Striped Hyaenas at Colchester 29/11/09

That is a pretty good appraisal of Colchester. An excellent collection in very 'odd' (N.B. not 'bad') surroundings. I can never decide which outweighs the other- the great collection or the weird housing. The fake rock shelter in this enclosure looks to me as if it has been moulded by a five year old out of plasticene...

On my recent visit I was pleased that the old Spotted Hyaena was on show- I was surprised its still alive.

The worst one is 'Gelada Plateau'- obviously named because Geladas live on rocky/grass plateaux in the Ethiopian Highlands. Anything less like a 'plateau' than their Colchester exhibit would be hard to find.

Made my day Thanks^^

But if you'll notice, the Hyenas don't seem to be complaining.

Absolutely not. There's nothing at all wrong with this other than the aesthetics of it.

So you guys, and Snowleopard you are particularly guilty of this.

Complain when theres No Mockrock and theres wire or wood.

Complain when there is mock rock and its not up to your 'Standards"

So when a zoo spends Millions on near replica mock rock you won't complain?

I bloody doubt it!

Well, for myself, as I posted above I'd much rather Colchester had saved some cash and built a wooden shelter, particularly as they've got a perfectly fine (and I'm sure very cost-effective) but functional-looking mesh fence at the back of the exhibit.

But I don't have snowleopard's impeccable standards!

Hey if SnowLeopard wants to fund it, I'm sure any zoo will take his Mock Rock Money !

I see that this thread has been resurrected:

@ZYBen: I'm willing to provide funds for a new striped hyaena den, and judging from this photo the den was built for only a few measly pounds so I can easily afford to ship Colchester the money.

@Maguari: I demand the best from zoos, as what's the point in being satisfied with what is simply average or adequate? Every new exhibit should be amazing for both people and animals!

Now I'm interested; what type of design would you ask them to build? Given that it's only 'a few measly pounds' so you wouldn't be able to alter the rest of the exhibit.

Because I enjoy going around zoos. And if I went around every zoo bemoaning the 'average or adequate' exhibits and wondering why they don't build something better I'd go stark staring mad.

And (by definition) 'adequate' is OK - it means there is nothing significantly wrong with it and if not, then the zoo is likely to have more urgent or important places to spend its money.

This is old ground, I realise, but there really aren't unlimited funds available to zoos so not every exhibit is going to be in the top 10 for its species. Not being the very best does not mean it's bad.


EDIT: I meant to add, snowleopard, thank you for using the 'hyaena' spelling - I much prefer it!