Gathering the improvement ideas for Jinyangho Zoo

Um...if you're not sure why I opened this thread, I hope you'll confirm the my first post that I wrote at New Member Introductions. As I said in that post, I want to improve the Jinyangho Zoo in Jinju City, my home town. I think this year is a very important year to improve Jinyangho zoo. I've been thinking about this all by myself. But now, I also want to ask for zoochatter's helps.

To sum up the situation, Jinyangho Zoo has plans to move to another place in six to seven years, but the Jinju city has earmarked a $350,000 budget for this year to attract visitors. However, the Jinyangho Zoo is trying to spend half of that money to using facility repair, and another half to using buy new animals, such as lions and leopards, but I am trying to stop them from buying new animals that they thinks, because their all of animal enclosures are so bad.

Fortunately, I know the contact number of the planning officer there. at last November, He gives me his business card and said me, "If you have any good ideas about the zoo, contact me." So, this time, I'm going to visit the planning officer again and collect ideas that to print and deliver to him. Because I think it would be better to take something useful information than just go and talk with an empty hand.



I have many ideas about that, but now I think mainly two plans. The first is to expand the South american coati exhibit at there, and the second is to provide enrichment toys for animals to use.

Jinyangho Zoo started raising a pair of South american coatis around last year, but the breeding space is very small and simple. Because their coatis exhibit was used in the past as the inner chamber of lions and tigers.

So while a wider outdoor enclosure is connected next to coatis exhibit, but Jinyangho Zoo tries to breed lions again there. I try to block that plan, install a lope bridge and complex structure there, and dried-up pond at there fill by soil. so that there coatis can climb up structures, and dig up the soil.

I attach a picture of Jinyangho zoo's coati exhibit. Please let me know if you have a good idea or If you have in information about great coati exhibit in a foreign zoo.

This pictures are coati enclosure at Jinyangho Zoo now.



And this pictures are where I want to make it an outdoor coati enclosure.
Now it's empty, and the floor is hard concrete, but there's a dry pond.
so I think fill that pond to soil and install more structure there, coatis can dig and play.​

The plan to provide enrichment toys to animals is planed start first to tigers and bears. My idea is simply, pick up abandoned buoys from the beach and hang them from the ceiling of enclosure, but I also hope you'll let me know if you have a more and better ideas or If you have any information that might be useful. For you can reference, I will attach videos and photos about Jinyangho zoo's tiger and bear enclosure.

This video shows one of the two tiger enclosure at the Jinyangho Zoo.
there are another tiger enclosure is next to it, which is almost identical to this.


As shown in this picture, both tiger enclosure have iron bars on the ceiling
so can hang something.


The place in this video is the bear enclosure at the Jinyangho Zoo.
There is an Asian black bear on the left and a Brown bear on the right.


The whole since of bear enclosure is like this.​

 

Chip through some Harrison Singapore zoo designs!

Sure needs a lot of improvements to make it animal friendly!
Good luck!

 

Oh, this is my second idea about expanding the coati enclosure. It's about filling a dry pond with water and continuing to use it as a pond, and putting a capybaras in the outdoor enclosure and letting it stay with coatis. Or I thought about as first said, filling the dry pond with soil and putting patagonian maras instead of capybara.

I was thinking that if other species of animals are together in a enclosure, it would have a positive effect on the all of them, so tell me please what you think about it.

+There are neither capybara nor mara at the Jinyangho Zoo, but it is likely to be saved at other zoos in Korea without much difficulty. Mara, in particular, is reared by many other zoos.

 

Yikes .... those enclosure definitely need some improvement to be decent environments for captive animals.

To be perfectly honest with you I wouldn't even bother considering adding any other species to the enclosure that the coatis already occupy. Instead I think it would be much better to just focus on improving the welfare of the current occupants.

Coatis are very intelligent animals and they need a fair bit of enrichment and stimulation when they are kept in captivity so under captive conditions it is best to try to replicate wild behaviour of any species as much as possible. In the wild coatis spend a lot of time / most of the time on the ground foraging for food like insects / fruit / rodents / birds eggs in the leaf litter of the forest floor.

With that in mind those concrete floors of the outdoor enclosure (if this does become connected to the current smaller enclosure) should ideally be covered in a layer of woodchip and scatter feeding practiced to provide opportunities for this kind of enrichment. In addition to this there needs to be a number of old dead branches or logs to help with enrichment.

They can also be fairly arboreal too and frequently climb and spend time in trees so they will need greater opportunities for climbing than those logs shown in the picture. Ideally you could add ropes , rope bridges, wooden ladders / platforms and maybe some dead tree branches to provide gradations of climbing material. I imagine that these materials will probably be found by your zoo pretty economically and it is certainly much cheaper than buying a pair of lions.

Also, in the indoor area shown in the picture these animals need to be given the opportunity to create arboreal nests higher up in the enclosure (Especially important if you are attempting to breed them) so it would be good if they were given platform like structures and/ or material to build these nests.

