Ugh - I don't want to prejudge here, and possibly the video is misleading (it's certainly very focused on making sure we see the path, and not what's on either side of it), but this whole thing looks SO cheesy. The marketplace in particular looks just awful, and the whole thing has a rather unpleasant cultural undertone that I don't much care for (look how weirdly other people live!!). This is a real shame, since Taronga's last two major upgrades (Wild Asia and Great Southern Oceans) were both broadly successful, even if they've both backslid since their openings. The tiger exhibit itself (of which I get the impression we only see a fraction there) better be top-notch since it's the only real thing in this whole "experience". I hope this is better than it looks, but the impression I get from the video and article is that this epitomises Taronga's recent focus on theme-park-lite instead of exhibiting animals.
Looks like a big chunk of the zoo has made way for not much. Is it tigers only? No other small exihibts? I'll hold off from judging it until I've seen it in person though.
I really hope Clarence isn't intended as a mate for Kartika. Clarance's father is the littermate of Kartika's maternal grandfather: Shiva + Selatan > Juara (1995) > Jumilah (2003) > Kartika (2011) Shiva + Selatan > Ramalon (1995) > Clarence (2013) To me, the most obvious choice would have been to import Clarence's maternal aunt, Maneki (2007), also from Australia Zoo and breeding her with Kembali. Maneki is the most valuable female in the region and has so far contributed little to the breeding programme, giving birth to just one cub. After Maneki is no longer of reproductive age (2-3 years time), a new mate could be sourced for Kembali from the USA or Asia. If Taronga Zoo really want to breed with Kartika, then a more suitable options would surely have been Oz (2004) at Hamilton Zoo or Raja (2003) at Dreamworld (if not already related through Kartika's father)?
I know what you mean. I feel kind of bad about being so critical when I've only seen a video and not the actual place with my own eyes, but it just looks terrible. Obviously the plants are going to grow in and give it a much more jungly effect in time, but the content of the whole exhibit itself is completely unappealing. I think it is just tigers. During the video I did see a couple of glimpses at what I thought could be viewing into extra (smaller) enclosures but looking at the exhibit plan I think those were actually just viewing spots into the tiger enclosures.
I was just thinking about this development (Tiger Trek, for one species) and the following stages of African Savannah (about six species) and Congo Forest (two species). Those three areas are going to be taking up a huge part of the zoo, but in total will be comprising just nine species... Yay?
I guess in someways it makes sense as the above species (plus elephants and chimpanzees) make up the bulk of Taronga Zoo's megafauna so space wise, will require the most room. A serpatarium is on the plans, which will no doubt accommodate equally as many species but in a much smaller space.
Not a new serpentarium, though - a redevelopment of the current reptile house is on the plans. I think the issue here is not that the tigers are getting more space - most would agree that was overdue - but that there seems to be so much wasted space here. Looking at the maps it actually appears a lot better than the video makes it seem - there appear to be three large tiger habitats plus substantial off-exhibit facilities, which is great. But would it have been too much to have one or two other small exhibits thrown in - even something tiny like a couple of reptile ones or an aviary? The area this exhibit takes up used to exhibit, by my count, around eight species plus an aviary. It's very possible to give ample space to the big species while still making room for the smaller ones, but Taronga seems to be moving on from that. I understand Zoochatters would be looking for different things than your average Joe Public, but this kind of feels a bit extreme. Still, I suppose we should wait until we get an on-the-ground report. I'm hopeful the exhibits themselves justify the space given to them.
I agree Geoffrey, I believe the concern is with Taronga phasing out so many species over the years in the new exhibit one would believe there would be a range of asian animals and not just one species, Many people see Taronga as a world class zoo one of the big two in Australia and to see them backing away from exhibiting a board range collection is a backward step, zoos exhibit animals, good zoos are breeding endangered species. As mentioned some of the smaller regional zoos are now doing the job Taronga should be doing. Some feel they are scared of animal rights groups and want to appease these guys like Seaworld in the USA have done, I really hope this is not the case.
