Pages from Aardwolf's Notebook

[Aardwolf]

Hi all,

So over the years, I've spent a fair amount of time playing around with exhibit ideas. I thought I'd share some of them here if people are interested. Worth noting that these don't necessarily go together as "one zoo" - I've worked at a lot of zoos over the years, and these represent ideas I've had for adding to different collections. I've written these over the course of the past decade or so. Some of them are geographic in theme, some taxonomic, some single-species. I've tended to focus on species and groups that I'm familiar with or interested in - I've never worked with elephants or marine mammals, for instance, and never put much thought into designing an enclosure for any of them. I've always thought of each exhibit in terms of vignettes - conveying a specific story, message, or experience to visitors. My only guideline is that the exhibits had to be somewhat realistic - ambitious, in some cases, but all doable, both in terms of size, expense, and availability of animals. (Apologies, I tried uploading my rough blueprints, but for some reason can't get them to load, so text only). So, with that said, here's my first entry:

Secrets of the African Night

Concept: Most exhibits of African wildlife try to recreate the safari experience – herds of large mammals being eyed by patient predators on a bright, sunlit plain. When the sun goes down on the African plains, however, a very different world comes into focus. Smaller, more cryptic species emerge from hiding, while otherwise dormant animals become active. Secrets of the African night is based loosely on my experiences exploring East Africa at night, both on foot and from a vehicle, and seeing entirely new animals under the cover of darkness.

Species: Milky Eagle Owl, Caracal, Aardvark, Springhaas, Cape Porcupine, Rock Hyrax, Straw-Colored Fruit Bat, Moholi Bushbaby, African Rock Python, Emperor Scorpion, Spotted Hyena

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre, including the adjacent green space. About three-quarters of the exhibit space is taken up by the outdoor hyena exhibit

Keeper Requirement: 1 Keeper per day. Keepers are only permitted to shift the spotted hyenas if another keeper is on radio. Two keepers are required for servicing any rock python over 10 feet in length. Keepers loop through the exhibit hall as often as possible (and have docents stationed whenever possible) to monitor visitors and make sure visitors are not interacting with animals.

Description: The trail leading up to the Secrets of the African Night is dyed concrete, resembling a red clay road, crisscrossed by the tracks of various animals. The winding path is lined by tall grasses; halfway towards the building stands a large, rustic wooden sign, hand painted with the message “Danger! Safari visitors must not leave the campsite after sunset!” Emphasizing this point is the replica skull of a wildebeest, cemented into place among the weeds at the base of the sign. As the path turns another corner, a mass of rockwork obscures the entrance to the main exhibit building.

Immediately outside of the building is the first enclosure, roughly fifty feet long by thirty feet deep. The back wall is an extension of the rockwork that makes up the entrance of the building. The substrate is a mixture of bare dirt and grasses – the tall grasses along the edges, blurring the sides of the exhibit, fading into short, green grasses in the front. A small water feature (holding about ten gallons) is fed by water trickling from the rocks. A downed tree lies across the center of the enclosure, providing a series of perches and forming a small cave under the toppled root mass. The enclosure is constructed from wooden bollards, fronted with harp wire, and roofed with soft mesh. Visitors are held back from the front of the enclosure by a low fence, resembling a boma, which keeps them back at a distance of five feet. This habitat is shared on a rotational basis by caracal and milky eagle owl. Whichever species is not occupying the outdoor exhibit has access to the indoor exhibits instead.

The anteroom to Secrets of the African Night is accessed through a gap in the rockwork. Parked immediately outside is a dilapidated land rover, seemingly stuck in a rut in the mud and broken down. The doors have been removed, allowing children to climb inside for photo ops.

The light is low, enhancing the illusion of twilight. The room is dominated by a massive photo mural of the savannah at twilight, shadows of acacia trees standing out against the purple sky. Hidden fans emit a soft breeze, while speakers play the sounds of frogs and insects, punctuated by the occasional, distant calls of larger animals. The room is set up to resemble a campsite – much of it is shaded by a camp tarp (the portion of the ceiling which is not covered is painted with stars), with a few camp chairs and packing crates stationed around the perimeter. A guiding light, disguised as a propane camp lamp, guides visitors into the next room, where the adventure begins.

Pushing through double doors, visitors enter the main exhibit hall. The visitor pathway loops around a central mixed-species exhibit, home to a variety of nocturnal animals. Unlike many nocturnal buildings, the lighting here is not too dark, only held down to twilight, encouraging animal activity while still allowing reasonable views of the animals. The visitor walkway rises three feet above the floor of the exhibit and is fronted with smooth metal sheeting to a height of five feet, preventing the larger animals from scrambling up into the visitor space. The main exhibit is sandy-floored with a few tufts of tall grasses and small trees (real and artificial), while a small rock kopje raises from the center of the exhibit (built into the back of the rock kopje, out of view of visitors, is a trio of small cages which are used for training and catching up the smaller animals in the exhibit, which are fed in these cages). Additional feeding stations are built into the kopje to keep them out of the reach of the larger exhibit animals. A small, shallow pool lies at one end of the display.

Rock hyraxes perch atop the central rock heap, while Moholi bushbabies leap from branch to branch and straw-colored fruit bats glide overhead. Crested porcupines plod across the shifting sands, disrupting foraging springhaas. The stars of the exhibit, however, are the aardvarks, which may sometimes be seen feeding from an artificial termite mound at one end of the enclosure. At the other end of the habitat is their burrow, built adjacent to the visitor path and with a large window in it. There, under red light bulbs, visitors may sometimes spy the sleeping aardvarks… or whatever other animals have decided to take shelter in their lair.

Both the aardvarks and porcupines double-function as ambassador animals, and may sometimes be seen out and about for walks on zoo grounds.

Stretching along one wall of the exhibit building is the indoor habitat for the caracal and milky eagle owl. During inclement weather, it forms two separate exhibits, one for the cat and one for the birds. During the warmer months, when one species is outside, the both habitats are opened up into one larger one, providing more space. Rotations occur randomly. Sometimes a species may have the outdoor space for a week at a time, the next time it might only be for half a day.

Additional indoor exhibit space features an African rock python is a spacious exhibit fronted by a curved glass window. Heated ledges built into the front of the habitat encourage the snake to lie draped along the front window at eye level, though if it chooses to explore, it can also crawl across a downed tree or shelter inside a hollow log. A smaller exhibit next to the python features emperor scorpions. The use of a button turns on a blacklight, accessible only during keeper demos, makes these giant arachnids glow in the dark.

Set into the opposite wall of the building are a series of tinted windows, giving visitors the appearance of looking out into the twilight when it is really bright day outside. From these vantage points, they may spy a sulking figure running across a grassy plain, or even lock eyes with a powerful predator. These windows are vantage points into the outdoor habitat of spotted hyenas, the largest animals in Secrets of the African Night. The hyena dens are located under the visitors’ feet in a basement level, while their main habitat can be seen outside, just through a second set of double-doors and back into the light.

The spotted hyena yard is three-quarters of an acre, a gently sloping hillside the rolls down towards the visitor viewing area. Embedded into the hillside (facing the visitors downhill for draining and shelter) are a series of culvert pipes, which the hyenas may use as their dens. The back fence line (and its associated dig barrier) is screened with trees and tall grasses. Most of the exhibit is a grassy field, studded with a few boulders and a small stream-fed pool, which at three feet at its deepest allows the hyenas to swim. There is also a mud wallow, a sand pit (in which keepers sometimes bury treats), and a zipline for prey items running from one end of the yard to the other.

Visitors can view the hyenas through two sets of windows set in the rockwork (one directly in front of the pool, the other built into a small cave provided for shelter), as well as from a raised boardwalk that links the two. Upon leaving the hyenas, a meandering trail, similar in character to the one leading up to the building’s entrance, feeds back to the main zoo path.

 

[TinoPup]

Now this is how to do a spec zoo thread! Well thought-out, extremely detailed, realistic species with proper exhibit specs and species mixes.

 

[JVM]

If that exhibit were built today, it would shoot up to being one of the top exhibits in any zoo I'd want to see. The detail here is fantastic and very inspirational for fleshing my own speculative work!

 

[pachyderm pro]

Outstanding work. Fantasy zoo designers take note, this is what this section of the forum needs. Based on some of your previous posts, would I be correct in assuming you are/were an actual zoo exhibit designer? If so, are there any notable projects that you helped develop?

Looking forward to seeing what other ideas you have coming!

 

[Haliaeetus]

Hi all,

So over the years, I've spent a fair amount of time playing around with exhibit ideas. I thought I'd share some of them here if people are interested. Worth noting that these don't necessarily go together as "one zoo" - I've worked at a lot of zoos over the years, and these represent ideas I've had for adding to different collections. I've written these over the course of the past decade or so. Some of them are geographic in theme, some taxonomic, some single-species. I've tended to focus on species and groups that I'm familiar with or interested in - I've never worked with elephants or marine mammals, for instance, and never put much thought into designing an enclosure for any of them. I've always thought of each exhibit in terms of vignettes - conveying a specific story, message, or experience to visitors. My only guideline is that the exhibits had to be somewhat realistic - ambitious, in some cases, but all doable, both in terms of size, expense, and availability of animals. (Apologies, I tried uploading my rough blueprints, but for some reason can't get them to load, so text only). So, with that said, here's my first entry:

Secrets of the African Night

Concept: Most exhibits of African wildlife try to recreate the safari experience – herds of large mammals being eyed by patient predators on a bright, sunlit plain. When the sun goes down on the African plains, however, a very different world comes into focus. Smaller, more cryptic species emerge from hiding, while otherwise dormant animals become active. Secrets of the African night is based loosely on my experiences exploring East Africa at night, both on foot and from a vehicle, and seeing entirely new animals under the cover of darkness.

Species: Milky Eagle Owl, Caracal, Aardvark, Springhaas, Cape Porcupine, Rock Hyrax, Straw-Colored Fruit Bat, Moholi Bushbaby, African Rock Python, Emperor Scorpion, Spotted Hyena

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre, including the adjacent green space. About three-quarters of the exhibit space is taken up by the outdoor hyena exhibit

Keeper Requirement: 1 Keeper per day. Keepers are only permitted to shift the spotted hyenas if another keeper is on radio. Two keepers are required for servicing any rock python over 10 feet in length. Keepers loop through the exhibit hall as often as possible (and have docents stationed whenever possible) to monitor visitors and make sure visitors are not interacting with animals.

Description: The trail leading up to the Secrets of the African Night is dyed concrete, resembling a red clay road, crisscrossed by the tracks of various animals. The winding path is lined by tall grasses; halfway towards the building stands a large, rustic wooden sign, hand painted with the message “Danger! Safari visitors must not leave the campsite after sunset!” Emphasizing this point is the replica skull of a wildebeest, cemented into place among the weeds at the base of the sign. As the path turns another corner, a mass of rockwork obscures the entrance to the main exhibit building.

