Well Hidden Enclosures

ralph

ralph

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
When visiting Plzen again, I got thinking about how sometimes enclosures are at well hidden locations in a zoo, that'd you'd not be surprised many peope miss those enclosures and therefore the species within them
I'm sure there's lots of examples of them, like

* The Australian nocturnal enclosures in Plzen, hidden behind a door near a small horeca location, that also leads to some toilets. There is a sign that says 'Toilets/Terrarium' but its nowhere near obvious.
There's some enclosures here for flying squirrel, stick insects and bettong+sugar glider+ground cuscus at the moment.

*Frog enclosures in Zoo Ostrava. You'll find these enclosures when you'll enter the toilet building of the Evolution house. There's no way of knowing these are there - I just got lucky finding them. There are 2 enclosures here, one for hairy frog (Trichobatrachus robustus), the only ones in an European zoo (no-shows, unfortunately) and one for Boettger's clawed frog (mixed with African freshwater pipefish and Neolebias powelli)

*Reptile rooms, Pairi Daiza. The only way to see those, is again to visit the toilets, this time on the Mergus Emergo (the boat). Instead of the backwall being concrete, theres a viewing window into the reptile room, where multiple species can be seen. Both the female and male toilettes have an terrarium in the middle too (Can't remember the species). Theres also some fishes in the disabled toilet of the aquarium.

Who else knows of some examples?
 
Walsrode's oropendola aviaries are in the restaurant I think? I missed those despite Vision's best efforts.
 
My home zoo, the NEW Zoo has two aviaries, one for Galahs and one for Laughing Kookaburras that you can only see by going through a gate hidden behind some shrubs. Well, they used to be anyway. The zoo has been trying to draw more attention to these enclosures. Also, the South American fish tank is the restaurant, so unless you go in there to eat, you would probably have no idea it was there (although the zoo has been moving some of the fish to other locations).
 
Right, indeed the oropendolas are another prime example. I'm glad I knew about it before my visit because I wouldn't have gone in the restaurant otherwise.
 
The Arabian Rock Hyrax at Cotswold Wildlife Park are in an enclosure in the restaurant.

Twycross has a display of Leafcutter Ants in the toilets in the entrance building (so I'm told, not used those particular facilities myself)
 
I don't know whether it's still the case now, but Chessington World of Adventures had a large terrarium for a false water cobra in the gift shop of their Asian section. I would have never realised it was there had I not popped in on the off-chance.
 
The Himalayan Palm Civet exhibit at Dortmund is quite literally hidden behind a snack stand and thick bushes :p when I visited last month, I naturally wanted to see that species and had made enquiries about whereabouts they were kept. I was told they were on display near the main entrance, but not precisely where - and given how well-hidden the exhibit was, I completely and utterly missed it initially.

Some hours later, on completing our circuit of the zoo and returning to the main entrance in order to pop to the toilets before having a last revisit of one or two enclosures, the angle of our approach meant we happened to get a view behind a snack stand next to the toilets..... and noticed a cage in among the bushes :p

On a hunch, we walked behind the stand and found a little cage and indoor exhibit for Himalayan Palm Civet with both individuals sunbathing on a platform:


full


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Berlin zoo has a zebra paddock which is completely invisible from the zoo. It can be seen from a public footpath if one goes out and all the way around the zoo perimeter, or for boat tours in the nearby canal. Some years ago it held a spare zebra stallion. If you are in the zoo, it is behind the zebra/antelope house.

Berlin also has an exhibit for European marmots which is sunk into the ground near mountain goats, so it is invisible unless you come very close.
 
Crowthorne said:
The Arabian Rock Hyrax at Cotswold Wildlife Park are in an enclosure in the restaurant.

Twycross has a display of Leafcutter Ants in the toilets in the entrance building (so I'm told, not used those particular facilities myself)
Click to expand...
Is THAT where the hyrax are at CWP? That would explain why I have never been able to find them!

I visited the facilities in the entrance building on my last trip to Twycross (first time I have ever done so!) and can vouch for the Leafcutter ants there. It may have been the primary reason for visiting said facilities...!
 
Red Uakari at LA Zoo. They are in this smaller mesh enclosure about 20ft off the path without much in the way of signage that tells you that there are animals worth noting there. Which is crazy because LA is the only place in the US to house that species.
 
I haven't missed it myself, but several Zoochatters say that they missed the night zoo of Copenhagen. Apparently, because the door looks more like a staff door than a standard "zoo building door" (like a slide door).

I myself missed most of Antwerp's night zoo, but I've since been told that it should be impossible to miss - so I guess the story of me being completely blind for inexplicable reasons doesn't belong in this thread. :p

Also, many giraffe houses (and probably a few elephant houses/other animal houses) keep some smaller animals in all-indoor exhibits, for examples rodents in Leipzig, cichlids in Dresden, aardvarks in Bronx, weavers in Copenhagen etc. I guess these will be missed by lots of regular visitors who don't consider to go inside the giraffe house if the giraffes are in their outdoor exhibit.
 
Artis Zoo Amsterdam, Fossa Enclosure. It is not listed on the map but the animal is listed on their website.
The enclosure is hidden behind/below the red panda facing the outerwalls of the zoo. The enclosure is located in an area you dont expect enclosures to be as there is also no signs in the park itself leading towards the fossa.
 
At the Fort Worth Zoo, next to the Zoo Creek Cafe is a fairly big African bird exhibit (hamerkop, African openbill, West African crowned crane, yellow-billed stork, Madagascan ibis, Cape teal...and a long time ago there was a magpie goose for some reason). However, since the Zoo Creek Cafe is closed most of the time (if not all the time now), there's nothing else past it except a bridge that leads to a pavilion and restrooms, and the shrubbery is rather high, no one seems to realize the birds are there. It does make for a nice, quiet place to sit at least.
Also, if you don't bother to ride the Yellow Rose Express Train, you'd never see the kori bustards (save the one male in the Savanna) and the secretary birds.
 
Toronto Zoo; at one point there was a Prevost's Squrriel exhibit tucked up on the upper level viewing platform for the Orangutans. Always liked seeing if I could see them. I believe the exhibit is now empty. Used to be quite a few exhibits tucked away away from the main paths (fish/reptiles/invertebrates/birds mainly if I recall but there have been a few other mammalian exceptions; there was a Duiker some years back in an exhibit tucked away just outside the Africa pavilion but never saw him) but most seem to be empty now. A pity.
 
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