What is the most diverse mixed species exhibit?

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I wonder which mixed exhibits in zoo world are most diverse in terms of groups presented.

Which exhibit has most families of mammals?
Which mixed exhibits have most orders of birds?
Are there many which mix fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in one space?

Lets not count saltwater tanks, which can have 10s of families or orders of fish and mostly obscure invertebrates.
 
At one time Zoo Tampa had Reeves Muntjac and Royal Antelope (at different times), green iguana, bats (I can't remember the species), and of course birds mixed in the main aviary. Right now they have manatee, turtles, fish, and birds in the manatee habitat. Neither have amphibians (well, I am sure there were wild frogs in the aviary), however.

The mix of mammals, birds, fish is pretty common, adding in herps is less so.
 
Burgers zoo seems to have only 3 groups: lizards (2 families), birds (impressive 17 families or so) and bats in the common area. Any zoo which has mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish sharing one space?
 
Columbus Zoo's Manatee Coast has mammals (West Indian Manatees), birds (Hooded Merganser, Brown Pelican, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck and Northern Pintail), reptiles (Hawksbill Turtle) and a wide variety of marine fish sharing the same space.

The Tropics room within the ProMedica Museum at Natural History at the Toledo Zoo has birds (White-throated Ground Dove and Anna's Hummingbird), reptiles (several species of geckos), amphibians (several species of dart frogs) and a huge variety of inverts sharing the same space.
 
Tropic World: South America at one point had three or four primate families co-existing with anteater, tapir, sloth and a variety of birds. I'm sure there are a lot of better examples to come but that was one that stood out to me at the time.
 
Jurek7 said:
Burgers zoo seems to have only 3 groups: lizards (2 families), birds (impressive 17 families or so) and bats in the common area. Any zoo which has mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish sharing one space?
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I believe Burgers' Bush does have some fish species in the waters and free-roaming amphibians too. If you count species in confined enclosures within the hall, it even holds some more mammal species (aardvark, capybara and small-clawed otter), reptiles (caiman, tortoise and turtles) and leafcutter ants.
 
I'm not sure advocating for the most "diverse" mixed species exhibits is a good idea. While the idea of mixed species exhibits is great, the more species being added makes it more and more likely to become problematic. As much as there are plenty of great mixed exhibits, there are also many examples of mixed species exhibits that, either obviously or subtly, negatively impact the welfare of species involved.

I'm all for tried and true mixed exhibits that are known to not negatively impact the welfare of any involved species, but trying to create the largest mixed species exhibits in a push to put as much diversity as possible in one exhibit is not an idea I can get behind, it's just too risky, and too likely to negatively impact the welfare of at least one species involved.

Note that by negatively impacting welfare, I don't purely mean the obvious injuries, disease risk, etc., but also the more subtle increased cortisol levels, competition for food, etc. That's not to say some mixed species exhibits aren't beneficial to welfare, as they do add additional enrichment, but there's a serious trade-off thstbkust he considered for the risks and rewards of any mix. The more species added, the more likely the risks outweigh the rewards.
 
Jurek7 said:
Burgers zoo seems to have only 3 groups: lizards (2 families), birds (impressive 17 families or so) and bats in the common area. Any zoo which has mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish sharing one space?
Click to expand...

There are a bit more with 4 families of reptile represented (all lizards), a whistling frog, as well as millipedes and potentially still beetles. In addition they do maintain populations of two fly species for feeding purposes in the hall. With convict cichlid and guppy there are also 2 fish species that occur in many of the water bodies in the hall.

The reptile and amphibian collection is however a shade of what it was in the 90s when there were about 20 species of reptile and amphibian listed. In the early years there were even butterflies, orb web spiders and land hermit crabs. Especially the first two did not last long though...

That said I also cannot think of any non-marine exhibit which has more species in it. Both Madoala and Gondwanaland have somewhat higher ectotherm diversity, but that's about it.

Neil chace said:
I'm not sure advocating for the most "diverse" mixed species exhibits is a good idea. While the idea of mixed species exhibits is great, the more species being added makes it more and more likely to become problematic. As much as there are plenty of great mixed exhibits, there are also many examples of mixed species exhibits that, either obviously or subtly, negatively impact the welfare of species involved.