Immediately outside of the building is the first enclosure, roughly fifty feet long by thirty feet deep. The back wall is an extension of the rockwork that makes up the entrance of the building. The substrate is a mixture of bare dirt and grasses – the tall grasses along the edges, blurring the sides of the exhibit, fading into short, green grasses in the front. A small water feature (holding about ten gallons) is fed by water trickling from the rocks. A downed tree lies across the center of the enclosure, providing a series of perches and forming a small cave under the toppled root mass. The enclosure is constructed from wooden bollards, fronted with harp wire, and roofed with soft mesh. Visitors are held back from the front of the enclosure by a low fence, resembling a boma, which keeps them back at a distance of five feet. This habitat is shared on a rotational basis by caracal and milky eagle owl. Whichever species is not occupying the outdoor exhibit has access to the indoor exhibits instead.

The anteroom to Secrets of the African Night is accessed through a gap in the rockwork. Parked immediately outside is a dilapidated land rover, seemingly stuck in a rut in the mud and broken down. The doors have been removed, allowing children to climb inside for photo ops.

The light is low, enhancing the illusion of twilight. The room is dominated by a massive photo mural of the savannah at twilight, shadows of acacia trees standing out against the purple sky. Hidden fans emit a soft breeze, while speakers play the sounds of frogs and insects, punctuated by the occasional, distant calls of larger animals. The room is set up to resemble a campsite – much of it is shaded by a camp tarp (the portion of the ceiling which is not covered is painted with stars), with a few camp chairs and packing crates stationed around the perimeter. A guiding light, disguised as a propane camp lamp, guides visitors into the next room, where the adventure begins.

Pushing through double doors, visitors enter the main exhibit hall. The visitor pathway loops around a central mixed-species exhibit, home to a variety of nocturnal animals. Unlike many nocturnal buildings, the lighting here is not too dark, only held down to twilight, encouraging animal activity while still allowing reasonable views of the animals. The visitor walkway rises three feet above the floor of the exhibit and is fronted with smooth metal sheeting to a height of five feet, preventing the larger animals from scrambling up into the visitor space. The main exhibit is sandy-floored with a few tufts of tall grasses and small trees (real and artificial), while a small rock kopje raises from the center of the exhibit (built into the back of the rock kopje, out of view of visitors, is a trio of small cages which are used for training and catching up the smaller animals in the exhibit, which are fed in these cages). Additional feeding stations are built into the kopje to keep them out of the reach of the larger exhibit animals. A small, shallow pool lies at one end of the display.

Rock hyraxes perch atop the central rock heap, while Moholi bushbabies leap from branch to branch and straw-colored fruit bats glide overhead. Crested porcupines plod across the shifting sands, disrupting foraging springhaas. The stars of the exhibit, however, are the aardvarks, which may sometimes be seen feeding from an artificial termite mound at one end of the enclosure. At the other end of the habitat is their burrow, built adjacent to the visitor path and with a large window in it. There, under red light bulbs, visitors may sometimes spy the sleeping aardvarks… or whatever other animals have decided to take shelter in their lair.

Both the aardvarks and porcupines double-function as ambassador animals, and may sometimes be seen out and about for walks on zoo grounds.

Stretching along one wall of the exhibit building is the indoor habitat for the caracal and milky eagle owl. During inclement weather, it forms two separate exhibits, one for the cat and one for the birds. During the warmer months, when one species is outside, the both habitats are opened up into one larger one, providing more space. Rotations occur randomly. Sometimes a species may have the outdoor space for a week at a time, the next time it might only be for half a day.

Additional indoor exhibit space features an African rock python is a spacious exhibit fronted by a curved glass window. Heated ledges built into the front of the habitat encourage the snake to lie draped along the front window at eye level, though if it chooses to explore, it can also crawl across a downed tree or shelter inside a hollow log. A smaller exhibit next to the python features emperor scorpions. The use of a button turns on a blacklight, accessible only during keeper demos, makes these giant arachnids glow in the dark.

Set into the opposite wall of the building are a series of tinted windows, giving visitors the appearance of looking out into the twilight when it is really bright day outside. From these vantage points, they may spy a sulking figure running across a grassy plain, or even lock eyes with a powerful predator. These windows are vantage points into the outdoor habitat of spotted hyenas, the largest animals in Secrets of the African Night. The hyena dens are located under the visitors’ feet in a basement level, while their main habitat can be seen outside, just through a second set of double-doors and back into the light.

The spotted hyena yard is three-quarters of an acre, a gently sloping hillside the rolls down towards the visitor viewing area. Embedded into the hillside (facing the visitors downhill for draining and shelter) are a series of culvert pipes, which the hyenas may use as their dens. The back fence line (and its associated dig barrier) is screened with trees and tall grasses. Most of the exhibit is a grassy field, studded with a few boulders and a small stream-fed pool, which at three feet at its deepest allows the hyenas to swim. There is also a mud wallow, a sand pit (in which keepers sometimes bury treats), and a zipline for prey items running from one end of the yard to the other.

Visitors can view the hyenas through two sets of windows set in the rockwork (one directly in front of the pool, the other built into a small cave provided for shelter), as well as from a raised boardwalk that links the two. Upon leaving the hyenas, a meandering trail, similar in character to the one leading up to the building’s entrance, feeds back to the main zoo path.

It would be better if such an exhibit was really fit for night visits (practically non-existent in Europe, even if some parks have experienced it on other continents, not to mention the famous Night Safari of Singapore).

 

[Aardwolf]

Thanks very much for the kind words! @pachyderm pro , in response to your question, not really. I've been a keeper, educator, curator, and a few other roles over the years, and while I have designed a few small enclosures over the years, they've been modest affairs (only one of which I've ever seen mentioned anywhere on ZooChat... and it wasn't super well-received by those discussing it. To be fair, I had an existing footprint I had to work with, and while I gave our director several versions of a plan to choose from, he picked the least-ambitious version). That's keeping with my experience - zoo directors (and even more so administrators without an animal background) tend to be very conservative (I mean that in the professional and economic sense, not the political) and cautious about doing something markedly different from what has been done before. I spent years working for a well-known non-AZA facility with an owner who was convinced that the Behlen cage was *the* last word in zoo design. If I had to build these exhibits for real with actual money, I'd probably be less-inclined to break the mold myself. Anyway, here's exhibit #2:

Heart of the Nile

Concept: Water is one of the most important factors needed to sustain animal life, and in few places is this more evident than East Africa. The time of transition between the dry season and the wet season means life or death for many animals. Different species have different degrees of connectivity to the water. For some species, it is simply something to drink. For others, it is the center of their entire lives. Heart of the Nile explores the lives of some of Africa’s most famous aquatic animals and explains to visitors how their lives revolve around the water.

Species: Nile Hippopotamus, Sitatunga, Spotted-Neck Otter, Allen’s Swamp Monkey, Wattled Crane, Lesser Flamingo, Saddle-Billed Stork, Cape Teal, White-Faced Whistling Duck, Nile Crocodile, Nile Monitor Lizard, Nile Softshell Turtle, African Mud Turtle, Lake Victoria Cichlid, Tilapia

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre. Includes a ¼ acre building and two large outdoor yards for hippopotamus and sitatunga

Keeper Requirement: Two keepers service this exhibit daily. One takes care of the hippos, antelope, monkeys, and otters, while the other services the outdoor aviaries and indoor reptile and fish exhibits. In an emergency or under short-staffed conditions one keeper can manage the building. Both keepers are required for servicing the Nile crocodiles.

Description: Although it is a fairly large building, Heart of the Nile remains fairly unobtrusive to zoo visitors. That is largely because the building is blocked on most sides by outdoor animal habitats, which prevent visitors from seeing the main structure too clearly. The exhibit complex is screened from the main path by a dense wall of tall grasses and reed-like plants, such as Miscanthus, which provide a marsh-like feel to the area (papyrus cannot be easily grown outdoors in much of the United States, otherwise it would be a preferred material). Hidden speakers play the sound of rushing water and the calls of birds. The path is comprised of mats of recycled rubber, giving it a spongy, bog-like feel, while still being firm enough for strollers and wheelchairs to navigate it easily.

The exhibit entrance is marked with a small pergola, dominated by a large wood-cut map of the African continent. Marked prominently on it are the major rivers, such as the Congo, the Niger, the Zambezi, and, of course, the Nile. Photo displays depict the wet/dry dichotomy of life in Africa, with the parched nomadic herds of the Kalahari being compared with the lush wilderness of the Okavango Delta. Despite the name of the exhibit, the main theme of the display is universal, reinforced by the slogan wrapped around the map of Africa in large blue letters – “Water is Life.”

Passing through the pergola, visitors enter a series of double-doors that leads to a series of three large aviaries. In each aviary, visitors are confined to an elevated boardwalk on the left-hand side, overlooking the birds below. The first aviary (50 x 50 feet) houses wattled cranes, the second (50 x 120 feet) lesser flamingos, white-faced whistling ducks, and cape teal, and the third (50 x 50 feet) houses saddle-billed storks. In the first and third aviaries, the visitors are completely separated from the birds, as the walkway is fronted with large mesh. This allows visitors to easily see through or photograph the birds, but prevents the large, potentially aggressive birds from flying onto the walkway. In the flamingo aviary, there are no barriers, allowing visitors to have an unobstructed view of the birds. The walls between the three aviaries are solid planks of wood from the ground level to five feet up. Birds in flight or on elevated perches may be able to see one another, but birds on the ground cannot fight or injure one another.

Each aviary is fronted with a large pool, two feet deep at its deepest, which appears to run unobstructed through all three aviaries. The flamingo exhibit has an additional small, separate pool on the land portion of the habitat, which is the birds’ feeding pool. Furthermore, the flamingo habitat has adjustable water levels, which allows keepers to periodically flood the exhibit to facilitate breeding and nesting behavior. The crane and flamingo pens are relatively open, with a few stumps and snags for perching. The stork and crane aviaries each include small pens towards the back corner, which can be used for introductions. The stork aviary is dominated by a large, artificial tree which features several nest platforms, giving the birds the option of choosing their ideal nest site. In all three aviaries the birds are left full-winged, a feature that is specifically intended to promote breeding of the storks.

Hooking around the stork aviary, visitors find themselves walking through a rock formation that arches overhead. It starts off relatively open before solidifying into a true tunnel, eventually leading seamlessly into the main building. In Heart of the Nile, the floor and walls are poured concrete, dyed and textured to resemble rockwork. On the left hand side are two large terrariums, each about fifteen feet deep by twenty feet long. The first is about two-thirds land area to one-third water, with a large log draped across a pool three feet deep. This is a habitat for Nile monitors. The second is about three-quarters water with a small land area in the form of a sandy beach. This is a habitat for Nile softshell turtles and African mud turtles. Sandwiched between the two exhibits is a tank of Lake Victoria cichlids.

The opposite wall has no animal displays. Instead, it is a mural of the history of the Nile region, from the Ancient Egyptians (depicting scenes of hunting hippos, as well as scenes of animal-headed gods of the era) to the search for the source of the legendary river in the 1800s. The path then opens, suddenly, into the atrium-like center of the building. It is a warm, fragrant room, filled with overflowing elevated planters and a central fountain, which bubbles up from a crack in the rocks like a spring. There are several large, stone benches positioned around the room for visitors to rest on, each facing one of the two surrounding habitats.

