The Perfect Zoo
- Thread starter pendraig_milnerae
- Start date
Yes it is... maybe not as much as in the UK, but it is.
Another quick fire List here:
- More interesting multi-species habitats - the African Savannah idea still works really well, but zoos should also aim to mix species that would live together naturally in other parts of the world, and not just hoofstock. For example (and I have no idea how practical these are) highland tinamou and northern viscacha, or cape Rock hyrax and white-tailed mongoose.
- Quality food - I can’t speak for American or European zoos (fairly limited experiences) but in the uk there is a slight tendency for food served in zoos to not be of the highest of qualities. Basically we need more diversity and quality in zoo food, more things on the quality of Babydoll’s Woodfire Pizza (Port Lympne, my local) or pretty much anything from San Diego.
- Focus on the unexpected - most exhibits, despite being themed around a geographical region, are really focusing on the main large attractions to bring in money (fair enough considering where most of that money goes). Essentially something along the lines of (example coming up) African Cichlids having their own tropical-themed pond and garden area surrounding it to focus on their surprising diversity, rather than being used to fill out the hippo pool. I could say the same for waterfowl as well.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Unironically, few things would leave me more taken aback than a tidy restroom.
Despite every point that has been brought up in this thread, I agree with this more than anything else
I have never seen a zoo advertise Meerkats - although not too many zoos have Meerkats so that might be part of it. But that very fact also proves that is isn't like that!
I think the average person in the US will have heard of a Meerkat, but probably would recognise one if shown a picture.
No, I mean that they are very common.
Zooplantman
Well-Known Member
Well this thread rapidly veered off-track (repeatedly) 
I have visited 34 US zoos I have visited that are still open, 6 have Meerkats.
No, it isn't. All meerkats in the USA are in AZA zoos, which make up a fraction of places here. Total, about 80 places have them; that's similar in numbers to Binturong, and only a few more than the number of places with sea lions.
I'd compare UK meerkats to USA ring-tailed lemurs. If a roadside farm wants to enter the exotic game, their first step is nearly always to get lemurs and/or wallabies.
Black-tailed Prairie Dogs would be another good comparison.
I don't see them that often around here.
I wouldn’t say meerkats are less common here in the u.s, they definitely aren’t as common as they are in the the UK, but still very common.
Would you say binturong or sea lions are very common?
I certainly think this is more the case in the US, but equally binturongs can be found in quite a few uk zoos (fair enough considering their status as vulnerable), and almost all uk zoos with pinapeds will have California sea lions.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Ring tailed lemurs are an animal that I see in quite a lot of zoos around the world.
If I'm honest I used to feel about them somewhat the same way that I currently view meerkats. I viewed them as common, rather boring and taking up space from primate species that actually would benefit from being ex-situ in zoos.
Then I developed a much greater interest in primates than I once had and began reading more about lemur ecology and their in-situ conservation in Madagascar.
I discovered to my shock that there has been a 95 % decline in the wild population of this species since the year 2000 due to stressors like bushmeat hunting and habitat destruction. I also read about the projected impact of future climate change on this species which is predicted to hit it quite badly.
Since finding this out I really have much more appreciation for them both as a species and when I see them being kept in zoos.
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Yes. Both are equally, if not more common than meerkats over here in the states.
I can name to you 20 major US zoos that have them.