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Nanook

Ring-tailed Lemur enclosure.

Ring-tailed Lemur enclosure.
Nanook, 31 Jan 2009
    • reduakari
      You missed my point--animal welfare is absolutely of top importance--but that is actually relatively EASY to achieve compared to doing that AND creating beautiful, educational exhibits that tell the story of where animals really live (not in playgrounds). In a good exhibit, a visitor wouldn't need to read a sign to understand what an animal's habitat was, because it's right there for anyone to see.
    • James27
      Ah I see.
      However, I've been thinking after reading this that I don't think I've ever seen ring tails in a scrubland habitat, apart from pictures from Bronx zoo.
    • sooty mangabey
      Possibly the greatest 'immersion' exhibit in the world is the Bronx's Congo. I have had the privilege to visit it twice, and was stunned by its brilliance. i was also stunned, however, at the idiocy of many of the other visitors who, despite the brilliance of the recreation of Central Africa, simply didn't have a clue about anyhting. i really don't think that many visitors will notice the supposed recreation of wherever it is that they are looking at. And while, all else being equal, there should be something more aesthetically pleasing than this rather odd-looking hodge-podge, I'm not sure that A1 animal welfare is so easy to achieve. Ceratinly, in many of those very 'natural' looking exhibits I've seen in many (mainly US) zoos, animal welfare seems to have come a long way back on the list of priorities.

      And another thing - it's all well and good talking of the desire to create natural images through enclosure design, but zoos are, by their very nature, artificual environments. When you have a child squawking loudly at you, and the smell of fast food wafting around, and the sound of the zoo train going by, the illusion of Africa (or wherever) is going to be hard to maintain.

      Surely there are good exhibits and bad ones. And attempts at being 'naturalistic' fall into both camps, as do more rudimentary UK style things. I have really enjoyed many of red uakari's postings, but his / her proclamation that they are "appalled" by the way things are done in some UK zoos is over-the-top. I'd be appalled if an animal was suffering, or appalled if an animal was being exploited, but I would find it very hard to be appalled by a metal slide.
    • James27
      *coughsgorillakingdomcoughs*
      :p

      I agree totally; was going to write this, but couldn't word it properly. It's not like the lemurs would be used to the Madagascan environment and climate, they've adapted to the UK climate and environment.
    • Nanook
      Well ,think Ive opened a whole can of worms here!! It is a controversial subject. I tend to think that yes we should be providing enrichment to enable the animals to benefit and "enjoy" , however I also believe that IF we can provide naturalistic-looking varietys of enrichment it gives a better impression for the public. Personally I prefer to see naturalistic-looking enrichment but I do understand that from an animals point of view it probably(?) does not really matter? Captive-bred animals would not know any different. It is down to personal preferences at the end of the day is it not. On the whole in zoos we are striving to re-create as natural-looking enclosures as possible within the constraints of the situation and so if you have such an enclosure already it seems rather out-of-place and alien to include something within that enclosure that does not "fit in"to put it simply. I have had this discussion before elsewhere and it is an interesting one to ponder on!
    • Zambar
      I certainly agree with the natural immersion exhibit stance, which many zoos are going for now: London (Gorilla Kingdom, Clore Rainforest Lookout, etc.), Chester (Spirit of the Jaguar, Realm of the Red Ape, etc.), Edinburgh (Budongo, Living Links, etc.) Marwell (Roof of the World, Life in the Trees, etc.) the list goes on and on. But for zoos like Beale who aren't big collections and don't have funds for these sort of things, or Monkey World where they are too busy rescuing primates to build immersion exhibits, these are perfectly acceptable.
    • sooty mangabey
      And that list points to the problem of naturalistic exhibits. Unlike many I rather like Gorilla Kingdom - especially when compared to what was there before - but Marwell's Roof of the World? It's just hideous, aesthetically. It looks like a gravel car park with a few rocks in it, and the fact that, standing at the front of the exhibit, you can see through the back to the car park beyond is just awful.It's quite hard to be transported to the Himalyan foothills when you're looking at a row of Renault Meganes and Ford Fiestas. There are similar design issues with Realm of the Red Ape: I'm sure it's great from an animal and keeper point of view, but it doesn't feel a great deal like Indonesia when you look through a window to see other visitors looking through an opposite window. And - at risk of repeating myself - while i loved Budongo in many ways, it didn't feel a great like Uganda to me.
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    Beale Park
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    Nanook
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    31 Jan 2009
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