What Zoo Animals will you keep in a ''Micro zoo''?

I'll tell you the exhibits now: There is an African Aviary Split into Savannah and Tropical Rainforest environments, an African Kopje, an Amazon Rainforest House, Nigerian Hippo River, and Japanese Hills. How's that sound?
 
DragonDust101 said:
I'll tell you the exhibits now: There is an African Aviary Split into Savannah and Tropical Rainforest environments, an African Kopje, an Amazon Rainforest House, Nigerian Hippo River, and Japanese Hills. How's that sound?
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It sounds interesting.
What African Kopje mean, what is that? What animals will be there?
I would only exclude Japanese hills. But that is your choice; I don't feel attracted to Japanese wildlife.
 
Nikola Chavkosk said:
It sounds interesting.
What African Kopje mean, what is that? What animals will be there?
I would only exclude Japanese hills. But that is your choice; I don't feel attracted to Japanese wildlife.
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Kopje are piles of ancient rocks that jut onto the african savannah soil, and support a variety of rocky wildlife, such as Rock Monitors, Rock Hyrax, and Klipspringers. They are also planted with trees, surprisingly.

For the Japanese question, I feel that they have a selection of wildlife not scene in zoos, and that's why I'm including them.:p
 
Nikola Chavkosk said:
What zoo animals will you keep, according to modern standards in respect to enclosure size/design requirements, in a zoo with small area of just 4,000 m2 (0.4 hectare) (or 43,055 square foot)?
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It is enough space for a good aquarium and tropical house. Many fish, herps and small mammals. Largest species would be sharks, crocodiles, otters, pygmy hippos with cherry-crowned mangabeys, koalas, little penguins, fishing cats and clouded leopards.

If I had no money for water tanks and electricity, I would go for capybaras and agouti with squirrel monkeys, lemurs with giant tortoises, fennec, caracal, tamanduas with marmosets, an underground tunnel with exhibits of mole rats, python, and praire dogs and burrowing owls. I just might fit geladas with hyrax with Nubian ibex.

Existing very small but interesting zoos are Swiss Papiliorama and German Bremenshaven (latter just over 1 ha).
 
It has come to my attention that another spectacular facility, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, is within the parameters that you originally set, Nikola. With a total space of less than one acre, the facility manages to display every species of crocodilian (not accounting for recent and/or potential splits like dwarf crocodile, slender snouted crocodile, and Malagasy crocodile, though depending on splits they may have all varieties of the former). Additionally, they have a reptiles house, though some of the species are kept in innapropriately small enclosures, so it could use a little shifting around of species and remodeling perhaps. There are also displays for New World primates and birds, Old World birds, including cassowaries, and Komodo dragon. A particularly excellent exhibit for Old World cranes and vultures (and perhaps a stork) demonstrates a new type of enrichment to zoos- allowing feeding from a simulated zebra carcass. Furthermore, the facility has moderate displays for giant tortoises (breeding, though perhaps not pure :(), and finally, an excellent native bird rookery. It is home to many species of heron, stork, egret, and a few others, while the water below contains a staggering 250 or so alligators- and two American crocodiles! I believe the facility has now successfully hatched every species of crocodilian in their collection (perhaps not some of the caimans, though) and is even preparing Siamese crocodiles for eventual release to the wild! It's a great facility for being so small- would highly recommend to anybody in the area.
 
Time to start my Micro Zoo. It's been long enough.

You enter the zoo through a large pair of double doors. When you enter, you encounter a small plaza. It takes up 30m^2. To the back of the plaza is a food court with a gift shop, cafe, and a Ice cream stand. This is an area of 20m^2. From the plaza, the center is filled with a Flamingo Pool, taking up a circle of 15m^2 It contains 3.3 Lesser Flamingo. There are four paths, each with a sign for its respective exhibit, which are African Aviary, African Kopje and Nigerian Hippo River, Japanese Forest, and Amazon Rainforest House. THAT's it for today. More tommorow.
 
Time to start my Micro Zoo. It's been long enough.

You enter the zoo through a large pair of double doors. When you enter, you encounter a small plaza. It takes up 30m^2. To the back of the plaza is a food court with a gift shop, cafe, and a Ice cream stand. This is an area of 20m^2. From the plaza, the center is filled with a Flamingo Pool, taking up a circle of 15m^2 It contains 3.3 Lesser Flamingo. There are four paths, each with a sign for its respective exhibit, which are African Aviary, African Kopje and Nigerian Hippo River, Japanese Forest, and Amazon Rainforest House. THAT's it for today. More tommorow.
 
