Louisville Zoological Garden
Louisville, KY
The world’s first multi-species, rotational exhibit, the AZA-award winning Islands simulates the ways tigers, orangutans, siamangs, tapirs, and other endangered species share their natural environments.
Design Framework Characteristics
Project Type
The Islands exhibit encourages visitors to explore the concept of islands as ecological treasures, adapted through eons of isolation and uniquely vulnerable to change from outside forces. This exhibit is designed to represent a Southeast Asian village where tigers, tapirs, babirusa pigs, siamang apes, orangutans and other island animals forage along a meandering creek.
Within the Islands exhibit, animals rotate through three habitat enclosures, simulating the behavioral concept of “home range.” This innovative mixed-species rotation benefits the animals by stimulating their activity level, which in turn, heightens visitor interest.
The Islands exhibit is a comprehensive and thematically integrated design which includes not only spacious animal care facilities and habitat areas, but tropical simulation landscape, and interpretive elements modeled from Indonesian architecture and design.
Project Characteristics
- AZA Exhibit Award
- World’s first multi-species rotation exhibit
- Four different habitats
- Tropical simulation landscape
- Interpretive elements modeled from Indonesian architecture and design
- Extensive behind-the-scenes flexible system of transfer chutes and holding areas facilitate animal movement by keepers using operant conditioning techniques
Legacy & Expertise Notes
Industry Insider
First rotation exhibit in the world
Technical Expertise
Designed for extensive animal transfer flexibility