Uh, bump.
I know this isn't really an exhibit. It doesn't have any animals living in it. But I thought I'd post it here anyways to revitalize this thread, because this is a good thread with great exhibits. So, here goes.
Entrance Itself
Guests walk along concrete paths with the imprints of animal tracks of all kinds embedded in them; mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, even invertebrates. The sides of the paths are planted with lush vegetation; ferns, cycads, bamboo, palms, bromeliads, and more. Guests cross a small stream on a wooden boardwalk before coming to the entrance of the zoo.
At the entrance are statues of some of the animals in the zoo’s impressive collection, representing the animal groups found in the park: African Bush Elephant for mammals, the Great Blue Heron for birds, the Komodo Dragon for reptiles, the Axolotl for amphibians, the Alligator Gar for fish, and the Monarch Butterfly for invertebrates. These statues are made out of bronze and are not painted; they sit on a marble pedestal of sorts.
The ticket booths are located under a raised ceiling to keep visitors wet as they pay the admission price of $30 for adults. It is pricy but that’s because the zoo would likely have pretty exorbitant bills with all the animals in its collection.
After paying, guests come to a fairly wide main street where they can do several things. On the immediate left and right is the two part gift shop which sells various zoo merchandise. Beyond on both sides are restrooms, with women’s on the left and men’s on the right side of the street. And past that on the right is the zoo’s first restaurant as guests enter, the World Plaza Café, which serves delicious snacks from around the globe. I won’t detail the whole menu, but suffice to say it is mostly breakfast and lunch foods, with various pastries, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, wraps, breakfast bowls and so on, along with tea, coffee, as well as cold and hot beverages.
On the left is the zoo’s Guest Services building, also with restrooms. It is not much to gawk at and is fairly uninteresting the whole. An AED and various medical equipment is also located there, and outside are drinking fountains.
On the sides of the streets are 4 small “Donation Stations” for various ecosystems and species. These are about 7 feet tall black, green, and white structures with glass sides that guests can put coins or even bills in to donate to conservation efforts. The species and ecosystems would sometimes be switched up, so guests could choose where they would focus their conservation efforts. Some general themes would be protecting Indonesian, Amazon, and African rainforests, research into global warming and sustainable energy sources, coral reef damage and protection, tagging of different species to learn more about how to defend them, reintroduction programs for endangered species, and conservation outreach missions at schools in other, particularly third-world, countries.
World Plaza
The zoo’s main street opens up onto a wide circular concrete plaza 80 feet in diameter. This is the main hub of the zoo and is where nearly all of the exhibit paths end up returning to.
The plaza has three main features.
1. The first is the large, dark, thin, continent-shaped black granite structures (plates? Sheets? Not really sure what to call these exactly) on the ground. These collectively make up 6 of the world’s seven continents (it would be difficult to have Antarctica because that is the direction guests come from anyway); North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. When viewed from a birds eye view the plaza looks like a map of the world. These are located next to their corresponding paths. Two are on the left side of the plaza, three extend from the top of it, and two are on the right side. South America is immediately to guests lefts as they enter the plaza while North America is a bit beyond that. To the immediate right of guests as they enter, almost straight out, is the path to Australia & Oceania. A bit further up is the trail to Asia. Up at the north end of the plaza are 3 paths. The furthest left one is the top of North America and represents the Arctic & Antarctica (again, Antarctica is obviously NOT geographically accurate, but this is the best I could do), the absolute middle one connects to Africa, and the furthest one to the right leads to Europe.
Each of these paths is also planted with species native to that continent and relevant to the habitats represented in the exhibits; spruces and pines for North America, kapok trees for Africa, and so on.
2. The second feature is the 10 foot diameter circular fountain in the dead center of the plaza around which the continent slabs (I’m going to call them slabs) are situated. The fountain constantly emits jets of water from the trunks of 7 small bronze elephant statues, which fall into the foot deep pool below. Guests are encouraged to donate to conservation programs and the zoo itself by tossing coins into the pond.
3. The third feature isn’t really apparent if the plaza is empty, and depends on time of day, but consists of the opening ceremony of the park and the random animal shows that take place throughout the day.
At the beginning of each day, species of birds, likely macaws, will fly over visitors’ heads as the park is opened and guests can access the rest of the park via the trails extending from the plaza.
Also taking place are random animal encounters with the zoo’s sizable animal ambassador collection. The keepers will stand by the trail representing whatever continent the species is native to (if it is, say, an animal like a peregrine falcon with a near cosmopolitan distribution they could stand on any trail they choose). Sometimes, if the species are docile, there can even be 3 taking place at the same time. These allow guests to get an immediate appreciation for the layout and collection of the zoo.
The plaza is enclosed by a low, 3 foot smooth-topped stone barrier which makes for a great bench guests can sit on; there are also several wooden benches scattered around the perimeter. Guests can kick back and relax in the shade of a tall tree next to one of the paths on the bench and wait for their friends or family to return; the plaza makes for a great meeting place if a party of guests wants or needs to split up.
Hope you liked! Think I'll tackle South America first and work clockwise. Maybe. We'll see.
- Crotalus
. This is awesome, I was coming here to post my own. I really like your design
