Theoretical walkthroughs
- Thread starter Mr Gharial
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- walk-in exhibits
Dr. Wolverine
Well-Known Member
Yea, idk why they do that. Aside from the major geographical inaccuracy, that species is pretty calm around humans and would be a "safe" species to let younger children interact with.
BenFoxster
Well-Known Member
Would it be possible to make a large netted walkthrough Papa New Guinea exhibit? Much like the typical South American rainforest walkthrough (wading birds, tropical birds, sloths, river fish, etc.) but with various bird species from Papa New Guinea (in particular a few Birds of Paradise species), Tree kangaroo, and possibly echidnas and aquatic fish species? If so which species of birds, fish, or even other herps/mammals could realistically be implemented in such a walkthrough? Specifically for an American zoo.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Tree kangaroo would not work with birds as they may kill them and can also catch diseases from them. Birds with echidnas should work, not sure about the rest. Of course, it would depend on what species of birds you wanted.
So i was thinking about a deer park, animals walking freely with people, few hundred acres etc. Could European elk and European bison work in a deer park? Both walking freely around people, large space, living with deer. Would it be safe enough to not have a barrier between them and people? Or would this idea not work?
A walkthrough featuring European Bison has been successfully done at Natuurpark Lelystad in The Netherlands.
Thank you
European bison must be pretty docile. The North American variety would gore people.
antilio capra
Well-Known Member
Maybe as revenge for us almost exterminating them.
But seriously we almost hunted them to exinction. To be fair we almost killed the European kind too.
But seriously we almost hunted them to exinction. To be fair we almost killed the European kind too.
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
That is exactly why I was a bit worried on the consideration of the Wisent in the mix tbh.
Torgos
Well-Known Member
If this were reality I'd say it would be very limited. You almost certainly aren't going to get echidna or tree kangaroos and you can't house tree kangaroos with birds for disease reasons anyway. Most other marsupials are almost non-existent in US. An aviary is easier with crowned pigeons, some imperial pigeons and fruit doves plus a few others, a few parrots and lories, some waterfowl inc magpie geese, masked lapwings. The only bird of paradise you might get your hands on is Raggiana. White-faced wood swallow and blue-faced honeyeater available.
Remember that this for a SpecZoo, not a real zoo. Tree kangaroo and Short-beaked Echidna would not seem unreasonable for a US speculative zoo considering that plenty of zoos in the country already have them. Cuscus may not really be present in zoos but they're in the private trade (I've seen them for sale before), so they really do not feel off the table for US zoos, especially outside the AZA.
Mixing them is probably a different story, of course.
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Not really ideal - they're typically quite retiring and not all that active during the day. You could do a reverse lighting situation, but I'm not sure putting a "cute and cuddly looking" carnivore often bought as an exotic pet in a walkthrough is a great idea.
Thanks, I'll edit the plan to turn that one walk-through exhibit into a glass-fronted exhibit, but with a similar design to the four walk-throughs.
I saw a Kinkajou walk-through at the now closed World Aquarium in Saint Louis. They were mixed with two-toed sloth, and visitors could feed grapes to the animals of both species.
Bit surprised they were actually allowed to do that, seeing as Kinkajou is a carnivore and the general restrictions around them.
I mean, they're carnivorans but not carnivores. I've known of zoos to run red panda encounters, and doing something like this with a kinkajou doesn't seem that different. Both coatis and binturong have been used as ambassadors too, so while I am not an expert in kinkajous it isn't entirely out of the question for non-carnivorous carnivorans to have up-close interactions with visitors (even if physical contact wasn't involved). Of course outside the AZA you also have places like Sea Quest doing encounters with Asian small-clawed otters.
Close interactions isn't really out of the ordinary, but directly feeding a carnivoran in a walkthrough setting is a bit different than a trained animal ambassador or a closely monitored interaction. Walkthrough usually implies to me that there is minimal to no staff supervision involved.
@birdsandbats was there a staff member keeping an eye on things do you remember?
Yes, there was a staff member permanently stationed in the walk-through. I can't really say they were doing much more than simply being present though, not too much supervision.