Most Underrepresented Region in Zoo Exhibits

HTZ

HTZ

Member
Every zoo under the sun has an African savannah and Amazon rainforest exhibit, and while those are always cool, I feel like there is another amazing habitat that barely ever gets any representation in the zoo world: the Pacific Islands. The area of the world that is not quite Asia and not quite Australia has an amazing biodiversity of animals (Komodo dragons, babirusa, tree kangaroos, Cassowary, etc.) but rarely ever gets re-created in zoo exhibits. The only zoos I remember having exhibits of this region are the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island and the Bermuda Zoo. Does anyone know of any other zoos that have Pacific Islands exhibits?
 
There's definitely some others with 'Island' themes out there although not all are as neatly limited to the Pacific islands or Australasia. Chester Zoo has an Islands complex that includes three of the four species mentioned. Louisville I believe also does.
 
HTZ said:
the Pacific Islands. The area of the world that is not quite Asia and not quite Australia has an amazing biodiversity of animals (Komodo dragons, babirusa, tree kangaroos, Cassowary, etc.)
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The Pacific Islands are the islands in the Pacific Ocean. It isn't synonymous with Indonesia, or the Indonesian Archipelago, or even with Australasia.
 
A comprehensive Arctic Exhibit.

Polar Bear with genuine Ice Seals nearby (I guess Harbor Seals are found in Hudson Bay, Greenland, and Spitsbergen. But Ringed Seals or Spotted Seals (Bearded or Ribbon if we are dreaming) would be great).

Maybe Arctic Foxes. An aviary of Waterfowl that breed in the Arctic. An aviary for Ravens. Rough-legged Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Snowy and Short-eared Owls.

A colony of Arctic Ground Squirrels. Are Ptarmigan as easy to keep as Pheasants? Red Foxes and Brown Bears. Caribou and Muskox. A pack of Wolves. An Ermine or two raised from kits and comfortable with people.

How about Walruses or Belugas?

Polar Bears and Sea Otters or Sea Lions in the same complex annoy me.

Some zoos get close to a genuine Arctic Complex and Alaska’s three main facilities hold many of the above animals…Arctic Breeding Waterfowl not so much (aside from a couple Eiders at the Alaska SeaLife Center)…but imagine the above species (again most found in zoos, if not very common) in an exclusive dedicated exhibit complex.
 
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I believe a 'proper' exhibit based on the River Nile could be quite interesting. Enclosures of course will be present for common hippos and Nile crocodiles. However it can also be a way to showcase some of the smaller fauna such as Nile monitors , cobras, softshell turtles, perch, lungfish, ibis and Egyptian geese. Alternatively maybe a Brahmaputra/Luit exhibit or one simply based on Assamese wildlife can be quite interesting.
 
HTZ said:
Every zoo under the sun has an African savannah and Amazon rainforest exhibit, and while those are always cool, I feel like there is another amazing habitat that barely ever gets any representation in the zoo world: the Pacific Islands. The area of the world that is not quite Asia and not quite Australia has an amazing biodiversity of animals (Komodo dragons, babirusa, tree kangaroos, Cassowary, etc.) but rarely ever gets re-created in zoo exhibits. The only zoos I remember having exhibits of this region are the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island and the Bermuda Zoo. Does anyone know of any other zoos that have Pacific Islands exhibits?
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For me I believe that it would have to be Australia or Madagascar. Australia has so much more to it than just kolas and kangaroos such as their impressive number of reptiles and birds of which my home zoo has an aviary dedicated to just Australian birds. Madagascar is also a very underrated island ecosystem and there's still so many types of lemurs that the island has that I would like to see and there are also a notable amount of non-lemur animals that I wouldn't mind seeing get more exposure and awareness in the public eye.
 
Central America deserves a mention here. While there are plenty of generic Rainforest exhibits, and plenty of South American Rainforests, I'm not aware of any zoos with exhibits dedicated specifically to Central America (with the exception of zoos in the region). There's lots of great species in Central America prevalent in US zoos, including jaguars, ocelots, Baird's tapir, Central American spider monkeys, keel-billed toucans, yellow-headed parrots, and much more.
 
Galapagos. There's only one Galapagos dedicated themed area at a zoo (Houston) and even there the animals aren't actually from the Galapagos but rather are their close cousins from other species.

Obviously there are political reasons why this is the case but if it were possible having real Galapagos animals would be very cool.
 
Neil chace said:
Central America deserves a mention here. While there are plenty of generic Rainforest exhibits, and plenty of South American Rainforests, I'm not aware of any zoos with exhibits dedicated specifically to Central America (with the exception of zoos in the region). There's lots of great species in Central America prevalent in US zoos, including jaguars, ocelots, Baird's tapir, Central American spider monkeys, keel-billed toucans, yellow-headed parrots, and much more.
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Luckily, the Houston Zoo’s South America’s Pantanal fits in that category. Pretty much the best South American exhibit in a zoo that doesn’t just show the rainforest but also the grasslands too!
 
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Matt G said:
Luckily, the Houston Zoo’s South America’s Pantanal fits in that category. Pretty much the best South American exhibit in a zoo that doesn’t just show the rainforest but also the grasslands too!
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Um, no it doesn't? Just because it shows a different part of South America, it still shows South America. My post was saying Central America, as in the region from Mexico to Panama, is underrepresented. Now, I'm not saying the Pantanal is a bad exhibit, it's certainly an incredible one, but it is most certainly not a Central American exhibit.
 
Neil chace said:
Um, no it doesn't? Just because it shows a different part of South America, it still shows South America. My post was saying Central America, as in the region from Mexico to Panama, is underrepresented. Now, I'm not saying the Pantanal is a bad exhibit, it's certainly an incredible one, but it is most certainly not a Central American exhibit.
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Ah, I see.
 
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