Design on a Dime

I've spent a lot of idle time dreaming up my perfect zoo exhibits.  You'd think that would result in me having some awesome exhibits of my own... but you'd be wrong.

The problem with having a very active, elaborate imagination is that sometimes it becomes too easy to lose yourself in it.  You get so caught up with what could be or should be in your mind's eye that you lose sight of what is, and, more importantly, what you have the potential to actually do.  You fall so in love with your ideal design that your immediate reaction to tear the old, existing one down and start from scratch and, lacking the ability or funds to do that, you do nothing.

I'm bad at this.  My boss is even worse.

I blame it on his big-zoo background, to be honest.  He's spent most of his career at giant zoos with giant budgets, so in his mind every new construction, every renovation is a multi-million dollar production number with enough gunite rockwork to make a concrete Mt. Everest, at least two waterfalls, and that fancy electronic signage that never seems to work after the first week.

The rest of the staff is on the other side of the room going, "I was thinking a fresh coat of paint and some new fill dirt."

I'm in between.

The fact is, we all want the big renovation with huge new spaces, lots of new features, and attractive landscaping that our animals love.  It can take a long time to plan and fundraise for that, however, and there are more than a few animals I've seen in substandard enclosures, waiting for the day it all comes together.  The truth is, you can make a big positive difference for your animals in their enclosure without spending lots of money.

• Add new natural substrates, appropriate for the animal and its habitat.  It may be sand, soil, mulch, gravel, or some combination thereof (the later is ideal, really - it lets your animal have choices and variety).  Even the most barren enclosure can be freshened up with new substrate, which can allow the animal to dig, bury things, build nests, dust bath, tunnel, or whatever else it wants to do.  Hard substrates can help hoofed mammals wear down their hooves.  Soft substrates can prevent sensitive feet from becoming abraded.
• Install perching and furniture.  Browse-hungry hoofstock keepers aren't the only zoo staff with a sharp eye for downed trees and limbs.  Bringing in branches, logs, and downed trees, along with rocks and stumps, can make a habitat completely new for the occupants, providing new options for where to perch, sleep, eat, or hide behind/on top of.  Strike a balance between finding what works and keeping comfortable object in place and freshening things up and promoting exploration by changing things around periodically.
• Experiment with pot(ted plants).  There are a lot of zoo folks I know who take it for granted that live plants and live animals cannot mix.  You put a plant in an enclosure, the animal will trample it, eat it, or otherwise kill it, they claim.  To be sure, it can be hard to grow plants in an established animal exhibit, at least without barricading them off and blocking off access - and then there is all the fuss of watering, making sure they get through the winter, etc.  An option is to put out large plants in pots for the animals to interact with.  If the animals kill them, that's enrichment, as well as an incentive to find cheaper plants.  If they survive, that's great - bring them inside for the winter and replace them outside in the spring
• Manage the elements.  Make sure the animals in outdoor enclosures have access to sun and shade, fresh air and protection from the wind.  Not only is it excellent for their health and welfare, but they will be able to exercise that much more control over their environment by making decisions about what conditions that want to experience - do they want to be out basking the sun, or dozing inside in the shade?  Decisions, decisions.

None of these options if particularly expensive to implement, either in terms of time or money.  You may be able to get some of these supplies donated.  They make great volunteer projects for service groups.  None of them will address some of the major issues you may have with an enclosure - it being too small, or not having enough indoor holding, or not being built in an ideal location within your zoo.  They will, however, have the potential to make a marked difference in the quality of life for your animals.

There's a saying that I've heard periodically tossed around, "The Good is the Enemy of the Great."  The meaning is, when things are "Okay" or "Good Enough," we settle for them instead of aspiring towards greatness.  That may be, but there's another saying I like as well, "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good."  Here, the meaning is that we become so fixated on our ideal of perfection that we refrain from doing an imperfect, but still good, job.

I'll never stop wanting to make perfect - or at least, the best possible - habitats for the animals that I care for.  Still, there's no reason not to try and improve them as much (and cheaply) as possible in the meantime.