Firstly I forgot to mention to Arcticwolf that Im very much looking forward to see what changes you will make in your master plan for the zoo. I have no doubt you will have some amazing ideas I will be kicking myself for not thinking up on my own. I have had my plans pretty much done since I started the thread but I've been posting them in chunks simply because its so massive (roughly 30 pages) that everyone would be reading for hours.
This next section will be a massive section of the zoo almost as much space as the savannah! I had a ton to do.
Continuing our journey around the world in Euraisa. I would like to shift things around to include Indo Malaya. With Australia nearby it just makes more sense to me to put the tropical animals closer to that and work towards the colder climate animals as you approach that north east corner of the zoo. Starting in the space used by the Australasian pavilion, the kangaroo yard and the panda plaza I would build a much bigger and better Indo Malayan pavilion. To welcome you I would have a pair of orangutans swinging from trees holding a sign. Again PHOTO OP.
Outside the building I would place the statue of Dinding at the edge of a beautiful garden as a way to play tribute to the zoos past. I would also build a second statue for Kartiko and place his memorial plaque nearby. Those are meaningful things that should remain. And as the longest living member of our orangutan clan a third statue will be build to honour Puppe.
Obviously the key animal exhibit here would be a fantastic natural looking orangutan habitat with indoor and outdoor facilities. It would be a thing of beauty. Inside there would be ground and higher up viewing. I really like that they can come right up to the glass to fool around now so why not keep that up. The group could go outside for the first time in their lives! Trees, grass, flowers, all kinds of things to see and explore. I would also continue the I Pad experiment and let them video chat with other orangutans. I’d probably let the gorillas and chimps get involved with that as well. If large touch screen computers will work better for them then I would get them those instead.
Joining them in this amazing new world would be the gibbons. They would have their own indoor exhibit but rotate outside in the orangs enclosure. If I could have two or three species of gibbon co-mingle that would be fantastic, but probably unrealistic.
I’d like a great Asian small clawed otter exhibit with underwater viewing. Next door there would be a gharial exhibit also with underwater viewing.
And a good sized komodo dragon exhibit that had glass at ground level so you can see it better from other angles. I’m not opposed to stairs around back that would let you see it still from above because seeing their trails is also pretty cool. And to be friendly to guests with physical disabilities and parents with small children an elevator could be installed or ramps but an elevator will take less space.
Also inhabiting the building would be clouded leopards, binturongs, Pangolin, Rhinoceros Hornbills, Great Indian Hornbill, wrinkled hornbill, Micronesians Kingfishers, Eurasian hoopoe, Burmese pythons, Indian star tortoise, Malayan box turtle, Asian leaf turtle, any cool geckos, and assorted fish.
There would be a nice butterfly aviary combined with whatever birds won’t eat them. Everything should be mixed and matched in exhibits where possible.
In outdoor yards I would have another central building with separate yards for several animals. Malayan tapirs paired with muntjacs would have one space. Another would be taken up by an Indian rhino pair. An a third would be for the babirusas to be combined with the tapirs if possible. Rotating between the outdoor yards and the central barn would be a key feature. In the barn I think I’d have two much bigger indoor spaces than they currently have.
Also outside would be yards for Sumatran and Malayan tigers. I think I would have their yards close to the pavilion so they could share services. Two exhibits would be out front with two privacy exhibits in the back for mothers with tiny cubs to enjoy until the babies are ready for the main exhibits. The tigers too would rotate exhibits, though for mothers with cubs they would stay put until the cubs are older.
There would also be a grouping of yards for sun bears and sloth bears. They would have a similar set up to the tigers. I really like sun bears. And if Im going to house all of the species of bear then I better get the sloth bears too.
It is in this tropical Asian section that I would place something similar to the gorilla ropes course. Would leave it to experts to design but the experience should make you feel as if your traveling through the trees. And I don’t want boring wooden posts. They will be designed to look like trees in every way possible.
As I shift away from the rainforest areas of Asia I would rotate into colder climate animals of Asia and Europe (probably not much from here). None of these animals except the pandas should need (and the pandas don’t really other than for constant shifting purposes to restock food but keep them visible) have indoor viewing. Oh for cold weather animals and their furry coats. Since I’ve taken all the space from Australasia and the panda exhibit I will place the next cluster of animals into the area the camels ect currently inhabit. This will be my new panda home.
