Small Zoo Reaching Out For Design Help!

Allie-CamelSafari

Allie-CamelSafari

Member
Hello! I am the Animal Care Coordinator at a small, ZAA accredited zoo in Southern Nevada. Post Covid I wear many hats at the zoo but what I am working on now is designing a tentative plan for creating some new animal enclosures for species we want to bring to the zoo and re-vamping enclosures for animals we currently house. I spent my childhood obsessing over zoo tycoon so I am very excited about this and I want to share the fun while hoping to get more ideas! I have been so inspired and amazed at everyone's photos on here along with zoo master plan and exhibit design maps I have seen people create and I would love to get some ideas from you all! I will attach overview photos of the 176-acre property to give you guys a better idea of what we are working with. We offer guided tours, taking guests in our safari tram out to visit with and learn about our animals. We are currently home to 33 camels (14 Bactrian and 19 dromedaries), sand cats, African Crested porcupine, New Guinea singing dogs, llama, alpaca, two-toed sloth and Sulcata tortoise. We are hoping to create a large Africa Sahara Desert mixed-species exhibit that we would like to feature hoofstock such as Somali wild ass, addax, and scimitar-horned oryx. Our biggest dream would to actually be a holding facility for cheetahs that are a part of the ZAA's Cheetah AMP.

Our climate is dry and hot and we will only be bringing in animals that will thrive in this climate. Current non-desert species were taken in when another local zoo closed down. I am very open to ideas on what other species you guys would think guests would enjoy!

I am going to add a better photo ASAP and an outline of my current idea, along with the path for the Safari tram. Those who have been in my position of zoo management and design please give me ALL the tips and zoo enthusiasts help me create something worth visiting!

While I work on more for you guys to work with check out the website to get a feel for what we are doing now. www.camelsafari.com
 

Attachments

  • Aereal Property.png
    Aereal Property.png
    727.3 KB · Views: 22
Allie-CamelSafari said:
Hello! I am the Animal Care Coordinator at a small, ZAA accredited zoo in Southern Nevada. Post Covid I wear many hats at the zoo but what I am working on now is designing a tentative plan for creating some new animal enclosures for species we want to bring to the zoo and re-vamping enclosures for animals we currently house. I spent my childhood obsessing over zoo tycoon so I am very excited about this and I want to share the fun while hoping to get more ideas! I have been so inspired and amazed at everyone's photos on here along with zoo master plan and exhibit design maps I have seen people create and I would love to get some ideas from you all! I will attach overview photos of the 176-acre property to give you guys a better idea of what we are working with. We offer guided tours, taking guests in our safari tram out to visit with and learn about our animals. We are currently home to 33 camels (14 Bactrian and 19 dromedaries), sand cats, African Crested porcupine, New Guinea singing dogs, llama, alpaca, two-toed sloth and Sulcata tortoise. We are hoping to create a large Africa Sahara Desert mixed-species exhibit that we would like to feature hoofstock such as Somali wild ass, addax, and scimitar-horned oryx. Our biggest dream would to actually be a holding facility for cheetahs that are a part of the ZAA's Cheetah AMP.

Our climate is dry and hot and we will only be bringing in animals that will thrive in this climate. Current non-desert species were taken in when another local zoo closed down. I am very open to ideas on what other species you guys would think guests would enjoy!

I am going to add a better photo ASAP and an outline of my current idea, along with the path for the Safari tram. Those who have been in my position of zoo management and design please give me ALL the tips and zoo enthusiasts help me create something worth visiting!

While I work on more for you guys to work with check out the website to get a feel for what we are doing now. www.camelsafari.com
Click to expand...
What about getting a herd of Nubian Ibex and/or Transcapian Urials? Both of them are fascinating animals that could be really good choices for your facility. Somali Wild Ass are a fascinating species, but I'm not sure how successful they've been in mixed species exhibit, you might want to double check. Addax and Scimitar-horned Oryx are both good options, although make sure with antelope that none of the animals you get are able to hybridize. Addra Gazelle is another desert species that might be a good choice for your zoo. Good luck with everything! I hope your new exhibits are successful!
 