Here, under a glass-domed roof, visitors finding themselves between two exhibits, each fronted with underwater viewing windows. On the right-hand side is a habitat of Nile crocodiles, about 120 feet by 30 feet. The crocodile pool has a depth of six feet – a section of the visitor pathway ramps down along the front of the exhibit to provide a full view of submerged crocodiles. Wrapped around the back of the pool is a sandy beach with massive of stone blocks, the ruins of some ancient pyramid, scattered around the back, as well as a statue of the crocodile-headed god Sobek. One of these stone slabs lies propped across two other slabs; built into it is a heating element, providing a very warm basking area for the crocodiles. A stainless-steel cable runs a few feet above the surface of the pool (height is adjustable) from which prey items can be suspended to encourage jumping behavior from the crocodiles. A small corral of logs is in the back corner, which acts as a keeper area. Above the pool is a section of roof which can be cranked open, allowing fresh air and sunlight in and providing natural basking opportunities for the crocodiles on warm days.

Opposite the crocodiles is the much larger hippopotamus exhibit, 170 feet by 50 feet. The hippo pool has a maximum depth of 8 feet, though it is adjustable for when there are calves present. As with the crocodile, exhibit, there is a sloping ramp along the front of the pool to provide underwater views. It slopes up to a gunite beach, with a large sand box providing a soft place to lie down. Most of the backdrop is lined with a long, elevated planter, which provides a green backdrop. There is one large break in the planter – a passageway that leads to the hippos’ off-exhibit stalls, then beyond to the outdoor enclosure behind the building. The hippos share their pool with a large school of tilapia, which help keep the water clean of feces.

On a pair of podiums flanking the exit to the atrium is a pair of skull casts, one of a large Nile crocodile, one of an adult hippo. These skull casts provide a unique photo opportunity for visitors, while also providing educational opportunities about the lives of these very different aquatic animals.

Passing through the atrium, visitors will see a habitat on the right that provides shelter to a pair of Allen’s swamp monkeys and a pair of spotted-neck otters, again with underwater viewing. The otters and monkeys have an adjacent outdoor exhibit immediately outside of the building. The exhibit is on both sides of the visitor path – the monkeys can cross overhead using an enclosed overhead tunnel, while the otters can swim underneath a bridge that visitors take over the pool (the bridge has a Plexiglas panel set into it which allows visitors to sometimes see otters swimming under their feet). Opposite the indoor monkey/otter exhibit is the hippo life support and water quality room.

Continuing outside, the trail loops around the hippo outdoor exhibit - a quarter-acre field with two pools, connected by a small stream. A few trees (sheltered with guards) provide shade. A large patch of earth near the front of the viewing area has been left bare and kept wet through a soaker hose to serve as a mud wallow. When the hippos are shifted in from their outdoor exhibit, they are conditioned to station in the chute that links the indoor and outdoor areas and get hosed off by the keepers to prevent them from tracking too much mud into their underwater-viewing pool. Across from the hippos is a second field exhibit, this one a lush, grassy lawn grazed by a herd of sitatunga, shaded by several leafy trees. The center of the yard is dominated by a broad, shallow pool, seemingly (but not actually) linked to the hippo pools by a dry streambed that runs under the visitor walkway. The sitatunga holding barn is located at the back of the exhibit, and has no indoor viewing. A small covered viewing deck overlooks the sitatunga pool, providing a quiet, pleasant place for visitors to sit and watch the antelope.

Leaving the hippos, the trail loops back to the main zoo pathway.

 

[Aardwolf]

This next exhibit owes its inspiration, indirectly, to Tony Vecchio, former director of the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and Jacksonville Zoo. In the zoo educator community, Tony is famous for his workshop on storytelling, where he uses a narrative to frame the animals and exhibits to help foster learning from the public. I'd always been interested in the interconnectedness between history, nature, and anthropology, and from that workshop the concept of this exhibit was born (at alternative, but similarly-themed exhibit, could be devised around Vitus Bering and his exploration of the Arctic, with exhibits of sea otter, Steller's sea eagle (Georg Steller was the naturalist of this expedition), and other species, as well as a display about the now-extinct Steller's sea cow - maybe even using manatees as a stand-in?)

Ituri Quest

Concept: Although it is one of Africa’s largest land mammals, the okapi was not known to western science until the dawn of the last century. Its discovery shocked the zoological community, which had long been doubtful that large mammals remained to be discovered. Today, it still remains a poorly studied species in the wild, and while it is increasingly common in zoos, many visitors remain unfamiliar with it. Even fewer are familiar with the story of its discovery. The exhibit attempts to present the discovery of the okapi as a scientific mystery that visitors are invited to help solve.

Species: Black-Crested Mangabey, Red River Hog, Okapi, Yellow-Backed Duiker, Congo Peafowl, Amethyst Starling, African Jacana, African Pygmy Goose, Great Blue Turaco

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre

Keeper Requirement: One Keeper per Day

Description: The entrance of Ituri Quest is a trail head cutting off behind a densely planted screen of vegetation – bushy bamboo and broad-leafed trees – as visitors symbolically set off into the jungle. The path that they walk upon is molded concrete, died to resemble red African clay. Embedded in this concrete are the tracks of various animals which have crisscrossed the trail, some of which visitors may see along their hike, others which they may not.

Also at the head of the trail is the first of the exhibit’s signs. The three-dimensional signs (made of laminated plastic) are designed to resemble large, open books, the journal of British explorer and colonial administrator Sir Harry Johnston. The text (kept brief and large print for easier reading) is supplemented with illustrations and maps. The first of these journals outlines that Sir Harry has rescued a group of Mbuti (pygmies) from a showman who had kidnapped them and was bringing them back to their home in the Ituri Forest of the Congo. On the way, he hoped to learn more about a mysterious animal which he had heard rumors of in the forest.

Note: An exhibit storyline like this could easily lead to suggestions from visitors that the zoo is glorifying a colonial official in Africa, one who on more than one occasion took up arms against Africans and sought to assert European sovereignty over their lands. At the same time, telling the story of the okapi’s introduction to the west without include Harry Johnston is almost impossible. Volunteers and educators who work this exhibit are trained to discuss the colonial history of the era in a manner that is respectful of the rights of African nations to determine their own destinies free from European control or influence. As an attempt to show some cultural sensitivity, an exhibit in the Mbuti hunting camp will be devoted to the life of the Mbuti Ota Benga, who was brought to the United States as a curiosity and even briefly displayed at the Bronx Zoo.

The trail loops for a little while before coming to a recreation of a Mbuti hunting camp. Here, a second journal is displayed, this time featuring a scrap of skin from an okapi’s rear legs in a shadowbox. Johnston’s journal details that the skin was given to him by one of the Mbuti, who told him that it came from the animal that he sought. Examining the striped skin, Johnston wonders if the animal is some sort of forest-dwelling zebra. A separate series of signs located around the perimeter of the village explores the lives of the Mbuti and how they survive in the forests of the Congo, and how their survival has been challenged in recent years by encroachment from the outside world.

Across the path from the village is a tall mesh-enclosed habitat of black-crested mangabey monkeys, fronted with glass windows at certain vantage points to provide better viewing. The monkey exhibit is about fifty by fifty feet, thirty feet at its tallest, built around an inter-connected series of live and artificial trees. The artificial trees are built with a series of cavities and hidden portal, in which keepers hide treats daily to encourage arboreal foraging. The winter quarters of the mangabeys –shared with the other side-exhibits of the Ituri Quest – are in a building at the back of the exhibit, painted a dull brown and sponged with mossy green paint to render it inconspicuous. This keeper building is fairly simple, just holding indoor housing for the animals and a very small kitchen. The main keeper headquarters for this exhibit is located at the okapi barn, to be described shortly. There is no winter viewing of the mangabeys or other side-exhibits.

Further down the trail, another of Johnston’s journals calls attention to a series of tracks crossing the path, which his guides identify as belonging to the animal that he seeks. Johnston expresses confusion, as these are cloven hoofprints, not those of a zebra or horse. He wonders if the animal might be some sort of antelope or swine. Reinforcing this impression is a habitat of red river hogs. The hog exhibit is fifty feet deep and seventy feet long, furnished with mud wallows, grassy lawns, a small pool, and several rocky outcrops which provide shade. These crags also have heaters built into them which can be activated during cool weather, lengthening the window of time in which the red river hogs can remain comfortably outdoors each year. Visitors view the animals for a slight overlook, providing a clear, unobstructed view of the animals. The hogs have indoor housing in the same building as the mangabeys, directly behind their enclosure.

Down the path, Johnston’s journal calls the visitors’ attention to the skeleton of an okapi lying under a tree, apparently killed by a leopard. He marvels that the skull reminds him of nothing more than a giraffe, and speculates that the animal – named by his guides – is a forest giraffe.

Down the trail a little further visitors are finally rewarded with a sight of the okapis. There are two lawns, each about a quarter of an acre in size but which can be opened up to create one large yard. Although the two habitats run alongside the visitor pathway for much of the exhibit trail, they are only visible for a relatively narrow section of the trail, including a viewing platform that juts out into the exhibit, by effect of a wall of bamboo screening. This provides the okapi with as much privacy from visitors as possible. The yards are grassy with some elevated planters and several large trees (the bases protected with carefully camouflaged sheet-metal wraps to protect them from the animals). Hanging from the branches of the larger trees are feeders in which produce can be placed, while artificial trees in both yards have slots in which browse can be inserted, presenting visitors with the sight of okapis feeding naturally. The okapis shared their habitat with yellow-backed duikers.

The back of the exhibit is made up of the off-exhibit okapi barn, which contains several stalls for animals (including a secluded maternity ward), a keeper kitchen, a store room, and an office. Built into the side of the barn facing the exhibit is a Dutch-door, from which keepers (or visitors on special behind-the-scenes tours) may offer browse or produce to the okapis on exhibit. Directly behind the barn is a small off-exhibit outdoor yard for animals that need isolation from the public.

Continuing on the trail, visitors pass through one more exhibit, a walk-through aviary that houses great blue turaco, African pygmy geese, African jacana, amethyst starling, and Congo peafowl. The sides of the aviary are made of very fine stainless steel mesh to exclude snakes and other potential predators, with a two foot strip of metal flashing wrapped around the outside and inside bottoms of the structure. The aviary is twenty five feet tall at its highest point; visitors traverse it from an elevated boardwalk, putting them about halfway up the height of the exhibit. The exhibit is built around a broad, shallow pond, with a small island in the center (ideal for the birds to have refuge at night), the edges densely planted, with several large strands of woody grape vine strung between real and artificial trees to create perching for the turacos. The peafowl have several hiding places on the exhibit floor, as well as a well-raked out patch of sandy soil for dust bathing. The visitor pathway hugs the outer edge of the aviary, providing unobstructed views of the birds while still providing the birds – especially the shy peafowl – with as much distance as possible for guests. The same holding building that houses the winter quarters of the mangabeys and hogs provides winter housing for the aviary birds, with entry portals provided both at ground level and at tree level. A separate trail hugs the outside of the aviary for visitors who do not wish to walk through this exhibit.

