What would make a good (realistic) Galapagos Islands section?

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CrashMegaraptor

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
So, I've been pondering over some zoo design ideas and one that inevitably comes around is the idea of a section based on the Galapagos Islands. But whilst you obviously have the Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger), that seem to be reasonably common in several zoos, you rarely see anything else. I imagine there's a lot of technical stuff regarding this sort of thing and which animals you could actually get, but if one were to make a hypothetical Galapagos Islands section of a zoo, what else could you reasonably have aside from just the giant tortoises?

My first gut instinct is that you could have a Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) exhibit here without it being too out of place. As a very close relative of the Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), it feels like it'd make a respectable substitute.
 
CrashMegaraptor said:
So, I've been pondering over some zoo design ideas and one that inevitably comes around is the idea of a section based on the Galapagos Islands. But whilst you obviously have the Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger), that seem to be reasonably common in several zoos, you rarely see anything else. I imagine there's a lot of technical stuff regarding this sort of thing and which animals you could actually get, but if one were to make a hypothetical Galapagos Islands section of a zoo, what else could you reasonably have aside from just the giant tortoises?

My first gut instinct is that you could have a Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) exhibit here without it being too out of place. As a very close relative of the Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), it feels like it'd make a respectable substitute.
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Maybe with proxies as American Flamingos, Brown/Peruvian Pelicans, Inca Terns, Californian Sea Lions and even Antillean Iguanas (various species).
We may add aquaria with Sharks, Sea Turtles and smaller species.
But it would be more a "Neotropical island" exhibit (the concept has its own interest) than a proper Galapagos one.
 
According to ZTL, the following zoos have had Galapagos animals since 1960.
Frankfurt had Galapagos land and marine iguanas in 1960. Berlin Zoo, Jersey Zoo and Belle Vue Zoo had marine iguanas in 1964
The Galapagos dove was kept at Alphen aan den Rijn (1991), Berlin Tierpark (1963), Copenhagen (1966), Helsinki (1961), Jersey (1959-63), London (1961), Padstow (1980), Paris Menagerie (1971), Tel Aviv (1966, 1969), Villars des Domes (1972), Walsrode (1995-8) and Wuppertal (1979)
 
I asked myself the same questionn when I visited the new giant tortoise house at London Zoo - the house seemed empty with just the three female tortoises, which were all resting in shady spots. My first choice would be Galapagos doves (Zenaida galapagoensis), which I remember seeing at the Jardin des Plantes, 51 years ago; but I don't think there are any around now.
I presume that importing animals from the Galapagos would not be feasible, so I would suggest importing grassquit (Tiaris obscura), this small finch from the mainland of South America, is believed to be the ancestor of the species flock of Darwin's finches. They are not spectacular, but they could be the centrepiece of an interesting display. Thinking along the same lines, another possibility would be the chaco tortoise (Geochelone chilensis), which is held in a few zoos, and DNA studies have shown that it is the closest relative of the Galapagos giants.
 
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Are any of the Galapagos endemic species kept in any South American facilities? Because when thinking of speculative zoo ideas I have thought of perhaps designing a zoo set in Ecuador or western South America, featuring Galapagos species.
 
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