Biodiversity hotspots & ecoregions you would like zoos to represent?

Z

ZooBoy99

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,

I couldn't find any previous discussion about the following, but I apologize if there is a previous thread.

With Brookfield recently releasing their master plan, many of the habitats are based on biodiversity hotspots and ecoregions of the earth. I wanted to ask everybody here in Zoochat, what habitats would you like to see represented more in zoos and aquariums?

I enjoy how the Brookfield zoo plans on giving representation to the Atlantic Forest in South America. I'm excited to see how they utilize the exhibit. And a habitat I haven't seen utilized to its full potential is the Caribbean islands, and I hope a zoological facility will create a great exhibit sooner than later.

Thank you everyone for your time. Please let me know what habitats you would like to see better represented in zoos and aquariums. I'm excited to learn and speak with you all about this topic.
 
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Also, I believe a habitat based off the Madrean pine-oak woodlands would be great. Animals like jaguars, elk, ocelots, and coatis could be represented. Pulse, the opportunity to educate visitors about the annual overwintering of millions of monarch butterflies.
 
Tropical Andes would be a nice way for a cold-climate zoo to incorporate a Neotropical zone without doing a gigantic tropical hall or having exhibits that sit empty half the year. There are plenty of charismatic large animals that are cold hardy and can be outside all year (bear, condor, puma, camelids, even white-tailed deer), and a small cloud forest building could, for example, be anchored by a monkey exhibit (brown capuchin or woolly monkey would be appropriate) and an aviary featuring cock-of-the-rock.
 
Gondwana said:
Tropical Andes would be a nice way for a cold-climate zoo to incorporate a Neotropical zone without doing a gigantic tropical hall or having exhibits that sit empty half the year. There are plenty of charismatic large animals that are cold hardy and can be outside all year (bear, condor, puma, camelids, even white-tailed deer), and a small cloud forest building could, for example, be anchored by a monkey exhibit (brown capuchin or woolly monkey would be appropriate) and an aviary featuring cock-of-the-rock.
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I very much like that idea, South America themed exhibits are usually seasonal. Like you said a cold-climate zoo can have South American representation year-round. I know the Nashville Zoo has an exhibit called "Expedition Peru" focused on Andean Bears, and I have heard nothing but praise about it. Thank you for sharing and I agree with you 100%, zoos should represent the Andes more often.
 
Western Ghats in India could be an interesting area for a zoo. The trail around this exhibit could mostly be hilly or go partially uphill to represent the mountainous environment. Here are some possible species that could be exhibited in this region:
1. lion tailed macaque
2. Indian grey mongoose
3. Mugger crocodile
4. Malabar frog

The amount of bird variety in the ecoregion could also be shown off in a walk through aviary simulating the endemic forest habitats of this ecoregion.
 
Plenty of biodiversity hotspots are not or if so very generically/poorly represented in zoos, which could be attributed to them lacking charismatic flagship species, in particular megafauna representatives, which attract the attention of Joe & Jane Zoogoer and thus of Scrooge McZooStakeholders.
New Caledonia, for example, would be an interesting biodiversity hotspot example, but aside of zoo nerds and species collectors, kagus, a few endemic parrots/pigeons and mostly nocturnal geckos and skinks are of little interest to the aforementioned clientele. Madagascar, in comparison, has gained a lot of public appreciation from zoo visitors due to the movies of the same name (in particular due to "King Julien") as well as the availability and popularity of species such as ring-tailed lemurs.
 
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Batto said:
Madagascar, in comparison, has gained a lot of public appreciation from zoo visitors due to the movies of the same name (in particular due to "King Julien") as well as the availability and popularity of species such as ring-tailed lemurs.
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Even then some zoos just slap two lemurs and call it a day. Maybe add a reptile and amphibian if they feel like it. Or just Lump Madagascar with the rest of Africa as I have seen a few times in the US.
 
