Sorry for the long delay friends. I'm in the middle of a very busy scheduled so I cant guarantee when the next installment will be out. It will be out eventually. I'm determined to get the last two sections done so I can put this zoo to rest. For now here is part one of the 3 part Amazon.
Amazing Amazon
You have now reached the final area of the zoo. I know I’m sad too but by now I would think your feet are just killing you.
The Amazing Amazon is one of the most biologically diverse spaces in the zoo to match with the actual Amazon’s reputation as the most biologically diverse place on the planet. It will be the goal of the pavilion and surrounding outdoor exhibits be to demonstrate that diversity and interdependence.
After crossing over the Little Rouge for the fourth time today you will first encounter a grouping of outdoor exhibits. All of the exhibits along the southern edge of the zoo will be designed to look like abandoned Mayan ruins. I’m only calling the ruins Mayan to get the style of the zoo’s current Mayan Temple in your head. I could care less which style of ancient architecture the designers pick. The idea is to make it all look like an abandoned city which is being reclaimed by the wild to connect to the idea that given time nature can recover. It’s a subtle message but easily explained through signage.
Behind all of the southern exhibits there will be a large long barn for all of the animals here. They will each get an indoor exhibit so that they are available during the winter for viewing. To save myself time its easier to just say all of the exhibits will be similar to their outdoor exhibits with native plant species, sprinklers to provide rain, and natural rainforest sounds. Each exhibit will be located behind their outdoor exhibit and so guests can be up close to the animals they will all be viewable behind glass, except the birds.
So who will you be meeting first in the Amazon? It will be a mixed exhibit featuring Southern Black Howlers and White Faced Sakis. The two species get along without incident elsewhere so by including the sakis in what was originally just a howler exhibit. Howlers are not that active so the more active Sakis will provide a little bit more liveliness in the exhibit. The howler troop will consist of an adult male, four females and their young. If necessary I would be willing to house a bachelor troop as well who would rotate with the family group in order to have so many females. The bachelors would also give me breeding options so its not that bad. Unlike the big howler group, the sakis will consist of a family group with a breeding pair and their young.
They will have a large outdoor exhibit which will be surrounded on three sides by a moat. This will create a bit of an island for the howlers and sakis so that they are contained but guests won’t have to view them through meshing which would be the alternatives. Guest won’t get to be up close and personal but the indoor exhibits will give those up close views. On the land area there will be lush grass and wood chipped areas to help encourage foraging. Normally both avoid ground foraging but they arent wild monkeys. There will be a couple of false trees with metal shade leaves. This way we can prevent them from being totally invisible high in the canopy but still give them trees. There will be fallen branch climbing structures, rope vines, cargo nets, flexible poles they can swing on and shake, hammocks, fallen logs, hollow logs, tree stumps, and rocks. Hidden around the exhibit will be speakers that will play howler sounds which should encourage the others to call back adding a cool noise to the area.
Continuing east you will encounter another mixed monkey exhibit housing Black Handed Spider Monkeys, White-Throated Capuchins and Common Squirrel Monkeys. The trio gets along well and will provide a look at smaller monkeys. The spider monkeys will live in a family group consisting of a breeding male, two or three females, additional males and young. Males tend to stick together and the females leave the group. The breeding males sons will stay until they can leave as a potential group somewhere else. Because I have been greedy wanting to breed everything possible I am willing to take a group of bachelor male capuchins. The group size is irrelevant to me. The squirrel monkeys will be kept as a group of 10-15 females with their young. No adult males will be with them unless breeding. The males will be kept as their own equal sized group in another exhibit which will allow the zoo to hold more of them but control the breeding very carefully.
Like the howlers and sakis the monkeys here will all be on an island like exhibit. Three sides will be surrounded by water. Now I need to separate the back wall along the barn from the monkeys to the west and the mixed exhibit to the east. To do that along the wall of the barn there will be two waterfalls pouring into the moats. It should help to make the exhibits all tie together as though they are a single enclosure. Inside their exhibit it will have the same dressings as the howlers and sakis only scaled down a little to suit their smaller size. they will also be given real trees with foliage that isnt so dense. There are so many monkeys in the exhibit if they all arent visible thats ok, someone else will be.
Perhaps the most impressive exhibit of the southern outdoor exhibits here will be a giant mixed exhibit featuring Giant Anteaters, Baird’s Tapirs, Capybara, Mara and Common Squirrel Monkeys. This grouping will be quite interesting to watch. I admit the mara is out of place in a rainforest setting but they get along well with all of the exhibit mates and I do not have a scrub exhibit. There will be a breeding pair each of the anteaters and tapirs plus their most recent young. Females with newborns will be kept separate until they have bonded and the mother is comfortable with all of the other animals around her baby. Until then she can be kept in the indoor exhibit. The capybaras will live in a group of with a male and two females plus young. There will be ten pairs of Mara plus young. Several surplus male offspring will be kept at the zoo and used as outreach animals. They are incredibly social with people so why not exploit that. Lastly the exhibit will house a bachelor group of 10 or more male squirrel monkeys. The males are being kept in here instead of the females to prevent any possible risk to a baby squirrel monkey being accidentally squished by the much larger mammals. Tapirs can have bad tempers.