One final journal entry from Johnston details that his Mbuti companions are safe back in their village and he is returning home with all sorts of new information about the okapi, as well as his belief that there are still more natural wonders to be discovered in the Congo (the later a tip of the hat of the Congo peafowl, which would be discovered on later expeditions to the Congo by other zoologists). The trail then leads through another densely planted screen and back onto the main pathway.

 

[15399]

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre. Includes a ¼ acre building and two large outdoor yards for hippopotamus and sitatunga

This seems smaller than I'd expect a hippo complex to take. Does this acre include all the life support systems for the pools or is that factored in elsewhere?

This next exhibit owes its inspiration, indirectly, to Tony Vecchio, former director of the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and Jacksonville Zoo. In the zoo educator community, Tony is famous for his workshop on storytelling, where he uses a narrative to frame the animals and exhibits to help foster learning from the public. I'd always been interested in the interconnectedness between history, nature, and anthropology, and from that workshop the concept of this exhibit was born (at alternative, but similarly-themed exhibit, could be devised around Vitus Bering and his exploration of the Arctic, with exhibits of sea otter, Steller's sea eagle (Georg Steller was the naturalist of this expedition), and other species, as well as a display about the now-extinct Steller's sea cow - maybe even using manatees as a stand-in?)

Ituri Quest

Concept: Although it is one of Africa’s largest land mammals, the okapi was not known to western science until the dawn of the last century. Its discovery shocked the zoological community, which had long been doubtful that large mammals remained to be discovered. Today, it still remains a poorly studied species in the wild, and while it is increasingly common in zoos, many visitors remain unfamiliar with it. Even fewer are familiar with the story of its discovery. The exhibit attempts to present the discovery of the okapi as a scientific mystery that visitors are invited to help solve.

Species: Black-Crested Mangabey, Red River Hog, Okapi, Yellow-Backed Duiker, Congo Peafowl, Amethyst Starling, African Jacana, African Pygmy Goose, Great Blue Turaco

Spatial Requirements: Approximately 1 Acre

Keeper Requirement: One Keeper per Day

Description: The entrance of Ituri Quest is a trail head cutting off behind a densely planted screen of vegetation – bushy bamboo and broad-leafed trees – as visitors symbolically set off into the jungle. The path that they walk upon is molded concrete, died to resemble red African clay. Embedded in this concrete are the tracks of various animals which have crisscrossed the trail, some of which visitors may see along their hike, others which they may not.

Also at the head of the trail is the first of the exhibit’s signs. The three-dimensional signs (made of laminated plastic) are designed to resemble large, open books, the journal of British explorer and colonial administrator Sir Harry Johnston. The text (kept brief and large print for easier reading) is supplemented with illustrations and maps. The first of these journals outlines that Sir Harry has rescued a group of Mbuti (pygmies) from a showman who had kidnapped them and was bringing them back to their home in the Ituri Forest of the Congo. On the way, he hoped to learn more about a mysterious animal which he had heard rumors of in the forest.

Note: An exhibit storyline like this could easily lead to suggestions from visitors that the zoo is glorifying a colonial official in Africa, one who on more than one occasion took up arms against Africans and sought to assert European sovereignty over their lands. At the same time, telling the story of the okapi’s introduction to the west without include Harry Johnston is almost impossible. Volunteers and educators who work this exhibit are trained to discuss the colonial history of the era in a manner that is respectful of the rights of African nations to determine their own destinies free from European control or influence. As an attempt to show some cultural sensitivity, an exhibit in the Mbuti hunting camp will be devoted to the life of the Mbuti Ota Benga, who was brought to the United States as a curiosity and even briefly displayed at the Bronx Zoo.

The trail loops for a little while before coming to a recreation of a Mbuti hunting camp. Here, a second journal is displayed, this time featuring a scrap of skin from an okapi’s rear legs in a shadowbox. Johnston’s journal details that the skin was given to him by one of the Mbuti, who told him that it came from the animal that he sought. Examining the striped skin, Johnston wonders if the animal is some sort of forest-dwelling zebra. A separate series of signs located around the perimeter of the village explores the lives of the Mbuti and how they survive in the forests of the Congo, and how their survival has been challenged in recent years by encroachment from the outside world.

Across the path from the village is a tall mesh-enclosed habitat of black-crested mangabey monkeys, fronted with glass windows at certain vantage points to provide better viewing. The monkey exhibit is about fifty by fifty feet, thirty feet at its tallest, built around an inter-connected series of live and artificial trees. The artificial trees are built with a series of cavities and hidden portal, in which keepers hide treats daily to encourage arboreal foraging. The winter quarters of the mangabeys –shared with the other side-exhibits of the Ituri Quest – are in a building at the back of the exhibit, painted a dull brown and sponged with mossy green paint to render it inconspicuous. This keeper building is fairly simple, just holding indoor housing for the animals and a very small kitchen. The main keeper headquarters for this exhibit is located at the okapi barn, to be described shortly. There is no winter viewing of the mangabeys or other side-exhibits.

Further down the trail, another of Johnston’s journals calls attention to a series of tracks crossing the path, which his guides identify as belonging to the animal that he seeks. Johnston expresses confusion, as these are cloven hoofprints, not those of a zebra or horse. He wonders if the animal might be some sort of antelope or swine. Reinforcing this impression is a habitat of red river hogs. The hog exhibit is fifty feet deep and seventy feet long, furnished with mud wallows, grassy lawns, a small pool, and several rocky outcrops which provide shade. These crags also have heaters built into them which can be activated during cool weather, lengthening the window of time in which the red river hogs can remain comfortably outdoors each year. Visitors view the animals for a slight overlook, providing a clear, unobstructed view of the animals. The hogs have indoor housing in the same building as the mangabeys, directly behind their enclosure.

Down the path, Johnston’s journal calls the visitors’ attention to the skeleton of an okapi lying under a tree, apparently killed by a leopard. He marvels that the skull reminds him of nothing more than a giraffe, and speculates that the animal – named by his guides – is a forest giraffe.

Down the trail a little further visitors are finally rewarded with a sight of the okapis. There are two lawns, each about a quarter of an acre in size but which can be opened up to create one large yard. Although the two habitats run alongside the visitor pathway for much of the exhibit trail, they are only visible for a relatively narrow section of the trail, including a viewing platform that juts out into the exhibit, by effect of a wall of bamboo screening. This provides the okapi with as much privacy from visitors as possible. The yards are grassy with some elevated planters and several large trees (the bases protected with carefully camouflaged sheet-metal wraps to protect them from the animals). Hanging from the branches of the larger trees are feeders in which produce can be placed, while artificial trees in both yards have slots in which browse can be inserted, presenting visitors with the sight of okapis feeding naturally. The okapis shared their habitat with yellow-backed duikers.

The back of the exhibit is made up of the off-exhibit okapi barn, which contains several stalls for animals (including a secluded maternity ward), a keeper kitchen, a store room, and an office. Built into the side of the barn facing the exhibit is a Dutch-door, from which keepers (or visitors on special behind-the-scenes tours) may offer browse or produce to the okapis on exhibit. Directly behind the barn is a small off-exhibit outdoor yard for animals that need isolation from the public.

Continuing on the trail, visitors pass through one more exhibit, a walk-through aviary that houses great blue turaco, African pygmy geese, African jacana, amethyst starling, and Congo peafowl. The sides of the aviary are made of very fine stainless steel mesh to exclude snakes and other potential predators, with a two foot strip of metal flashing wrapped around the outside and inside bottoms of the structure. The aviary is twenty five feet tall at its highest point; visitors traverse it from an elevated boardwalk, putting them about halfway up the height of the exhibit. The exhibit is built around a broad, shallow pond, with a small island in the center (ideal for the birds to have refuge at night), the edges densely planted, with several large strands of woody grape vine strung between real and artificial trees to create perching for the turacos. The peafowl have several hiding places on the exhibit floor, as well as a well-raked out patch of sandy soil for dust bathing. The visitor pathway hugs the outer edge of the aviary, providing unobstructed views of the birds while still providing the birds – especially the shy peafowl – with as much distance as possible for guests. The same holding building that houses the winter quarters of the mangabeys and hogs provides winter housing for the aviary birds, with entry portals provided both at ground level and at tree level. A separate trail hugs the outside of the aviary for visitors who do not wish to walk through this exhibit.

One final journal entry from Johnston details that his Mbuti companions are safe back in their village and he is returning home with all sorts of new information about the okapi, as well as his belief that there are still more natural wonders to be discovered in the Congo (the later a tip of the hat of the Congo peafowl, which would be discovered on later expeditions to the Congo by other zoologists). The trail then leads through another densely planted screen and back onto the main pathway.

I can certainly see the parallels between this exhibit and some of Vecchio's projects at Roger Williams, especially parallels to the Marco Polo Adventure Trek similarly dedicated to exploration and encountering wildlife.

 

[Aardwolf]

This seems smaller than I'd expect a hippo complex to take. Does this acre include all the life support systems for the pools or is that factored in elsewhere?

I can certainly see the parallels between this exhibit and some of Vecchio's projects at Roger Williams, especially parallels to the Marco Polo Adventure Trek similarly dedicated to exploration and encountering wildlife.

I suppose it really would be closer to an acre and a half, now that I think about it - I liked the idea of the hippo meadow outside being half an acre by itself, factor in a sitatunga exhibit of about the same size, and that would eat the space up. That’s the danger of speculative exhibits, I suppose - they aren’t real, so it’s so easy to go, “oh, I’ll just add…”.

“Heart” was the first of these exhibits I’d ever designed, back when I was still in high school. My local zoo had just lost hippos, and I wanted to see them brought back… but in style. At the time I wrote it, I’d only ever seen one hippo exhibit with underwater viewing, so didn’t have much to work with. Truth be told, I’ve never gone BTS with Nile hippos, so I’m not as familiar with some aspects of their facilities as I am with many of the other species I write about

 

[Aardwolf]

Raptor’s Roost

Concept: Large birds of prey are at their most impressive when seen in flight, but many zoos display their African species flight-restricted as part of hoofstock exhibits. Raptor’s Roost envisions an exhibit in which visitors are treated to the sight of birds of prey in flight in habitats that are specifically designed to facilitate breeding and natural behaviors.

Species: Bateleur Eagle, Secretarybird, Marabou Stork, African White-Backed Vulture, Hooded Vulture, Cape Vulture

Spatial Requirement: Approximately ¾ acre, almost all outside (except for the keeper service building).

Keeper Requirements: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area).

Description: Raptor’s Roost is essentially a large, hoop-shaped aviary, subdivided into three smaller (yet still quite spacious aviaries. The three aviaries form a donut around a holding building, which provides indoor off-exhibit space for all three exhibits. Visitors explore the aviaries through a mesh-enclosed boardwalk that traverses through all three exhibits.

