It's dark as a dungeon and damp
as the dew,
Where the dangers are many, the
pleasures are few..."
~ Merle Travis, "Dark as a Dungeon"
When I started off working in zoos, the most amazing part of
the job was the proximity of animals. It
seemed that every time that I turned my head, there was another one right
behind me, each more incredible than the one before. These close-up encounters often took place in
the keeper buildings, or night houses, where animals went when not on
exhibit.
These buildings are where many of my most treasured early memories
of zoo animals took place – smelling the fish on a polar bear’s breath, feeling
an okapi’s tongue wrap around my hand, or looking directly into the eyes of a
lion from six inches away. These are the
places where animals are often fed, where medical procedures take place, and
where training is conducted. In a sense,
this is where the magic happens.
Which, in a sense, is also kind of a shame – the holding
buildings tend to be pretty boring, once you get past the initial shock of
seeing the animal. They aren’t natural, nor
are they aesthetically pleasing – they aren’t meant to be. They are meant to be easily cleaned and they
are meant to be secure – this is where you want your animals when a storm is
raging outside or when snow is piling up.
You’ll find some creature comforts in them, to be sure – perches for
monkeys and birds, pools for tapirs and hippos, hide boxes for small mammals –
but it’s all very functional. The
perches will be simple cut branches or boards, the pools won’t be fed by
cascading waterfalls. If you ever want to know what zoo exhibits themselves looked like fifty years ago, just go back into the holding areas. It's for this reason that many zoos tend to ban photography of their holding areas, they just aren't that impressive (it is with that consideration in mind that I am only showing pictures of public behind-the-scenes areas on this post).
Animals spend varying amounts of time in these buildings. Some may be locked in only for the ten minutes it takes each day for the keeper to go outside, clean up the exhibit, and scatter some food. Others may be brought inside at night, or for months at a time during inclement weather. Some may be back their almost permanently, whether for breeding purposes, medical purposes, or just because no one knows where else to put them at that moment.
Animals spend varying amounts of time in these buildings. Some may be locked in only for the ten minutes it takes each day for the keeper to go outside, clean up the exhibit, and scatter some food. Others may be brought inside at night, or for months at a time during inclement weather. Some may be back their almost permanently, whether for breeding purposes, medical purposes, or just because no one knows where else to put them at that moment.
The keeper areas are “our” place as well as the animals’
place, and we make them our own. Notes
on the white board, irreverent cartoons and drawings, little “souvenirs” from
the animals (i.e., a thoroughly demolished enrichment item) adorn the walls and
shelves. It’s where keepers tend to
congregate to chat, sharing gossip about animals and coworkers alike. Here, far from the madding crowd, our biggest
concerns are whether the floors are draining (why is the drain never in the
lowest point?) or whether the hoses are coiled properly. It’s our territory. But does it have to be that exclusively?
Behind-the-Scenes view of the elephant and giraffe holding areas at the Virginia Zoo
Many zoos offer behind-the-scenes tours of at least some of
their exhibits, either as a special package or as part of a zoo camp or other
educational program. Bearing this in
mind, doesn’t it make sense that we start designing our off-exhibit areas with
a mind towards being, well… exhibits? We
probably don’t want endless lines parading through our dens and barns, but it
would be neat to be able to bring special guests back behind-the-scenes to meet
the animals up close and learn how the keepers do their job, maybe watch a
training demo or see some enrichment, or get the inside look at an important
breeding program. This could also be
practiced in other traditionally non-public areas of the zoo, from the commissary
to the hospital to the horticulture greenhouse.
Even if there are no animals in the commissary, visitors would be
fascinated to see the amounts and varieties of food our animals consume. Even if there are no patients in the hospital,
it’s still cool to see all of the equipment and gadgetry.
Of course, making this work requires keeping the keeper
areas presentable… tools put away, sections tidied, NOT leaving those little
fruit stickers all over the walls and furniture. It also means rethinking how we design our
behind-the-scenes areas. If we wouldn’t
feel comfortable having at least some visitors see it, maybe it’s not
ideal. Too many of the older exhibits
that I’ve worked in have keeper areas that are dank, depressing, and – in many
causes- uncomfortable and borderline unsafe to work in. Having the public eye fixed on our workspaces
might help us keep them on par with the exhibits that they support.
Obviously we will always need some private areas
in the zoo for a variety of reasons (quarantine, very sensitive animals,
etc). Tours or viewing windows into keeper areas
would not be appropriate for all exhibits, but each zoo or aquarium has, I’m
sure, at least one where it might prove very effective. Some zoo directors will bemoan the lack of
naturalism, the thwarting and undermining of their naturalistic immersion
exhibits with peeks into the bunker-like keeper areas. A lot of keepers, I suspect, would resent the
intrusion of guests into their work spaces, even if only the occasional tour,
or peeking through a window. Still, I
feel that offering guests a glimpse of behind-the-scenes can give them a better
understanding of who we are and what we do.
Window in the diet prep room at the National Aviary, allowing visitors to watch keepers at work
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