The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum has a walk-through spider exhibit every year. Here is a video tour of it conducted by the curator who puts it together. He discusses how even arachnophobes like it.
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Walk-through exhibits
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The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum has a walk-through spider exhibit every year. Here is a video tour of it conducted by the curator who puts it together. He discusses how even arachnophobes like it.
thanks for that David. That is actually almost exactly how I imagined a spider walk-through! (except I'd have, as I said, some free-roaming mygalomorphs and harmless jumping spiders etc). I think having it guided is a good idea as well, so all the spiders can be pointed out to the visitors.
(If I'm honest, Nephila creep me out a bit. I've seen hundreds of them in Asia and I know they're harmless, but they are just so big and leggy!!)
(If I'm honest, Nephila creep me out a bit. I've seen hundreds of them in Asia and I know they're harmless, but they are just so big and leggy!!)
I read on another forum that it'd be neat to see a flying snake/frog walk-thru exhibit. Can't remember who posted the idea, but any thoughts on what would happen?
I have a photo from when my siblings and I were young and we either in a wombat exhibit or the wombats were free roaming. Does anyone know where this could be? I was thinking maybe Wonderland in Sydney but it could very well be one of the many Australian wildlife parks that litter the country. That's maybe the strangest walk-through species that I can think of.
I've always wondered how a walk-through exhibit for a small species of antelope would work. Has any zoo ever tried a walk-through with something a species of gazelle?
I've always wondered how a walk-through exhibit for a small species of antelope would work. Has any zoo ever tried a walk-through with something a species of gazelle?
I've been to a zoo or two that had kangaroo/wallaby walk-thrus. The wallabies are often free-roaming while the Roos were fenced in though.
captive wombats have a reputation for ferocity (apparently well-deserved). Even hand-raised babies often turn nasty when older. There was a 60 year old chap hospitalised with severe injuries from a wild wombat a couple of years ago. If you've ever seen the teeth on them you'll treat them with respect!!
I stand by my suggestion of a walk-through small-cat exhibit. It has been suggested that small felines are too easily stressed for this to work. I don't think they're any more easily stressed than most bird species, and walk-through aviaries are enormously successful in most zoos that have them. Once the cats are accustomed to visitors entering their territory, I am confidant they would be OK. It all depends on how big the exhibit was, and whether the cats had a quiet corner they could retire to away from the visitors. And the exhibit would need to be manned by a member of staff (probably a volunteer, of which most zoos avail themselves these days) to make sure the visitors were behaving thermselves. Two species which immediately suggest themselves are Servals and Margays (though not, of course, in the same exhibit). I've worked with Servals and they never seemed to me to be overly nervous or easily stressed. Once they were distracted by food, I found I could even crouch down and gently stroke them and they didn't seem to notice. Margays would be good because they are essentially arboreal and, if the exhibit was well planted, could retreat into the branches if they felt under stress.
well my response would be "why?". The point of walk-throughs is so the public can get closer to the animals, and usually you need animals that live in groups or can be mixed with other species so that ideally there are always animals visible. That's why walk-throughs have animals like birds, wallabies, lemurs, etc. If you have a walk-through for small cats, leaving aside the stress issue (although I agree servals don't seem to stress as easily as other species), you would have just one or two cats which probably wouldn't approach the visitors and would most likely be further away than they would be if in a regular cage, if they were even visible at all. A far more sensible option is just to use a hand-raised cat for visitor meet-and-greets. Safer, less cost, managed situation.
With some walk through bird avaries, deer, goat and wallaby paddocks, you can feed the animals which is very popular with children. You probably aren't going to be able to have them feed a serval.
In other exhibits, such as butterfly and (apparently) spider pavillions, walk thoughs allow unobstructed views and much closer contact, as do avaries. One or two servals or margays are no more likely to come any closer in a walk-through. And if they did stray closer, there is always the risk that a child would try to touch what essentially looks like a large pussy cat.
In other exhibits, such as butterfly and (apparently) spider pavillions, walk thoughs allow unobstructed views and much closer contact, as do avaries. One or two servals or margays are no more likely to come any closer in a walk-through. And if they did stray closer, there is always the risk that a child would try to touch what essentially looks like a large pussy cat.
Many zoos in the U.S. have animal talks/shows where animals are brought close to the public, and it seems like many of these shows feature small cats (bobcats and servals seems especially popular - there are many rescued, non-releasable bobcats around). Some of these talks also feature big cats like cheetahs (San Diego Zoo, Living Desert) that were hand-raised as cubs. It seems like these talks may functionally be the same thing as a walk-through exhibits for these cats in terms of letting people get close to the animals without undue stress or danger for the animals or the people.
A few years back at Night Safari Singapore a hand-raised and very tame serval leapt off stage (it was not leashed) during a presentation and clawed/bit the foot of an audience member, apparently unprovoked. Cats being cats will always be temperamental. Even handlers don't always notice the triggers of an attack, and it can happen all too quickly.
I think a (supervised) giant tortoise walk-through might be feasible. They are really quite nonchalant once accustomed to close human presence.
The guides are essential so visitors don't step on the spiders!
Nephila creep me out too, especially having walked face first into a huge Nephila web before (it was getting dark in the forest and I didn't notice the web)! They're fascinating to look at but I would never want to handle one.
I've done that in Cambodia!! Walked smack into a web and the spider was left dangling off the front of my cap right in my face. Freaked me right out!!
I have been thinking about potential walk-through exhibits for a while, and these are some that I thought up of:
Harvest mice- they are small and cute but would also be fast and agile enough to keep away from poking fingers
Dwarf mongooses- there is a walk-through meerkat exhibit at Longleat, so I assume this one would work just as well- you could throw some small hornbills in as well for added educational value
Petauridae possums- things like sugar gliders or striped possums I could imagine being similar to a squirrel walk-through
Other more potentially risky/boring walk-throughs I can imagine would be for things such as nocturnal prosimians (lorises/pottos/aye-ayes), aardvarks or smaller mustelids like Siberian weasels or mink.
Harvest mice- they are small and cute but would also be fast and agile enough to keep away from poking fingers
Dwarf mongooses- there is a walk-through meerkat exhibit at Longleat, so I assume this one would work just as well- you could throw some small hornbills in as well for added educational value
Petauridae possums- things like sugar gliders or striped possums I could imagine being similar to a squirrel walk-through
Other more potentially risky/boring walk-throughs I can imagine would be for things such as nocturnal prosimians (lorises/pottos/aye-ayes), aardvarks or smaller mustelids like Siberian weasels or mink.
I had an idea for sugar glider feeding in a nocturnal house, but was never sure how it would work. Would be interesting to take small groups into the enclosure with a large colony of gliders, to hold out fruit etc and for them to glide down onto visitors.
Even tame rabbits can turn nasty- particularly ones that have been badly handled, making them react aggressively to repel further handling. I fear many pet 'small' animals must live very stressful lives from such unintentional bad handling. That applies to some animals in Children's handling areas too- I've seen Lambs run and hide behind straw bales rather than face more grabbing/shrieking children.
I really hope Edinburgh can reverse their fortunes with Hamlyn's- they used to do well with them, but if the younger female is/has been allocated to a European collection, that will just about be it for the species in the UK.
Potentially they are very dangerous, with strong, razor sharp canines which they use with a slashing motion if they attack. Can't ever see Gibbons featuring in walk- through exhibits.
This is another reason why Hamlyn's monkeys are unsuitable for a walkthrough enclosure, as demonstrated by my following photo from Edinburgh:
