Bronx Zoo World of Darkness reopening
- Thread starter nczoofan
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AnActualFan
Well-Known Member
Great photos and seems like a great addition to the zoo that makes their collection even greater. It's just good to see a big nocturnal house in an old building sufficiently revived.
Tigeanderson
Well-Known Member
Very spectacular review @NSU42 and I was wondering with the blind cave fish exhibit is it a tank on a stand or is it like Omahas exhibit where it looks like you are walking on top of the fish. And I would say that I am very glad that there’s a nocturnal themed exhibit because since the Philadelphia zoo got rid of the animals that lived in the small mammal house there was no really interesting nocturnal exhibits at zoos near me. But now that the Bronx zoo has a nocturnal exhibit it along with seeing the dholes gives me a reason to go back to the Bronx zoo.
It is a tank built into the wall.
My first time in the building I was in there for about 20-30 minutes and my eyes adjusted. On my second walk thru, it was only a few minutes and it was harder for my eyes to adjust. I was at the last exhibit, Seba short tailed bat and there's a half way wall you need to walk around to get to the exit. I just saw pure black and almost panicked thinking the last section of the building lost all power/light and I ended up bumping into the wall.
I did not see the sloth either. Also, I had no idea and must have missed the sign for the fat tailed lemur who shares its exhibit with the aye ayes. At opening, a keeper was in the exhibit trying to coax the aye ayes out of holding. I never did end up seeing them.
I expect it will take some time for all the animals to adjust and become comfortable with their new home, their co-habitants, and with the public. I remember the Dholes took a few months to get used to the Bronx but now they're one of the showiest animals at the zoo.
Also, Ring-Tailed Cacomistle is a valid name for the species
~Thylo
Also, Ring-Tailed Cacomistle is a valid name for the species
~Thylo
Tigeanderson
Well-Known Member
Okay thanks.
In depth World of Darkness Review (Personal Takes):
WoD is a great modern rendition of what I remember the original being. The WCS once again delivers its usual standard for exhibit design, surpassing most of the AZA zoos out there. What I will highlight is this is in no way Congo, Madagascar, or JungleWorld. It is, by Bronx standards, middle of the road. In no way bad, just more similar in vibe to World of Reptiles, Mouse House or Aquatic Bird House. The collection is very solid, they've done an excellent job with signage and in no way does it "detract" from the zoo experience, only enhancing it.
The first thing I want to really highlight is the signage. If there's one stand out with WoD, it's the signage. As you enter the building there's about a half dozen giant walls with different custom artwork for the area of animals like Aye-aye, Naked Mole Rat, Sloth, etc. with cool photo ops. They've also brought back the OG World of Darkness entrance sign which is a nice touch. The building exterior is exactly as I remember. There is still a big empty pit in the middle of the building that seems prime for some form of an exhibit but at the moment, it's just a pit. The signs have this awesome (very WCS) effect where they're invisible in the darkness at first and as you approach there's a cool lighting effect where they become visible as you get right next to the exhibit. All the signage is beautifully hand done art (probably best I've seen the WCS do) for every animal. Each sign also has interactive elements like tracing lights and pressing buttons that illuminate education. It's really cool.
Now the downsides. The building is very lacking in theming. In fact, the theme almost looks to be "outdated building we shut down 15 years ago, but now its open again". Walls retain the original lighting shadow effects I remember as a kid (sort've similar to jungle world's cloud rat area but less intense). It's neat but otherwise it's very plain. Other than the exhibits the building is very empty and it makes the HVAC and building stuff really apparent. Imagine World of Birds or Congo's corridors but without the tree trunks, signage, etc. it's very weird. The other elephant in the room are the exhibits themselves. Are they bad? No not at all. But are they good...eh... None stand out as particularly WCS best work. The stand out 3 are the Aye-aye exhibit which is massive. Very cool floor to ceiling exhibit with vines and lots of climbing. The Caiman exhibit is very cool in theory. It's almost like a mix of the Nile crocodile exhibit and the world of reptiles croc exhibits but with lighting that makes it seem like it's an infinite swamp. Great when the lighting effect works...not great in other scenarios I'll discuss. Last is the sand cat exhibit which is like Prospect Park's exhibit but better. A lot more room, probably one of the best sand cat exhibits that exists. The rest of the exhibits though, while not bad. Just aren't WCS quality. They range from Franklin Park Zoo imitation bronx (snakes, bird house stuff, etc) to basically ZAA indoor quality. The South America mixed species for instance is the first exhibit and was frankly kind've jarring as an initial introduction to the house as it's certainly not the best foot forward the WCS has provided. It's serviceable but more in line with Mouse House quality. The house is also naturally dark, and while that's obvious, the flow is very weird because of it. You can miss exhibits or bump into others without rhyme or reason because there's no direction signs or anything. The layout of exhibits is a bit haphazard (at least at the beginning) where I can't help but think lighting or markers on the floor (almost like an airplane) or something might help with flow.
