I have noticed that many U.S. zoos' South American exhibits tend to be pretty similar to each other- especially themed about Mayan ruined temples (which aren't even in South America!) or mix species from different habitats and biomes together. Can you think of any South American exhibits in U.S. zoos that are different, or ways they can improve?
Reimagining South American Exhibits in U.S. Zoos
- Thread starter CleZooMan
- Start date
The South American (Forest of Uco) area at Phoenix zoo is done pretty well. There are some ruins about (very little), but it is not really Mayan, rather more generic "ruined space taken by nature" in style along with a village area that is pretty South American looking.
Zooplantman
Well-Known Member
Take a look at the Pantanal exhibit complex at Houston Zoo.
Nashville Zoo's Andean bear exhibit also takes a different direction.
ZooMiami Amazon and Beyond is divided into 3 biomes
Woodland Park's Humboldt penguin exhibit counts
Zoo Leipzig's Maned wolf/anteater
GaiaZOO's Puna Aviary
Duisburg Zoo's Rio Negro
To name a few
Nashville Zoo's Andean bear exhibit also takes a different direction.
ZooMiami Amazon and Beyond is divided into 3 biomes
Woodland Park's Humboldt penguin exhibit counts
Zoo Leipzig's Maned wolf/anteater
GaiaZOO's Puna Aviary
Duisburg Zoo's Rio Negro
To name a few
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The outdoor rainforest exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo has a whole section about foods that come from the rain forest that includes essentially a small orchard zone of trees and fruit. I haven't seen that done at other zoo South American exhibits (although of course it may be).
Oh wow! The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has a short "medicine trail" in their indoor rainforest (The RainForest) about medicinal plants, but nothing like what you described...
Oh wow! I'd say Houston, Nashville and Miami are especially quite unique. I meant this for U.S. zoos only, but thank you for including zoos in Europe as well so I can learn about them!!!
Personally, I'd like to see some more zoos focus on Las Pampas, or the South American Grasslands. This is a great opportunity to display in a natural habitat Giant Anteater, Maned Wolves, Greater Rhea, among other species.
One staple of South America areas I'd also like zoos to reconsider is walk-through aviaries. I'm all for them, and think they should still be common, but I wish zoos would think more critically about what bird species are included and exhibit more variety overall. It seems like there's the same few species that are seen in almost all of these aviaries (Ringed teals, Sunbittern, Scarlet Ibis, etc) and it'd be great to see overall more different species be incorporated. Where are all of the South American Passerines?! In particular, one species I wish less zoos would exhibit is Scarlet Ibis. Truthfully, I could happily live the rest of my life never again seeing an aviary with three or four scarlet ibises that never leave the tallest point in the whole area (usually some sort of rafter/support beam in many of the indoor rainforests I've seen).
One staple of South America areas I'd also like zoos to reconsider is walk-through aviaries. I'm all for them, and think they should still be common, but I wish zoos would think more critically about what bird species are included and exhibit more variety overall. It seems like there's the same few species that are seen in almost all of these aviaries (Ringed teals, Sunbittern, Scarlet Ibis, etc) and it'd be great to see overall more different species be incorporated. Where are all of the South American Passerines?! In particular, one species I wish less zoos would exhibit is Scarlet Ibis. Truthfully, I could happily live the rest of my life never again seeing an aviary with three or four scarlet ibises that never leave the tallest point in the whole area (usually some sort of rafter/support beam in many of the indoor rainforests I've seen).
Very well said! I know a few zoos have pampas exhibits, but not as many as the generic South American areas that I think zoos need to move away from. I totally agree with you about South American walk-through aviaries. Have you been to the RainForest at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo? You described their walk-through aviary (which also has species from Africa and Asia, but still) to a T. The ringed teals, sunbittern and a few scarlet ibises in the tallest point are all features of Cleveland's RainForest Aviary.
Curious if there are many South American species on display in the US? It seems like most deer species from the region are not available and the only Tapir are of the Central American variety. Is the situation the same in other parts of the world?
I'd also like to see exhibits with flocks of macaws not on sticks.
I'd also like to see exhibits with flocks of macaws not on sticks.
I have been to Cleveland and enjoyed it a lot. Both the excellent Rainforest building plus some other excellent exhibits (Along with the Rainforest, I especially liked the African Elephant Crossing and the Primates, Cats, and Aquatics Building). To be honest, Cleveland was not one of the zoos I was thinking about when writing about sunbittern, ringed teal, and scarlet ibis. Cleveland, while it does have those species, at least does a decent job of including some other unique species in the walkthrough aviary as well, such as Red-Crested Turaco (a personal favorite of mine), Chestnut-Naped Green Imperial Pigeon (which I don't think are that common in zoos), Luzon Bleeding Heart Dove (a surprisingly active and visible individual, might I add), and Crested Oropendola. Plus it's just overall a great, lush aviary that's a nice home for both the free-flying birds, the turtles, and the large mammals. Pair that with a good orangutan exhibit (soon to become an even better orangutan exhibit), some solid habitats for some small carnivores, and a great herp/invertebrate collection, and the RainForest at Cleveland is one of the most solid exhibits I've seen anywhere (since I started keeping track, I've been to 22 zoos and the RainForest ranks as my number 1 exhibit, and Cleveland as my number 1 zoo).
Oh wow! I love Red-crested Turaco, too. Cleveland's individual is very, very personable- his name is Stanley. He was hatched at the Franklin Park Zoo (I think) and then went to the Capron Park Zoo and then to Cleveland. I love the RainForest in general! I wasn't bashing it at all... I was just curious if you were thinking of Cleveland.
I'm pretty sure there are both Brazilian and Mountain Tapir in US zoos...
I know
I knew Stanley back when he was at Capron- I absolutely love that bird (one of my favorite individual animals), and was thrilled to see him again at Cleveland (and surprised that Cleveland dared place him in a walk-through aviary).
Shedd has perhaps the best South American exhibit in any US zoo.
I am a big fan of Amazon Rising!!! I am not sure if it would be the "best," however...
I know
Yeah, me too! I love Stanley. He is the first (and, to date, only) Red-crested Turaco I have seen AFAIK
Yep! Don't forget Baird's Tapir as well. I know the Los Angeles Zoo has Mountain and Baird's, for example, and Living Treasures Animal Park (New Castle, PA) has Brazilian...
I thought those two were phased out.
They are being phased out, but that doesn't mean there are none left. Los Angeles Zoo is now the only holder of Mountain Tapir, and Brazilian Tapirs are at a decent handful of zoos, and are becoming more common in non-AZA places.