Best Crocodilian Exhibit: Your Pick

[SharkFinatic]

Pretty much what it says in the title: which crocodilian exhibits do you you think are the best? (Not sure if it's necessarily the best, but the American alligator exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo did stick out to me because of you can see them from a boardwalk, which I'll admit, I've never really experienced at any other zoo.)

 

[BigNate]

Only one that immediately jumps to mind is the gharial exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. Interested to see what others mention.

 

[Gavinj90]

I'll never forget this one in Dam Sen Park, Vietnam.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

I'll do a double pick here:
The best outdoor crocodilian enclosure I can remember clearly is the American alligator enclosure at the Auckland Zoo:
Auckland Zoo: circa 2011 - ZooChat
The best indoor crocodilian enclosure I've seen is the Berlin Zoo Aquarium's crocodile hall;
View of Tomistoma exhibit - ZooChat
I visited it back around 2005, when there was still a hodge-podge of all sorts of different species living there. I would love to return there soon.

 

[Milwaukee Man]

My all-time favorite crocodilian habitat is the Indian gharial pool, part of Fort Worth Zoo’s MOLA complex. The views, naturalistic details, and mix of smaller turtles and fish species are absolutely fantastic.

 

[Ebirah766]

I hate to resurrect a dead thread, but I am very fond of the gharial exhibit at the Bronx Zoo, for its size, immersion, and addition of large fish and turtles alongside the gharials.

 

[Austin the Sengi]

No worries @Ebirah766, you’ve just reminded of some of the crocodilian exhibits that I’ve seen on my travels, and I thank you for bringing this thread to my attention!

As for what I may consider to be my favorite? It depends on the species, as you will probably notice.

As far as alligators go, my personal favorite would probably go to the Alligator Breeding Marsh at Gatorland (Orlando). Not only is it extremely spacious at twelve-or-so acres in size; making it the largest enclosure in Gatorland as a whole, but is also notable for representing Florida’s natural landscape decently well (being from Florida, it’s worth the compliment).


Photo Credit: yours truly, Austin the Sengi
Mar. 2025 - Alligator Breeding Marsh - ZooChat

Aside from its size and number of alligators, this enclosure is also notable for having an aerial zip line going over a portion of the marsh; which I’m certainly the most adventurous of visitors would find enjoyable. At certain times of the year, wild birds will frequently establish nests in and around the exhibit, making for a decent place for birding if you’re lucky!

If there’s going to be a negative, I’d probably say that there isn’t too much land area for each respective alligator; especially if it’s designated as a breeding area. Otherwise, there’s not much else to complain about the breeding marsh, and I will have another post after this highlighting my favorite gharial and crocodile enclosures (two in one, for that matter!).

 

[Austin the Sengi]

Moving on to my favorite exhibits for the following crocodilians, I’ll second the Bronx and San Diego Zoos’ exhibits for Gharials as a personal favorite.

In addition to those, I also have a soft spot for ZooTampa’s enclosure for the species. For those who are into the history of this facility, the current exhibit had held the odd ungulate or two (most notably, Bornean Bearded Pigs!) before becoming a dedicated mixed-exhibit for a trio of Gharials and two species of freshwater turtle.


Photo Credit: yours truly, Austin the Sengi
Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) with Giant Asian Pond Turtle (Heosemys grandis)? - ZooChat

In its current state, the land portion of the exhibit has some decent landscaping. Although, part of me wishes that a terrestrial mammal or even the zoo’s Asian Mountain Tortoises could be brought in to give the space an extra dynamic. Given that gharials are fish-eating specialists, I see no issue with this being entirely implausible, but that’s about it as far as speculation is concerned.


Photo Credit: yours truly, Austin the Sengi
July 2025 - Asia - Gharial Mixed Enclosure - ZooChat

Otherwise, it is still a gorgeous habitat with a small, but charming roster of reptiles; some nice changes of elevation; and, admittedly, some slightly awkward viewing that forces visitors into looking down at the animals from above, all thanks to an elevated boardwalk.


Last but not least, while there aren’t too many exhibits dedicated specifically to crocodiles that truly stand out from my experience. One that I will give credit to would be Busch Gardens Tampa’s exhibit for their Nile Crocodile (1.0) Sobek. Being part of the Edge of Africa complex of the park, it already exceeds in the theming department, and is best supported from the neighboring exhibits for their hippos (both of which share the same underwater viewing).


Photo Credit: yours truly, Austin the Sengi

Yes, I admit that it is on the smaller side regarding both land and water space, and can only contain a single crocodile (Sobek). However, even with these issues, the exhibit does have crystal-clear water for underwater viewing, dozens of cichlids, and some lovely landscaping that enhances the existing atmosphere.

While some of us may not think of Busch Gardens too highly, I do think that having well-themed complexes like Edge of Africa help to soften initial expectations of the general theme park atmosphere that BGT is more-so known for.

 

[Lori Patton]

The Los Angeles Zoo has four crocodilian exhibits and the best one is the mixed species habitat for gharials and painted terrapins. There is a large pool with surrounding land area holding multiple gharials and terrapins. The pool is stocked with fish and one time I even saw a wild great blue heron in the exhibit. Viewing is excellent and I have taken some fantastic photos there.