New video on Taronga's Facebook page, I still cant get used to the oil drums and wooden packing cases hope they disappear over time along with the super market!
Photos of the tigers in the Tiger Trek are up to have a look at. The Tiger Trek is set out in three sections Water whole, Village setting and Jungle setting. It is really good.
I am actually very disappointed with the new Tiger Trek "experience"... I've only been on a busy day, so might just be that there were too many people there for me to get a decent viewpoint... I think the actual enclosures are too small and poorly laid out. The tigers do not appear to be able to relax with the noise of the large crowds, and when they aren't hiding, they are pacing at the den doors to be let back inside. Too much space attempting to resemble some sort of village but not manned with anyone to explain what it's purpose is. You also have to go through this "flight experience" before you go into the rest of the thing... EVERY time you want to visit... *sigh* The final bit as you exit is supposed to resemble a supermarket that shows you what products use certified palm oil, and are ok to buy... but again, not manned by anyone to explain this... Osprey71 got lucky with their photos... obviously taken at the right time of day, and when the place was not busy, so the tigers were more relaxed and actually moving about the enclosures. You wouldn't get any photos like that on a busy day from my experience... in fact you'd be lucky to get a decent view of anything on a busy day... And the whole thing ran over time and over budget to build... T.
I don't understand the "flight experience" aspect. From the video released by the zoo when they opened the exhibit, it looked like something you can just walk right past - but is it something more, where you have to watch the video before moving on? And for the village marketplace at the start and supermarket at the end, is there any interpretation material in the marketplace, or is it just a marketplace of buildings and old motorbikes with nothing further to explain? For the supermarket, how is that as a display - I haven't seen any photos I don't think, so is there obvious signage explaining the concept or is it something more oblique?
Nope... no real signage explaining anything from what I could see... just a lot of space that COULD have been used for actual tiger enclosure space that has been poorly allocated to the "conservation" message... *sigh* I went on a Sunday, and you had to go through the flight thing EVERY time you wanted to see the tigers...the queues went up past the Sun Bears too... grrr! There are only 2 videos they show... so once you've seen them both, it seems pretty bloody pointless to have to watch them again and again... There are no staff moving people through the place either, so it gets VERY crowded with people going back and forth trying to catch a glimpse of a tiger. Whoever designed this "experience" missed the mark completely in my opinion. I'm also willing to bet that keepers had no input either, or the tigers would have had better digs... T.
Good grief. This sounds even worse than I feared. I had no idea it was a "gated"-type experience, which is just a horrific idea from a foot-traffic standpoint alone. I thought the lemur exhibit was bad but this is even worse. The fact that there is no interpretation signage on the marketplace/supermarket is unbelievable and incredibly sloppy. And after all that they have still ended up with too-small exhibits? What a hideous waste. Thanks for the report, tdierikx. This sounds like the biggest sign yet that Taronga really is going downhill.
there's a video here from a morning show, which has footage of various aspects (each briefly). It looks like the "flight simulator" is something where people are put in one end and they have to stay inside until the videos run through, and then the doors open to let them out to the tiger area? I would find that immensely irritating, especially if I was wanting to see the tigers more than once during my visit! There's also a brief clip of the supermarket, where it appears there are "video game"-style checkouts to show which products are palm oil free. Is that the extent of the supermarket bit? It seems aimed solely at children if that's the case. The tiger enclosures themselves look really nice from this video (disregarding the oil drum part), although they are obviously only showing parts of each enclosure.
Sunrise got Clarence's Age wrong, so did the Daily Telegraph. They are saying he is 6 years old, He is actually 4 years old.
From the video, I'm not impressed- especially for the huge amount of money spent. So much has been wasted on superfluous novelty, at the expense of actual animal housing. All that money for an average display of ONE species is pretty poor.
