Mixed species IRL zoos inspiration

[abigenius]

Hi people, While exploring the internet I found some combinations of habitats in zoos that could serve as inspiration for you, also if you have any combination, whether common or rare, post it here, Let's try to make a thread full of inspiring images, It doesn't matter if they are the typical combinations of the African savanna, also I'll try to find and I will post them here

Have a good day and I hope it can help for the creative of all of you

Bioparc Valencia, Spain :

Zoo de la Fléche, France:

Henry Doorly Zoo, USA:

Dallas Zoo, USA:

Zoo d'Amnéville, France
(For the future )

My local zoo, Mexico

(The emus and fallow deer has access to the Baird's tapir hábitat but in that moment the tapir was in their own shelter)

Guadalajara Zoo, México:

Calgary Zoo, Canada:

 

[abigenius]

San Diego Zoo, USA:

South Lakes Safari Zoo, UK

Madrid Zoo, Spain:

A German zoo:

Indianapolis zoo, USA:

Virginia Zoo, USA:

Ouwehands Dierenpark, the Netherlands

:

Zoological Center Tel Aviv, Israel:

ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, The Netherlands:

 

[abigenius]

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Quatar

ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, The Netherlands

Vogelpark Avifauna (Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands)

 

[FlameWizard492]

At the Memphis Zoo, I remember seeing the Asian Small-Clawed Otters with either the Orangutans or the Gibbons.

 

[Orkan]

Some examples from zoos near me:

. Nyala and Red River Hog
. Giraffe, Zebra, and Somali Wild Ass
. Red Panda and Reeve's Muntjac (unfortunately not in game)
. Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, and Ostrich
. Kangaroo, Emu, and Wallaby
. Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Watusi Cattle (unfortunately not in game)
. Pronghorn, Wild Turkey (unfortunately not in game)

 

[Pentoleaf]

Great photo of one of the gibbons with tanuk the tapir. I know they have access to each other but usually they're on opposite ends of the enclosure.

Calgary zoo also has black and white colobus with the gorillas, siberian musk deer with the red panda, alpaca with rhea, and a multi-species savannah with grey crowned crane, ostrich, giraffe, and zebra.

 

[abigenius]

Pronghorn, Wild Turkey

That's a interesting and fun combination, I've seen the turkeys with a lot of NA animals but not with pronghorns, such a lovely mix

 

[Fallax]

I never thought I would see giraffes and penguins mixed together, I am surprised the penguins dont get stepped on. My local zoo (Chester) has a few mixed exhibits with PZ species such as:

• Bornean Orangutan and Lar Gibbon
• Babirusa and Asian Small-Clawed Otter
• Giant Anteater and Capybara
• Ring-Tailed, Red Ruffed, and Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs (as well as other lemur species not in PZ)
• Sun Bear and Binturong

Some mixes involving only one PZ species:

• Bactrian Camel and Onager
• Indian Rhino and Eld's Deer (also formerly Blackbuck)
• Okapi and Red Duiker

They also formerly had Meerkats mixed with Aardvarks and Porcupines at different points.

 

[abigenius]

Bactrian Camel and Onager

I would like to see onager in PZ only for this combination but with the P. horse also coulde be possible

 

[Captain Callum]

My local zoo, the highland wildlife park has 2 mixed species habitats, both located on the vehicle tour.

• The main reserve, the largest habitat in the zoo features european bison, red deer, and przewalski horse. It is uncommon however to witness all 3 species anywhere near each other. The habitat is quite large so each species forms their own group and travels around the reserve daily. Often the przewalkski horse use the travelling cars as a form of enrichment, blocking traffic and rubbing against them.

• A smaller area, the entrance reserve features bactrian camel and domestic yak

 

[Marvinb]

My local zoo, the highland wildlife park has 2 mixed species habitats, both located on the vehicle tour.

• The main reserve, the largest habitat in the zoo features european bison, red deer, and przewalski horse. It is uncommon however to witness all 3 species anywhere near each other. The habitat is quite large so each species forms their own group and travels around the reserve daily. Often the przewalkski horse use the travelling cars as a form of enrichment, blocking traffic and rubbing against them.

View attachment 371010

• A smaller area, the entrance reserve features bactrian camel and domestic yak

View attachment 371011

I think the bison, deer and horse exhibit is really cool. Kinda like ice age europe used to be

 

[Fallax]

My local zoo, the highland wildlife park has 2 mixed species habitats, both located on the vehicle tour.

• The main reserve, the largest habitat in the zoo features european bison, red deer, and przewalski horse. It is uncommon however to witness all 3 species anywhere near each other. The habitat is quite large so each species forms their own group and travels around the reserve daily. Often the przewalkski horse use the travelling cars as a form of enrichment, blocking traffic and rubbing against them.

View attachment 371010

• A smaller area, the entrance reserve features bactrian camel and domestic yak

View attachment 371011

Tell me if I'm misremembering but wasn't there also moose on the main reserve and some species of deer on the entrance reserve? I visited in 2021.

 

[Captain Callum]

Tell me if I'm misremembering but wasn't there also moose on the main reserve and some species of deer on the entrance reserve? I visited in 2021.