At the entrance of the aviary is a large woodcut sign, depicting the wingspan of various African raptors for visitors to compare their arm span to. After passing through double doors, they enter the boardwalk that begins their looping journey through the bird exhibits.

The boardwalk slopes up to six feet off the ground, a height which it maintains for most of the exhibit (and which allows keepers to easily move underneath of it for cleaning both sides of each aviary. The sides of the boardwalk are solid-railed with wood for the bottom 30 inches, then enclosed with harp wire to provide unobstructed views, while still being positioned in such a way as to prevent birds from perching on the edge of the boardwalk, where they could be reached by visitors. The ceiling of the boardwalk (eight feet at its tallest) is sharply peaked, with the apex crowned with a strip of anti-perching material to dissuade birds from perching directly over the heads of the visitors. Aviaries are twenty-five feet tall, which allows the birds to easily clear the boardwalk in flight, though they also have the option of traveling underneath it. There are no perches placed within six feet of the boardwalk to discourage visitor contact with the birds.

Visitors first enter the smallest of the three aviaries, housing a pair of bateleur eagles. This aviary is largely unobstructed, with a few perches of varied heights mostly positioned around the periphery of the aviary, providing ample open space for flight.

The second aviary is a grassy meadow dominated with a large artificial tree, into which two nesting platforms have been built (both at eye-level with the boardwalk). This habitat is designated for secretarybirds. The backside of the artificial tree has a ladder built into it, as well as a platform besides each nest platform for easier keeper access. The tree also is equipped with closed-circuit cameras, which can relay footage back to the keeper building in the center of the aviary.

The third aviary is a mixed species habitat for African vultures – white-back vulture, hooded vulture, and Cape griffon vulture, though the species composition may change based on the needs of breeding programs. It also houses a pair of marabou storks, the only non-raptors in the exhibit. Prominently displayed is the recreated skeleton of an African buffalo, from which the vultures and storks may pull their food, positioned under the ribs by keepers. The exhibit includes several nesting sites (CCTV capable, as was the secretarybird nest site), a sunning ledge situated in the optimal position to capture the morning sun, and hidden misters.

The keeper building, located in the center of the exhibit, is a relatively simple structure, containing mostly stalls for the various birds to be held in during inclement weather. One stall is reserved as an incubation and rearing room. Indoor stalls are simply dirt floors with perching and water tubs, with heat provided through overhead radiant heats. From the central hub, a keeper can access each of the three aviaries. Birds are often fed inside their stalls to encourage them to come in and out for easier catch-up.

 

[Aardwolf]

This entry marks the last of my Africa-themed exhibits, though other African species will appear later in other habitats. It's a slight divergence from the other exhibits, taking on a less-natural theme and having more of a museum quality

Tanzania – Endangered Africa

Concept: Africa is renowned for its tremendous diversity of wildlife, including some of the most charismatic, recognizable endangered species on the planet. Many visitors still only have a relatively vague idea of what makes a species endangered. Many simply chalk it up to “trophy hunting” or “Chinese medicine” or some other vague threat which they themselves do not participate in. Tanzania – Endangered Africa takes visitors for a brief visit with three very different endangered species which are endangered for very different reasons. Along the way, visitors are encouraged to make connections between Tanzania and the places where they themselves live, asking themselves why species become endangered and what steps can be taken to address the threats that face them.

Species: Black Rhinoceros, Kihansi Spray Toad, Lake Victoria Cichlids (multiple species), Nile Perch

Spatial Requirements: The exhibit takes up about two acres, including a one-acre exhibit yard, half-acre off-exhibit yard, and the indoor facilities for the animals and visitors.

Keeper Requirement: One keeper is sufficient to care for this exhibit area, with the ability to take on additional exhibits in other areas.

Description: Tanzania – Endangered Africa eschews natural, immersive architectures; after all, one of the lessons that it seeks to convey is that we are no longer living in an especially natural world. A low brick building with skylights lying off the main path, the short walk to the building is lined with formal gardens. Interspersed among the flower beds are statues of some of Africa’s recently extinct animals, such as the quagga, the bluebuck, and the Atlas bear. Each statue is fronted with a plaque that lists the species name, the date of its presumed extinction, and a brief story of how it came to vanish. A set of large double-doors welcomes visitors into the building.

The theme of the lobby is “What is Extinction?” Graphics along the walls depict a timeline of the history of the earth, showing the five previous major extinctions and suggesting that we are in the midst of a sixth. One wall is covered with photographs and drawings of recently-extinct species, from the dodo onward, with an ominous final portrait left blank with a “Who’s Next?” sign scrawled over it. Another wall shows pictures of some of the most endangered species left, pixelated, with the number of pixels corresponding to how many individuals are estimated to be left. The message that the gallery aims to convey is that while extinction is a natural process, with the majority of species on earth over the history of our planet now extinct, there is nothing natural about the current rate of extinction.

The next room asks, “Why Are Species Endangered?” A graphic on the wall explains the concept of the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, depicting various animals that are representative of each level. Then, a series of displays highlight the reasons that different animals might become endangered. It is here that the live animals start to appear. For example, a display on habitat loss features graphics that show the disappearance of rainforests across the world, but it also features a habitat of Kihansi spray toads. The exhibit is in two parts – the spray zone, a recreation of their natural waterfall habitat in Tanzania, and the lab, a series of tanks on shelves seen through a window, a peek into a bio-secure facility where toads are reared. This offers a lesson about how animals with small ranges and especially specific habitat requirements are very vulnerable to extinction, as well as how captive-breeding has saved a species from extinction and led to its restoration back into the wild.

Another gallery is focused on invasive species. There are graphics depicting the threats of invasive species around the world, followed by a short hallway, lined with one large aquarium on either side. On the left is a beautiful variety of Lake Victoria cichlids swimming in colorful schools. On the right, in a shadowy, darker tank, lurk Nile perch, the species whose introduction to Lake Victoria led to dramatic decline of many cichlids. A TV screen nearby plays clips of the documentary “Darwin’s Nightmare” selected to highlight the ecological threat posed by these fish.

The final section of the building is devoted to “How Do We Save Endangered Species” and focuses on the largest and most recognizable animal in the building, the black rhinos. Visitors walk along one side of the rhino barn where, from across cables, they can watch the animals sharpen their horns on stumps, feed out of browsers, or rest in sand or mud substrate, underneath the natural skylights. There are three rhino stalls, which can be opened into one larger paddock or kept subdivided, based on the management needs of the zoo at any given moment. The opposite side of the gallery explores the centuries-long quest for rhino horns – why people want it, how it affects rhino numbers, and what is being done to protect rhinos. At the end of the hall, visitors can step onto a deck overlooking the main rhino pasture, admiring the animals in a comfortable spacious habitat, before returning to the main path. A separate, half-acre off-exhibit holding yard is attached to the main rhino yard, which facilitates the zoo's potential to breed this species.

 

[Aardwolf]

Moving into the next roughly geographic area, North America...

Arctic Shores Aviary

Concept: Many zoo visitors are familiar with penguins, but not nearly are as well-acquainted with their northern hemisphere counterparts, the puffins. This is reflected in zoo exhibits; many facilities house penguins, but relatively few – even those that feature polar bears and other arctic species – pay much attention to the shorebirds of the north. Arctic Shores is an attempt to put puffins front and center and to celebrate them as unique, spectacular, charismatic birds that are every bit as worthy of attention and appreciation as penguins.

Species: Common Murre, Atlantic Puffin, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Harlequin Duck, Long-Tailed Duck, Spectacled Eider

Spatial Requirements: The building is about 1/10 of an acre. With the surrounding grounds and paths, the exhibit takes up about a fifth of an acre.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area).

Description: The walk leading up to the Arctic Shores Aviary is a broad swath of stone dust, lined with large, irregular rocks over which a thin layer of moss grows. Pieces of drift wood are scattered about, creating the impression of a wrecked ship. The planted areas alongside the trail are occupied only by a few sparse conifers and low shrubs. Hidden in sheltered locations are speakers, which broadcast the sound of the waves and the calls of distant seabirds.

The building itself is a gray, squat structure, the exterior concrete molded to resemble rockwork (but carefully sure to include no promising hand- or foot-holds which might encourage children to climb it), with white streaks resembling guano running down the sides. The doorway is concealed beneath a rocky crag, giving the impression that visitors are walking through a crevice in the cliff face on their way to the sea beyond. Over the doorway is a bronze sculpture of a pair of Atlantic puffins tending to a fledgling chick on the ledge above.

Inside the building is an atrium which serves to educate visitors about puffins and other shore birds. The centerpiece is a life-sized sculpture of a pair of great auks, perfect for photo opportunities. Exhibits around the perimeter of the wall are themed around different aspects of puffin ecology. For example, one depicts the differences and similarities between penguins and alcids, asking visitors to identify the whether a bird that pops up on a screen is one or the other. Another gallery depicts the challenges and benefits of colonial living. A third examines the impact of humans on puffins through oil spills, exploitation (including the risks posed by overfishing – the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” program is pitched heavily here), and climate change. Restroom facilities are also found here. The atrium is kept dark, especially towards the doors leading to the outside, which are found through a curving hallway. This helps reduce the likelihood of any birds entering the atrium from their respective aviaries. During the summer and busy weekends, docents meter visitors through the exhibit to keep it from getting too crowded, as well as to monitor the birds.

A set of double-doors on the right-hand side of the atrium leads to the first of the two aviaries, the Atlantic Arctic. Here, visitors walk along the edge of a mixed aviary of Atlantic puffins, common murres, harlequin ducks, and long-tailed ducks. The exhibit consists of a rocky backdrop fading into a sloping hillside, which in turn flattens to a pebbly beach. A spray machine and fans create cool, salty breezes in this maritime habitat, with an ambient temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The exhibit is fronted by a pool, which has a maximum depth of eight feet. The bottom of the pool has rockwork with sculpted starfish and other marine invertebrates on it, as well as the remains of a wrecked whaling boat. The visitor path ramps downward along the exhibit, providing underwater views of the birds before climbing back up to the ground level.

A set of double-doors leads from the Atlantic Arctic to a darkened hallway, which is dominated by a window into the staff service area. There is also an underwater window into the pool of each aviary. Here, visitors can watch as keepers prepare diets, incubate eggs, and tend to hatchlings before they are turned loose in the aviary. Keepers have the option of lowering blinds to get some privacy if they are doing delicate or sensitive work (and there are some keeper service areas which are not equipped with windows). An intercom system allows keepers to talk to visitors during keeper chats (visitors only have access to it for these chats, so they cannot constantly communicate with the keepers throughout the day). Opposite the window is a small seating area. Doors behind the seating area lead out to a loading dock, from which keepers can bring in loads of frozen fish or other supplies, passing through the visitor area directly to their work space. Also out behind the building is access to the life support system for the two pools, located directly under the visitor viewing area.

