Mall Rats, and Other Animals

SEA LIFE aquariums, like those I visited in Michigan and Arizona, tend to be found in shopping malls.  It's a decent symbiotic relationship - historically the aquariums were able to take advantage of the visitors that were already coming to the malls, getting them to stop in and take a look around.  Today, with retail stores floundering in the wake of Amazon and other online giants, the stores at the mall are hoping that people come to see the aquarium, and then do a little shopping when they are done.


While I've never seen one besides SEA LIFE, I have read about a few other mall-based zoological attractions.  Most now seem to be closed, perhaps also falling victim to the disappearance of the American shopping mall.  There was Serpent Safari, for instance - a reptile zoo in the Chicago suburbs, where you could ogle the crocodiles, anacondas, monitor lizards, and alligator snapping turtles, pet smaller herps, and enjoy a photo op... before exiting through the gift shop, or course. 


Then, there was American Wilderness Experience, located in a mall outside Los Angeles.  Wandering among plaster caves and papier-mache trees, who might spot a variety of North American animals, including bobcats, porcupines, bats, and even harbor seals... as well as an interactive theater ride filled with kind of cheesy narration (from what I've read from visitors who have been).  A chain was originally planned for across the country.  Now, there are none.


I wonder if I'm being a little hypocritical, wincing as these mall-based zoos.   Zoos and aquariums have worked hard to try and de-commercialize themselves, to fight back against the viewpoint that animals are being exploited for money.  That being said, we do need money, both to maintain our facilities and to support conservation programs in the wild.  Everyone has a gift shop, everyone has concessions.  How do you draw the line between raising funds as a necessary chore and going completely commercial?


Part of the issue I have with mall-based animal exhibits is the setting itself not being conducive to optimal animal care.  Is having animals in a park-like setting that is completely designed to facilitate their husbandry really comparable to having them in what used to be a Burlington Coat Factory?  Aquariums and reptile houses are typically indoors anyway, but even here there are issues that can impact welfare that, because of the setting, may be out of the caretakers control.  Imagine trying to take care of fish in tanks that are starting to literally vibrate from the noise from the video arcade one wall away.  Maybe the atmosphere is all wrong too - it can be hard to get visitors to take you seriously as a legitatmat conservation and education organization when you are in a shopping mall.  From there, you look like just another attraction.


I won't speak ill of Serpent Safari or AWE, since both are gone and I can't visit either to see for myself.  To me, the most important factor is, what comes first?  Animal welfare, or the financial bottom line?  If you can make it work as a mall, providing the best care for the animals, then I suppose there's nothing wrong with it.  If you find that you keep having to make sacrifices and take short cuts based on your situation, then maybe it's your situation that needs to change.