Things that you don’t like about your home zoo

Grizzly Hound

Grizzly Hound

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
What are some things that you don’t like about your home zoo, maybe it’s an exhibit complex, a stand alone exhibit, or maybe just something about the zoo itself?



I always love going to the Indianapolis Zoo. I don’t know there’s something about it that makes me want to go back everyday, and I can’t describe it. But I do have a few criticisms.

1. The zoo is pretty small and it doesn’t have a lot to offer. The zoo has a lot of unused space that could be used to upgrade and expand current exhibits, or to add new exhibits.

2. The Indy zoo definitely focuses on housing more popular animals, so I wish they would bring in some animals, that are not that common in zoos.

3. The orangutan center is cool to look at from the outside but the inside is nothing to brag about. The indoor portion is very unnatural, and doesn’t impress me at all.

4. The brown bear exhibit might of held up in the 90’s, but now in modern times the exhibit is just sorely outdated. The pool is nothing really that impressive and the exhibit is full of concrete.
 
We've got this wonderful, expansive, modern, enriching polar bear habitat paired with an older and much smaller one consisting of rockwork and a pool that I've never seen anything other than stereotypical behaviors in.

Our pinnipeds habitat is fine but not a very large or enriching space, and I more often than not question the capability of the filtration systems.

And last, but most certainly not least... Our African elephant program had some incredible potential in its time and has now become one of the biggest failures, an absolute joke in terms of management and effort. :rolleyes:
 
Hoo boy, Barcelona Zoo... As much as I love and support it;
  • Many exhibits are either too small or flat-out outdated; worst offenders are the parrot plaza, monkey gallery and feline complex.
  • I feel that they cling way too much to their elephants; sure, they're amazing animals and all, but perhaps their space could house other animals which are currently on the "fase-out" list (aka rhinos and hippos)
  • There have been WAY too many false starts and half-assed jobs to modernize or even move the zoo; they never do it because of an apparent "lack of budget" by the city council.
  • Speaking of the city council, this zoo takes far too much abuse from irrational and uninformed zoo-haters; again, I think if this zoo had been a private institution, none of this would be happening.
 
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Detroit Zoo:
- My main issue is how much-unused space there is. A lot of the fields with picnic tables are rarely used. I think it would be better if the tables were clustered in one or two locations near a majority of the restaurants.
- Some exhibits feel understocked and could very well hold more animals (Hoofstock yards in African Grasslands, Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness)
- Some species feel misplaced and would be a better fit in a different part of the zoo. There is a southern cassowary and a Matschie's tree kangaroo in the American Grasslands. Japanese macaques and a Linne's two-toed sloth in the African Grasslands. Ring-tailed lemurs and red-ruffed lemurs in the African Grasslands instead of the African Forest.
 
Grizzly Hound said:
The Indy zoo definitely focuses on housing more popular animals, so I wish they would bring in some animals, that are not that common in zoos.
Click to expand...
This is a problem with many zoos, where it is easier to show 'popular animals' rather than try to interest visitors in less popular animals. There are various 'unpopular animals' in books for children, as well as on TV programmes. There is also a little-known invention called the 'internet', where zoo staff could find out information about various species. I suspect that many staff can't be bothered.
 
With the Bronx Zoo, I feel like there's a lot of potential that isn't quite being exploited enough.

I'm jealous of all the other zoos with these sexy new exhibits and the Bronx doesn't get much. I'm sure there are several factors preventing this but I imagine it's not their fault.
 
Grizzly Hound said:
What are some things that you don’t like about your home zoo, maybe it’s an exhibit complex, a stand alone exhibit, or maybe just something about the zoo itself?



I always love going to the Indianapolis Zoo. I don’t know there’s something about it that makes me want to go back everyday, and I can’t describe it. But I do have a few criticisms.

1. The zoo is pretty small and it doesn’t have a lot to offer. The zoo has a lot of unused space that could be used to upgrade and expand current exhibits, or to add new exhibits.

