Big animals in Nocturnal Houses
- Thread starter PicanBird
- Start date
Most of the animals kept in nocturnal houses are on the smaller side. Aardvarks is probably the largest mammals. I would guess that there are alligators and crocodiles in some nocturnal house (not sure) and large salamanders like the Chinese giant salamander. I know that Cincinnati zoo keeps several cat species, like clouded leopards, in its nocturnal house.
I agree that aardvarks are probably the largest mammals regularly kept in nocturnal houses.
I have some concerns about nocturnal houses from an animal welfare perspective and I dislike seeing such large beasts as aardvarks kept permanently indoors in relatively small nocturnal house exhibits. It is not necessary either; it is possible to get excellent views of aardvarks, outdoors in the sunshine, at Africa Alive for example.
I have some concerns about nocturnal houses from an animal welfare perspective and I dislike seeing such large beasts as aardvarks kept permanently indoors in relatively small nocturnal house exhibits. It is not necessary either; it is possible to get excellent views of aardvarks, outdoors in the sunshine, at Africa Alive for example.
What concerns me most is the fact that it's a night/dawn simulation all day.
Nocturnal species live by night, some are crepuscular but the day is still important even though they sleep or are less active.
I don't think they get a day feeling in any nocturnal house.
Nocturnal species live by night, some are crepuscular but the day is still important even though they sleep or are less active.
I don't think they get a day feeling in any nocturnal house.
Their day is during our night (the enclosures are lit at night to simulate the daytime).
Oh ok, makes sense but didn't think they'd do that. Thanks
Next time you're in a nocturnal house, look at the ceilings of the enclosures. There should be banks of lights which are turned on at night to create a reversed daytime.
Sure there may be zoos which don't do this, same as there might be a zoo which feeds leftover supermarket sandwiches to their lemurs instead of proper lemur food, but it would be incredibly bad husbandry.
When you are very early in Zoo Berlin, the lights in the nocturnal house are still on. Half a hour after opening time, the lights go of.
There is a special thread with species lists of nocturnal houses. I think aardvarks are indeed the largest animal that is regularly kept in nocturnal houses.
Other larger animals were American alligators (e.g. Omaha), wombats (past, e.g. Frankfurt), American beavers (e.g. Omaha), porcupines (past, e.g. Dehli), aardwolf (past, e.g. Frankfurt), binturong (e.g. Madrd) and fossa (e.g. Omaha).
Unlike the above species, aardvarks actually seem to thrive in nocturnal houses. They breed, they are active, they mix well with smaller species. In open-air exhibits they normally sleep - in nature, aardvarks practically never leave their burrows between dawn and dusk.
There is an interesting 110-page analysis of nocturnal houses published in German:
Nachttierhäuser in Zoologischen Gärten | tiergarten.com – der Schüling Buchkurier
Unlike the above species, aardvarks actually seem to thrive in nocturnal houses. They breed, they are active, they mix well with smaller species. In open-air exhibits they normally sleep - in nature, aardvarks practically never leave their burrows between dawn and dusk.
There is an interesting 110-page analysis of nocturnal houses published in German:
Nachttierhäuser in Zoologischen Gärten | tiergarten.com – der Schüling Buchkurier
When I visited Plzen Zoo, I thought the African House was basically a nocturnal house and it had a Barbary lion and lioness, so I think the lion is the biggest animal kept in an nocturnal house/facility.
Zoo Berlin used to have the species in bold in the nocturnal section of the Carnivore House, before the renovation.
Interesting! Do you have this booklet yourself?
The lions also have a large outside enclosure, so I think this one doesn't count.
I believe in some nocturnal houses the amount of nocturnal illumination is varied through the month so the animals experience a "lunar" cycle, which may be important for encouraging breeding behaviour in some species - can anyone confirm?
Your basic nocturnal house has set hours, changing for daylight-savings for the benefit of visitor hours, but I guess in some the length of the "night"/"day" changes through the month. More common is a change over the year to simulate night/day length for different seasons, where this is applicable to the species.
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Meaghan Edwards
Well-Known Member
When Toronto Zoo had its "Edge of Night" exhibit (now an area set aside for the Great Barrier Reef region), I believe they kept their wombats (a sizeable critter) there, who shared their exhibit with Echidna and Bettongs.
Is wombat bigger than aardvark? I always thought they are just about half of aardvark's size.
According to Wikipedia:
- Aardvark: 60-80 kg, length up to 2 m (body length 140 cm)
- Common Wombat: up to 40 kg, length up to 130 cm
According to "Nachttierhäuser in Zoologischen Gärten", US zoos tend to keep much larger mammals in their nocturnal houses compared to European zoos. Tapirs, pygmy hippos, giant anteaters and clouded leopards are mentioned as actual or former inhabitants of US nocturnal houses, next to wombats and aardvarks.
The writer of the booklet is clearly against large mammals in nocturnal houses (the size of a cloud rat is mentioned as preferred upper limit) and argues that species as aardvarks, wombats, tamanduas, sloths, porcupines and surely the forementioned US species should be kept in a "conventional" way.
The writer of the booklet is clearly against large mammals in nocturnal houses (the size of a cloud rat is mentioned as preferred upper limit) and argues that species as aardvarks, wombats, tamanduas, sloths, porcupines and surely the forementioned US species should be kept in a "conventional" way.
