Modern zoo exhibit design uses ethograms — systematic inventories of natural behavior — to create environments that allow animals to express their full behavioral repertoire.
Behavioral needs assessment represents the scientific foundation of modern zoo exhibit design. The approach is systematic: first characterize what behaviors animals perform in the wild and how much time they allocate to each; then design exhibits and management programs that allow those behaviors to occur in captivity. For a cheetah that sprints 60-70 kilometers per hour in short bursts to catch prey, the welfare implications of an exhibit without space for even jogging are clear. For a capybara that spends hours daily in water, a dry exhibit is a form of deprivation. This science-based approach replaces intuition-driven design with explicit, measurable standards for what constitutes an adequate exhibit for each species.