Thank you! I'm surprised you ranked African Journey and Tropic World so high since the great ape exhibits in Tragic World suck and its style is extremely dated and fake. As for African Journey some of its exhibits for the larger mammals are too small. Why is Habitat Africa the Savanna so low? It has an excellent giraffe exhibit.
African Journey is a interesting complex for me. The savanna, while not spectacular by any means, is still has the basics of what a savanna is. Not to mention, a nice mixed species habitat for giraffes, ostriches, and grants gazelle (The latter 2 are in the hoofstock loop, but will be moved back to the savanna in a few months). The other outdoor mammal exhibits for Rhino, painted dog, and red river hog are a bit on the small side, I especially am annoyed by the wild dog exhibit, that is much to small for the pack. However, the interior is where this complex shines. The Diana monkey, and bird exhibits are surrounded by plants under a impressive dome that brings in light even in the Winter. The insect habitats, and pygmy hippo, and crocodile pools are also very well done. The Kopje is nice, but the ugly black chain-link fencing along it is a eye-sore. The rotational aardvark and meerkat exhibits are a hit or miss, (though the panoramic view in the giraffe barn is creative and I'm sucker for panoramic views) and the large fish tank following is awesome. The ape center is much better, and the only reason this beat out the Arctic Tundra (Speaking of which, I will be going to the zoo today for pictures of the new complex) is because it has more then a single species.
I know tropic world is one of the most controversial exhibits on zoochat, but for me, I mostly enjoy it.
Taken out of my 2016 review.
Tropic world- I am sure you have heard of this controversial rainforest building. This exhibit has 3 rooms. There are 4 small islands in the front The first 2 are for cotton top tamarins, and the next 2 are for Golden lion tamarins, callimicoes, And a two toed sloth. the main exhibit has spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and a giant anteater. The next section is Asia, the main exhibit has White checked gibbons and Asian small clawed otters. The gibbons have a very high up climbing trees while the otters have a nice stream to play in. The gibbons also have section to another part of the exhibit. The small Orangutan island. this is a small island with a cluster of fake trees in the middle and is way to small for the current 5 orangs (With A 6th on the way) Across from the orangs is a small hut like terrarium for a Asian tree monitor. The final section is Africa. The main exhibit is home to many primate species including Colubus Monkeys, Allens swamp monkeys , and red caped mangbys. Lastly we have the Gorilla exhibit. This is well know for Binti jua, She is one of are female gorillas and is known for saving a little boys life after falling into the exhibit. This exhibit has a 360 view that provides the apes with little privacy. If this where just an indoor exhibit it would be great, but as a exhibit its average at best. there is also a gorilla retirement home in one of the corners of the exhibit, this is for elderly Gorillas obviously. The reason this building is so controversial is that there is a lack of natural substrate and realism throughout the exhibit.
The ape exhibits are certainly mediocre at best, but smaller primates and mammals have a great home in tropic world.
The reason I placed Habitat Africa! The Savanna lower is, well, the giraffe exhibit is excellent, but that's really it. The painted dog bush, while large enough to hold a pack, has the ugly brick wall that they use to make a moat. Its a major eye-sore that really makes me cringe whenever I see it. The hoofstock yards (Waterbuck, warthog, gerenuk, dik-dik, klipspringer) all have some unpleasant chain-link fencing around them. They all are certainly large enough though. The kopje is nice, but the giraffe bedroom is much too small. I really like this exhibit, but when you compare it to many other African complexes at Columbus, North Carolina, and soon San Diego, it looks rather weak.
