Which zoo exhibit has the very best landscaping design?

I know that Cat-Man selected the Pangani Forest Exhibit as one of his nominations, and so I dutifully found 5 photos that best showcase this superb ape habitat. Zoos with bars, mesh and steel surrounding their gorillas should be ashamed.:)

Gorilla exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/277/pangani-forest-trail-54591/

http://www.zoochat.com/277/pangani-forest-trail-54608/

http://www.zoochat.com/277/pangani-forest-trail-54546/

http://www.zoochat.com/277/pangani-forest-trail-54558/

http://www.zoochat.com/277/pangani-forest-trail-54559/
 
Dan said:
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...
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Just to keep things interesting: Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle) Northern Trails:

http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=120

http://www.zoochat.com/622/1-grizzly-bear-exhibit-north-america-81474/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/river-otter-mountain-goat-exhibits-81453/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/1-grizzly-bear-exhibit-north-america-81475/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/roosevelt-elk-paddock-81458/

To be fair, doing the Northern boreal Forest in Seattle is easier than doing it in Miami, but that wasn't your question.
Anyway, I didn't want to nominate any project I was involved in.

Dan - I have the same problem with Nature shows!

I don't think water features are, of themselves, so challenging. Creating the topography to set them in properly is tricky and planting them believably so animals don't beat it all down is really hard!
 
Snow leopard exhibit in Zurich
ZooLex Exhibit

Masoala rainforest in Zurich
ZooLex Exhibit

Playa des Penguinos at Emmen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckduvinylle/2413268859
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckduvinylle/448453129
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79286005@N00/24866323
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petwerewolf/143105568
Dierenpark Emmen - Spreekbeurt Pinguïn


Squirrel monkeys at Gaiapark
Squirrel Monkeys in the accessible fenced area of the Gaia Park Kerkrade, 13 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

One thing is, there are many fantastic exhibits for native animals. They are easy to do - if a zoo has a chunk of native vegetation, just fence it. Does it count? This way I can name 10 perfect exhibits for native forest animals in small European zoos. Or, for example, exhibits at Sonora desert museum. But I feel this is slightly not fair.
 
Jurek7 said:
One thing is, there are many fantastic exhibits for native animals. They are easy to do - if a zoo has a chunk of native vegetation, just fence it. Does it count? This way I can name 10 perfect exhibits for native forest animals in small European zoos. Or, for example, exhibits at Sonora desert museum. But I feel this is slightly not fair.
Click to expand...

Hello @Jurek7

Yes and no. The exhibit at Seattle and the most at Arizona Sonora Desert Museum were all planted, not simply using an existing landscaped site. And whether planted or simply fenced, the landscape faces the same challenges in a zoo anywhere.

But I do feel that doing native animals allows the designer to use the backdrop of local landscapes to make the exhibit appear far larger. It also reduces the challenge of realistically replicating an alien landscape. And in those ways ought not to "compete" in this noble Poll with more ambitious projects.

We'll have to leave it to Poll-Master Dan to decide on the rules ;)

I nominated Northern Trails instead of Masoala or Bergers (both of which I leaned towards) simply to avoid adding another tropical exhibit to the poll.
 
Dan said:
... OMG, this is hard work but someone has do to it! Ladies and Gentlemen, we need 3 more nominations! First come, first served...

:) :) :)
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Thank you for your hard work.

This is a very good thread, and I think you are managing it very well!

I hope three more nominations come in soon. Surely there are hundreds of wonderful qualified exhibits.
 
Zooplantman said:
... 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...


Could it be that visitors are most fascinated by exhibits that immerse them in landscapes that represent areas that (1) have an abundance of plants/wildlife (2) are places that are very different from places they have visited, yet (3) have some geographical and climate features in common with locations that are considered great vacation spots?

I personally would like to see more zoo exhibits with landscaping that represents cold-weather areas and barren regions, too. But the lush tropical rain forest exhibits really are fascinating.
 
 
@zooplantman
Exhibits of native habitat, for me, work the best because plants naturally regrow into the a native ecosystem. So in Europe, any pond is easily colonized by reeds, watercress, any forest begins to develop mosses, native herbs, etc. You get these tiny, tiny details of landscape which you cannot replicate by planting.

I think no desert exhibit in Europe can be so authentic. Although rainforest halls in Burgers and Masoala begin to be a little authentic - you get fungi overgrowing dead logs, big-leaved plants form thick covers under gaps in the tree canopy like in S America etc.

BTW - you mention that most exhibits focus on tropical rainforests. Maybe because it is a fashion. Savanna exhibits with giraffe, zebras and antelopes are almost default in any zoo!
 
ALLRIGHT - we seem to have our ten nominations and I will set up the poll tomorrow!
 
Dan said:
ALLRIGHT - we seem to have our ten nominations and I will set up the poll tomorrow!
Click to expand...


It's already tomorrow here ... when will it be there? :confused:

I'm not trying to rush you - you have done a great job keeping the discussion going. It's just that I really like this thread, and can't wait to see the polling results.:)
 
Zoo Visitor said:
Oops! I am still having trouble understanding how to navigate around and/or find threads ... I didn't realize the actual poll would be a new thread :o

Anyway, thanks, and I just voted.

This was fun - I'm looking forward to your next idea for a new thread!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, Zoo Visitor! Very kind of you. :)

Actually, if you have not seen this poll from last year you might like it:

http://www.zoochat.com/173/poll-best-photograph-zoochat-57571/

And this was the thread before the poll:

http://www.zoochat.com/173/best-photograph-zoochat-53928/
 
Dan said:
Thanks so much, Zoo Visitor! Very kind of you. :)

Actually, if you have not seen this poll from last year you might like it:

http://www.zoochat.com/173/poll-best-photograph-zoochat-57571/

And this was the thread before the poll:

http://www.zoochat.com/173/best-photograph-zoochat-53928/
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dan. Wow, that got very interesting - I wish I had been a Zoo Chat member at the time so I could have inserted my two-cents worth of an opinion. (I really liked the way you handled the Zooish issue.)

You are the kind of forum member I especially like - the kind who causes people to think, and debate all sorts of zoo related topics.
 
You are far too kind, Zoo Visitor. Normally, I tend to strongly irritate many of the regular visitors to this web site...

But never mind, and just out of curiosity: which one of the ten pictures would YOU have voted for? And why?

I am genuinly interested in your reply as I am great fan of zoo photography!
 
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