Which zoo exhibit has the very best landscaping design?

Dan

Dan

Well-Known Member
Let´s have a bit of fun with a new poll!

Which zoo exhibit has the very best landscaping design?

I will nominate my suggestion - hopefully you will supply nine other nominations and then I create the poll!

Here are the rules:

Outdoor landscape design! We pay no attention to anything other then that – not the size of the exhibit or the quality of the indoor quarters, general husbandry or whatever. Outdoor landscape design, only!

Enclose a few links to pictures and your motivation: why is your choice the best piece of zoo landscape design in the world?

Here is my choice:

The jaguar exhibit at Woodland Park!

http://www.zoochat.com/622/jaguar-exhibit-78832/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/jaguar-exhibit-78833/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/1-jaguar-exhibit-81296/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/jaguar-exhibit-81298/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/jaguar-exhibit-78826/

I love this design because it is so beautiful and gives me a genuine feeling of a rainforest or perhaps rather the outskirts of a rainforest. It looks like a very functional design for the jaguars: lots of climbing opportunities, lots of hiding places. Water to swim in (though forumster snowleopard reports that he has never seen the cats in the water). The attention to every detail is stunning. This is a masterpiece!

I suspect that almost every nomination will be from US zoos. Would be fun if there was some brilliant example from some other country, though.

Last but not least: some forum members think that these “which-is–the-best-threads” are nonsense, others (like me) enjoy them. If you belong to the former category, just ignore this thread and the upcoming poll, OK?

:):):)
 
Monkey Islands at Chester Zoo.

No amount of me typing is going to say how wonderfully landscaped it is.

If I can find it some photos later I will post some if I have time.
 
Burgers Desert(if it counts as an exhibit), the landscaping is simply perfect. It's all fake but it looks like a real desert.
 
Dan said:
Let´s have a bit of fun with a new poll!

Last but not least: some forum members think that these “which-is–the-best-threads” are nonsense, others (like me) enjoy them. If you belong to the former category, just ignore this thread and the upcoming poll, OK?

:):):)
Click to expand...

I think "which-is-the-best-threads" are wonderful. I love hearing a person passionately describe a zoo or exhibit he or she loves.

It's that person's love for a zoo or exhibit that matters most to me - not which zoo or exhibit it is.
 
OK, 4 nominations so far. Great! Can I have 6 more?

Oh... and please include some links to photos that you think give the best representation of your chosen exhibit.
 
Interesting comment Dan about the fact that you are guessing that the majority of submissions will come from U.S. zoos. Judging from photos most British zoos rely on very basic fencing and exhibits that are often built "in-house", while the American collections often have high-priced firms that specialize in creating naturalistic environments. Sometimes I wonder which is better, and there are pros and cons of both systems. However, there appears to be some amazing habitats in many European zoos, particularly in the Netherlands as that nation seems head-and-shoulders above the rest in terms of exhibit quality. Australia has a handful of above average zoos, but I'm not sure that there are many world class exhibits around the country. Lots of great enclosures...but world class?

Congo Gorilla Forest:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41195/

Okapi Exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41163/

Red River Hog + Mandrill Exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41171/

Gorilla Exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41177/

See the gorilla here?:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41190/

Congo Gorilla Forest - viewing window:

http://www.zoochat.com/547/bronx-zoo-congo-gorilla-forest-41186/

Some people like the landscaping in this naturalistic exhibit::) (just a joke!) I'm sure that there are children's toy slides in the Congo...haha.

http://www.zoochat.com/203/gorilla-pavillion-interior-72977/
 
The Tropical Rainforest section in the Philadelphia Zoo's new McNeil Avian Center.

This walk-through exhibit looks, feels and sounds like a tropical rainforest. (All sounds are from the real live birds.)

The exhibit design includes lush trees, beautiful flowers, a waterfall, and a small stream. Several times a day, visitors as well as birds are surrounded by mist rising from the stream.

This exhibit will open to the public May 30th. I will try to post photos extracted from my videos before this contest ends.

In the meantime, you can get a little bit of an idea by looking at two of my videos:



I am sorry, that's all I have right now - I know they don't show enough of the area.
 
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Now we are talking!

But ... hey Cat-Man, only one nomination per person. So: Kilimanjaro safaris or Gorilla enclosure? And by the way, the links do not work for me. Would you try posting them again?

ROOM FOR 4 MORE NOMINATIONS!

Anyone?

PS
This is great fun! I had a hunch that exhibits from Bronx and DAK would be nominated...
 