A second set of double-doors leads into the Pacific Arctic Aviary. This exhibit is very similar to the Atlantic Arctic Aviary, but houses tufted and horned puffins, as well as spectacled eiders. Both aviaries have artificial lighting which keepers may manipulate throughout the year to improve breeding success. Additionally, both exhibits are capable of housing non-releasable native shorebirds in association with the alcids and waterfowl. A set of double doors leads back into the atrium.

 

[Tigeanderson]

Moving into the next roughly geographic area, North America...

Arctic Shores Aviary

Concept: Many zoo visitors are familiar with penguins, but not nearly are as well-acquainted with their northern hemisphere counterparts, the puffins. This is reflected in zoo exhibits; many facilities house penguins, but relatively few – even those that feature polar bears and other arctic species – pay much attention to the shorebirds of the north. Arctic Shores is an attempt to put puffins front and center and to celebrate them as unique, spectacular, charismatic birds that are every bit as worthy of attention and appreciation as penguins.

Species: Common Murre, Atlantic Puffin, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Harlequin Duck, Long-Tailed Duck, Spectacled Eider

Spatial Requirements: The building is about 1/10 of an acre. With the surrounding grounds and paths, the exhibit takes up about a fifth of an acre.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area).

Description: The walk leading up to the Arctic Shores Aviary is a broad swath of stone dust, lined with large, irregular rocks over which a thin layer of moss grows. Pieces of drift wood are scattered about, creating the impression of a wrecked ship. The planted areas alongside the trail are occupied only by a few sparse conifers and low shrubs. Hidden in sheltered locations are speakers, which broadcast the sound of the waves and the calls of distant seabirds.

The building itself is a gray, squat structure, the exterior concrete molded to resemble rockwork (but carefully sure to include no promising hand- or foot-holds which might encourage children to climb it), with white streaks resembling guano running down the sides. The doorway is concealed beneath a rocky crag, giving the impression that visitors are walking through a crevice in the cliff face on their way to the sea beyond. Over the doorway is a bronze sculpture of a pair of Atlantic puffins tending to a fledgling chick on the ledge above.

Inside the building is an atrium which serves to educate visitors about puffins and other shore birds. The centerpiece is a life-sized sculpture of a pair of great auks, perfect for photo opportunities. Exhibits around the perimeter of the wall are themed around different aspects of puffin ecology. For example, one depicts the differences and similarities between penguins and alcids, asking visitors to identify the whether a bird that pops up on a screen is one or the other. Another gallery depicts the challenges and benefits of colonial living. A third examines the impact of humans on puffins through oil spills, exploitation (including the risks posed by overfishing – the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” program is pitched heavily here), and climate change. Restroom facilities are also found here. The atrium is kept dark, especially towards the doors leading to the outside, which are found through a curving hallway. This helps reduce the likelihood of any birds entering the atrium from their respective aviaries. During the summer and busy weekends, docents meter visitors through the exhibit to keep it from getting too crowded, as well as to monitor the birds.

A set of double-doors on the right-hand side of the atrium leads to the first of the two aviaries, the Atlantic Arctic. Here, visitors walk along the edge of a mixed aviary of Atlantic puffins, common murres, harlequin ducks, and long-tailed ducks. The exhibit consists of a rocky backdrop fading into a sloping hillside, which in turn flattens to a pebbly beach. A spray machine and fans create cool, salty breezes in this maritime habitat, with an ambient temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The exhibit is fronted by a pool, which has a maximum depth of eight feet. The bottom of the pool has rockwork with sculpted starfish and other marine invertebrates on it, as well as the remains of a wrecked whaling boat. The visitor path ramps downward along the exhibit, providing underwater views of the birds before climbing back up to the ground level.

A set of double-doors leads from the Atlantic Arctic to a darkened hallway, which is dominated by a window into the staff service area. There is also an underwater window into the pool of each aviary. Here, visitors can watch as keepers prepare diets, incubate eggs, and tend to hatchlings before they are turned loose in the aviary. Keepers have the option of lowering blinds to get some privacy if they are doing delicate or sensitive work (and there are some keeper service areas which are not equipped with windows). An intercom system allows keepers to talk to visitors during keeper chats (visitors only have access to it for these chats, so they cannot constantly communicate with the keepers throughout the day). Opposite the window is a small seating area. Doors behind the seating area lead out to a loading dock, from which keepers can bring in loads of frozen fish or other supplies, passing through the visitor area directly to their work space. Also out behind the building is access to the life support system for the two pools, located directly under the visitor viewing area.

A second set of double-doors leads into the Pacific Arctic Aviary. This exhibit is very similar to the Atlantic Arctic Aviary, but houses tufted and horned puffins, as well as spectacled eiders. Both aviaries have artificial lighting which keepers may manipulate throughout the year to improve breeding success. Additionally, both exhibits are capable of housing non-releasable native shorebirds in association with the alcids and waterfowl. A set of double doors leads back into the atrium.

I really like this exhibit but If I were doing something like this I would add in Gannets, Common Murre, Dovekie aka little auk, Razorbill Rhinoceros auklet, Stellars and White tailed sea eagles, Arctic Turn, Skuas, Jaegers and Curlews and I would add the razorbill and the dovekie because they are the closest living loved ones of the now extinct great auk but I would also add the gannets along with a another kind of bird called the Double Crested cormorant and I would add these two birds because they are diving birds and belong to the same order of birds as pelicans, Frigatebirds and Boobies and they are both found in the arctic and I would the rhinoceros auklet because they have a close relationship with the puffins and they are sometimes called the rhinoceros puffin and I would add The Sea eagles, Skuas and Jaegers to show the people who go to see the birds what kind of carnivorous birds and the Stellars and white tailed sea eagles belong to the same family and genus of eagles that the bald eagle belongs to and when people see the white tailed sea eagle they would see a replica of a Neolithic tomb that’s from Scotland and the tomb is called the tomb of the eagles and inside the tomb were found human bones along with The Talons and Bones from eight to 20 white tailed sea eagles and I would add the Skuas and Jaegers because they belong to the same suborder that includes species like the puffins, Gulls and Terns and Skuas and jaegers are predatory birds and they will eat baby penguins and other baby seabirds and the difference between them is a skua is more larger and is more robust while jaegers are smaller and the skuas will be represented by the south polar, Great and brown skuas and the Jaegers will be represented by the 3 jaeger species the Pomarine, Parasitic and Long Tailed Jaegers and I would add the curlews because these are shore birds and they are represented by 6 species of curlews and these six species are the Eskimo, Little, Bristle thighed, Far Eastern, Long Billed and Eurasian aka The Eurasian Whaup and Whaup is what the curlew is known as in Scotland.

 

[Aardwolf]

I really like this exhibit but If I were doing something like this I would add in Gannets, Common Murre, Dovekie aka little auk, Razorbill Rhinoceros auklet, Stellars and White tailed sea eagles, Arctic Turn, Skuas, Jaegers and Curlews and I would add the razorbill and the dovekie because they are the closest living loved ones of the now extinct great auk but I would also add the gannets along with a another kind of bird called the Double Crested cormorant and I would add these two birds because they are diving birds and belong to the same order of birds as pelicans, Frigatebirds and Boobies and they are both found in the arctic and I would the rhinoceros auklet because they have a close relationship with the puffins and they are sometimes called the rhinoceros puffin and I would add The Sea eagles, Skuas and Jaegers to show the people who go to see the birds what kind of carnivorous birds and the Stellars and white tailed sea eagles belong to the same family and genus of eagles that the bald eagle belongs to and when people see the white tailed sea eagle they would see a replica of a Neolithic tomb that’s from Scotland and the tomb is called the tomb of the eagles and inside the tomb were found human bones along with The Talons and Bones from eight to 20 white tailed sea eagles and I would add the Skuas and Jaegers because they belong to the same suborder that includes species like the puffins, Gulls and Terns and Skuas and jaegers are predatory birds and they will eat baby penguins and other baby seabirds and the difference between them is a skua is more larger and is more robust while jaegers are smaller and the skuas will be represented by the south polar, Great and brown skuas and the Jaegers will be represented by the 3 jaeger species the Pomarine, Parasitic and Long Tailed Jaegers and I would add the curlews because these are shore birds and they are represented by 6 species of curlews and these six species are the Eskimo, Little, Bristle thighed, Far Eastern, Long Billed and Eurasian aka The Eurasian Whaup and Whaup is what the curlew is known as in Scotland.

That's certainly an impressive species list. The reason that I opted not to go more... all-in, is that I wanted to try to create an exhibit that was a) as realistic as I could, in terms of the species availability and success in cohabbing, as well as what I thought I zoo could be persuaded to build to develop guest interest, and b) furthering the needs for population management. I saw this exhibit as basically being a little puffin factory, which would serve to produce more alcids for the managed population. To that end, I'd rather have, say, 20 birds of each puffin species in a large, social colony (plus a few ducks), as opposed to have a stamp collection of as many shorebirds as I could fit in the building.

From a bird-nerd perspective, I'd love to see all of the birds that you mentioned, but feel like having a larger, more focused puffin collection would meet zoo needs better. (I actually had thought of tacking on a SSEA exhibit outside, but have another raptor exhibit in the pipeline, so decided not to on this one, for fear of being repetitive). Your idea is certainly an interesting one - perhaps you'd like to make a write-up of it and start a thread? I'd be interested to read it fleshed out a bit more

 

[Tigeanderson]

Okay I understand and I don’t think I am going to start a thread since I am not good with describing habitats and I don’t like getting negative criticism and also I’m not good with measurements and how many of each species but who knows maybe in the future I might start a thread but I am not sure yet and thank you for the nice reply.

 

[Aardwolf]

For today's exhibit, we take a page from Bill Conway and apply his "How to Exhibit a Bullfrog" to a species that is one of the most ubiquitous mammals in American zoo collections, but seldom truly highlighted as a star attraction itself:

Prairie Dog Pass

Concept: Prairie dogs are an almost ubiquitous in zoo collections and are very popular exhibit animals. Their true ecological importance is seldom appreciated. At the same time, most zoo exhibits provide little insight into the true complexity and uniqueness of prairie dog life. In many parts of their natural range, prairie dogs are viewed as pests or as competitors for livestock. It is the desire of this exhibit to provide a comprehensive, in-depth look at the ecology of one of North America’s most social keystone species, the black-tailed prairie dog.

Species: Collared Peccary, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Black-Footed Ferret, Grasshopper Mouse, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Rattlesnake, Houston Toad

Spatial Requirements: 0.5 Acres. About two-thirds of the space is taken up by the outdoor peccary exhibit, the remainder by the prairie dog building.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area). Secondary keeper is required for servicing the rattlesnakes in accordance with safety protocols for working with venomous animals.

Description: All that is visible from the main path is a small rise in the earth – a simple mound, only ten or so feet high, and about as wide at the base. In the middle is an entryway, framed by wooden beams, inviting visitors down into the depths of the earth. Surrounding the entrance is a garden of cacti and other prairie plants, with a dirt path weaving through, eventually leading into the mouth of the tunnel. Directly outside and to the left of the entrance is a small, outdoor yard, separated from the public by a split rail fence and a dry gully.