I'm all for tried and true mixed exhibits that are known to not negatively impact the welfare of any involved species, but trying to create the largest mixed species exhibits in a push to put as much diversity as possible in one exhibit is not an idea I can get behind, it's just too risky, and too likely to negatively impact the welfare of at least one species involved.

Note that by negatively impacting welfare, I don't purely mean the obvious injuries, disease risk, etc., but also the more subtle increased cortisol levels, competition for food, etc. That's not to say some mixed species exhibits aren't beneficial to welfare, as they do add additional enrichment, but there's a serious trade-off thstbkust he considered for the risks and rewards of any mix. The more species added, the more likely the risks outweigh the rewards.
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Nobody is advocating that. Ihave yet to see a zoo that tries to achieve what you are implying, zoo professionals are very much aware of risks and trade-offs in mixed exhibits.
 
lintworm said:
The reptile and amphibian collection is however a shade of what it was in the 90s when there were about 20 species of reptile and amphibian listed. In the early years there were even butterflies, orb web spiders and land hermit crabs. Especially the first two did not last long though...
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Wow, that's a lot of reptiles and amphibians! Do you have any idea exactly which species they were?
 
Platypusboy said:
Wow, that's a lot of reptiles and amphibians! Do you have any idea exactly which species they were?
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Based on several leaflets I do, but I am currently travelling, so will post the list when I get home. Some interesting species were featured like multiple chameleons and Draco flying lizards.
 
Valvas said:
I believe Burgers' Bush does have some fish species in the waters and free-roaming amphibians too. If you count species in confined enclosures within the hall, it even holds some more mammal species (aardvark, capybara and small-clawed otter), reptiles (caiman, tortoise and turtles) and leafcutter ants.
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I think they have some freshwater stingrays in at least one of the ponds.
 
There are a few places with cheetahs with hoofstock, I think, although I'm not sure what impact this has on animal welfare.

Are there any enclosures with macaques and gibbons together successfully?
 
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When L'Oceanographic removed their walrus they put an interesting mix in their enclosure... I have not been there since then but from what I have seen they have harbour seals, puffins and some fishes... It is an interesting mix, I really like when enclosure mix marine mammals with other species such as fishes, it is quite uncommon but really cool to see. I think SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is also having this type of enclosures.
 
South Lakes Safari Zoo in England has a walkthrough exhibit called "Worldwide Safari" that has a whole host of random animals living together: kangaroos, emu, rhea, prairie dogs, capybaras, ducks, geese, swans, peacocks, muntjac deer, ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, and probably some other things I haven't seen. It's one of those mixed exhibits that probably shouldn't work, yet somehow does. It helps that the animals in there are all nice and docile.
 
In the 1970's/early 1980's the Safari Parc de l'Estérel (Southern France) seemed to display very strange mixes of species, apparently together :
  • in the 1st plain : Baboons (several species), Zebras, Pigs, Waterfowl, Pelicans, Cranes, Egrets, Vultures and Beavers ;
  • in the 2d plain : Lions + Tigers (both in large numbers) ;
  • in the last plains : Elephants, Antelopes, Gazelles, Zebus, Caprines, Sheep, Guanacos, Deer, Wallabies, Beavers, Flamingos, Peafowl, Waterfowl, Chickens, Pheasants, Egrets...
https://www.leszoosdanslemonde.com/...jus_safari/maps/frejus_safari_plan_1972ca.jpg

I don't know if these bizarre mixes worked, nor if they managed to control the conflicts and hybridizations...
 
Not the most diverse, but Omaha’s Amazon exhibit is pretty cool.
Fish (red tailed catfish, pacus, and arapaima), Birds (two macaw species), and mammals ( Spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, bearded sakis, lowland pacas)
 
Jambi said:
South Lakes Safari Zoo in England has a walkthrough exhibit called "Worldwide Safari" that has a whole host of random animals living together: kangaroos, emu, rhea, prairie dogs, capybaras, ducks, geese, swans, peacocks, muntjac deer, ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, and probably some other things I haven't seen. It's one of those mixed exhibits that probably shouldn't work, yet somehow does. It helps that the animals in there are all nice and docile.
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They also used to have a south american exhibit featuring brazilian tapir, spider monkeys, brown capuchin, ducks, geese, capybara and even andean bear and asian short clawed otter. I believe giant anteater featured at one point also.
 
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