Desert Houses in Zoos

Chattanooga Zoo has a “Desert and Forests of the World” exhibit, and it’s actually quite nice.

It’s rather small but it’s home to an array of animals like meerkats, fennec foxes, insects, desert reptiles and others.
 
The Africa Wing in Staten Island Zoo definitely has a nice desert theme going on though not explicitly a desert exhibit.
 
When I was at Parken Zoo (Sweden) in 2022, I saw a fantastic Desert House.

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There was a Meerkat exhibit with indoor and outdoor viewing that included a LOT of glass:

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A stunning Sand Cat exhibit:

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An exhibit for Radiated Tortoises:

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And even Luristan Newts:

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There is a desert house at Birdland in Bourton on the Water.
Like quite a few other exhibits at this collection the list of species kept here has rotated a fair bit throughout the years; but on my last visit to my best memory it contained the following:
Namaqua Dove
Chilean Lapwing
Collared Finchbill
Red-billed Quelea
Village Weaver
In recent times there was also Hoopoe here as well. In less recent times there were bee-eaters as well, which I have vague memory there of seeing ... but alas no more. But they still appear on the artwork outside the house itself ...
 
FBBird said:
Paignton Zoo’s Desert House may well have been ruined by taking out all the birds
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My selfish side from my most recent visit says it's a perfectly good cactus house.
My less selfish side tells me that zoo visitors don't come in for cactus display... and the house really could use some animal life !

I recall on 2024 visit I saw one of the promotional boards outside the exhibit displaying budgerigar ... which confused me on two fronts. One being ... it's very common pet species, not at all hard to come by ... and the other being that it's no longer there
 
Batto said:
Based on the current zoo map and Delhi Zoo's website, the Desert trail still seems to be stuck in development hell.
National Zoological Park
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I do wonder if they will ever be able to complete any of their projects- I had been visiting the zoo over a six year period and bar some animals dying (including whole species in the collection) it has largely stayed the same, although a revamp of certain areas will be appreciated.
 
There's potentially an argument to be made that Prague's 'Africa Up Close' functions as a sort of desert house, if your definition of desert includes scrubland (and given the existence of the Kalahari it potentially should).

The main issue with defining it as that are the notably tropical species housed towards the right-hand entrance - tenrecs, jumping rats and bush babies. But dry forests are just a couple of trees away from a desert...right?

If the surrounding complex is included, there is also fennec fox and mongoose.

TeaLovingDave said:
I wouldn't call Kaiser's Spotted Newt a desert species either!
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I think this is where defining where a desert starts and ends is quite difficult. The Zagros mountains are certainly dry to the point of arid, but equally contain greenery in scrubland and forest. I guess there's an argument to be made either way.
 
cerperal said:
There's potentially an argument to be made that Prague's 'Africa Up Close' functions as a sort of desert house, if your definition of desert includes scrubland (and given the existence of the Kalahari it potentially should).

The main issue with defining it as that are the notably tropical species housed towards the right-hand entrance - tenrecs, jumping rats and bush babies. But dry forests are just a couple of trees away from a desert...right?

If the surrounding complex is included, there is also fennec fox and mongoose.


I think this is where defining where a desert starts and ends is quite difficult. The Zagros mountains are certainly dry to the point of arid, but equally contain greenery in scrubland and forest. I guess there's an argument to be made either way.
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Why complicate the matter and water (lol) down the concept when the solution is pretty easy? The main "cast" of a desert house should be animals that we all recognize and associate as desert species, such as fennec fox, inland taipan or jerboas. At best, they even have the word "desert" in their common names, such as desert horned viper (Cerastes cerastes), desert sparrow (Passer simplex), desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) and desert scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis), etc. etc. ;)
After that, you can think of adding species from peripheral dry shrublands, thornbushes, oases and underground caves - but not to the point that it overtakes the whole theme and turns it all into another African savannah / Madagascar house.

And in a zoo in an English-speaking country, a closeby dessert station should be mandatory. :p:D

Speaking of Prague Zoo: the new Gobi exhibit complex is actually a true little desert house. And despite some flaws (poor sand boas), pretty unique.
 
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I had no idea how few these exhibits were. Desert's Edge is a highlight at Brookfield Zoo for me in terms of species but has often felt to me in recent years like it should be part of a bigger desert complex. There's definitely potential to make bigger, better desert exhibits.
 
Marwell's "Thriving Through Nature" exhibit that opened last year could be regarded as a desert house.

It has rock hyraxes, Egyptian spiny tailed lizards, rough scaled plated lizards, starred agamas and sulcata tortoises sharing an enclosure.
 
NMM said:
Marwell's "Thriving Through Nature" exhibit that opened last year could be regarded as a desert house.

It has rock hyraxes, Egyptian spiny tailed lizards, rough scaled plated lizards, starred agamas and sulcata tortoises sharing an enclosure.
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And there's also Aridlands in another section of the zoo; with exhibits fore meerkat, addax, Dorcas gazelle, locusts, and yellow mongoose [though the latter's perhaps not truly desert animal]
 
dillotest0 said:
And there's also Aridlands in another section of the zoo; with exhibits fore meerkat, addax, Dorcas gazelle, locusts, and yellow mongoose [though the latter's perhaps not truly desert animal]
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The yellow mongoose enclosure used to hold sand cats. When it did it was called Desert Carnivores.
 
could also not be that outside the smaller species of animal, that desert animals are able to life outside in many of the places where they build these massive ecological displays (colder climates).


Also this might be a stretch and I have not checked this so remain skeptical there are less charasmatic small species that need zoo based conservation program from compared to the tropical climates but this is a guess of mine so I am probably wrong.
 
gerome said:
New could also not be that outside the smaller species of animal, that desert animals are able to life outside in many of the places where they build these massive ecological displays (colder climates).
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I apologize but I don't fully understand what you mean here.
 
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