My second favorite is the American alligator habitat near the zoo entrance. While I do wish it were larger, there is lush landscaping and a waterfall and it offers close-up viewing of the zoo's two gators, Reggie and Tina. I always make a point to greet the gators as I'm entering and leaving the zoo.

There is good viewing at the tomistoma exhibit, but it's way too small to be on a "best of" list. Finally, I give kudos to the dwarf caimans for being the creepiest crocodilians I've seen, but the glare on the glass also removes that exhibit from top consideration.

 

[Velas]

Altough I have (unfortunately) never seen it personally, Auckland zoo's Sunda gharial exhibit has gotta be my favorite. All the atmosphere with the Swamp forest and the massive tank with these massive reptiles amaze me. The fish species really do compliment it as well, and when the two tomistomas get larger it will be an amazing sight.

MOLA's Indian gharial pool is also up there, the views alongise the whole exhibit are incredible. Shoutouts to my home zoo's former crocodile and now Broad-snouted caiman exhibit. It is not the craziest or most modern crocodilian exhibit I've seen, but one of the better one for the species that I've seen.

 

[filovirus]

Minnesota Zoo has a West African dwarf crocodile exhibit that I quite like. It's not a very big exhibit but it's set up so that the crocs usually end up being pretty much perfectly eye-level with the visitor, paired with a well-stocked pond similar to the one in Austin's post on this thread. It's not the fanciest but I do enjoy it.

I think Mahoney Kingdoms of the Night at the Omaha Zoo probably takes the cake for me. Just really immersive and cool.

 

[Mr Gharial]

From the enclosures I've seen, Wildlands is easily the best

Holding a pair of West African dwarf crocodiles, Black pond turtles and various Central American cichlids, this exhibit is about twice the size as the photo shows:

 

[Kalaw]

The biggest that I've seen is the Nile Crocodile enclosure at Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg. It's surely one of the largest indoor crocodile enclosures in the world. At its deepest end, the volume of water is also quite impressive. With a very nice colour of water, an impressive waterfall and lots of trees with their roots submerged, its really nice to look at, too. Five crocs are kept, some quite small and others very large.

Tropen Aquarium - Tropical hall

• Toddy
• 1 Jan 2009
• 5

A view inside the tropical hall in the Hagenbeck Tropen Aquarium. Free-ranging species such as...

Tropen-Aquarium Hagenbeck Hamburg 2008

• Sitara
• 4 Mar 2008
• 3
• cl2 tahh

Crocodile-Lake Waterfall

Crocodile exhibit - Tropen-Aquarium

• Daniel Sörensen
• 10 Nov 2019

This photo is uploaded and shared to inspire, educate and to show off the park to other people...

Underwater-viewing Crocodiles

• vogelcommando
• 20 Jan 2020

Dec. 7 2019

Another favourite of mine is the Gharial enclosure at Prague, which is nowhere near as large as Hagenbeck's, but still among the bigger crocodile pools that I know of. It's enhanced massively by the size of the six Gharials, as well as the very interesting selection of turtles that they share the enclosure with. Northern Batagurs are the most interesting, but it's also amazing to watch Indian Star Tortoises on land walking indifferently besides the jaws of the crocs. The mix of different depths is really nice, allowing the crocodiles to lie on level ground while still being submerged.

Observation window in the Gharial House - July/2017

• Robaque
• 17 Aug 2017
• exhibit gharial

Gharial Zoo Praha 2018

• German Zoo World
• 3 May 2020
• 2

In the Gahrial House

The most impressive I've seen in the UK is the Nile and Morelett's enclosure at Crocodiles of the World due to the sole reason that it has (or at least had in 2019 when I visited) over 30 crocs in total together. Stunning to behold, but I have no idea if its okay for the animals. Of course they do often live in such numbers and proximity in the wild, but there of course they have more space to retreat from one another in the event of conflict; here I felt as though the land area was too small to properly allow for this. I suspect they're alright as I have no knowledge of any dangerous altercations between the crocs.

Nile crocodile exhibit 020821

• gulogulogulo
• 31 Oct 2021

Nile Crocodile Exhibit

• Giant Panda
• 21 Jun 2016
• 1

Left-hand side. Zebra tilapia also signposted.

Crocodile House.

June 2016.

Even more exciting for visitors is the feeding time, where crocodiles are encouraged to leap and eat food from sticks.

Nile Crocodile feeding @ Crocs of the World; 23.09.2016

• Bwassa
• 22 Oct 2016

My favourite enclosure at CotW is the American Alligator enclosure. It's in a detached and well-hidden barn, so I found that there were few other guests and the crocodile's occasional groans were amplified. The individuals kept were also massive and there was very little stopping you from falling in, as well as some humorous warning signs that didn't reassure you in the slightest, though I can't remember what they said. Along with Prague's Gharials, it's a lovely example of simple being best in a zoo exhibit.

American Alligator Exhibit

• Giant Panda
• 21 Jun 2016
• 1

In a smaller side-room, and with at least two juveniles. Three were originally returned to their...

 

[merlin]

From the enclosures I've seen, Wildlands is easily the best

Holding a pair of West African dwarf crocodiles, Black pond turtles and various Central American cichlids, this exhibit is about twice the size as the photo shows:

I keep saying I don't like small crocodile species much, but I think it has something to do with the way they are being displayed in my country. I bet I would not be disappointed by them as much if there was such a beautiful exhibit!