Flamingos at the entrance

Aardwolf said:
The reason why is very simple - they make a great first impression. They are very recognizable, easily seen, noisy (but not offensively so), always doing something, colorful - there are few animals that check all those boxes. There aren’t many other very well known animals that you can say, with 100 percent certainty,, that if you walk by their exhibit you will see easily up and about, interacting, vocalizing, etc - an “empty” first exhibit, or one with a sleeping animal might make a poor first impression.

They’re also very common in zoos, so many zoos (even smaller ones) can have them, which might not be the case for a lot of other very charismatic species. (Penguins would also be a great first exhibit for most of the reasons mentioned - except color - but are much more expensive to maintain and build exhibits for)
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All that's good and all but there's just one problem with flamingos.
They smell HORRIBLE.
 
ZooNew2004 said:
All that's good and all but there's just one problem with flamingos.
They smell HORRIBLE.
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They are also social birds, and their voice is unfortunately very loud and honky. I don't think I've ever seen a zoo Flamingo exhibit where the flamingos were anywhere close to quiet. They talk absolutely nonstop it seems.
 
Aardwolf said:
It’s pretty powerful if you’re in an enclosed space with a lot of them, like in winter holding. I’m open air outside it’s really not too noticeable, I feel like
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In my experience you don't even need to be in the presence of large number of birds as I was at a private facility on Sunday and they had 6 Chilean youngsters at only a couple of weeks old and they positively stunk. :D
 
Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, IL has Greater Flamingo as the first species you see, and Scovill Zoo in Decatur, IL has Chileans near the entrance as well.

I think flamingos work well as an entry animal, they are colorful and attract attention, but the average family of zoo-goers won't linger too long and cause congestion. Most exhibits are also fairly simple and can work on their own without being part of a larger complex.
 
The area of the flamingo exhibit is small, but the Seoul Zoo also has flamingos placed closest to the entrance.

If the visitors entering the main gate of Seoul Zoo go to the left, they will see gemsbok, and if they go to the right, they will see flamingos, but in winter, Seoul Zoo will put all flamingos in one narrow nondisclosure building, so visitors will face dry ponds and empty exhibit.

There are total four species of flamingos are displayed, American, Greater, Chilean, and Lesser, but the number of Lesser is decreasing, and a few years ago, there was a rumor among zoo manias in South Korea that the Seoul Zoo wanted to leave only one flamingo species, the American.

If the rumor is true, it may be because it best fits the image of the flamingo, called in Korean "Hong-hak", which means "red crane".
 
In addition, the Suncheon International Wetlands Center, located in Suncheon Bay National Garden in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, also displays flamingos in a large pond exhibit in front of the building. The four species on display are the same as the Seoul Zoo, and I think this exhibiting is not the main purpose representative of the wetland ecosystem, but more then to give a strong image to visitors.

And my local zoo, Jinyangho Zoo, also released a map earlier this year of placing flamingos at the entrance as a previous plan, which I personally disagree with.

Fundamentally, I think it is just imitating the Seoul Zoo, and I also think it is too inefficient if they follow the flamingo management method of the Seoul Zoo, which does not disclose flamingos in winter. I want my hometown zoo to have new and unique characteristics rather than imitating a large zoo.
 
Jurong Bird Park had flamingos at the entrance. Other than that, I don't remember seeing it anywhere else. However. I only have a small sample size.
 
birdsandbats said:
I've never noticed a small relating to flamingos.
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ZooNew2004 said:
All that's good and all but there's just one problem with flamingos.
They smell HORRIBLE.
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Lots of animals smell gross but when you love them...... Elephants are completely disgusting, penguin keepers get their own line at the grocery store, bear and tiger poop reek, primate poop is waaay too close to hominid poop. But flamingos? Nuzzle your nose into the down of a fluffy half grown flamingo. A gentle exhilarating waft of wildness and open spaces and mountains and vast lakes and delightful pinkness. They should infuse it into candles, eau de parfum, body wash, mouth wash. Flamingos smell beautiful. And I'm not even biased.
 
When it comes to Czechia, I can only remember Ostrava having flamingos at the entrance - but maybe there are more.
 
merlin said:
When it comes to Czechia, I can only remember Ostrava having flamingos at the entrance - but maybe there are more.
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There is no other Czech zoo that would put flamingos directly at entrance / as their very first animal exhibit. And I dont remember to ever see a historic pic or zoo map with such a case here.
 
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