Yeah but they are split up. Vicuna, bukhara deer and moose are also featured but in their own habitats.

 

[FoxyDee]

Uhh, some of these mixes are rather interesting. Caracal with Porcupine and Brown Bear with Wolverine, yeah, I would not risk those mixes. But I have to say I really want Grey-Crown Crane. It is such an interesting mix with alot of African ungulates.

My favourite mix in zoos near me got to be the Red Panda with Reeves Muntjac. Such an interesting habitat with Muntjac grazing on the ground and Pandas climbing above them on the climbing structures.

I have found out it is rather common mix.

 

[Chuditch]

Here are some examples of mixed species habitats in zoos near me (PZ species highlighted):

Adelaide Zoo:

• Red Kangaroo + Western Grey Kangaroo + Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby
• Koala + Short-beaked Echidna + Long-nosed Potoroo
• Brazilian Tapir + Patagonian Mara
• Aldabra Giant Tortoise + African Spurred Tortoise
• Malayan Tapir + Spectacled Langur
• Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo + Tammar Wallaby + Quokka
• Common Ringtail Possum + Brush-tailed Bettong

Monarto Safari Park:

• American Bison + Przewalski's Horse*
• Blackbuck + Mesopotamian Fallow Deer
• Giraffe + Common Ostrich + Common Eland

Cleland Wildlife Park:

• Emu + Western Grey Kangaroo + Cape Barren Goose
• Short-beaked Echidna + Southern Brown Bandicoot
• Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby + Tammar Wallaby + Red-necked Wallaby
• Heath Monitor + Lace Monitor**

*Like the bison + deer + horse habitat Callum showed off from the Highland Wildlife Park, this mix gives me big Pleistocene vibes, except last time I was there there was just a red kangaroo mother and joey inexplicably hopping through the enclosure and breaking the illusion. Wild red kangaroos occur throughout the park but I'm not quite sure how they got over the fence, they don't normally jump that high lol.

**Only mixed varanid habitat I've seen, but they seemed to be chilling next to each other just fine. As can be seen in the image below, the heath monitor (left) is significantly smaller than the lace monitor (both are also very dirty in this particular instance).

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

Colchester Zoo have quite a few mixes, but the only one I can immediately think of that is 'unusual' is for Visayan warty pigs and Philippine spotted deer (which is probably immaterial to the discussion, as neither species is in the game). Otherwise, it is mostly fairly standard mixes, such as an African savannah, small antelopes mixed with cranes, a mixed lemur walkthrough and mixes for callitrichids, sloths and tamanduas.

One thing I'd love to have is the ability to mix different exhibit species together, like this display here at Colchester - from left-to-right, a green-and-black poison frog, Trinidad stream frog and yellow-banded poison frog. I know strawberry poison frogs have arrived recently as well; it will be interesting to see if they go in this mixed enclosure as well.

In terms of other zoos around the world, this one from Magdeburg Zoo must be up there as a pretty unusual collection - as well as the bat-eared foxes, Kafue lechwe and African elephants in the picture, the mix also combines impala, grivet monkeys and possibly warthogs.

Bat-eared Foxes in Elephant Enclosure - ZooChat

Sept 2020

www.zoochat.com

 

[Marvinb]

No pictures of it since its still under construction (i think, havent been there for a while), but one of my local zoos is currently rebuilding their white rhino enclosure and is planning on keeping them together with cheetahs. Idk i find this super interessting, its not something you would think of. But apperently seems to be possible since after looking more into it ive found that its done in other zoos aswell

 

[Hugo98]

I have no picture proof but in a German safaripark they had a very weird combination in one of their drivethrough habitats a few years ago: American black bear, dromedary camel, ostrich, kulan, aoudad and hamadryas baboon. In the meantime, the bears left the collection and the baboons got their own enclosure. AFAIK the combination worked surprisingly well.
I think I've never seen such a weird combination again.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

A fun one in a zoo near me is in zoom zoo gelsenkirchen, where orangutan, asian small clawed otters and gray hulmans chare a space with an indoor part and outdoor primate islands. The islands are only accessible to the hulmans and orangutans, while on the inisde they are joined by small clawed otters and various aviary birds that fit through the netting of the indoor tropical house.

Another Ambitious Mix came along when their treeporcupines where breeding like crazy, so while they are usually kept with beavers there are also some kept with skunks.
The beaver habitat has both land area for both, but they are mostly seperating themself with the beavers sticking to the water and the porcupines climbing around on their climbing frames.

 

[Birb（｡･ө･｡）]

A favorite of mine has to be the mixed savanna at the Borås Djurpark in Sweden, and it’s one of the main reasons I want Guinea fowl in game so bad. Aside from those wonderful little birds, it also houses African bush elephants, African buffalo, plains zebra, giant eland, ostrich, bontebok, and giraffes. As far as I know there has never been any incident, aside from some possible (I say possible because I could be very well be remembering wrong, I heard this years ago) aggression from one of the elephants towards a southern white rhino back when the latter was kept on the savanna decades ago.