In a shocking turn of events the other exhibits in the area they will also have a moat around three sides. Since the tapirs and capybaras would swim across the moat and visit the other exhibits there would be an underwater barrier that should prevent the swimmers from crossing into the mixed monkey exhibits. Hopefully this would work without having to put an ugly barrier above water. The barrier will double in that it will allow keepers to drain the moat regularly since both tapirs and capybaras prefer to poop in their water. With the barrier the other moats won’t need to be drained nearly as often. Although a hippo worthy filtration system my work too. Unlike the other exhibits the water portion will be significantly more to keep the capybaras happily swimming. The exhibit will be covered in fast growing grasses to allow grazing, bushes and trees to provide shade and hiding spots. Along the pools beach there will be a dirt shore, aquatic plants and a number of zero entry spots allowing anyone to lounge in the shallows. Throughout the exhibit there will be big boulders, fallen trees and hollowed out trees that will give the animals a chance to visually separate themselves from each other and guests if they want which will be particularly important for new moms. A number of termite mounds need to be added so the anteaters can engage in natural feeding behaviours. Likewise the squirrel monkeys will need climbing structures. A couple of the fallen trees will have tons of branches on them to create the climbing structure. Vines will be attached to neibouthing trees,
To the east of the mixed exhibit will be the bridge leading into the barn. By using a bridge with a barrier underneath it guests can feel like the whole space is part of the Amazon River. The entrance will be kind of cool if it could work. I would like to see a wide waterfall streaming down on either side of the entrance. Where the entrance is located there will be a wide glass tunnel. This way guests can go underneath the waterfall and feel like they stepped inside it. I think this would really make for an impressive entrance. I kind of described the inside of the barn so you will turn to the east.
This is the first predator you will come across there… and really only one in the southern exhibits. It will be home to the Maned Wolves. The zoo will keep a breeding pair plus their pups. The male would only be separated if he was aggressive towards the pups. It’s uncommon in zoos to need to do that and by providing him with lots of space to escape should he not want to participate in rearing his young he should not need to be removed. They could live with a variety of different species and if I need more space to hold young tapirs, capybaras or anteaters it would be an option depending on the zoo’s current wolves temperament.
Their exhibit will be large considering how few animals are in it. In order to continue the flow from the other exhibits they will be surrounded by a moat. Making the exhibit different the wolves will have several hills and overhangs so that they have more interesting travel choices. The exhibit will largely be grassed with some areas of wood chip and leaf litter just to mix things up. Given their shyier nature they will get lots of visual barriers in the form of trees, bushes, fallen trees and boulders. Some of the boulders will be temperature controlled resting spots so they can survey their domain more and guests can get some nice looks at them resting. There will be a couple of temperature controlled caves for sleeping in. Their moat will have a couple of zero entry spots incase they want to swim. Unlike the other animals in the southern outdoor exhibits the wolves will be allowed outside on warm winter days. They can handle the cold to a certain extent but won't always be visible outside.
The last exhibit before heading back into the zoos Urban Jungle, yes its been that long, is my mixed waterbird exhibit with Caribbean Flamingos, Roseate Spoonbills, Crested Screamers, Ashy Headed Geese, Bronze- Winged Ducks, Cinnamon Teal, Puna Teal, Coscoroba Swans, and Black Necked Swans. Now I say its a big mixed exhibit but if the flamingos will do better physically separated the exhibit could be divided in two. The others should be fine with each other. There will be a flock of 30 flamingos, six to ten of the screamers, geese, ducks and teals, and single pairs of spoonbills and swans. Breeding will be done only on recommendations.
With their exhibit right beside the maned wolves they will need a physical and possibly visual barrier to keep them out of the wolf exhibit and decrease stress on the birds from having a predator next door. Their exhibit will feature a huge pool with aquatic plants, floating logs, and submerged trees and branches. It will be relatively shallow heated water. The land area will need a mix of things. Lots of long flowing grasses will be planted at the back of the exhibit to serve as a backdrop. A big tree or two for shade, some bushes to hide under, grasses but primarily a big dirt beach area. During flamingo nesting season mud will be brought in.
This has brought you to the end of the southern outdoor exhibits. Next up you will head north into the big pavilion.