I’ll start off with the key animal the pandas. I’ll keep Er Shun and Da Mao for as long as possible, unless they prove to be non breeders. If I’m going to the expense to keep and feed them they better give me the attendance boom of cubs. Their new home would be much more befitting their status as one of the zoos star attractions. They would get the Bactrian camels’ space plus more space to the side that isn’t used right now. Outside would be 3 large yards, one tucked in the back for privacy.
A main building would take the old barn and jut out into the panda plaza which would take up most of the old chamois exhibit. Their barn would also be home to the panda interpretive center. I don’t want a separate interpretative center. This would be where people line up to see the pandas and the line up will zig zag in narrow aisles much like the bamboo forest part just before you leave the center now. This way there are strict controls of movement and stupid line cutters. Yes you will be packed in like sardines but there will be other massive draws throughout the zoo to draw guests in and level out the lines ultimately. But to remove the sense of tightness there will be a big glass skylights, lots of emergency exits and I feel like the walls should have huge glass windows. The pandas would be sealed off from this area to prevent noise disturbance.
Passing through a big door guarded by staff guests could view the pandas for the first time by entering into their night suites area. I wouldn’t go on the cheap here. I would want fake rocks on the wall, plant real plants, have a real artist in to paint sky (or big glass, nearly floor to ceiling windows), natural looking flooring, ect. When you walk in it should look as much like you walking into their habitat as possible. Then you could go to their outdoor habitats which again would look more natural. I like the exhibits I can see on San Diego Zoo’s panda cam, only I aim to go bigger. And that adds another point. The pandas must... Must... MUST have a panda cam. And all baby pandas will be named through a naming contest.
Now I should fill out the rest of this area shouldn’t I. The pandas will be separated from the rest of this zone by bamboo fencing and bushes. When you exit the panda exhibit you would walk into panda plaza. Here would be a gift shop, photo experience (much like the current one where you can be put into photos with animals but cheaper), a restaurant offering a mix of Chinese and American food and gardens.
Taking up whatever remains of this space would be an aviary for golden pheasants and any other bird they will get along with.
In the Barbary sheep exhibit will be golden snub nosed monkeys. They probably don’t need all that space so I’d create a second exhibit for the red pandas. I think this would give each species lots of space and the ability to barn share.
In the tur exhibit I would put a new pack of dholes and Amur leopards. They could also barn share and rotate exhibits for stimulation. Given the low numbers of both species in North America I might have to reconsider the animal we place there. Possibly if a cluster of small mammal exhibits or build flight pens for birds like Eurasian Eagle Owls.
Where the second reindeer yard is I would build a mountain animal enclosure takin and anything else that can be housed with them (maybe the himilayan tarh) or alone if necessary.
The snow leopard and sea eagle exhibit can keep its place. Not knowing what it looks like (probably done on the cheap like the pandas) I can’t tell if there’s the space I’d want. If I need more it can be pinched from the red pandas space since it would be empty.
Across from the current red panda exhibit in the space behind the current panda exhibit and the interpretive center would be an Amur tiger complex with two exhibit yards and an off exhibit yard for young cubs and sub adults waiting for new homes.
A shared barn for Japanese macaque and Lion tailed Macaques would be located in the red pandas space extending towards the stream and back. Each would have its own outdoor exhibit but because the Japanese Macaques love winter there would only be a smaller indoor yard for the Lion Tails. I’d like to have some real trees in their yards for them to enjoy as well as the exhibit decor stuff. The trees would be in the middle to provide shade and stimulation but never pose a risk for escape.
Swinging across the river we would have hoof stock. In the old dromedary yard a new Bactrian camel ride would go in plus a good barn for them. The path would be moved to be as close to the river as possible. The Bactrian exhibit would swing into the yak yard. I’d like to see if the yaks and Bactrians can get along.
Beside them would be the Przewalski’s Horse and Blackbuck.
Next to them would be a mountain exhibit featuring tur, Barbary sheep and European mouflon if possible as we become less Asian and more Eurasian. Currently all of these are on phase out. This means they will need to be replaced in the future so Tadjik Markhor and Armenian mouflon.
All of these exhibits will be on the zoomobiles drive through tour. By the time you hit that back corner of the zoo where the Przewalski’s barn currently sits you would hit the end of this section.