Across the gully is a rocky, brushy yard, home to a small band of collared peccary. The peccary exhibit is equipped with several feeding enrichment devices, including a hole-punched bucket, filled with treats and suspended from a tree limb, and a log with holes drilled into it, into which food items are stuffed. The animals obtain the food by rolling the log around, shaking the treats out. On hot days, a mud wallow is formed (by keepers using a hose) in the yard. The path slopes gently and easily downward; the interior of the tunnel is dark and surprisingly pleasant – warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

After about thirty feet of darkness (save for shafts of sunlight peaking in from holes in the roof), visitors finds themselves in the center of an underground chamber, some thirty feet by sixty feet. In the center, on a raised pillar of earth, is a series of sculptures – a family of prairie dogs, milling about the entrance of their tunnels. Several forage for food in the dirt, two others peer cautiously from the entrance of their tunnel, some “kissing,” while yet another stands on a high mound, preparing to launch into an alarm call. This, then, is the world of Cynomys ludovicianus, the black-tailed prairie dog.

The chamber walls are made of imitation earth and sculpted rockwork, complete with artificial plant roots poking down from the ceiling. Scattered around the walls are graphics depicting various aspects of prairie dog natural history, such as range (represented by a brightly colored map, displaying the ranges of all prairie dog species) and diet (a glass display case, featuring samples of various plants commonly eaten by prairie dogs). The back wall is completely dominated by an enormous viewing window fronting the prairie dog exhibit. Behind the plastic, a colony of over fifty prairie dogs scurries about a short-grass prairie exhibit. Recordings of prairie dog calls, hawk whistles, rattlesnake rattles, and other prairie noises are played at random intervals to stimulate the prairie dogs. Though the viewing area is indoor, the animal enclosure is outdoors, allowing sunlight and rainwater to reach the plants inside. Graphics explain that, during the winter months, the prairie dogs stay hidden in their warm burrows. The backdrop of the enclosure is a mural depicting herds of bison and pronghorn grazing in the distance. The exhibit is roofed with a web of fine harp wire, light enough to be barely perceptible from the public viewing area, but sturdy enough to exclude hawks and other aerial predators.

Additional exhibits are on either side of the exhibit hall. In “Life in a Prairie Dog Town”, visitors view a cutaway prairie dog town, revealing several stuffed prairie dogs in lifelike poses. The different chambers and their functions (toilet chamber, storage chamber, rest chamber) are labeled for the visitor to observe. The hall also features several species of animals which depend, directly or indirectly, on the prairie dog for survival. The “If There Were No Prairie Dogs…” gallery displays prairie animals and explains their relation to the prairie dog. Exhibits of black-footed ferret, burrowing owls, and other species are side-by-side in a seeming panorama of habitats, each with an underground cutaway area and with an above ground area. Special attention is paid to the ferret, detailing its extreme dependence on the prairie dog and its near extinction and reintroduction.

On the opposite wall is a second gallery, “Prairie Dogs and Man” and describes efforts of humans to control or destroy prairie dog towns. Included in the display are examples of traps and poisons, as well as bounty posters and mounted quotes of pro- and anti- prairie dog sentiments displayed by ranchers, farmers, naturalists, and Native Americans. The role of prairie dogs in indigenous American cultures is explored; the myths associated with the rodents’ competition with cattle are examined and disproved. The highlight of this hallway is a small side tunnel for children, allowing them to pop up into the middle of the prairie dog enclosure in a Plexiglas bubble. Both side galleries meet up behind the prairie dog exhibit, allowing visitors to go from one to the other.

Visitors exit the exhibit through the same tunnel through which they entered.

 

[Tigeanderson]

For today's exhibit, we take a page from Bill Conway and apply his "How to Exhibit a Bullfrog" to a species that is one of the most ubiquitous mammals in American zoo collections, but seldom truly highlighted as a star attraction itself:

Prairie Dog Pass

Concept: Prairie dogs are an almost ubiquitous in zoo collections and are very popular exhibit animals. Their true ecological importance is seldom appreciated. At the same time, most zoo exhibits provide little insight into the true complexity and uniqueness of prairie dog life. In many parts of their natural range, prairie dogs are viewed as pests or as competitors for livestock. It is the desire of this exhibit to provide a comprehensive, in-depth look at the ecology of one of North America’s most social keystone species, the black-tailed prairie dog.

Species: Collared Peccary, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Black-Footed Ferret, Grasshopper Mouse, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Rattlesnake, Houston Toad

Spatial Requirements: 0.5 Acres. About two-thirds of the space is taken up by the outdoor peccary exhibit, the remainder by the prairie dog building.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area). Secondary keeper is required for servicing the rattlesnakes in accordance with safety protocols for working with venomous animals.

Description: All that is visible from the main path is a small rise in the earth – a simple mound, only ten or so feet high, and about as wide at the base. In the middle is an entryway, framed by wooden beams, inviting visitors down into the depths of the earth. Surrounding the entrance is a garden of cacti and other prairie plants, with a dirt path weaving through, eventually leading into the mouth of the tunnel. Directly outside and to the left of the entrance is a small, outdoor yard, separated from the public by a split rail fence and a dry gully.

Across the gully is a rocky, brushy yard, home to a small band of collared peccary. The peccary exhibit is equipped with several feeding enrichment devices, including a hole-punched bucket, filled with treats and suspended from a tree limb, and a log with holes drilled into it, into which food items are stuffed. The animals obtain the food by rolling the log around, shaking the treats out. On hot days, a mud wallow is formed (by keepers using a hose) in the yard. The path slopes gently and easily downward; the interior of the tunnel is dark and surprisingly pleasant – warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

After about thirty feet of darkness (save for shafts of sunlight peaking in from holes in the roof), visitors finds themselves in the center of an underground chamber, some thirty feet by sixty feet. In the center, on a raised pillar of earth, is a series of sculptures – a family of prairie dogs, milling about the entrance of their tunnels. Several forage for food in the dirt, two others peer cautiously from the entrance of their tunnel, some “kissing,” while yet another stands on a high mound, preparing to launch into an alarm call. This, then, is the world of Cynomys ludovicianus, the black-tailed prairie dog.

The chamber walls are made of imitation earth and sculpted rockwork, complete with artificial plant roots poking down from the ceiling. Scattered around the walls are graphics depicting various aspects of prairie dog natural history, such as range (represented by a brightly colored map, displaying the ranges of all prairie dog species) and diet (a glass display case, featuring samples of various plants commonly eaten by prairie dogs). The back wall is completely dominated by an enormous viewing window fronting the prairie dog exhibit. Behind the plastic, a colony of over fifty prairie dogs scurries about a short-grass prairie exhibit. Recordings of prairie dog calls, hawk whistles, rattlesnake rattles, and other prairie noises are played at random intervals to stimulate the prairie dogs. Though the viewing area is indoor, the animal enclosure is outdoors, allowing sunlight and rainwater to reach the plants inside. Graphics explain that, during the winter months, the prairie dogs stay hidden in their warm burrows. The backdrop of the enclosure is a mural depicting herds of bison and pronghorn grazing in the distance. The exhibit is roofed with a web of fine harp wire, light enough to be barely perceptible from the public viewing area, but sturdy enough to exclude hawks and other aerial predators.

Additional exhibits are on either side of the exhibit hall. In “Life in a Prairie Dog Town”, visitors view a cutaway prairie dog town, revealing several stuffed prairie dogs in lifelike poses. The different chambers and their functions (toilet chamber, storage chamber, rest chamber) are labeled for the visitor to observe. The hall also features several species of animals which depend, directly or indirectly, on the prairie dog for survival. The “If There Were No Prairie Dogs…” gallery displays prairie animals and explains their relation to the prairie dog. Exhibits of black-footed ferret, burrowing owls, and other species are side-by-side in a seeming panorama of habitats, each with an underground cutaway area and with an above ground area. Special attention is paid to the ferret, detailing its extreme dependence on the prairie dog and its near extinction and reintroduction.

On the opposite wall is a second gallery, “Prairie Dogs and Man” and describes efforts of humans to control or destroy prairie dog towns. Included in the display are examples of traps and poisons, as well as bounty posters and mounted quotes of pro- and anti- prairie dog sentiments displayed by ranchers, farmers, naturalists, and Native Americans. The role of prairie dogs in indigenous American cultures is explored; the myths associated with the rodents’ competition with cattle are examined and disproved. The highlight of this hallway is a small side tunnel for children, allowing them to pop up into the middle of the prairie dog enclosure in a Plexiglas bubble. Both side galleries meet up behind the prairie dog exhibit, allowing visitors to go from one to the other.

Visitors exit the exhibit through the same tunnel through which they entered.

I really like this idea and in my opinion I would only add the following 4 species the desert tortoise,Desert Cottontail, either the black tailed or white tailed Jackrabbit and the Bared Tiger Salamander and I would add desert cottontail because they can be found in the Great Plains and deserts and I would add the tortoise because they would make a good companion to the prairie dogs since they won’t cause any harm to the prairie dogs and I would add the jackrabbit to show the difference between a hare and a rabbit but I would also add the desert cottontail because they can live in prairie dog burrows and that’s also the reason why I would add the bared tiger salamander.

 

[15399]

For today's exhibit, we take a page from Bill Conway and apply his "How to Exhibit a Bullfrog" to a species that is one of the most ubiquitous mammals in American zoo collections, but seldom truly highlighted as a star attraction itself:

Prairie Dog Pass

Concept: Prairie dogs are an almost ubiquitous in zoo collections and are very popular exhibit animals. Their true ecological importance is seldom appreciated. At the same time, most zoo exhibits provide little insight into the true complexity and uniqueness of prairie dog life. In many parts of their natural range, prairie dogs are viewed as pests or as competitors for livestock. It is the desire of this exhibit to provide a comprehensive, in-depth look at the ecology of one of North America’s most social keystone species, the black-tailed prairie dog.

Species: Collared Peccary, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Black-Footed Ferret, Grasshopper Mouse, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Rattlesnake, Houston Toad

Spatial Requirements: 0.5 Acres. About two-thirds of the space is taken up by the outdoor peccary exhibit, the remainder by the prairie dog building.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area). Secondary keeper is required for servicing the rattlesnakes in accordance with safety protocols for working with venomous animals.

Description: All that is visible from the main path is a small rise in the earth – a simple mound, only ten or so feet high, and about as wide at the base. In the middle is an entryway, framed by wooden beams, inviting visitors down into the depths of the earth. Surrounding the entrance is a garden of cacti and other prairie plants, with a dirt path weaving through, eventually leading into the mouth of the tunnel. Directly outside and to the left of the entrance is a small, outdoor yard, separated from the public by a split rail fence and a dry gully.

