Old Exhibits That Still Hold Up Well

[MonkeyBat]

Hello all, I've been quite inactive on ZooChat lately, I've had absolutely no free time with school starting and extracurricular. I was wondering what "old exhibits" you think still hold up well today. Here's my personal criteria

I'd consider an "old exhibit" anything built before the year 2000, basically anything more than 21 years old at this point

The exhibit should remain untouched or relatively untouched during it's existence. (Basically, if you walked into the exhibit when it opened, besides the collection and some tweaks, it should stay relatively the same.)

Exhibits that are renovations of an older building or area can count. (For example, even though it was built in the early 2000's the Regenstien African Journey is an example as it was a renovation of an older building.)

Here's my list from the zoos I've visited!
Lied Jungle - Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo - Opened 1992
Ituri Forest - San Diego Zoo - Opened 1999
Tiger River - San Diego Zoo - Opened 1988
Sun Bear Forest - San Diego Zoo - Opened 1989
Unseen New World - Nashville Zoo - Opened 1998
Amazonia - National Zoo - I believe it was opened before the year 2000?
African Savannah - Honolulu Zoo - Opened before 2000?
Africa - Kansas City Zoo - Opened 1995
Minnesota Trail - Minnesota Zoo - Opened 1978
Maryland Wilderness - Maryland Zoo - Opened most likely before 2000

I know most of these are from the 90's, but I'm interested has some really old ones

 

[elefante]

Most exhibits in the Detroit Zoo appear to be more than 20 years old and they hold up well. Not a bad exhibit there except the bear grottoes could use some updating.

 

[Zoofan15]

Auckland Zoo

Auckland Zoo has a number of old exhibits that are still holding up well:

Asian elephant exhibit (opened 1990):

Counting Burma’s Teeth

• Zoofan15
• 25 Jan 2021
• 1

Photo taken 23/01/2021.

African lion exhibit (opened 1998):

African Lion Exhibit

• Zoofan15
• 17 Jul 2020
• 1

Photo taken 12/07/2020.

Hamadryas baboon exhibit (opened 1999):

Hamadryas Baboon Troop

• Zoofan15
• 24 Jan 2021
• 2

Photo taken 23/01/2021.

Big cat pit (1922-2017):

Until 2017, the zoo had a Sumatran tiger exhibit that originally opened as a lion pit in 1922:

Sumatran Tiger Pit (1922-2018)

• Zoofan15
• 9 Jul 2020
• 1

Hamilton Zoo

Wetlands exhibit (opened 1990’s):

New Zealand Wetlands Exhibit

• Zoofan15
• 26 Jul 2020
• 1

Photo taken 25/07/2020.

 

[Westcoastperson]

Tiger River - San Diego Zoo - Opened 1988

Well except that the tiger exhibit now has a fence going down the middle, but with that I think some of the exhibits are still a little outdated.
A lot of big Aquariums that opened 20 years ago still hold up very well; Aquarium of the Pacific and Georgia (mostly) are the two that come to mind.
Also the 49 soon to be 50 year old field exhibits at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have held up pretty well.
Many of Miami zoos exhibits look slightly outdated but the dry moats and effects still hold up well imo.

 

[Dassie rat]

I thought the Bronx Zoo's 'World of Birds' was impressive when I visited it in 1991.

 

[Therabu]

The example that immediately comes to my mind is Burgers's Bush that dates back 1988 and is still one of the best rainforest exhibits in Europe.
In another category, I would place the antilopenhaus from Berlin zoo, opened in 1872 !. Not one of the best exhibits nowadays but still decent space for animals and nice to watch for visitors.

 

[15399]

Disney's Animal Kingdom opened in 1998 and its animal exhibits still hold up well, including some exhibits that are the best of their kind on the country.

 

[pachyderm pro]

Habitat Africa and The Living Coast at Brookfield have aged gracefully and were both opened in the 90s. Judging from pictures, it seems a lot of the older exhibits at Bronx have also held up super well. I believe the African area is about 80 years old but still looks to be very nice without any major updates in recent years.

 

[Fallax]

Does the 90s count as old? I feel like most exhibits opened in the 90s are probably still in use. I would be more interested in hearing about much older exhibits still in use.

 

[Sphenisciologist]

Historic Hill at the Saint Louis Zoo. I don’t feel like I need to go into detail, but I will just incase.

