What ABC Animals get the best and worst exhibits?
- Thread starter NNM.
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USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
Usually, it seems any ungulate gets a high quality habitat. Big cats and aviary birds should follow. On the other side, I’d say bears (mainly grizzly) with their grottos and camels (dromedary) get low quality habitats. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good dromedary camel habitat.
Conor McGarry
Well-Known Member
I've seen a handful of dromedaries and Bactrians, I don't know why but Bactrians seem to always have nicer habitats, although the best dromedary habitat I've seen is the San Diego Safari Park
I would say rhinos tend to get very good exhibits. In the UK at least elephants are now only held by a handful of zoos. Rhinos are now the largest commonly held animal and as a result they are frequently given a large exhibit.
I would say suids often have poorer exhibits. They will dig and churn up any ground they are given. Therefore they tend to get less space than other similar sized ungulates or a surface they can't dig through.
I would say suids often have poorer exhibits. They will dig and churn up any ground they are given. Therefore they tend to get less space than other similar sized ungulates or a surface they can't dig through.
Leopards and jaguars (presumably because of their climbing and jumping abilities) are often held in fully netted cages, thus expensive on a square foot basis, and thus small. I have rarely seen a really good leopard/jaguar exhibit, whereas excellent lion and tiger enclosures are common.
Jacksonville's Range of the Jaguar is the best jaguar exhibit I've seen photos of
Rajang-GOAT
Well-Known Member
Spirit of the Jaguar at Chester is most certainly the standout Jaguar exhibit in the UK (and possibly Europe?), though ironically the outdoor enclosures are not netted over, instead having 5 metre high wire-mesh fence.
Orangutans are another animal that don't have as high quality exhibits in the UK, possibly as it is difficult to provide for their climbing needs and they are typically in much smaller groups than chimps and gorillas.
I think a good contender for the winner (or, really, loser) for poor ABC enclosures goes to snakes, and perhaps herps in general. At minimum an ethical snake enclosure should be longer than the length of the snake, but this isn't often the case, and genuinely good exhibits, where the tank size is many multiples the length, are very few and far between.
Otherwise, herp enclosures being generally inadequate for some reason or another is rather apparent given glass surfing, a form of stress-associated behaviour, is commonly observed in practically all zoos.
It's nice to see a slow move towards more open-topped, expansive, less-glass-boxey enclosures for reptiles, where they can really exhibit their full range of behaviours, though. See Chester's new Heart of Africa mixed reptile exhibit as example.
Otherwise, herp enclosures being generally inadequate for some reason or another is rather apparent given glass surfing, a form of stress-associated behaviour, is commonly observed in practically all zoos.
It's nice to see a slow move towards more open-topped, expansive, less-glass-boxey enclosures for reptiles, where they can really exhibit their full range of behaviours, though. See Chester's new Heart of Africa mixed reptile exhibit as example.
I've always felt pinnipeds often get pretty shafted, lots of small sea lion pools out there. Cetaceans usually get all the buzz when it comes to small marine mammal exhibits but I think there is a case here too. The only ones I think I've seen that I thought were genuinely good sizes were those at Blackpool Zoo and Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Monkeys, lemurs, and gibbons, seem like they wind up on the worse side far too often, and there's basically no exhibit too shoddy for certain places cram them into. A great primate exhibit can be absolutely stunning, but all too often even AZA zoos will stick them in a basic chain link cage and call it a day.
ContraryPython
Active Member
Most Snow Leopard exhibits are mediocre at best.
peruvianbirdie
Well-Known Member
I would add parrots too, I’m not too keen with exhibits with them being chained to a tree, this wouldn’t fly (no pun intended) for any other fauna.
AmazonianHippo
Well-Known Member
I would say that Swines seem to get quite good enclosures, or at least at the zoos I’ve been to. The same with sloths, although I have seen a couple of poor sloth exhibits. Cattle for me get bog-standard exhibits, and the one for African Forest Buffalo at Chester Zoo is one of the only habitats there that I would consider ‘poor’.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Maybe it is a European thing, but bears were actually my first thought for the 'best' category. I have seen bears of all eight species at around 20 collections, of which several keep multiple species, and on only two occasions have I ever been let down by the exhibit quality: Prague and especially Hagenbeck, both for Polar Bears. Beyond that, I have never seen a bad bear enclosure, and if I were to compile a list of the top ten greatest enclosures for any mammal species that I have seen, I suspect that at least three bear enclosures would feature. The Browns at Bristol, the Polars at Highland Wildlife Park, and the Spectacleds at Zürich. But I would actually wager that of the 20 collections I refer to (I know not the biggest sample size by any means), roughly half of them keep at least one species in a 'world-class' enclosure, and none barring the aforementioned two are by any means insufficient. Even public parks or castles which keep bears, a long-standing tradition in several European countries, nowadays provide them with exquisite enclosures, a testament to the shift in standards away from pits that we have seen in recent years. Look at Schloss Hartenfels in Torgau, for instance, or Bern, which I haven't seen in person, but looks to have improved drastically in recent years (no photos in the gallery but several elsewhere).
This is generally true, but there are exceptions, like Zürich, Highland or Dresden. I think all of these far exceed 'mediocre,' but in fairness, they are exceptions, rather than the rule.