Jaguar exhibit at zoo Olomouc

An outside exhibit for the last old jaguar at zoo Olomouc, taken July 2008.

Jana, I love your black jaguar! I saw a couple of them while I was down in Belize and became totally enthralled with them...so much so that I named my next novel (now in second draft) "Curse of the Black Jaguar."

A wonderfully talented young artist by the name of Jana in the Czech Republic, coincidentally, is working on the book cover art as we speak. Thanks for sharing!!! ZD

Great shot, pity about the hotwire. God I hate hotwire in zoo exhibits!

@Dan: @Dan: Reg. "God I hate hotwire in zoo exhibits"-Wanna have the sharp rusty iron spikes and barbed wire back...?

I have noticed that my frequent mentioning of hotwire seems to irritate people, so from now on I will refrain from raising the subject.

I'm neither a fan of hotwire in zoo exhibits and do understand Your point. However, unless you can come with a fool(or rather animal)proof new alternative...

Well, I believe that alternatives are already available in most cases. For instance:

When the intention is to prevent an animal from escaping its enclosure: use dry moats that are deep enough, but not dangerously steep.

For protecting big trees from elephants, rhinos, hoofstock etc: place rocks and dead logs around the living tree, so that it is unaccessible. Compare this picture from the rhino part of the savanna at Copenhagen Zoo:
http://www.zoochat.com/419/copenhagen-zoo-rhino-enclosure-31936/

For preventing big cats from scratching living trees to the point where the trees will eventually die: place three meter tall wooden planks around it. Compare the tiger exhibit at Kolmården Zoo in Sweden to see what I mean:
http://www.zoochat.com/472/tiger-world-kolmarden-53809/
Also, in general it it my impression that thick bushes in cat enclosures don´t need any protecting at all. So plant the enclosure with thick bushes.

(Actually, to tell the truth, my aversion originates from childhood memories. As a kid I often visited a small farm, owned by my grandparents. Occasionally - to prove what a tough little kid I was - I tested holding onto the electric fence surrounding the cattle enclosure. It gave a nasty, burning sting........ )

@Dan: "Most cases"? I wish that were true...

-dry moans: nothing new-good ol' Hagenbeck came up with that more than a century ago. Their use is (highly) limited by the amount of available space (an issue for most zoos...) and by demands of visitors ("Close Contact to Animal") and staff (cleaning, security reasons). "Not to steep" collides with the athletic abilities of several species-and their intraspecific aggression.

-rocks etc around trees: that is already (additionally) employed in various zoos, not just Copenhagen. Problem(s): costs, estimation of strength of animal (especial with constant abrasion), possible injury risks...

-wooden planks around trees: have to be changed regularily-doesn't sound like much, but some zoo staff/management avoid any "unnecessary costs/labours"... Some animals, especially deer, will still get to the bark...

-thick bushes: I have witnessed tigers (and not just cubs) deliberately destroying their exhibits' vegetation-including small palm trees-and that again and again.

All in all, the measurements you describe are already parallely employed if possible, but cannot fully replace hot wire in all occasions, for example, when it comes to arboreal species and trees, additional surrounding fences around water moats (winter ice!) etc. I personally think that in general the exhibit should be designed right from the start only to employ as little of hot wires as possible...

At first I intended to go on with this debate, but on second thought I will pass. In fact:

I hereby solemnly swear only to use the dreaded H-word in extreme cases of emergency!

Thanks; I really appretiate that. Next on the list: "ghastly" and "boring".