Ways your zoo could improve.

[JigerofLemuria]

Alright, my very own Barcelona Zoo is currently going through some changes, some of which I agree with, some of which... Not so much. Here are the ones that I would make, and I will point out which ones the zoo will actually do:
- Continue with the current Sahel Savannah project (more space for elephants, lions and giraffes, the latter of which now have the enclosure completed), have adjacent areas for dorcas and dama gazelles, warthogs, ostrich and oryx. (Mostly official reform)
- Turn the parrot cages near the bird house into a walkthrough wetlands aviary.
- Make a general African zone in the South Wing (Pygmy hippos, southern ground hornbills and crowned cranes would be moved there)
- Turn the soon-to-be condemmned dolphin enclosures (since they'll be taken elsewhere) into a nocturnal house (with the current collection, it could house flying foxes, crested porcupines and owls)
- turn the bear grottos and the now warthog enclosure into an aquatic zone for sea lions, with the penguins being sent to the previous sea lion pool.
- Transform the pelican and Caribbean flamingo enclosures into primate exhibits.
- Have only one gorilla enclosure to optimize their space and that of the chimpanzees.(official reform)
- Have a new lemur enclosure in the entrance area. (official reform)
- Transform the monkey gallery into part of a new Zoo entrance complex. (Official reform)
- Through reducing the number of animal species, there would be more space for red pandas, otters, Iberian wolces, Pere David's deer, Sumatran tigers, mouflon and European bison in the North Wing.
- Turn the petting zoo into a tropical South American house (parrots and marmosets, basically)
- Reform the norhtern extreme to house South American animals (giant anteater, tapir, spider monkey, flamingo, jaguar)
I will adjoin a map I have made of this concept when I make a thread about it.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

Alright, here's that edited map. It may be slightly altered in the future, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

 

[PossumRoach]

There currently aren't any zoos in Ankara, but the nearest zoo to my province the Eskisehir zoo is said to be making an expansion to add larger animals. What I believe they can do is to place their zebras and blackbucks to a larger enclosure, and exhibit otters, marmots, and badgers outdoors.

 

[DesertRhino150]

Colchester Zoo has many ways it could be improved – I have included a few ideas of mine, some of which would be rather simple changes while others would be much more serious renovations.

1. Starting off, the entire area to the right of the main entrance is a bit of a dump – the old orangutan and gibbon dens now turned over for capuchin and surplus male spider monkeys, the site of the old animal theatre (now demolished), the older of the two South American walkthroughs, the Iguana Forest and the now empty Parrot Rock are all included as part of this. In my ideal plan, the buffy-headed capuchins would move into a new enclosure on the site of the old animal theatre, possibly mixed with six-banded armadillos. The Parrot Rock would be renovated, netted over and used to house a charismatic, climate-tolerant and relatively small South American bird such as keel-billed or red-billed toucans. The rest of the area would be replaced with a two-storey tropical building, albeit with the central walkway (currently passing the indoor areas for the South American walkthrough) still intact.
The orangutan and gibbon dens would become a rainforest display viewed from both an elevated pathway and a glass window along the central walkway; the above-water area would be planted with small trees and have a green wall and house South American butterflies and a couple of small bird species such as Brazilian tanagers or saffron finches. The glass window along the central walkway looks into a large water body with a variety of small fish such as tetras, South American cichlids, hatchetfish and catfishes but the main attraction of this half of the building are green anacondas – originally a South American house was planned on the site with Cuban crocodiles in mind, but I have swapped them out considering the new slender-snouted crocodile exhibit almost opposite this area.
The other area (currently consisting of the South American walkthrough and Iguana Forest) would have different exhibits on both floors. The upper level would have an indoor area for sloths and small callitrichids that would have access to the trees near the play area and main entrance area, interconnected by ropes and with the tree trunks ringed with smooth plastic baffles to stop the animals going down to ground level. Space pending, a few small terraria could be inserted here as well. The lower floor would be a small nocturnal house featuring two larger displays for kinkajous and owl monkeys, possibly mixed with nocturnal terrestrial species such as armadillos, cane toads or Hercules beetles. A terrarium for tree frogs and an aquarium for nocturnal catfish would also be included here. Finally, the side closest to the visitor walkway (currently the indoor animal areas) would have eight small diurnal terraria or aquaria mounted into the walls, housing species of fish (splashing tetra), reptiles (Peruvian bush anole), amphibians (lemur leaf frog, blessed poison-dart frog and pumpkin toadlet) and invertebrates (goliath bird-eating spider, violet-winged grasshopper and mixed headlight cockroach and bumblebee millipede).

