Unrepresented habitats

Z

Zoovolunteer

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Looking at zoo collections it occurs to me that there is a very heavy concentration of animals from a few selected habitats, while others are not well represented or entirely overlooked. This is probably because of where the world's surviving large mammals are located or how easy it is to duplicate the requirements for species from some environments, but it does mean that some endangered or just interesting species do not get the attention they deserve. Examples I was thinking of include;
- tropical marine environments other than reefs such as tidal lagoons or seagrass beds
- temperate zone offshore such as kelp forests
- cloud forests
- open areas above the tree line
- temperate South America

Any other suggestions or ideas on what could be shown to increase public awareness of these environments?
 
i would love to see more representation of rare habitats. Especially your suggestions of cloud forests and above the tree line. I think with these though, the zoo either has to be located in the right area (high elevation) or invest money to recreate the habitats indoors. It is much easier to mimic grasslands or forest habitats in a traditional zoo setting. I also agree that the lack of large, charismatic mammal species in these habitats makes them a hard sell to zoo executives and guests. Say a zoo wants to build a cloud forest exhibit that has species that inhabit high elevation habitats of South America. The only realistic large mammal most zoos could exhibit is Andean bears. All other species would probably be birds, amphibians and maybe a few primate species. It would be hard to convince an institution to spend money and space on one large mammal and a few bird and amphibians. Luckily the zoo I work at currently exhibits both Andean bears and mountain tapirs so when that area gets renovated within the next 5+ years, there may be a new exhibit that represents a rarely seen habitat in zoos.
 
If your zoo has Andean Bear and Mountain Tapir is there a chance they have Vicuna as well? I suppose one or other of the high altitude Flamingo species might be a possibility as well.
 
Zoovolunteer said:
If your zoo has Andean Bear and Mountain Tapir is there a chance they have Vicuna as well? I suppose one or other of the high altitude Flamingo species might be a possibility as well.
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Unfortunately no. Just mountain tapirs and Andean bears in terms of megafauna from that habitat.
 
You'd love Monterey Bay Aquarium's kelp forest exhibit.
In fact aquariums do represent other marine habitats as well. And there are a number of mangrove habitat exhibits.
Cloud forest species are represented in zoos but the real feel of cloud forests is challenging, especially outdoors, as @Echobeast says.
 
Aquariums represent multiple marine habitats, though in regular zoos, yeah, I don't see much beyond reefs.
 
I have actually visited the Monterey Bay aquarium, and I agree it is amazing. Unfortunately I am on the other side of the world now....
 
Tropical dry forests and thorn scrub are perhaps most biologically diverse habitat not represented in zoos. They are distinct and large biome, but zoos only think in terms of rainforest-savanna-steppe.

Also, shore salt marshes, mudflats and estuaries - maybe because they 'look ugly'.
 
Kelp forest exhibits are not really that rare, but strongly associated with regions geographically close to this habitat. Several in aquariums along the North Pacific coast and even one (Two Oceans) in South Africa. However, most are in much smaller, more "normal-sized" tanks than Monterey Bay's. If, however, you've mostly visited aquariums in Europe I understand why you could be mislead to think exhibits aimed at kelp forests are very rare. Comparably, if someone never visited an aquarium in Europe or along the Atlantic coast of North America that person could be mislead to thinking that North Atlantic rocky reef exhibits are rare. It's the same with Southern Australia coast and South Africa coast. Both very rich and unique habitats that are well-covered in local aquariums but rare elsewhere (except Australian syngnathids, African penguins and pinnipeds).

In any case it would not —with current techniques— be possible to make a top-class kelp forest exhibit away from the regions where it naturally occurs. Monterey Bay and Two Oceans, likely the most impressive kelp forest exhibits in the world, only work because they regularly can change their giant kelp (collected near the aquariums) and get sea water suitable for kelp (temperature and especially nutrients) via pipes from the adjacent ocean. There are no places in Europe where "true" giant kelp grows or with such nutrient-rich upwellings near the coast. The most similar in Europe is probably the upwellings along the Norwegian coast and Atlanterhavsparken do use this for their ocean tank with stands of Laminaria, but it is still well below that seen in areas with "true" giant kelp Macrocystis/Nereocystis. Then you pretty much have to rely on the giant kelp replicas, which are quite good and likely fool many (well, they've fooled wikipedia:p) but really don't give the same wow-effect as aquariums with the real thing.
 
Some rather weirdly-themed exhibits would be cool to see, many that aren't of the norm.

Exhibits for invasive species tend to be a bit.... "anthropogenic" and many representations are pretty intriguing (mice or cockroaches in a home setting or goldfish in a polluted pond). Children's zoos often propose weird themes too, such as a house or garden (Toledo's Nature's Neighborhood is a good example, having a backyard garden with various flowers/crops that attract animals, as well as a kitchen and a forest room where children can participate in activities alongside various animals including cockatiels, guinea pigs, paca, vampire bat, and more)

Canary's Call by the National Aviary has a rather unique tinge, for it focuses on animals whom are affected by humans both positively and negatively (various species include Domestic canaries themselves, Guam rail, Rhinoceros hornbill and Malayan flying fox).

There are other exhibits out there that have their gems. Naples Zoo's black bear habitat has 2 sections: a backyard setting and a forest setting. Columbus Zoo's vervet monkey exhibit also resembles a backyard, albeit one in Southern Africa.

I don't know why but I felt exhibits like these are often overlooked.
 
Eublepharis said:
Some rather weirdly-themed exhibits would be cool to see, many that aren't of the norm.

Exhibits for invasive species tend to be a bit.... "anthropogenic" and many representations are pretty intriguing (mice or cockroaches in a home setting or goldfish in a polluted pond). Children's zoos often propose weird themes too, such as a house or garden (Toledo's Nature's Neighborhood is a good example, having a backyard garden with various flowers/crops that attract animals, as well as a kitchen and a forest room where children can participate in activities alongside various animals including cockatiels, guinea pigs, paca, vampire bat, and more)
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I'd love to see more invasive species themed areas. A lot of places will have a small invasive species exhibit (such as a lionfish tank in a Gulf of Mexico themed area) but no like, large exhibits or full areas.

That Nature's Neighborhood exhibit sounds really cool! Going off of this, it would be cool to see more exhibits themed around urban environments. Not just local "backyard" species but like, that vervet monkey exhibit you describe.
 
In Australasia, I wish we could see more of native North American animals eg. Grizzly bears, Black bears, puma, Timber wolves, moose, California Sea Lions (there are now none in New Zealand). I was amused to see a map of a zoo in the USA with several of the above in the 'Natives' section. In our region, natives means mostly small birds, with a few lizards, frogs or insects as we of course lack the megafauna I enjoy seeing from other continents in our range of endemic species.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
I'd love to see more invasive species themed areas. A lot of places will have a small invasive species exhibit (such as a lionfish tank in a Gulf of Mexico themed area) but no like, large exhibits or full areas.

That Nature's Neighborhood exhibit sounds really cool! Going off of this, it would be cool to see more exhibits themed around urban environments. Not just local "backyard" species but like, that vervet monkey exhibit you describe.
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I definitely recommend Nature's Neighborhood, and if you have children or are with any they'll love being there, there's even a goat petting station for those taking a break from all the walking xD

There's even a huge system of tubes for leafcutter ants in the forest room and with a lot of other surprises, and every visit will be a different experience guaranteed :P
 
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