Across the gully is a rocky, brushy yard, home to a small band of collared peccary. The peccary exhibit is equipped with several feeding enrichment devices, including a hole-punched bucket, filled with treats and suspended from a tree limb, and a log with holes drilled into it, into which food items are stuffed. The animals obtain the food by rolling the log around, shaking the treats out. On hot days, a mud wallow is formed (by keepers using a hose) in the yard. The path slopes gently and easily downward; the interior of the tunnel is dark and surprisingly pleasant – warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

After about thirty feet of darkness (save for shafts of sunlight peaking in from holes in the roof), visitors finds themselves in the center of an underground chamber, some thirty feet by sixty feet. In the center, on a raised pillar of earth, is a series of sculptures – a family of prairie dogs, milling about the entrance of their tunnels. Several forage for food in the dirt, two others peer cautiously from the entrance of their tunnel, some “kissing,” while yet another stands on a high mound, preparing to launch into an alarm call. This, then, is the world of Cynomys ludovicianus, the black-tailed prairie dog.

The chamber walls are made of imitation earth and sculpted rockwork, complete with artificial plant roots poking down from the ceiling. Scattered around the walls are graphics depicting various aspects of prairie dog natural history, such as range (represented by a brightly colored map, displaying the ranges of all prairie dog species) and diet (a glass display case, featuring samples of various plants commonly eaten by prairie dogs). The back wall is completely dominated by an enormous viewing window fronting the prairie dog exhibit. Behind the plastic, a colony of over fifty prairie dogs scurries about a short-grass prairie exhibit. Recordings of prairie dog calls, hawk whistles, rattlesnake rattles, and other prairie noises are played at random intervals to stimulate the prairie dogs. Though the viewing area is indoor, the animal enclosure is outdoors, allowing sunlight and rainwater to reach the plants inside. Graphics explain that, during the winter months, the prairie dogs stay hidden in their warm burrows. The backdrop of the enclosure is a mural depicting herds of bison and pronghorn grazing in the distance. The exhibit is roofed with a web of fine harp wire, light enough to be barely perceptible from the public viewing area, but sturdy enough to exclude hawks and other aerial predators.

Additional exhibits are on either side of the exhibit hall. In “Life in a Prairie Dog Town”, visitors view a cutaway prairie dog town, revealing several stuffed prairie dogs in lifelike poses. The different chambers and their functions (toilet chamber, storage chamber, rest chamber) are labeled for the visitor to observe. The hall also features several species of animals which depend, directly or indirectly, on the prairie dog for survival. The “If There Were No Prairie Dogs…” gallery displays prairie animals and explains their relation to the prairie dog. Exhibits of black-footed ferret, burrowing owls, and other species are side-by-side in a seeming panorama of habitats, each with an underground cutaway area and with an above ground area. Special attention is paid to the ferret, detailing its extreme dependence on the prairie dog and its near extinction and reintroduction.

On the opposite wall is a second gallery, “Prairie Dogs and Man” and describes efforts of humans to control or destroy prairie dog towns. Included in the display are examples of traps and poisons, as well as bounty posters and mounted quotes of pro- and anti- prairie dog sentiments displayed by ranchers, farmers, naturalists, and Native Americans. The role of prairie dogs in indigenous American cultures is explored; the myths associated with the rodents’ competition with cattle are examined and disproved. The highlight of this hallway is a small side tunnel for children, allowing them to pop up into the middle of the prairie dog enclosure in a Plexiglas bubble. Both side galleries meet up behind the prairie dog exhibit, allowing visitors to go from one to the other.

Visitors exit the exhibit through the same tunnel through which they entered.

I wish this was how zoos designed North American sections!

 

[Haliaeetus]

I really like this exhibit but If I were doing something like this I would add in Gannets, Common Murre, Dovekie aka little auk, Razorbill Rhinoceros auklet, Stellars and White tailed sea eagles, Arctic Turn, Skuas, Jaegers and Curlews and I would add the razorbill and the dovekie because they are the closest living loved ones of the now extinct great auk but I would also add the gannets along with a another kind of bird called the Double Crested cormorant and I would add these two birds because they are diving birds and belong to the same order of birds as pelicans, Frigatebirds and Boobies and they are both found in the arctic and I would the rhinoceros auklet because they have a close relationship with the puffins and they are sometimes called the rhinoceros puffin and I would add The Sea eagles, Skuas and Jaegers to show the people who go to see the birds what kind of carnivorous birds and the Stellars and white tailed sea eagles belong to the same family and genus of eagles that the bald eagle belongs to and when people see the white tailed sea eagle they would see a replica of a Neolithic tomb that’s from Scotland and the tomb is called the tomb of the eagles and inside the tomb were found human bones along with The Talons and Bones from eight to 20 white tailed sea eagles and I would add the Skuas and Jaegers because they belong to the same suborder that includes species like the puffins, Gulls and Terns and Skuas and jaegers are predatory birds and they will eat baby penguins and other baby seabirds and the difference between them is a skua is more larger and is more robust while jaegers are smaller and the skuas will be represented by the south polar, Great and brown skuas and the Jaegers will be represented by the 3 jaeger species the Pomarine, Parasitic and Long Tailed Jaegers and I would add the curlews because these are shore birds and they are represented by 6 species of curlews and these six species are the Eskimo, Little, Bristle thighed, Far Eastern, Long Billed and Eurasian aka The Eurasian Whaup and Whaup is what the curlew is known as in Scotland.

I would imagine a large Nordic complex made around a circular building, with a large walkthrough aviary for auks, waders and ducks, annex aviaries for predatory birds (sea eagles, skuas, and even sea gulls that cannot be mixed with potential preys), a large pool for Gray/Harbour Seals with underwater vision windows, and a cold water sea aquarium (that would be interesting because the cold water sealife is really underrepresented in public aquaria, in comparison to tropical and subtropical species, at least in French institutions).

 

[Haliaeetus]

For today's exhibit, we take a page from Bill Conway and apply his "How to Exhibit a Bullfrog" to a species that is one of the most ubiquitous mammals in American zoo collections, but seldom truly highlighted as a star attraction itself:

Prairie Dog Pass

Concept: Prairie dogs are an almost ubiquitous in zoo collections and are very popular exhibit animals. Their true ecological importance is seldom appreciated. At the same time, most zoo exhibits provide little insight into the true complexity and uniqueness of prairie dog life. In many parts of their natural range, prairie dogs are viewed as pests or as competitors for livestock. It is the desire of this exhibit to provide a comprehensive, in-depth look at the ecology of one of North America’s most social keystone species, the black-tailed prairie dog.

Species: Collared Peccary, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Black-Footed Ferret, Grasshopper Mouse, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Rattlesnake, Houston Toad

Spatial Requirements: 0.5 Acres. About two-thirds of the space is taken up by the outdoor peccary exhibit, the remainder by the prairie dog building.

Keeper Requirement: 1 keeper assigned per day (this keeper may also take on additional exhibits outside of this area). Secondary keeper is required for servicing the rattlesnakes in accordance with safety protocols for working with venomous animals.

Description: All that is visible from the main path is a small rise in the earth – a simple mound, only ten or so feet high, and about as wide at the base. In the middle is an entryway, framed by wooden beams, inviting visitors down into the depths of the earth. Surrounding the entrance is a garden of cacti and other prairie plants, with a dirt path weaving through, eventually leading into the mouth of the tunnel. Directly outside and to the left of the entrance is a small, outdoor yard, separated from the public by a split rail fence and a dry gully.

Across the gully is a rocky, brushy yard, home to a small band of collared peccary. The peccary exhibit is equipped with several feeding enrichment devices, including a hole-punched bucket, filled with treats and suspended from a tree limb, and a log with holes drilled into it, into which food items are stuffed. The animals obtain the food by rolling the log around, shaking the treats out. On hot days, a mud wallow is formed (by keepers using a hose) in the yard. The path slopes gently and easily downward; the interior of the tunnel is dark and surprisingly pleasant – warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

After about thirty feet of darkness (save for shafts of sunlight peaking in from holes in the roof), visitors finds themselves in the center of an underground chamber, some thirty feet by sixty feet. In the center, on a raised pillar of earth, is a series of sculptures – a family of prairie dogs, milling about the entrance of their tunnels. Several forage for food in the dirt, two others peer cautiously from the entrance of their tunnel, some “kissing,” while yet another stands on a high mound, preparing to launch into an alarm call. This, then, is the world of Cynomys ludovicianus, the black-tailed prairie dog.

The chamber walls are made of imitation earth and sculpted rockwork, complete with artificial plant roots poking down from the ceiling. Scattered around the walls are graphics depicting various aspects of prairie dog natural history, such as range (represented by a brightly colored map, displaying the ranges of all prairie dog species) and diet (a glass display case, featuring samples of various plants commonly eaten by prairie dogs). The back wall is completely dominated by an enormous viewing window fronting the prairie dog exhibit. Behind the plastic, a colony of over fifty prairie dogs scurries about a short-grass prairie exhibit. Recordings of prairie dog calls, hawk whistles, rattlesnake rattles, and other prairie noises are played at random intervals to stimulate the prairie dogs. Though the viewing area is indoor, the animal enclosure is outdoors, allowing sunlight and rainwater to reach the plants inside. Graphics explain that, during the winter months, the prairie dogs stay hidden in their warm burrows. The backdrop of the enclosure is a mural depicting herds of bison and pronghorn grazing in the distance. The exhibit is roofed with a web of fine harp wire, light enough to be barely perceptible from the public viewing area, but sturdy enough to exclude hawks and other aerial predators.

Additional exhibits are on either side of the exhibit hall. In “Life in a Prairie Dog Town”, visitors view a cutaway prairie dog town, revealing several stuffed prairie dogs in lifelike poses. The different chambers and their functions (toilet chamber, storage chamber, rest chamber) are labeled for the visitor to observe. The hall also features several species of animals which depend, directly or indirectly, on the prairie dog for survival. The “If There Were No Prairie Dogs…” gallery displays prairie animals and explains their relation to the prairie dog. Exhibits of black-footed ferret, burrowing owls, and other species are side-by-side in a seeming panorama of habitats, each with an underground cutaway area and with an above ground area. Special attention is paid to the ferret, detailing its extreme dependence on the prairie dog and its near extinction and reintroduction.

On the opposite wall is a second gallery, “Prairie Dogs and Man” and describes efforts of humans to control or destroy prairie dog towns. Included in the display are examples of traps and poisons, as well as bounty posters and mounted quotes of pro- and anti- prairie dog sentiments displayed by ranchers, farmers, naturalists, and Native Americans. The role of prairie dogs in indigenous American cultures is explored; the myths associated with the rodents’ competition with cattle are examined and disproved. The highlight of this hallway is a small side tunnel for children, allowing them to pop up into the middle of the prairie dog enclosure in a Plexiglas bubble. Both side galleries meet up behind the prairie dog exhibit, allowing visitors to go from one to the other.

Visitors exit the exhibit through the same tunnel through which they entered.

Black-tailed Ferrets would be extremely hard to get out of North America.
I suggest that this exhibit would complete more conventional enclosures for American Bisons and Coyotes, as larger representatives of prairie fauna.