 

Okay, thanks. If told to the zoo like this, "this will be cheaper than buying a pair of lions and more good for your animals." they are likely to hear this plan more well. I'm a little worried because Korean zoos can get lions and tigers born by inbreed very cheaply because of a lion and tiger factory named Everland, but I think it's going to well.

And can I ask you how good Coati is at digging? In Korea, don't get much chance to see them digging.

 

What?

They're very good at digging and do a lot of foraging in the wild for food, especially when they are looking for roots, tubers and insects to eat. If it isn't too costly, covering the entire enclosure in natural or soft substrate might be very useful, keeping the pond, since they do sometimes interact with water.
a climbing frame might also be nice as these are arboreal mammals who spend most of their time in the trees and are very good climbers.
Of course, all of this is only if the budget can allow, but I hope I am being useful.

 

Yes, it sounds like a joke, but Everland is nicknamed the lion, tiger and giraffe factory among Korean zoo manias. Like such nicknames, Korean local zoos visit Everland if they need lions, tigers and giraffes. But Everland's animals are notorious for their incest. In particular, the lions Everland sell to other zoos have symptoms such as strabismus, wrinkled faces and insufficient mane.



This photo is a male lion among a newly imported pair of lions at the end of 2018 by the Dalseong Park Zoo in Daegu, I took this photo Dec. 6, 2018. Although Dalseong Park has never said that this lions are "from Everland," but his features said he from Everland. And if Jinyangho zoo buys new lions, it is very likely to buy a lion that looks like this. This is also one of the reasons why I desperately want to block their plan.

And it may be difficult to cover the whole floor with soil... but I'll write that to proposal paper. thanks.

 

Personaly I wont comment on bear enclosures because I dont think they will ever be ok with just so little space available. Demolition is the only way.

The coati enclosure is also depressing, fortunately these animals are (almost) winter hard in Korea. I would propose to build for them a brand new outside enclosure.

The cheapest way - find a fully grown tree (or a group of them). On ground around them build a low fence with electrict wire on inner side and be done with it. If area is small, cover ground with crushed bark. If area is larger, part of the ground area should be mowed lawn and part should be planted with bushes or flowers. Coatis dont dig deep holes so you dont need to use concrete/stone foundation under fences, just a line of laid larger stones along the fence is enough.

For inner housing, either you can build cheap wooden house with one glass window facing towards street so visitors can see them inside. Or you can build mesh/plexiglas bridge that connects the new enclosure with their current house. The current outside enclosure can be then used for expansion of space for other animals that live in that house now.

The current house is so animals and visitors unfriendly that I would not bother to keep it at all, but if it should continue to house coatis, it needs far more climbing structures (mixture of wooden logs, horizontal branches and ropes), some box to sleep and floor covered by wooden chips or similar material.

Here is one example of acceptable and cheap coati enclosure, zoo Ústí (Czech repuclic) that is know for its lack of funds so they must build very cheaply:
Zoologická zahrada Ústí nad Labem

Zoo Ústí nad Labem - detail of tubus that connects their house and outside enclosure which are separated by visitors path

Here is example of coati enclosure from richer zoo that can afford glass panels, some landscaping with dry moats and lush vegetation (because land area is large and number of coatis small). The inner house is that small wooden house on far left side. Prague zoo. Climate here is similar to nothern parts of South Korea.
https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/coati-exhibit.27522/full?lightbox=1&last_edit_date=0

 

Another thing that could be well put to use for the coatis would be by placing a number of wooden barrells (preferably elevated or attached to points high up within the enclosure) with coati sized entrance holes in them so they can be used as nest boxes / hides or even just for enrichment.

I dont know how easy these are to obtain in Korea though so you may need to do some research on where they could be found. Unfortunately in many countries they are no longer used to store spirits / food or other commodities so it might be difficult to secure some. However, if they can be obtained you can't really go wrong with having them as they make for very useful , durable and cheap enrichment and enclosure accessories.

The smaller carnivores such as coatis tend to love using them and from what I've observed it is actually quite entertaining for the visiting public to see them being used by wild animals too.

 

Thank you for the examples. But..it's hard to build a new facility for Coati in a new place in zoo. I forgot to attach a map of the Jinyangho Zoo that should have been attached from the beginning, but I will attach it now.



On this map, Coati enclosure is located in number 20. The perimeter of the Coati enclosure is difficult to expand because it is a cliff and narrow. and there is a flat land between number 24 and number 6, if new facilities are built there and moved coatis, the Jinju city will be urged to put new animals in the empty coati cage. That's why I want to solve this problem in cage that I uploaded photos.

And while Europeans may not, many Korean visitors too much like to bully animals in zoos. If the fence is even a little low, Korean visitors are put their hands in animal cages, and throws food and trash to animals. Even now, three out of five visitors of Jinyangho Zoo often choose only to do such a thing until they exit zoo. So I'm worried about the fence making low.

But I think the information you gave me, especially Information and photo, video of zoo Ústí and Prague zoo could be really useful later on. As the climate is similar to Korea, so I want to tell Jinju city to refer to the exhibit of the Prague Zoo when the zoo moves and builds a new enclosures. Just looking at the picture, I can say that is the great environment than any coati enclosure in Korean zoos. Thanks again.