Exhibit backdrops are very plain and frankly easily noticeable. Blank black walls that lead to the indoor holdings are semi noticeable and are mainly due to the lighting. The lighting in the house is a double edged sword. For a nocturnal house, some of the best lighting I've ever seen. Super easy to see almost all animals. On the flip side, also makes it easy to see the lack of detail in the enclosures. Makes effects like in "infinite swamp" I mentioned earlier look more like a cool swamp for 2 feet then a cheap concrete water holding 10 feet back. I will reiterate, the house is not bad. It's still good. But good as an addition to Bronx, not attempting to be the next Madagascar! or Ocean Wonders: Sharks! It comes across more like value engineering in my eyes only because the exhibits do appear to just be the OG house with barely any updates besides signage. They look good, but like they were from 20 years ago, not created in 2025. It's of course still cool to see a nocturnal house open in the year 2025, but I do think this will be a huge marketing issue. It was semi popular opening day but not packed. Really tough sell to most families to go to the center of the zoo to go to the dark house full of bats, snakes, spiders, scorpions and rats. There's room for improvement as there are still some exhibit space if they'd like to expand. I like it, respect Jim for bringing it back, hopefully it will see the fruits of his 15 year of labor to do so. I think the house is a great addition for Bronx after 15+ years but I don't think this will win any awards.
7/10 Aye-ayes. It's pretty okay.
WoD is a great modern rendition of what I remember the original being. The WCS once again delivers its usual standard for exhibit design, surpassing most of the AZA zoos out there. What I will highlight is this is in no way Congo, Madagascar, or JungleWorld. It is, by Bronx standards, middle of the road. In no way bad, just more similar in vibe to World of Reptiles, Mouse House or Aquatic Bird House. The collection is very solid, they've done an excellent job with signage and in no way does it "detract" from the zoo experience, only enhancing it.
The first thing I want to really highlight is the signage. If there's one stand out with WoD, it's the signage. As you enter the building there's about a half dozen giant walls with different custom artwork for the area of animals like Aye-aye, Naked Mole Rat, Sloth, etc. with cool photo ops. They've also brought back the OG World of Darkness entrance sign which is a nice touch. The building exterior is exactly as I remember. There is still a big empty pit in the middle of the building that seems prime for some form of an exhibit but at the moment, it's just a pit. The signs have this awesome (very WCS) effect where they're invisible in the darkness at first and as you approach there's a cool lighting effect where they become visible as you get right next to the exhibit. All the signage is beautifully hand done art (probably best I've seen the WCS do) for every animal. Each sign also has interactive elements like tracing lights and pressing buttons that illuminate education. It's really cool.
Now the downsides. The building is very lacking in theming. In fact, the theme almost looks to be "outdated building we shut down 15 years ago, but now its open again". Walls retain the original lighting shadow effects I remember as a kid (sort've similar to jungle world's cloud rat area but less intense). It's neat but otherwise it's very plain. Other than the exhibits the building is very empty and it makes the HVAC and building stuff really apparent. Imagine World of Birds or Congo's corridors but without the tree trunks, signage, etc. it's very weird. The other elephant in the room are the exhibits themselves. Are they bad? No not at all. But are they good...eh... None stand out as particularly WCS best work. The stand out 3 are the Aye-aye exhibit which is massive. Very cool floor to ceiling exhibit with vines and lots of climbing. The Caiman exhibit is very cool in theory. It's almost like a mix of the Nile crocodile exhibit and the world of reptiles croc exhibits but with lighting that makes it seem like it's an infinite swamp. Great when the lighting effect works...not great in other scenarios I'll discuss. Last is the sand cat exhibit which is like Prospect Park's exhibit but better. A lot more room, probably one of the best sand cat exhibits that exists. The rest of the exhibits though, while not bad. Just aren't WCS quality. They range from Franklin Park Zoo imitation bronx (snakes, bird house stuff, etc) to basically ZAA indoor quality. The South America mixed species for instance is the first exhibit and was frankly kind've jarring as an initial introduction to the house as it's certainly not the best foot forward the WCS has provided. It's serviceable but more in line with Mouse House quality. The house is also naturally dark, and while that's obvious, the flow is very weird because of it. You can miss exhibits or bump into others without rhyme or reason because there's no direction signs or anything. The layout of exhibits is a bit haphazard (at least at the beginning) where I can't help but think lighting or markers on the floor (almost like an airplane) or something might help with flow.