I must, in all fairness, recuse myself from this poll.
But I'd be interested in hearing more about why this exhibit or that one caught your eye. A few people have explained, but more is good!

Anyone notice that, with the exception of Burgers' desert and Kilaminjaro ride, the others are all tropical forest animals/landscapes/exhibits?
 
Landscaping is just the overall appearance right, not just the plants?
All the ones I've seen (only one being DAK lol) have been mentioned, and I don't think we have any massive immersion exhibits in the UK. Although ROTRA at Chester is nicely planted, as in Paignton zoos orang exhibit.
 
snowleopard said:
Interesting comment Dan about the fact that you are guessing that the majority of submissions will come from U.S. zoos. Judging from photos most British zoos rely on very basic fencing and exhibits that are often built "in-house", while the American collections often have high-priced firms that specialize in creating naturalistic environments. Sometimes I wonder which is better, and there are pros and cons of both systems. However, there appears to be some amazing habitats in many European zoos, particularly in the Netherlands as that nation seems head-and-shoulders above the rest in terms of exhibit quality. Australia has a handful of above average zoos, but I'm not sure that there are many world class exhibits around the country. Lots of great enclosures...but world class?
Click to expand...

Well, this subject relates to a thread I started a while ago:

http://www.zoochat.com/2/what-your-views-exhibit-design-general-49588/

In that thread I probably came across as a bit dogmatic, but it created a very intersting discussion. I was deliberatley provocative (and somewhat pompous, I guess...) when I wrote that I "recommended" the method of simply fencing in as big a piece of land as possible instead of, US-style, spend millions on landscape design and immersion. But I don´t see it that "black and white" of course. As this thread and upcoming poll hopefully demonstrates, I am in fact deeply fascinated by the efforts to create these amazing exhibits in Bronx Zoo, Woodland Park etc etc.

At the same time - as you know - animal welfare is always my main priority. For instance, you and I had a short but interesting exchange of views concerning the African Wild Dog exhibit at Woodland Park. You praised it and it is certainly an absolutely fantastic piece of landscape design. My counter argument was that it is only 465 sq meters big and I compared it to the 7000 sq. meter (close to 2 acres) big African wild Dog enclosure in Borås Zoo, Sweden. The latter made up of a fence around a piece of not so dense Swedish pine forest. Probably 25 times cheaper (or 50 times or something...) than the WP exhibit and 15 times or so bigger. I know which one of these two enclosures I would prefer to live in if I was an African Wild Dog. But of course the Borås one does not teach the visitors anything at all about the natural environment for African Wild Dogs.

So yes... there are pros and cons....

Anyway, returning to your initial comment: clearly the US zoos are world leaders when it comes to landscape design in zoos. No doubt about it! And again: I am deeply fascinated - not the least becuse it makes it so exciting to visit ZooChat and enjoy all the marvellous documentation of this phenomenon.
 
Dan said:
Well, this subject relates to a thread I started a while ago:

http://www.zoochat.com/2/what-your-views-exhibit-design-general-49588/

In that thread I probably came across as a bit dogmatic, but it created a very intersting discussion. I was deliberatley provocative (and somewhat pompous, I guess...) when I wrote that I "recommended" the method of simply fencing in as big a piece of land as possible instead of, US-style, spend millions on landscape design and immersion. But I don´t see it that "black and white" of course. As this thread and upcoming poll hopefully demonstrates, I am in fact deeply fascinated by the efforts to create these amazing exhibits in Bronx Zoo, Woodland Park etc etc.

At the same time - as you know - animal welfare is always my main priority. For instance, you and I had a short but interesting exchange of views concerning the African Wild Dog exhibit at Woodland Park. You praised it and it is certainly an absolutely fantastic piece of landscape design. My counter argument was that it is only 465 sq meters big and I compared it to the 7000 sq. meter (close to 2 acres) big African wild Dog enclosure in Borås Zoo, Sweden. The latter made up of a fence around a piece of not so dense Swedish pine forest. Probably 25 times cheaper (or 50 times or something...) than the WP exhibit and 15 times or so bigger. I know which one of these two enclosures I would prefer to live in if I was an African Wild Dog. But of course the Borås one does not teach the visitors anything at all about the natural environment for African Wild Dogs.

So yes... there are pros and cons....

Anyway, returning to your initial comment: clearly the US zoos are world leaders when it comes to landscape design in zoos. No doubt about it! And again: I am deeply fascinated - not the least becuse it makes it so exciting to visit ZooChat and enjoy all the marvellous documentation of this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

Dan,
I would add that there are many finely landscaped and designed outdoor exhibits in Australia, and Europe has more and better landscaped indoor exhibits (Burgers, Randers, Masaola, etc., etc.) than the US.
 