2. The Indy zoo definitely focuses on housing more popular animals, so I wish they would bring in some animals, that are not that common in zoos.

3. The orangutan center is cool to look at from the outside but the inside is nothing to brag about. The indoor portion is very unnatural, and doesn’t impress me at all.

4. The brown bear exhibit might of held up in the 90’s, but now in modern times the exhibit is just sorely outdated. The pool is nothing really that impressive and the exhibit is full of concrete.
Click to expand...
Mine is Zoo Boise.

1. Painfully small and outdated exhibits.
2. Lots of abnormal behavior from the animals
3. Lack of enrichment
4. Visually unappealing exhibits
5. The annoying voiceover that says "Did you know Zoo Boise is a leader in wildlife conservation..." every 5 minutes.

My little zoo is very dear to my heart, and luckily they are looking at improving the outdated aspects within the next 15 years. The sad thing is they're only working on these improvements mainly for the more popular animals.
 
Lake District Wildlife Park, in Bassenthwaite, England. As much as I love the place I do have some issues with it:

- Because the focus of their collection is ungulates and rare breed livestock, most of the larger enclosures are just basic grass paddocks with not a huge amount going on in terms of scenery or animal enrichment. This makes up most of the zoo site, and a lot of it is very plain and uninteresting to look at.
- They used to have a very impressive reptile house, but today the on-show reptile collection has shrunk to two lizards, three snakes and some box turtles, displayed in a single corridor with the walls painted an ugly bright green. They do have more species, but a lot of them are kept off-show and only brought out for a daily keeper talk that's done very late on the day.
- I personally don't like it when birds of prey are tied up to a little perch out in the open with little to know weather protection, which this zoo does with many of their hawks and eagles. I'd prefer if they were all kept in their own aviaries, some of the birds are such as the owls and Vultures, but others aren't.
 
Skansen has a very special place in my heart,but off course not everything is perfect.

- The mediocre and ridiculously overpriced food
- The lack of variation regarding keeper talks.They do the same keeper every day,with the additional bear presentation during the high season.
- The lack of wild animals at the children zoo.The children zoo has some really nice exhibits for five species of herps and three species of roadents.But the domestics take up too much space,an additional 4-5 species of wild animals would be nice.
- The compete lack of areas where you can sit protected from bad weather while eating your food.
 
Lincoln Park Zoo
- The structure of the rain forest atrium habitats at Lincoln Park Zoo creating a lot of empty habitat space.
- The pathway around Center for African Apes and inability to enter/exit from either side of the building is hideously inconvenient.
- The barren savanna habitat.
- I do sometimes wish they had done something with the opposite side of the interior of the new Wildlife Center.

Brookfield Zoo
- The overall lack of usage of 'event' space throughout the zoo leaves it feeling so barren and empty. More animal ambassador talks and keeper chats would be welcome!
- Bear Grottos and the Ridge have been fenced off for over a decade. It is a huge waste of space. I truly think they would have been better off tearing that down than the ibex habitat, which could have easily been repurposed for another ungulate.
- The lack of primates outside of Tropic World, compared to the five different exhibits with primates at LPZ.
- It's understandable why this is, but the Red Pandas being in a paid attraction area...
- The underwater dolphin viewing being located beneath a gift shop and relatively hard to find.
- The viewing areas for all the pinniped exhibits.
 
Hong Kong Zoological Gardens:

The entirety of the mammal section (except for the meerkat area). No explanation.

How little the zoo has changed over the past years. They may have gotten an Asian small clawed otter and a website makeover but still the old-timey cages have got to go.

How small it is. I once went there a few weeks ago and it took me an hour to finish it. The Central Park Zoo was quick sure, but atleast the history, exhibits and animals made up for it.

Lack of enrichment for the animals. The only "enrichment" I saw was a frog shaped rubbish bin in the DeBrazza's monkey exhibit when I was 6. The funny thing is, I don't even know if it was there since I had a pretty fuzzy memory of that visit.
 
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