Are there any great indoor giraffe exhibits?

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I was looking at some pictures of giraffe barns in the gallery and it occurred to me that I have never seen a great, or even really good, indoor giraffe exhibit.

In Europe it seems like there are some really good indoor elephant exhibits being built with lots of room, natural substrate, water features, etc., but are there any equally large and enriched indoor giraffe exhibits in the world that are spectacular for the giraffes and the humans watching them?

The Omaha Zoo outdoor giraffe exhibit is wonderful, lushly planted and very large. The indoor exhibit (KCZooFan picture: http://www.zoochat.com/569/giraffe-complex-reticulated-giraffe-174459/) is a smallish concrete bunker. This seems typical of most (all?) indoor giraffe exhibits.
 
Marwell in UK have a very good Giraffe House. It was 'state-of-the-art' when it was built really. It is 'L' shaped and also has stalls for another ungulate group(was originally Dama Gazelles but now something else) and on the other side of the public viewing area here are two enclosures for Monkeys(now just Colobus) The longer part of the L is the Giraffe barn and public walkway. It is an excellent building, the best at this park IMO.
 
Last edited:
In germany, there are some large giraffe indoor exhibits at Duisburg,Tierpark Berlin,Kronberg and Leipzig, Munich wants to build a new giraffe house with a large indoor exhibit.
 
"De Ui" (the onion) is the nickname of a both on the outside as on the inside remarkably outstanding giraffe house at Rotterdam.

http://www.zoochat.com/36/diergaarde-blijdorp-savannah-giraffe-house-253388/

Antwerp has it's egyptian temple (perhaps not perfect for the giraffe's), Artis a VERY old giraffe building and Arnhem has a huge stable complex where they also house their giraffes (nothing architectural, but huge for their giraffes).

Also Duisburg does deserve a mention, as does Prague (with walls of glass from the floor to about 3meters between the visitors and the giraffes), Dortmund and Planckendael's brand new complex...

Basically, there are quite a few good giraffe barns in Europe really.
 
I'll second Prague, I think it's the best I've seen -though as a visitor experience it's a bit odd that you are separated by glass and thus can't get the full sensation of being up close. Perhaps that's better for the animals though, quiet? Given the outdoor exhibit is truly massive...it's probably the best I've seen overall for giraffes in a traditional zoo setting (excepting the massive safari-type experiences at places like Animal Kingdom, SDWAP, etc).

Recent photo posted - h/t Swedish Zoo Fan
http://www.zoochat.com/416/prague-zoo-giraffe-indoor-exhibit-252574/
 
Thanks for the info everybody. The Prague giraffe house does look very cool. I think that this might be the zoo featured in the Youtube movie "Life in a Day" which features a quick scene of a giraffe giving birth. I was trying to figure out where that zoo was and now maybe I know.
 
I think Cincinnati's idea is amazing but the floor is all concrete. While you are on a 15ft tall bridge, to the left is a viewing area for guests to look down on the giraffes. Actually, they are now old enough to the point where they are eye level with us. There are 4 total stalls that line up vertically from the door to the outdoor exhibit.
 
Dresden new house is apparently good. Also, one of zoos in Czech republic or Hungary (Plzen? Nyiregyhaza?) has a cool house where you can see giraffe on the upper floor level.

Didn't see either in person, maybe somebody can review.

Anyway, world's first naturalistic giraffe indoor exhibit is still to be built. I have some ideas, but I am not zoo director ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top