I came across the link above - a poll for the best zoo exhibit in the US - a week or so ago. I thought about voting but ended up not - I've seen too few of the exhibits included (and am especially annoyed that some of these exhibits that I missed opened right after I visited the zoo in question). There are also some exhibits that I'm really surprised did not make the cut - Oklahoma Trails at Oklahoma City Zoo, Surrounded by Sharks at Newport Aquarium, Rivers Edge at St. Louis Zoo - as well as one or two on the list that I have seen (and won't name) that, while not bad by any stretch of the imagination, I might have left off in favor of other exhibits.
That got me wondering... what does make a good zoo or aquarium exhibit? You'll be hard pressed to get two people to agree. I remember years ago, I was interning at the St. Louis Zoo. I'd made friends with some girls I was sharing a dorm building with that summer - fellow out of town interns, interning someplace else - and I took them to the zoo on one of my days off. One of the first exhibits we saw was the bush dog exhibit, one of my favorite in the zoo - animals rarely seen in zoos, active and engaging, in a beautiful enclosure. They gave it a twenty second glance. Later, we were at my least favorite exhibit - the grizzlies, one of those classic bear exhibits of rock work and... rock work (the renovation of this exhibit was already planned when I was there). They were entranced and stood there forever, it seemed. I couldn't get it...
To be truly great, an exhibit has to satisfy three separate audiences with very different needs. These are...
1) The Animals
Exhibits should be built for animals first. It seems obvious, but it's only in relatively recent years that zoo designers are starting to come to terms with this. The visitors just visit. The keepers go home at night. The animals have to live in it. So what does designing a good enclosure for an animal mean? First of, a zoo exhibit should be designed with a specific animal in mind. Back when animals were imported from the wild (and often didn't live long), exhibits were utilitarian; one might house a tiger one year, a chimpanzee the next. DIfferent species, though, have different needs, and zoos need to plan their exhibits with the specific needs of those animals in mind. Polar bears and sloth bears are both bears, but the former would get little benefit from a giant artificial termite mound, and I'm not sure how much the later would appreciate a ten-foot deep pool.
Obviously size is important, but no zoo exhibit is going to be able to recreate the size and complexity of a wild habitat. My criteria for size is that the animal should have enough space that it is able to feel comfortable and unstressed in the presence of humans - that it isn't forced in too close a proximity to visitors and isn't able to rest at ease.
A big part of this, and one that occasionally causes conflict with the other two audiences, is hiding spaces. Wild animals typically do not prance around in the open for everyone to admire, especially not for people. To feel comfortable, zoo animals should have the option of privacy, whether hiding spots on exhibit (even if its just a rock to hide behind) or a holding building that they have access too.
Tying into that, the enclosure should allow for a proper expression of natural behaviors. An aquatic animal -a seal or otter - should be able to swim. An arboreal animal - a macaw or monkey - should be able to climb. Social groups - whether solitary or in a large group - should be appropriate for the species. Again, the zoo imposes some limitations - lions can't hunt live prey (excepting whatever hapless wild animal wanders into their enclosure by mistake) and a zebra herd may consist of 5, not 500, individuals. Still, the closer a zoo animal's life resembles that of a wild counterpart, the better it will be.
The most important aspect of a zoo animal's life, I feel, is choice. While the animal can't choose to leave its enclosure (in most cases), it should be able to make as many independent choices as possible. Does it want to be up high or down low? In the sun or shade? On land or in water? Alone or with companions? The more decisions an exhibit allows an animal to make, the more satisfying its life will be.
Exhibits also need to be designed not just for viewing pleasure, but for the life cycle of the animal. Are you breeding animals in it? Then you better have nest boxes or dens. Going to be introducing animals togehter? Design it with provisions for that. Is your animal not especially cold hardy or heat tolerant? Have housing available for winter or summer. Is it a mixed-species enclosure? Make sure you are providing for the needs of every species in it.
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