Zoos are indeed omitting ungulates, mostly due to the space they require. I understand this reasoning, but it's really not an issue in this exhibit. It's massive. A diverse ungulate roster wasn't something they were forced to do out of sheer area constraints. It was a choice.
 
Neil chace said:
Um, aren't there Slender-horned Gazelle in the savanna at Columbus? That's a rather rare-in-zoo species that's fairly interesting to most Zoo enthusiasts
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groundskeeper24 said:
It's possible that they do. The site only shows Dama gazelle and wildebeest.
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They do, indeed, have slender-horned gazelles; however, they are down to only two individuals. There have never been more than a handful of them and they’ve never done particularly well at Columbus. I would not be surprised if they go out of the species in the near future. Otherwise, in terms of antelope, they have (as mentioned) eastern white-bearded wildebeest and addra gazelle, as well as greater kudu and Thomson’s gazelle.

It is also worth noting that the black-backed jackals are gone and have been for quite some time.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
We're not really discussing roads zoos in this thread are we? "Outside" the AZA is a significantly misleading disqualifier.
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I would argue that you're making two major (and erroneous) assumptions here:

1) That any zoological collection outside AZA is a so-called "roadside zoo"
2) That no exhibits outside an AZA collection could possibly qualify for the term "must-see"

Taking a look at the pair of threads written by @lintworm which inspired this one (pertaining to 50 must-see collections and 100 must-see exhibits in Europe) I found the following.....

Two of the "must-see" collections in Europe are non-EAZA (Tierfreigelände Bayerischer Wald and WWT Slimbridge).

Five of the "must-see" exhibits in Europe are non-EAZA (Polar Bears at Skandinavisk Dyrepark; Wisent at Tierfreigelände Bayerischer Wald; European Herpetofauna at Freilandterrarium Stein; Baltic Sea exhibit at Stralsund Ozeaneum; Dolphin Delta at Harderwijk Dolfinarium)

In other words, you're being an elitist :p and there is every chance that an exhibit within a non-AZA collection may be highlighted by @pachyderm pro at some point.
 
Name one non-AZA zoo exhibit (excluding Columbus) that merits inclusion in this exercise? Safari West has a nice aviary, but beyond that none come to mind.
TeaLovingDave said:
I would argue that you're making two major (and erroneous) assumptions here:

1) That any zoological collection outside AZA is a so-called "roadside zoo"
2) That no exhibits outside an AZA collection could possibly qualify for the term "must-see"

Taking a look at the pair of threads written by @lintworm which inspired this one (pertaining to 50 must-see collections and 100 must-see exhibits in Europe) I found the following.....

Two of the "must-see" collections in Europe are non-EAZA (Tierfreigelände Bayerischer Wald and WWT Slimbridge).

Five of the "must-see" exhibits in Europe are non-EAZA (Polar Bears at Skandinavisk Dyrepark; Wisent at Tierfreigelände Bayerischer Wald; European Herpetofauna at Freilandterrarium Stein; Baltic Sea exhibit at Stralsund Ozeaneum; Dolphin Delta at Harderwijk Dolfinarium)

In other words, you're being an elitist :p and there is every chance that an exhibit within a non-AZA collection may be highlighted by @pachyderm pro at some point.
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reduakari said:
Name one non-AZA zoo exhibit (excluding Columbus) that merits inclusion in this exercise? Safari West has a nice aviary, but beyond that none come to mind.
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There are many excellent zoos outside of the AZA that could be featured. Just looking at zoos within my home state, Bay Beach, Wildwood Zoo, Wildwood Wildlife Park, Ochsner Park, Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin, MToxins and potentially others are all wonderful facilities that could be included in this project or one of a similar magnitude.

Also remember that one of our country's largest zoos, Wildlife World Zoo, is outside the AZA.

There are literally hundreds of non-AZA US zoos, which range from admittedly terrible to world-class. Discounting all of them because they lack AZA accreditation is foolish.
 
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