Overall, this has been a great list by
@pachyderm pro! After the first entry, I made a list guessing what exhibits would be included. 57/99 of the exhibits I guessed were ultimately included on this final list. While that number may first seem on the low side, many of the exhibits I did not guess correctly are entries I actually agree with- but were either incredible exhibits I wasn't aware of (particularly in Western zoos), didn't think were eligible (Galapagos and National's Bird House), or non-traditional exhibits I completely overlooked (e.g. Duke Lemur Center and International Crane Foundation. All in all, I agree with almost the entire list, with 87/100 being entries I agree with, and only thirteen that I actively disagree with. While I doubt many would be interested in reading my initial list, I will go through the thirteen choices I disagree with as well as what I'd put in their places.
The thirteen exhibits I disagree with are:
- Gharial Pond, San Diego Zoo
- Wisconsin Heritage, Henry Vilas Zoo
- Herpetarium, Saint Louis Zoo
- Stork Aviary, Racine Zoo
- Life on the Rocks, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
- Penguin and Puffin Coast, Saint Louis Zoo
- CHINA, Memphis Zoo
- Mouse House, Bronx Zoo
- Elephant House, Cincinnati Zoo
- Wolf Woods, Brookfield Zoo
- Hummingbird Habitat, San Diego Zoo
- Predator/Prey Exhibits, Milwaukee County Zoo
- Reptile House, Cincinnati Zoo
In their places I would add:
- Caribbean Coast, Stone Zoo- This gorgeous aviary would, in my opinion, be a worthy inclusion on this list due to the rarity of walk-through aviaries for flamingos- with way too many zoos displaying them in open-topped pools.
- Chihuahan Desert, El Paso Zoo- An incredible, unique take on a native-species zone, focused on the wildlife of deserts.
- African Journey, Lincoln Park Zoo- An excellent, creative exhibit that shows how zoos can make an innovative use of historic buildings for modern, state-of-the-art exhibits.
- Arctic Coast, Mystic Aquarium- I would argue this is the greatest cetacean exhibit in the US.
- Australian Adventure, The Living Desert- With how common kangaroo walk-throughs are, and how unique this exhibit is, I think it warrants its inclusion on the list. Only two Australia exhibits made the list (one of which was in an aquarium), despite how common of a style of exhibits this is.
- Wildlife Explorer's Basecamp, San Diego Zoo- Children's zoos are a ubiquitous style of zoo exhibits, and despite how criticized they sometimes are on this site, I think this exhibit, arguably the country's greatest children's zoo, would have been a worthy inclusion.
- Sanctuary Asia, Oklahoma City Zoo- Already mentioned as a similar exhibit, I would consider this exhibit impressive enough in its own right to be elevated to the status of being included on this list.
- Macaque Forest, Lincoln Park Zoo- I may just be biased since Japanese macaques are one of my favorite species, but this is an impressive habitat highlighting a species that often doesn't get featured prominently in zoos.
- Zoo360 Trails, Philadelphia Zoo- While I have been critical of these trails in the past, their innovation is undeniable, and they have spurred a number of other zoos to feature overhead trails in various capacities.
- Mexican Grey Wolf Habitat, Stone Zoo- I think this exhibit is marginally better than its counterpart at Brookfield Zoo, and it's also significant since it's rare for small zoos to dedicate multiple acres to a single species, making this my pick for the "wolf exhibit slot" on this list.
- Cypress Swamp, North Carolina Zoo- American alligators are a commonly highlighted species in zoos, and this is perhaps the best alligator exhibit in the country. While there is no shortage of incredible exhibits highlighting native species, I do think this exhibit is impressive enough to warrant an entry.
- Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, Disney's Animal Kingdom- This would be my pick for the country's greatest gorilla complex, and I think it's impressive enough and distinct enough from Congo Gorilla Forest that both deserve separate entries.
- Asian Forest Sanctuary, Point Defiance Zoo- These rotational exhibits were an innovative exhibit complex that highlights a style of exhibits absent from this list.
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