Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Exhibit Rotation

snowleopard

snowleopard

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There is a zoo in Tacoma, which is a city just south of Seattle in the United States. It is called the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and a few years ago constructed a multi-million dollar, 5 enclosure habitat full of Asian species. It's a small zoo, but the great thing about these exhibits is that instead of a particular pair of animals spending their entire lives wandering around the same dusty cage, they can be haphazardly rotated throughout the day.

Occasionally the animals spend two days in one enclosure, and at times they spend half a day before being enticed by food into an entirely different exhibit through the use of hidden tunnels. This creates enrichment for the animals, and is also exciting for the zoo patrons. There is a type of spinning sign on the exhibits telling the zoo visitor that there could be any one of several animals in that specific section. You never know what will be in there on a given day.

There were sumatran tigers, malayan tapirs, siamang gibbons, african-crested porcupines, asian small-clawed otters, anoa, and a second gibbon species...and 5 out of those 7 species rotated around the enclosures. Obviously the gibbons and the tigers had to be inside an-all enclosed exhibit. I know that several other zoos have tested out this policy (St. Louis Zoo?), and it seems like a worthwhile endeavour to me.:
 
If i remember correctly, i read somewhere that there is a zoo in America that rotates their African Wild Dogs, Lions and Leopards in a similar style to Tacoma.
 
The Denver zoo spent over $20 million on "Predator Ridge", and I visited that zoo last year on a two-week road trip with my wife. Lions, african wild dogs, and hyenas were the three species rotated, and it was actually voted the best exhibit of the year by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA).

One of the reasons that it was so successful was because of the close proximity of the animals. There are large panes of glass from ceiling to floor that allow zoo visitors to get awfully close to the predators. Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo has numerous exhibits that have massive glass windows, which allows for visitors to get extremely close.
 
Louisville Zoo has a similar rotation system ( I think there's an article on it at zoolex, too); Zürich Zoo also lets their wolves use the tiger exhibit while keeping the tiger indoors during this time. An American wildlife park even lets their wolves go into the bison exhibit once a week (SAMBRAUS).
 
I think that this an excellent idea as it provides wonderful stimuatlion in the form of scents etc, especially for predators. It would be great if it was done more often. I imagine that it would be a lot of work to set it up and then continue to put it into practice.
 
Enrichment is not the only function of roatation design. The most important function (and most often overlooked), in my opinion, is the healing of the enclosures and maintaining the quality of the habitat in which these animals live.

Every animal uses its environment in a different may...they were made and adapted into this niche. Thus rotation design is supposed to take advantage of this and give individuals more room without expanding that animal's enclosure (another good function of rotation). Enrichment is a big plus but not the most important factor...but thats how zoo management interpreted it. While animals may be confined to one area, it may not be the same area - a principle that few zoos (Louisville, Tacoma, Denver) have taken advantage of to give their animals more space - and the healing process for exhibits is what can allow them to survive longer. Those rotation exhibits that are barren have yet to achieve the right formula of species or management is somewhat ignorant towards the enclosure's health. Good rotation exhibits should have at least 3 enclosures and the following species that do not have competing niches:

1. Destructive species (large terrestrial mammal/bird)
2. Less Destructive species (arboreal, scansorial, smaller terrestrial, and reptiles)
3. Almost non-destructive species

However, rotation design is rather new (and many think risky) in becoming implemented in today's zoo. It will take awhile to explore different options to achieve the right formula for what species can make a good rotation. Mixed-species concepts didnt occur overnight and many thought it was a bad idea to begin with - now everyone uses it.
 
@okapikpr: great message in regards to exhibit rotation. I find myself becoming a massive fan of the concept of allowing captive animals more enclosures to roam around in, but have also declared the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma to have a poorly constructed set of Asian exhibits. There the single terrific exhibit is offset by the 4 barren "cages". I think that Zooplantman said it best when he stated that the theory of rotation is brilliant, but simply has not ever been effectively carried out in any zoo.

I am definitely looking forward to the Kentucky's Louisville Zoo this summer, as my road trip has expanded to 25 zoos/aquariums and now a grand total of 8 weeks...and the Islands set of exhibits at Louisville are regarded as the highlight of the zoo. I have also heard many great things about their fairly new gorilla forest.
 
Its great to have a thread just for these exhibits.
I'll point out that...with the exception of Zurich...all the examples in the USA were created by the same design firm. No one else is doing it. I don't know why that is so, but it helps explain why each has the same failings.
 
Does rotation need to include more then one species though. I'm sure an animal would still get enrichment if some days it lived here and other days it lived there. Only problem is that you would have an empty exhibit and a used exhibit everyday.
 
PAT said:
Does rotation need to include more then one species though. I'm sure an animal would still get enrichment if some days it lived here and other days it lived there. Only problem is that you would have an empty exhibit and a used exhibit everyday.
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The problem you mention is a HUGE problem! Zoo directors/managers and the public both hate empty exhibits. This is why the "other" species needs to have a smaller ecological footprint, so the enclosure can heal from species "A". Of course the exhibit doesnt need to grow into a thicket of vegetation, but heal enough to let most of the grass grow back. :)

Where I work my Okapi have 17 pens for 14 animals. Of course I dont use all the pens, so I can benefit from rotation of individuals and leave some pens empty. I also dont have to deal with any public visitors, too.
 
I just thought of an answer to my own question...If it was a mostly solitary animal then you could seperate them into two exhibits. Simple.
 
PAT said:
I just thought of an answer to my own question...If it was a mostly solitary animal then you could seperate them into two exhibits. Simple.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Bronx Zoo's "Himalayan Highlands" has three hillside enclosures for snow leopards. They can be switched to any one. How much stimulation that is by itself I don't know but it can't be much. The additional stimulation of new scents or other novelties would be better (whether provided by a previous resident of another species or a keeper)
 
Auckland Zoo has two enclosures for its male and female Sumatran Tigers and they change them over infrequently for small periods of time... I've seen the male in the females enclosure and he was racing around exploring the new smells...
 
@Zooplantman: thanks for posting that link, as it was great to re-read Coe's paper on exhibit rotation. I know that you aren't convinced that either Tacoma or Louisville have pulled off the idea adequately enough, but hopefully a zoo in the future constructs a brilliant set of habitats that wins accolades and begins more of a trend in that direction. I've been to Tacoma twice (and will see Louisville this summer), and remain a huge fan of the idea of rotating animals between different enclosures. Perhaps the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma didn't build terrific exhibits, but at least the animals contained are allowed to experience multiple environments on a daily basis. New sights, smells and sounds from different vantage points is surely better than the drudgery of the same old enclosure each and every day. That's my theory, but perhaps the rotation of animals works best when they are of the same species. Many zoos now have great ape habitats where the captives spend time in sections that are fairly new to them, and again surely this is more stimulating for the animals than spending decades in the same enclosure.
 
Yes, as I've posted before, I like the concept and its implications for animal well being as well as visitor experience. Rotating one species is the easiest from a design and keeper perspective. But I'm convinced more could be done if some zoo had the ambition to do it!
 
Buttonwood Park Zoo can rotate its primates throughout 4 tropical rainforest exhibits. I am not sure how much it is implemented but the exhibit was designed so it is possible
 
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