Bridges Over Animal Exhibits

And the issue of visitors dropping or even throwing things into the exhibit
I was planning to day the exact same thing. I know multiple zoos have had problems with people throwing coins into their Duck ponds, and having a bridge over the exhibit would only exacerbate this problem.

Another zoo with a bridge over exhibits is the Marco Polo Trail at Roger Williams Park Zoo. The snow Leopard and asiatic black bear have same-level viewing, but there is only elevated viewing from the boardwalk for the Cranes, red panda, and Takin.
 
Nordens Ark and Kristiansand Dyreparken have wooden bridges walking through naturalistic forest enclosures for cold climate species.

Madrid has a dead end bridge over the Savanah.

Viena has a tree top bridge from the Tyrol farm, passing through the woods and giving you chance to explore the locale Avifauna.



Denver Toyota Elephant Passage has a bridge for the elephants, passing over the visitors :)
 
The ZOOM Erlebniswelt in Gelsenkirchen has a rope bridge above the grizzly enclosure, to be more precise, right over a stream beside a waterfall.
The picture shows the view from the rope bridge.
full
 
I actually think Disneys Animal Kingdom handles bridges pretty well. They have an interesting bridge over their Nile crocs but it’s only accessible via special programs you have to pay for. So the bridge is regulated and they make sure you have nothing with you. It’s a pretty interesting experience for guests passing by and using the bridge.
An example of a poor bridge is the sky bridge from SeaWorld San Diego that gave an overview of all the orca pools from above. However the bridge is enclosed by wooden slats so when you look out the windows it looks like the orcas are in cages. This became a social media nightmare and the park decided to close it entirely instead of redo. The bridge is still standing and supposedly some tours take you in with zero photography permitted.
Do you have any pictures of what it looked like? I can't seem to find any online.
 
A random thread idea just popped into my mind. Does anyone know of any really interesting exhibits where a bridge goes over them? I'm just curious as I find that an interesting design concept.

Hamilton Zoo has a Southern white rhinoceros exhibit which consists of two paddocks, divided by a gate. The exhibit is viewed by an overhead boardwalk, which passes over the gate - so that when the rhinos travel between the paddocks, you can look directly down on them. It’s really gives you a greater appreciation for the size (especially width) of the second largest land mammal!

Hamilton Zoo also had an overhead bridge which spanned the width of their chimpanzee exhibit. It was in place from the opening of the exhibit in 2004 to it’s removal last year for health and safety reasons. The railings on the bridge were wide enough for toddlers to stick half their body through and scare their parents witless and items were routinely dropped into the exhibit. Lucy (female chimp) once persuaded one of my sons to part with a half eaten banana she’d spied from a distance.
 
Back
Top