The antelope species that @Neil chace mentioned are all excellent choices for your climate, with large breeding populations in US, in and out of AZA. I've seen addax work successfully in mixed species exhibits, though to be honest my own experience with them wasn't too successful and they were phased out eventually (there wasn't a blood bath or any single, unpleasant incident - we just noticed that they weren't getting along with any of the other species and were worried it would escalate). Perhaps an option that would work would be to have a series of paddocks which could be conjoined into a larger Sahelo-Saharan yard, but which could also be closed off to isolate species or individuals that aren't getting along. Ostrich would also be a good fit for such an exhibit.

I agree that ibex (or aoudad) would be a great show-stopper. What's your terrain like? I feel like caprid exhibits can be difficult/expensive to build, but if you've got some natural rock outcrops that could be enclosed, it might be a good fit. If you don't have to build a mini-mountain, like becomes a lot easier.

Cheetahs I feel like are the easiest of the larger cats to build exhibits for - I've worked with them in AZA and ZAA facilities. The biggest mistake that I feel that a lot of zoos make with their cheetah exhibits is making them long and thin, ostensibly to facilitate running. I feel like this perpetually keeps that cats too close to the public, which can make them nervous - the best cheetah exhibits I've seen are the ones that have had some depth and some height to them. The first wild cheetahs I ever saw were perched on a termite mound, a little above eye level with me in a landrover. They seemed much calmer than cats I later saw on ground level. Building in lots of off-exhibit holding space would be a plus.

If you're looking for other future additions with North African species, you can try with Grevy's zebra, caracal, hamadryas, fennec fox, or striped hyena. Branching out of Africa, red kangaroo and emu could be an option.
 
Last edited:
Hi Allie! Welcome to Zoochat! I would love to help out with the project. What is the size of the area you are working with?

Some animals that would work and are pretty easy to get your hands on would be Scimitar-horned Oryx, Dama Gazelle, and Plains Zebra. Zebras are very popular with the public while both the gazelles are very endangered so you could help with rebuilding the population.
 
Last edited:
Neil chace said:
Somali Wild Ass are a fascinating species, but I'm not sure how successful they've been in mixed species exhibit
Click to expand...
They are kept together with addax and other larger desert antelopes in various zoos.

Roomy outdoor exhibits for desert reptiles (especially local species) other than the Sulcata tortoise might be of interest. A budgie walkthrough aviary with wild-colored budgies and a feeding station could be a popular exhibit option.
 
A general map of the areal would b very usefull, So that both the local geography can be used to its fullest, and reasonable well thought enclosres can be realized. (It would not make much sense to come up with ideas that are unfeasible, by geograpfy, existing structures or the limited space of the zoo grounds).
For ideas, a smal house for smaler mamals like carnivores and rodents would be a logical choice for the theme you want to create. Species like fennec foxes banded moongooses, gundies or spiny mouses. Reasonoble cheap, easily acceseble, and what you should never forgett popular with the avrage zoo visitor, aswell as showing the real diversity of live in the desert. With other species like anthropods or reptiles making sense aswell for such a house. With of corse smaler outdor exhibits for some of the large species like the mongooses.
 
It should be noted that winter low temperatures at this site can be below freezing with the record low of 9degreesF and summer high of 119
From a design perspective be sure you plan for sufficient summer shade and protected/heated areas for winter

GiratinaIsGod said:
A general map of the areal would b very usefull, So that both the local geography can be used to its fullest, and reasonable well thought enclosres can be realized. (It would not make much sense to come up with ideas that are unfeasible, by geograpfy, existing structures or the limited space of the zoo grounds)..
Click to expand...
https://www.topozone.com/nevada/clark-nv/city/bunkerville/
 
Last edited:
Since animal photo sessions seem to be one of your main attractions, not too aggressive birds of prey, owls, parrots and harmless "creepy crawlies" might be suitable future additions.
 
Batto said:
Since animal photo sessions seem to be one of your main attractions, not too aggressive birds of prey, owls, parrots and harmless "creepy crawlies" might be suitable future additions.
Click to expand...
Agreed, if you are looking for more docile reptiles, corn snakes and ball pythons would work, as far as lizards go, blue-tongues skunks, bearded dragons, or leopard geckos could be a possibility.
 