2. Secondly, the little hut by the outdoor viewing for the orangutans currently featuring palm oil educational material is too easily bypassed – it would be moved out onto the main walkway towards the outdoor viewing area and be turned into an indoor invertebrate display. Five exhibits would be included; the preferred inhabitants would be Philippine tangerine tarantula, Vietnamese giant magnolia snail, black giant termites, Sulawesi metallic stag beetles and a mixed exhibit for yellow flying sticks, monkey grasshoppers, stalk-eyed flies and flameleg millipedes; almost all these species are available from somewhere in Europe and would fill the space better for visitors.

3. Penguin Shores has now long passed its best and with a second Humboldt penguin exhibit now in place I would change it to house new species; the main outdoor exhibit would be covered over with a greenhouse-style roof and be artificially heated, making it a tropical indoor display for South American freshwater species. The water pool at the front would obviously house medium-sized fish such as South American lungfish, pearl cichlid, flag-tailed prochilodus and black-banded leporinus (perhaps joined by freshwater stingrays); semi-aquatic species would include freshwater turtles, caiman lizards, lowland paca and wattled jacana and an arboreal species could also be included, such as the prehensile-tailed porcupine. One of the walled-over aquaria would be exposed again and become a biotope aquarium for Rio Cauca caecilians and small fishes, while the butterfly splitfin would be replaced with Critically Endangered coral red pencilfish. The pancake tortoise terrarium near the entrance could house a species of reptile such as a Brazilian rainbow boa or tiger rat snake, perhaps mixed with small amphibians. The crowned pigeons would be replaced with a South American bird species – a small toucan species, cock-of-the-rock, umbrellabird or sunbittern would all be suitable. The upper viewing area would also have some terraria or aquaria added, for species such as giant fishing spiders, horned frogs, emerald tree boas or small fishes.

4. The World of Wings also looks rather tired now and could easily be combined with the neighbouring Wilds of Asia. The Andean condors move elsewhere in the zoo (replacing the second squirrel monkey troop on the Inca Trail); their aviary being the largest and most stable could be a good choice for either a large mixed display for smaller birds threatened by the cagebird trade such as laughingthrushes, ground-thrushes, white-rumped shama, roulroul partridge and fruit-doves or alternatively could be used for a bigger bird such as hornbills, Steller’s sea eagle or a large flock of one of the Southeast Asian cockatoo species.
The middle aviary, currently housing great grey owls, would be a good exhibit for Javan green magpies.
The king vultures would leave the zoo and their aviary either used to house the small birds (not preferable because of the smaller size) or alternatively the aviary is divided into two or three separate smaller aviaries for other species too boisterous or sensitive for mixed exhibits (such as larger pheasants, scops-owls, kingfishers or a breeding pair of one of the Southeast Asian cockatoos).

 

[Alex Bensky]

"Something needs to be done about the former Japanese Giant Salamander habitat. I think it needs to be totally renovated, because even when it had a salamander in it, the viewing was poor, and the lighting was poor. The glass is also slanted at a weird angle for even worse viewing."

As it happens, the Detroit Zoo's National Amphibian Conservation Center is in the process of renovating and expanding its Japanese giant salamander exhibit. For some reason I can't find a picture of the new display.

 

[Alex Bensky]

Detroit Zoo:

No one seems to agree with me but I've thought for years the zoo needs a small mammal house and some reorganization and systemization of the animal pits south of the Arctic Ring of Life.

They are renovating the east side of the bear exhibits, combining three pits into one for grizzly bears. The back side badly needs some work.