PossumRoach said:
Even then some zoos just slap two lemurs and call it a day. Maybe add a reptile and amphibian if they feel like it. Or just lump Madagascar with the rest of Africa as I have seen a few times in the US.
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You forgot the Madagascar hissing cockroaches, overcrowding a dark little tank stuck in for the "ewww" factor. But you're correct - with few exceptions, like Zürich Zoo's Masoala Hall, quite a bunch of "Madagascar" zoo sections are rather one-dimensional and unoriginal.
 
Batto said:
You forgot the Madagascar hissing cockroaches, overcrowding a dark little tank stuck in for the "ewww" factor. But you're correct - with few exceptions, like Zürich Zoo's Masoala Hall, quite a bunch of "Madagascar" zoo sections are rather one-dimensional and unoriginal.
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Unoriginal??? I have you know that I have had the honor to hear about and see Madagascar exhibits that inspire guests with the spectacular Guinea fowl (helmeted and crested)!!

;)
 
Batto said:
You forgot the Madagascar hissing cockroaches, overcrowding a dark little tank stuck in for the "ewww" factor. But you're correct - with few exceptions, like Zürich Zoo's Masoala Hall, quite a bunch of "Madagascar" zoo sections are rather one-dimensional and unoriginal.
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I also think staples of madagascar are tomato frogs and radiated tortoises too
 
I would love more South America representation as well. I know we already talked about the Tropical Andes, but there is so much more, like the pantanal, Atlantic forest, cerrado, & pampas. And yet we never see these types of habitats, sadly
 
BlobfishBoy said:
Has there ever been a full on exhibit focusing on the middle east? Species such as Arabian oryx, caracal, sand cat, striped hyena, Arabian sand boa, sandfish, smooth coated otter, and more could be possible additions.
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There are some Middle Eastern zoos that feature such animals as part of displaying their native fauna. In Western zoos, the region and its fauna is, if at all, partly featured in the very few desert houses.
 
JezP100 said:
I also think staples of madagascar are tomato frogs and radiated tortoises too
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Panther chameleon, Madagascar giant day gecko and Red Fody as well, if we're pushing it.
*Unimaginative Zoos, glaring angrily at zoo nerds*: "And that's all what "Madagascar" is and will be at our facility. PERIOD." Berlin Zoo: "Hey, how about some eagerly reproducing Malagasy carnivores?" ;)
 
Batto said:
There are some Middle Eastern zoos that feature such animals as part of displaying their native fauna. In Western zoos, the region and its fauna is, if at all, partly featured in the very few desert houses.
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Yeah, to me it’s sad that although we do keep some of the region’s species, it’s never a focus of its own region based exhibit for whatever reason (perhaps due to a lack of a big charismatic animal). The Asiatic Lion or Syrian brown bear could play that role but we don’t have any in the US. Other populations of those animals could be used as stand-ins but that would muddle the exhibit’s theme and odds are the zoo would already keep those species in other sections.
 
The Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Besides some species specifically from this region, like the Chacoan peccary and the Chacoan mara, the region also houses several of the more common South American species like giant anteaters, tapirs, jaguars, peccaries and howler monkeys. Making an exhibit complex around a dry rather than a humid forest/scrubland region of South America could result in a pretty interesting zoo section.

Northern Africa, there are several available species of desert ungulate species like gazelles and addax. Additionally (migratory) bird species, Barbary macaques and Barbary sheep could also be included.
 
Another one I thought off after yesterday's post: the Guianan savanna on the Guyana Shield. Most of the species, especially the large mammals and birds, in that region are shared with the Amazon Basin and Guianan lowland forests, but I think it could still be interesting to represent an ecoregion that is distinctly different from most of the habitats in the Amazonian and Guianan regions that are usually represented in zoos.
 
JezP100 said:
Has there ever been an exhibit based on the Namib desert and the nearby Skeleton Coastline? If not, then that could most likely make for a great exhibit.
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Yes, Basel Zoo in Switzerland has a Namibian section also named "Etoscha", centered on desert/dry savanna animals as Lions, Meerkats, Cheetahs, African Hunting Dogs, Nile Crocodiles and numerous small animals (but not any marine life).
 
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