what is a night den in zoo

Z

zoomania18

Well-Known Member
hi , i would like to ask what is normally behind the animal exhibit or enclosure . is it a holding areas , dens or night dens and a exercise yard , what is the different
 
I guess it depends on what type of animal is in the exhibit. For aves you may find it's indoor heated facilities or nest sites that allow easy keeper access but distances the stock from the public. Carnivore off show areas would probably have cubbing dens, normal dens and sufficient corridor space to maneouvre the individuals around when separation is needed. I would also expect primates to have a large number of off show night cages/dens. This would also be useful for separation and also to spread food and bedding around for what can be very competitive animals. Ungulates may have a few stalls and maybe a corridor to allow for rotation of stock. Also where zoos have good finances these corridors may have scales set into the floor that allows individuals to get weighed regularly without any stress.

Are there any particular exhibits you are thinking about because I'm sure it must differ across collections. Also, where we may think interesting and exciting things may be kept off show, there may just be the mundane keeper storage areas, hay barns, tools, equipment, food prep kitchens and staff rooms and the like.
 
from what i heard from my friend , he say only dangerous animal , such as big cats , spotted hyenas and elephant , rhino and hippo got night dens , holding area for the animal to be confine when the zoo is closed .
 
night housing is where the animal goes at night when the zoo is closed. Animal holding can mean several things. Most of the time it is an area where the animal shifts into to allow the keepers to either clean the yard, put out enrichment. Also holding areas allow for medical treatment.
 
zoomania18 said:
from what i heard from my friend , he say only dangerous animal , such as big cats , spotted hyenas and elephant , rhino and hippo got night dens , holding area for the animal to be confine when the zoo is closed .
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I think it would depend on the zoo. Some zoos give their animals 24 hour access to both the main enclosure and their housing - on a tv show I saw this was the case with Dublin Zoo's elephants.

In other cases the animals will go indoors at night when the zoo is closed, sometimes for safety reasons I guess.
 
so do you mean ,

holding area - is a temporary place to confine the animal so that the zookeeper can clean its enclosure / exhibits , for medical treatment and conditioning the animal

night dens - is a place for the animal to sleep and confine when the zoo is closed .
 
Night dens are usually enclosed indoor spaces, nightyards and holding yards are generally behind all enclosures at the zoo I'm at. Our may be different ot others but for example we have 2 exhibits for black rhino, 2 adjoined holding or night yards. and 12 holding/breeding yards stretching 500 metres along a service road, all accessible by one raceway. We currently have four maned wolf, with one on exhibit and a further five or so holding/nightyards out the back. We also have 2 Sumatran Tiger exhibits and hold five Adult Sumatran tigers in what is probably one of the best breeding facilites in the country (yet have never had a tiger cub of any species). Within the carnivore enclosures there are boxes or dens for animals to escape the elements. However we are an open range zoo, dens tend to be more common in urban zoos.
 
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