 

Thanks, As far as I know, such wooden barrels are often traded for decoration in Korea. Therefore, I think it is quite expensive to buy for the only animals, so if it is hard to get them, I think would like to use a thick wooden box as a substitute for coati's hide shelter. I think Jinyangho Zoo still has a wooden dog house that used by their dead wolf. If remodeling it in moderation, could be used it by the Coatis as a hideout.

 

Yes , I think any kind of artificial wooden structure that is big enough for coatis to fit in and move around in is a good alternative. This dog house could be reinforced / repaired and mounted on a wooden platform somewhere in the outdoor enclosure with a wooden ladder fixed to it for the coatis to climb up and enter / exit.

Actually these kinds of dog houses are frequently used and refitted for the small carnivores such as felines , foxes and mustelids at the Sorocaba and Sao Paulo zoos here in Brazil. As temporary environmental enrichment and outdoor shelters they work pretty well when funding is tight and more elaborate materials are harder to obtain so the same could be done easily in Korea. Just make sure that if the zoo do choose to reuse that doghouse that they are aware that it needs to be cleaned out thoroughly to avoid any kind of disease transmission to the coatis.

Moreover, don't forget that organic material from trees such as logs , stumps and trunks can also be easily obtained (often for free or donated) and hollowed out and sculpted using tools. When these are placed at different points around the enclosures they will ultimately achieve the same purpose in terms of providing enrichment , shelter and stimulation for the coatis.

But again it really needs to be said / stressed that if the Jinyangho Zoo has the funding at its disposal and the inclination to purchase lions and big cats (which I'm sure are not cheap even when they are commercially "bred",or perhaps a more appropriate term would be inbred, in "farms" in East Asia ) then why would there suddenly be a shortage of funds or any kind of reluctance when it comes to purchasing materials to improve the wellbeing and captive environment of the animals they already have / own ?

 

Because many Korean zoos, and that zoo's many visitors just want to "many animal species" rather than "animal living in a good environment." That's why they want to buy a lion and leopard even they has only poor enclosure. Many local Korean zoos are operated in many old-fashioned ideas like this.

And talk about the Everland's big cat sales in short, I think the Everland's cheapest lion may be able to buy it for about eight to 12 large oak barrels(about $120 per unit) traded for decoration in Korea. Everland's enclosures that staff only are famous among korea zoo manias for being filled with lions and tigers that are distorted by incest.

Even if the Jinyangho Zoo follows this idea of improvement well, I think it may be difficult to invest intensively in only one of the coati enclousre because there are many other animal enclosures to improve besides coatis. I haven't told yet, but the monkey enclosure at here is really awful.

 

What monkey species is being kept ? and can you upload pictures of the enclosure ?

 

Yes, a picture showing the situation there at a glance is on the tourist information website of Jinju City.

The Korean word written on that peeled off old sign in the picture means
"Danger, don't enter." As you can see, many Koreans really don't fallow the signs.
​

As you can see in this picture, because the streets and enclosure are close, people try to feed all kinds of food to the monkeys. They also throw trash and sometimes threaten monkeys by sticking out umbrellas and wielding them.

This is Rhesus macaque enclosure, it is leftmost cage and It's in the picture above.
The other two's environments are similar this.
​

This cage consists of three compartments, two of which have a Rhesus macaque and the other one has a Japanese macaque. In the past, there also to be Celebes crested macaque and Hamadryas baboon here. but all of them died.

And this is what I heard from the zookeeper here, he said there were people who were teased macaque with swing their smartphones and be taken away their phone by the macaques. This is self-inflicted by visitors, but it is certain that this should not happen.

But as you can see, I think here is nothing that can be changed much, so I'm going to ask to zoo change the iron bars first. To prevent visitors from giving food and foreign substances to monkeys.

 

Thank you for sharing these pictures and this information. The pictures are actually very disturbing as that is not at all a very good enclosure for any kind of primate , very sad indeed.

I agree with you, it appears that sadly nothing much can be changed here. In fact I think the best idea would be to hopefully demolish these enclosures and rebuild them from scratch this time with the occupants welfare in mind.

Didn't you say that there were plans in the near future for the zoo to change site and rebuild ? I think if this is indeed the plan this is where there would likely be progress made to change the conditions for most of the animals in question.

 

Yes, I just hope the day comes when the animals here move to a new environment quickly. I think me, and anyone could just only do first-aid because of the outdated enclosure designs here.

 

Don't let it disuade you or give in to pessimism / despair though dt644 , you are fighting a good fight to promote change and you should most definitely keep fighting it as despite the difficulties it is totally worth it.

It may in fact eventually one day lead to an improvement in these unfortunate animals lives and that is something worth persevering / fighting for. It is very admirable what you are trying to achieve.

 

All right, first of all, thank you all. Now I'm rest and writing a proposal to print out, and it's really nice to can write many good quality information than when I was do this work alone.



And the cover of the proposal was so empty, So I drew this illustration to put it on the cover. Again, thank you all.

 

Very nice!

Good luck and hope it goes well