Most places opened in the 1920’s-40’s with the exception of the Primate Canopy Trails. But regardless of that, there’s the Bird House, Herpetarium, Bird Garden and Primate House (Bird House is my personal favorite).
While the rest of the zoo isn’t exactly “modern,” I mean I wouldn’t call Red Rocks or River’s Edge modern in the slightest, but Historic Hill is definitely the most old-fashioned area of the entire zoo. All the places are well-kept, especially the Bird Garden and 1904 Flight Cage (Cypress Swamp). Although this area doesn’t have my favorite animals, I can still appreciate how nice the exhibit is every time I go.

 

[Jurek7]

There was a similar thread some years ago.

The first panorama exhibit in a modern zoo - African panorama at Hamburg zoo - is still attractive (although the lion part is much too small).

Some of the world's best exhibits are actually over 20 years old: Burgers Bush and Desert in Arnhem, or several Bronx Zoo's exhibits. Their attention to recreating tiny details of wild habitat is still better than many later fake landscapes. You see that a fake rock is a granite or sandstone, or a fake broken tree is a palm or a ficus.

I think the period of 1989 to first years of the 2000s could be something of the golden era of zoo exhibits. Later the exhibit design departed to cultural themes or abstract themes, which actually look ugly, kitschy, weird or simply cheaply done.

 

[DaLilFishie]

Reef HQ's main reef exhibit is still spectacular after 34 years, even though the rest of the aquarium is looking pretty worn out.

 

[Zooplantman]

I think the period of 1989 to first years of the 2000s could be something of the golden era of zoo exhibits. .

I heartily agree. After that zoos changed. Many older directors retired and a new business model for zoos emerged.
Today we again have a period of great turn-over of zoo leadership as that generation retires. I will be interested to see where these leaders (a great many women) take things,

 

[Tiger]

Another one I would like to mention (which some will disagree with) is the hippos' indoor enclosure at Zoo Antwerpen. Actually it is very large and for a building opened in 1885 it is very good. Although it is no longer the original building (destroyed in WW2) the pools are still original and the interior has been recreated back in the 'current' building. There is 1 small pool, which is obviously too small, but there is also a large pool that more than compensates for this small pool. The land area and water area is very large and is the largest hippo indoor enclosure visible to visitors that I have seen. For such an old building it still holds up well in modern times.

 

[Astrotom3000]

The Africa exhibits at the North Carolina Zoo were originally built during the 1980s (with Forest's Edge opening in 1979 if I read my sources correctly) and still hold up amazingly well to this day. Utilizing naturalistic barriers from the get-go as well as brilliantly integrating the exhibits into the existing landscape has benefited the NC Zoo's look and feel greatly, maintaining a charming rustic look without ever feeling or looking outdated.

Ditto, to a slightly lesser extent, for the North America habitats, which opened during the 1990s. Those exhibits also held up well over the years, although a few do fell antiquated to me; the Grizzly Bear and (older) Polar Bear exhibit in particular.

 

[JVM]

Denver Zoo's Primate Panorama has a few dated areas but the overall complex feels like something that could be built today, save for the sheer ambition that it originally held over twenty-five species of primate.

Milwaukee County Zoo's bird house was renovated in the 90s and is my favorite bird building I've been to. It's not overly reliant on massive aviaries with dozens of species - leaving most exhibits to a couple at a time lets me breathe and focus on the individual residents, rather than sometimes in a large aviary of two dozen birds focusing on one or two major ones at the expense of others. It covers a lot of biomes and the inclusion of penguins and mouse deer add a little extra punch.

The best picks in Chicago have largely been mentioned. I would definitely want to add the Swamp for Brookfield Zoo though, save the river otter exhibit.

 

[DelacoursLangur]

The Woodland Park Zoo gorilla exhibits date back to the late 70s and are still fantastic. Really the genesis of immersive exhibit design.

 

[EagleScout610]

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
- The Rainforest (1992)
- Wallaby Walkabout (2000)
- African Savanna (1980s)
- Rhino Yard (1984)
- Wolf Wilderness (1997)

 

[Kalaw]

The best example which I have personally seen is the European Brown Bear exhibit at Whipsnade. It opened in 1931, an era when most zoos were still placing bears in minute concrete pits or grottos, and may well have been the first bear enclosure in the world to display them in a forested, naturalistic setting. 92 years later, it is still one of the best bear exhibits on the continent, with the only major change being improved separation areas (and an additional viewing area, but of course that doesn't change the enclosure itself much), and the only evidence of its age being the rusted fencing.

1984:

@Hix

2022:

@twilighter

 

[Dhole dude]

The Northern Trail at the Minnesota Zoo opened between the lates 70's and the mid 80's and is still an excellent exhibit to this day.