Bengal Tiger said:
Agreed, if you are looking for more docile reptiles, corn snakes and ball pythons would work, as far as lizards go, blue-tongues skunks, bearded dragons, or leopard geckos could be a possibility.
Click to expand...
Not really - and not what I meant with "creepy crawlies". And it's skinks, not skunks - even though a skunk's smell might make you feel that your tongue turned blue... ;)
 
Batto said:
Not really - and not what I meant with "creepy crawlies". And it's skinks, not skunks - even though a skunk's smell might make you feel that your tongue turned blue... ;)
Click to expand...
Yeesh, I have a tendency to make typos in small touchscreen devices.
 
Bengal Tiger said:
Yeesh, I have a tendency to make typos in small touchscreen devices.
Click to expand...
Maybe autocorrect does come in handy sometimes then ;)

@Allie-CamelSafari, sounds like an interesting project, I don’t have too much to offer but I wish you and your team the best of luck! Also, Somali Wild Ass are relatively rare even in AZA zoos so it may be difficult acquiring them as a ZAA facility.
 
I would suggest looking at a zoo called the Living Desert. As the name suggests it holds a wide array of desert fauna from North America, Africa, and Australia. They have a cheetah exhibit and program so you could also check that out. I would also like to suggest the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum which only holds North American species but it’s exhibits are great examples for desert exhibits. They use the natural landscape well with their exhibits and use rock work and flora to enhance their exhibits.
Specifically about the zoo generally for species and exhibit choices I would consider what’s near you. The two largest zoos with desert species nearby are the aforementioned Living Desert and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The Safari Park has a wide array of African Desert ungulates and a few Asian desert ungulates. They have all the ungulates you talked about for your savanna exhibit. It also has a strong breeding program for Cheetahs, Sandcats, and Black Footed cats if interested in one more small cat species.
If your looking for inspiration for exhibits I would suggest some sort of native exhibit with desert species. Also for your savanna exhibit some zoos do a caravan or tram tour around their exhibits and the space you have looks like it could be large enough for that.
 
I'm probably super late to this thread but I have a few ideas for you.

I think you should take full advantage of your desert climate and its educational value. I call it - Deserts - Dry and Alive! Your tour could encompass multiple desert environments from around the world without having to go super big.

For Example you could do something like this
Africa - Addax, Ostrich, Zebra and Cheetah in its own enclosure
Australia - Red Kangaroo, Bennetts Wallaby, Emu and Dingo in its own enclosure
North America - Pronghorn, Turkey, Peccary and Prairie Dog in its own enclosure

Another idea is a small animal house which I call, At Home in the Biome. It would cosist of 6 small mammal habitats each representing a different biome
Sloth - Tropical
Sand Cat - Desert
Arctic Fox - Tundra
Otter sp. - Wetlands
Raccoon - Temperate

Of course these are all just random ideas but I wanted to share them.
 
Jack Dragonfly said:
I'm probably super late to this thread but I have a few ideas for you.

I think you should take full advantage of your desert climate and its educational value. I call it - Deserts - Dry and Alive! Your tour could encompass multiple desert environments from around the world without having to go super big.

For Example you could do something like this
Africa - Addax, Ostrich, Zebra and Cheetah in its own enclosure
Australia - Red Kangaroo, Bennetts Wallaby, Emu and Dingo in its own enclosure
North America - Pronghorn, Turkey, Peccary and Prairie Dog in its own enclosure

Another idea is a small animal house which I call, At Home in the Biome. It would cosist of 6 small mammal habitats each representing a different biome
Sloth - Tropical
Sand Cat - Desert
Arctic Fox - Tundra
Otter sp. - Wetlands
Raccoon - Temperate

Of course these are all just random ideas but I wanted to share them.
Click to expand...
I like the idea of “At Home in the Biome” but I would like to explore more into it. For the tropical section, I would have sloth, sad compatible species in an enclosure. I would also have herps and maybe Goliath Birdeater. In the desert, I would recommend having native species as they’re more easily attainable and easier to keep than sand cat as they’re more require a specific humidity. Maybe you could have desert rosy boa. I would replace the tundra with maybe a Forest area. You could have pacific fisher, Hollywood tree frog, great grey owl, etc. I feel like having a temperate area isn’t really necessary. Maybe in wetlands, it can be truckee river themed, also having beavers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top