Exhibit backdrops are very plain and frankly easily noticeable. Blank black walls that lead to the indoor holdings are semi noticeable and are mainly due to the lighting. The lighting in the house is a double edged sword. For a nocturnal house, some of the best lighting I've ever seen. Super easy to see almost all animals. On the flip side, also makes it easy to see the lack of detail in the enclosures. Makes effects like in "infinite swamp" I mentioned earlier look more like a cool swamp for 2 feet then a cheap concrete water holding 10 feet back. I will reiterate, the house is not bad. It's still good. But good as an addition to Bronx, not attempting to be the next Madagascar! or Ocean Wonders: Sharks! It comes across more like value engineering in my eyes only because the exhibits do appear to just be the OG house with barely any updates besides signage. They look good, but like they were from 20 years ago, not created in 2025. It's of course still cool to see a nocturnal house open in the year 2025, but I do think this will be a huge marketing issue. It was semi popular opening day but not packed. Really tough sell to most families to go to the center of the zoo to go to the dark house full of bats, snakes, spiders, scorpions and rats. There's room for improvement as there are still some exhibit space if they'd like to expand. I like it, respect Jim for bringing it back, hopefully it will see the fruits of his 15 year of labor to do so. I think the house is a great addition for Bronx after 15+ years but I don't think this will win any awards.
7/10 Aye-ayes. It's pretty okay.
Where did you get this former species list from? I've never heard of Bronx keeping New Zealand bats. Surely you mean Seba's Short-Tailed Bat. Also, the skunk was Striped, not spotted and the night-monkeys Grey-Legged which is a different species from the Nancy Ma's they keep now.
~Thylo
RaptorFan9000
Active Member
It was on Wikipedia.
Classic rookie mistake. Only use Wikipedia for the sources, never for the actual info on screen.
That Wikipedia entry has also been really messed up from its original text from when the exhibit was closed. It's really weird to word it that the exhibit opened to exhibit the modern species list...
Pretty much all the historic text seems to be gone as well.
~Thylo
Pretty much all the historic text seems to be gone as well.
~Thylo
Twelve returning species, twelve not returning, thirteen new.
Interesting to notice that besides the change in bats, and maybe the boa to python, none of this feels like a 'direct' replacement for species that were lost. It doesn't look like there were previous arachnids or fish, and I'd hesitate to compare the marine toad to the gecko and salamander although it's great they kept up the amphibiain rep. There's six mammals not carried over and four new mammals, which I do find interesting.
Does anyone recall which animals are in the former duiker and leopard cat exhibits? I was assuming one of them is the new aye-aye habitat? Are the bats in roughly equivalent exhibits to the previous bats?
Last question but did WoD at some point have one of the Greater slow loris species? I thought I had read they once did. (Recently relative to the close, not ancient history, I thought.)
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Yeah, don’t 100% believe Wikipedia, you can always check the history and see if an actual, good contributor added the list or if it was added by an anonymous user.
I would recommend referring to this old thread: World of Darkness [Bronx Zoo]
It was posted right around the time the exhibit closed so should be an accurate species list for what they had when it closed. It should be noted that most of the species were retained by the zoo still after the building closed and were simply moved elsewhere in the collection. While some have died off since then, there are still several species that didn't return for the new WOD that are still kept by the zoo.
~Thylo
That thread is actually why I asked the question. The list mentions "slow lori" and "lesser slow loris" and while I would assume this means a greater slow loris (which seems to be a vague term at this point?) was present alongside a pygmy slow loris, I was hoping someone might be able to confirm. I've not otherwise heard much of the former being present at Bronx and am a bit unclear on their US history in general.
This is a difficult question to answer. The zoo has in the past held animals they've signed as Nycticebus coucang, which as you mention can be quite confusing given that species has been split many ways. I have in the past found photos online of these lorises at Bronx, though usually in JungleWorld (unsurprising given how dark World of Darkness was/is), though I am struggling to locate those photos now. There was one I remember of a slow loris mixed with the Red Slender Lorisn they had at the time as well, that I was told looked good for the Javan species. But of course I cannot find that photo or that conversation now.
To make matters more confusing, there was a time around 2014 when the zoo had their pygmy slow loris in JW erroneously labeled as N. coucang, too..
~Thylo
Thank you for the elaboration, I very much appreciate it, very interesting about the signage, too, and the thought Bronx once had multiple rare lorisoids!