Zooplantman said:
Dan,
I would add that there are many finely landscaped and designed outdoor exhibits in Australia, and Europe has more and better landscaped indoor exhibits (Burgers, Randers, Masaola, etc., etc.) than the US.
Click to expand...

I agree, and am reminded to "nominate" Zurich Zoo's Spectacled Bear/Coati habitat as one of the very finest outdoor landscape exhibits on the planet.
 
Zooplantman said:
I must, in all fairness, recuse myself from this poll.
But I'd be interested in hearing more about why this exhibit or that one caught your eye. A few people have explained, but more is good!

Anyone notice that, with the exception of Burgers' desert and Kilaminjaro ride, the others are all tropical forest animals/landscapes/exhibits?
Click to expand...

Aha... a post from the professional. Nice! You are in fact most welcome to nominate! As the supreme administrator of these fun and games I am very liberal! Only one strict rule: one nomination per person....

My theory with regards to your observation is that I guess that we amateurs tend to be most impressed by landscape design that is supposed to emulate the kind of environment that you mention. We probably regard it as more challenging than other types of design. Which may be right or wrong of course.

Personally, when I watch TV documentaries on wildlife, I always have the thought of zoo landscape design at the back of my mind. I may, for instance, watch a film showing a water stream in autumn in a forest in India (the film probably dealing with tigers) and I will think, "how might this be replicated in a zoo exhibit?". The colours and the shades, all the fallen leaves, the rocks and stones, the living and the dead trees surrounding the stream, the tree stumps, the flow of the water etc etc....

I also, especially, tend to think in lines like these when I watch documentaries on bears in Alaska, for instance fishing for salmon in the water. How do you replicate that kind of environment?

By the way and come to think of it, Zooplantman: would you agree that water features may be the ones most challenging to design? Just a guess from an amateur...
 
OH boy... after a slow start this thread is gaining momentum and I will make a summary of what has happened so far, that is present the nominations in chronological order as I see them. And as "Supreme adminstrator" the way I see them is the way it is...

1. I nominated the jaguar exhibit at Woodland Park.

2. Taun nominated Monkey Islands at Chester Zoo, but has as yet failed to provide us with links to photos. Come on, Taun, get it together!!! ;)

3. lintworm nominates Burgers Desert! Links to photos of your choice please..... lintworm, links! ;)

4. Reduakari and then afterwards snowleopard nominated Congo Gorilla Forest at Bronx Zoo. I will count this as a nomination from snowleopard, because reduakari has the nerve to make ANOTHER nomination afterwards. Although an obvious breach of the sacred rules, I will allow this nonsense because I like reduakaris arguments in general here on ZooChat! :)

5. Zoovisitor nominates The Tropical Rainforest section in the Philadelphia Zoo's new McNeil Avian Center and documents his nomination with a couple of cool videos from YouTube. I applaude his or hers serious attempt to document the nomination!

6. Cat-Man nominates two exhibits from Disney´s Animal Kingdon and documents them with links. Unfortunately the links do not work for me but that is a mere technical problem. I ask Cat-Man to choose between one of his two nominations though, and I await his answer.

7. reduakari "has the nerve", as mentioned above, to return with yet another nomination. For reasons already mentioned I will allow it, but - please - reduakari, submit evidence (links) to your nomination of Zurich Zoo's Spectacled Bear/Coati habitat!

OMG, this is hard work but someone has do to it! Ladies and Gentlemen, we need 3 more nominations! First come, first served...

:) :) :)
 
http://www.zoochat.com/42/sulawesi-macaque-island-36083/

Dan, that's the only photo I can find of one of the islands at Chester (which Taun nominated). There are another 2 islands and the mandrill one is the lushest one in my opinion (although they are all looking lusher than usual from what i've seen of them recently)

I'll nominate the Kilimanjaro Safari at Disney (leaving Cat-Man to go with the Pangani forest trail;))
 
CZJimmy said:
http://www.zoochat.com/42/sulawesi-macaque-island-36083/

Dan, that's the only photo I can find of one of the islands at Chester (which Taun nominated). There are another 2 islands and the mandrill one is the lushest one in my opinion (although they are all looking lusher than usual from what i've seen of them recently)

I'll nominate the Kilimanjaro Safari at Disney (leaving Cat-Man to go with the Pangani forest trail;))
Click to expand...

I'll see I have any photo's to upload that do the exhibit justice.
 
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