Perhaps we should think about it as enrichment for the keepers
That's what I think a lot of it is.
It is not really harmful in any way, exception to the public's perception, but I still don't like it...
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Chester Zoo Chester Zoo 2017
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That's what I think a lot of it is.
It is not really harmful in any way, exception to the public's perception, but I still don't like it...
Gigit
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I probably shouldn't write this without checking the title of the book etc (but I doubt that it's important in the great scheme of things), but I read a book some time ago by someone who did a lot of research on captive chimps in the USA and he reckoned they came to know when birthdays and other celebrations were due as a result of keeper activities.
taun
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Sorry but anyone dumb enough to think these animals are not dangerous wild animals deserve a Darwin award.
Its a light entertainment show, and publicity....you might not like it but it makes people feel an connection to the animals.
Maybe we should just leave the animals with a studbook number, in fear of humanizing them by giving them human names?
I agree with Pertinax, zoos want to be taken seriously, but often do tend to humanize animals as if they are domestic pets.
I have stopped watching the programme because of all the mistakes. Number 1 in the present series. Keeper of tenrecs says lowland streaked tenrecs have never been bred in the UK. Funny that as Chester were on the list to receive UK captive bred lowland streaked tenrecs a few years ago. The colony died out before the move could be made.
I have stopped watching the programme because of all the mistakes. Number 1 in the present series. Keeper of tenrecs says lowland streaked tenrecs have never been bred in the UK. Funny that as Chester were on the list to receive UK captive bred lowland streaked tenrecs a few years ago. The colony died out before the move could be made.
I think a line could easily drawn between names given to animals, which after all is a useful means of identity, and some of these other more extreme forms of personalisation. We seem to be attempting to load our own human celebrations and festivities onto the Animal Kingdom too. But I can't see much difference between say, a Chimp dressed in human clothes- much frowned on these days to the extent its almost taboo, and some of these other more modern examples of anthropomorphism. Light entertainment it certainly is, but so were animal acts in circuses. And like the circus, I feel these stunts serve to present the animals more as domesticated creatures, and less as representatives of their wild counterparts.
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I'd say that was because they recognized the preparations that were being made, not because they were aware of their birthday....but yes, if it represents added interest to their lives it can't all be bad I suppose.
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I think you are massively over-thinking this. To say giving the animals their enrichment in a christmas themed box / on a christmas tree / in a pumpkin etc is an 'extreme' form of personalisation or comparable to a circus act is ridiculous.
We visited Chester around Halloween time and saw some of this with Goshi being presented her rabbits in a couple of carved pumpkins. She had a challenge hooking them out and eating them and then chased a pumpkin around the pond for a good amount of time - some shots here if anyone wants to see them. The TV crew got their shots and she got to do something a bit different that day. No one was under any illusion that she was actually celebrating halloween or had carved the pumpkins herself. Would you have the same issue if she'd been given her rabbits in a more 'seriously' themed puzzle feeder of some kind? On the same day we saw the tigers having their meat from the top of the feeding poles in their enclosure and the orangs wrapping themselves up in blankets. Is that really any different?
The fact is, these animals are in captivity and as such require enrichment activities. If human festive seasons inspire different types of enrichment for the animals then I don't see the problem. Of course you don't need to have a festive themed box - I've seen plenty of zoos give their big cats cardboard boxes made into / painted as prey animals - but doing so has the added benefit of engaging the human visitors... which is after all the primary purpose of this TV show.
American zoo designer visits the UK and gives brief reviews of two prominent zoos:
Zoo Review: London and Chester Zoos
Zoo Review: London and Chester Zoos
As I posted in the London thread - interesting stuff.
'Wide promenades... dotted with generic exhibits like storefronts' - I'm genuinely baffled as to what this refers to? Canal Walk, maybe?
I think your's is as good a guess as any but it may also refers to the writer being a "removed from (most peoples) reality" zoo designer. This is further evidenced by their point that "The relatively new Land of the Lions was a small budget (under $10,000,000 USD)". The writer also seems to have a "one size/my views fits all" to zoos and exhibit design which they're entitled to but seems a bit inflexible and would lead to a dull world.
Yes, that bit about budgets is rather telling.
I did not feel that the author of these reviews was particularly perceptive. She must have visited Chester on a very slow day if the boats in Islands were not running and visiting the Zoo was 'like a walk through the countryside or even a quiet park in a small town'. It's not like that at weekends, on school visiting days or in the school holidays
And of course any native of West Cheshire will tell you that Manchester is about an hour from Chester, not the other way round
And of course any native of West Cheshire will tell you that Manchester is about an hour from Chester, not the other way round
[QUOTE="gentle lemur, post: 1052276, member: It's not like that at weekends, on school visiting days or in the school holidays
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My last two visits were both planned to avoid weekend or school holiday crowds(I could not predict school visits but they seemed mercifully absent..) yet in May the Zoo was still buzzing with visitors on both occassions. Chester seems to be busy on virtually any day nowadays. By contrast on a similarly -timed visit to Dudley in October I saw no more than about ten other people all the time I was there.
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My last two visits were both planned to avoid weekend or school holiday crowds(I could not predict school visits but they seemed mercifully absent..) yet in May the Zoo was still buzzing with visitors on both occassions. Chester seems to be busy on virtually any day nowadays. By contrast on a similarly -timed visit to Dudley in October I saw no more than about ten other people all the time I was there.
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There were a few weeks back in Spring when the boats were down due to maintenance issues. Other than that, they normally run every day.
Was it Gerald Durrell who wrote that the most dangerous animal in any zoo is an architect?
Gerald Durrell's comment was that the two most dangerous animals in a zoo were an architect and a veterinary surgeon.
Quite amusing when you consider how many zoological collections in the UK are currently, or have recently been, run by individuals with a veterinary background 
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