@jayjds2: St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park must be amazing place creative with it's space, and highly conservation-based facility.

@DragonDust101: Interesting, keep going :)
 
Okay. The first path leads to the African Aviary Complex. The aviary is made up of an area of 100m^2. The left side is for the Savvana, with an exhibit containing a 0.1 Shoebill, 1.2 African Pygmy Goose, and 1.1 African Spoobill. There is also a large grassy plain exhibit for 1.1 Secretary Bird, and finally an exhibit for 10.10 Carmine Bee Eater, 1.2 Speckled Mousebird, an 10.10 Little Bee Eater, and 1.1 Red Billed Hornbill. The other side of the aviary is based off of the African Rainforest, and completely Mixed Speceis. Each animal is a 1.2 group. There are Great Blue Turaco, Congo Peafowl, White Crested Turaco, Red Headed Lovebird, Black Heron, Brown Necked Parrot, African Grey Parrot, Wattled Starling, Blue Naped Mousebird, Naringa Targoon, and Africanl Jacana.

More later in the day.
 
I know that is just a fantasy zoo, but mixin 0.1 Shoebill with 1.2 African Pygmy Goose will result in 0.0 African Pygmy Goose in a couple of days.
 
Kakapo said:
I know that is just a fantasy zoo, but mixin 0.1 Shoebill with 1.2 African Pygmy Goose will result in 0.0 African Pygmy Goose in a couple of days.
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Indeed.

Using a larger duck species will present no problems, though.
 
Must be very large... at least of the size of a spur-winged goose. You can find photos of shoebill cathing Anas duck trought the net.
 
Kakapo said:
Must be very large... at least of the size of a spur-winged goose. You can find photos of shoebill cathing Anas duck trought the net.
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https://mobile.twitter.com/sandiegozoo/status/440951217112772610
This appears to be a white-faced whistling duck, about the same size as Anas. In addition, other animals in the lagoon are African darters, bar-headed geese, common shelducks, coscoroba swans, mandarin ducks, Orinoco geese, pink backed pelican, red created pochard, South African shelduck, swan goose, and white-breasted cormorant (thanks to geomorph for the list).

Dallas World Aquarium also keeps a small Anas species with shoebills. I think they are cape teals but at the moment I can not remember.
 
Another world famous micro-zoo is Jersey. Many small animals nowadays in zoos were first helped by Durrell.

New Durrell who grew up reading zoochat ;) could work with small monkeys, rodents, guans, parrots, reptiles and amphibians from Mexico, Central America and Carribbean. Or Olm, Egyptian tortoises and many rodents, snakes, lizards, frogs, salamanders and fish from Mediterranean and the Middle East. Philippines, Madagascar, eastern Brazil, Indonesia and Pacific islands have more such small, endangered animals which are overlooked by all.

Animals with are popular with average visitor and often endangered are: monkeys and lemurs, otters, small cats, parrots, crocodiles, venomous snakes and freshwater fish. :)
 
Small zoos with little budget should prefer winter-hard species. Animals without costly diet or need for frequent feeding. Also dangerous ones should be ommited or realy kept in 1-2 species at most.

Bears, wolves, rhinos, apes etc. are out of question, they need a lot of space. Komodo dragon or large crocodile enclosure heating will get you bancrupted. Gazellas and many other antelopes will break their legs/neck soon. Insectivorous/fructivorous birds are care-intensive. Gibbons or howlers might get you evicted if neighbours get angry.

What is left? Old-fashioned proven species. Lemurs, guenons, macaques, tamarins. Small cats up to lynx-size. Domestic animals like sheep, goat or alpaca. Waterfowl like swans or geese. Parrots like roseate cockatoo, burrowing parrot or smaller Australian species. Cranes like Demoiselle. Flamingos. Wallabies. Nilgai. Muntjack. White/black fallow deer. Prairie dogs, marmots, mara, porcupine, coypu. Larger non-tropic tortoises and turtles. Handicaped local birds of pray/owls/vulture.
 
Here I can add snakes? From dangerous carnivores, maybe leopard (1-3), old or hybrid, would be acceptable. Also some macaws.
Wouldn't flamingos be too costly as for a small zoo with small budget, unless kept just 4-6 flamingos maybe not?
 
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