Zoo design Central Europe vs British Isles

[Jurek7]

I recently saw several zoos in Britain and noticed different style from zoos in German-speaking countries. Did anybody else notice the same?

1. British zoos are afraid of bears. Bears are surprisingly uncommon in British zoos. There is also nothing like bear parks. These come from the Medieval custom of keeping tame bears, and now several European cities have modern free-standing bear exhibits.

2. German zoos are less obsessed with meerkats. True, meerkats are very common on the Continent, but a level less than in Britain. I heard there is one particular advertisement in British TV, which popularised meerkats. Hmm, I heard that zoos sometimes build exhibits themed on popular books or films, but over ads?

3. German zoos have uniform plants. Putting zoo-botanical collections aside, British zoos have diverse exotic-looking plants in exhibits. In Central Europe, zoo plants are few standard species – bamboo outside, ficus and few other common plants used in offices indoors. Colder winters cannot explain all this. I can easily find a long list of cold-tolerant plants unheard of in German zoos.

4. British zoo buildings are industrial-style. Zoo architecture in German zoos is often quite imaginative. In British zoos, I was surprised to see clones of large industrial halls or shopping malls. I cannot put my mind whether it is a good or bad thing, besides being ugly. Industrial halls are energy inefficient. But British zoos are unlikely to be burdened by outdated buildings from past decades.

5. Style of primate exhibits. British zoos often use dry moats, chainlink fences with overhangs (even for big apes) or standing electric fence. Continental zoos almost always use either netted 'aviaries' or water moats. Perhaps because of construction cost, primate exhibits in Britain are often very much larger. For furnishing, continental zoos use tree trunks and woven ropes. British zoos love telegraph poles and fire hoses. For me, these straight poles of uniform width seem ugly. Especially in contrast to much more beautiful and innovative plant life.

Overall, both regions have about equal breeding results. I still think that discussing gaps it may benefit zoos in both regions.

 

[Tim May]

Bears are surprisingly uncommon in British zoos.

This is true but it is a relatively recent phenomenon. When I was younger most major zoos had at least one species of bear; Bristol, Chessington, Chester, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Whipsnade all had polar bears, for example. And during my childhood, I saw every species of bear at London Zoo.

But British zoos are unlikely to be burdened by outdated buildings from past decades.

But London Zoo has many listed buildings....

 

[Andrew Swales]

Jurek7, post: 1170211, member: 502"]I recently saw several zoos in Britain and noticed different style from zoos in German-speaking countries. Did anybody else notice the same?

You are right in all your points. I would comment on two:

1. British zoos are afraid of bears. Dont know about that! Bears are surprisingly uncommon in British zoos. Yes. There is also nothing like bear parks. These come from the Medieval custom of keeping tame bears, and now several European cities have modern free-standing bear exhibits. There is no history of bears in UK social culture in the way there is on the mainland, presumably because the Brown Bear was eradicated here so long ago. What bear culture there is derives largely from the USA and is much more recent, ie the 'Teddy Bear' which appears to be on the wane.

5. Style of primate exhibits. British zoos love telegraph poles and fire hoses. For me, these straight poles of uniform width seem ugly. Especially in contrast to much more beautiful and innovative plant life. You are right, they ARE ugly, but in our area at least, tree trunks and natural branches are IMPOSSIBLE to source. Every single piece of cleared timber from woodland is chipped at source, as it is easier to transport pre-chipped, and sold to biomass power stations. Nothing is left, so we have no alternative other than to 'buy-in' our furnishing. We are always on the look-out for areas of local woodland to purchase to provide such a source; but in 20 years of actively searching, nothing has come up for sale.

 

[Jurek7]

Hi, my understanding is that many zoos on Continent have friendly agreement with city parks or forest departments. They receive leftovers from cleaning parks or urban woodland, often branches disqualified as commercial timber. I assumed this is a win-win situation: parks get rid of leftover and zoos receive browse and exhibit furnishings. Don't know much about biomass power stations.

 

[Andrew Swales]

Hi, my understanding is that many zoos on Continent have friendly agreement with city parks or forest departments. They receive leftovers from cleaning parks or urban woodland, often branches disqualified as commercial timber. I assumed this is a win-win situation: parks get rid of leftover and zoos receive browse and exhibit furnishings. Don't know much about biomass power stations.

We would be very envious of that! Over here the 'waste' has a financial value as a result of Government subsidy to renewable energy, and is much easier transported by lorry when chipped at source and loose. Even small time tree-surgeons dealing with private gardens do the same. This may not be the case over the whole of the UK, but certainly is in our largely agricultural area.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Bears are surprisingly uncommon in British zoos.

Something of a recent phenomenon, this - I gather that bears were a LOT more commonplace in British zoos until the early 1990s, when the cycle of zoo/antizoo hit a particularly strong patch of the latter and the standard of UK bear exhibits was singled out for particular criticism. A great number of collections which held bears at the time chose to either actively cease to keep them, or no longer replaced deceased animals, rather than have the expense of improving their facilities or entirely replacing them.

 

[Andrew Swales]

This is true but it is a relatively recent phenomenon. Bristol, Chessington, Chester, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Whipsnade all had polar bears, for example.

Locally - Polars at Wellingborough, Thorney too, along with Asiatic Blacks at the latter. Plus Sun Bears at Banham, Linton (?), Norfolk and Wicksteed, and Browns at Norfolk and Lilford - off the top of my head...

 

[FBBird]

Jurek7, post: 1170211, member: 502"]I recently saw several zoos in Britain and noticed different style from zoos in German-speaking countries. Did anybody else notice the same?

You are right in all your points. I would comment on two:

1. British zoos are afraid of bears. Dont know about that! Bears are surprisingly uncommon in British zoos. Yes. There is also nothing like bear parks. These come from the Medieval custom of keeping tame bears, and now several European cities have modern free-standing bear exhibits. There is no history of bears in UK social culture in the way there is on the mainland, presumably because the Brown Bear was eradicated here so long ago. What bear culture there is derives largely from the USA and is much more recent, ie the 'Teddy Bear' which appears to be on the wane.

5. Style of primate exhibits. British zoos love telegraph poles and fire hoses. For me, these straight poles of uniform width seem ugly. Especially in contrast to much more beautiful and innovative plant life. You are right, they ARE ugly, but in our area at least, tree trunks and natural branches are IMPOSSIBLE to source. Every single piece of cleared timber from woodland is chipped at source, as it is easier to transport pre-chipped, and sold to biomass power stations. Nothing is left, so we have no alternative other than to 'buy-in' our furnishing. We are always on the look-out for areas of local woodland to purchase to provide such a source; but in 20 years of actively searching, nothing has come up for sale.

On reflexion, the U.K. Does have a history of captive bears in wider society than zoos. Apparently dancing bears were a thing up to at least the mid-nineteenth century. There was apparently a saying, referring to a situation in which one had missed seeing something really close and obvious, 'If it was a bear it would have bitten you!'. This reflects the presence of bears as a fairly common object.

 

[FBBird]

We would be very envious of that! Over here the 'waste' has a financial value as a result of Government subsidy to renewable energy, and is much easier transported by lorry when chipped at source and loose. Even small time tree-surgeons dealing with private gardens do the same. This may not be the case over the whole of the UK, but certainly is in our largely agricultural area.

Obviously there's a huge difference between an 'actual' zoo in a relatively treeless area, and a back garden bird collection in a fairly well wooded county, but I can usually source all the branches I want for perching.

 

[Andrew Swales]

Obviously there's a huge difference between an 'actual' zoo in a relatively treeless area, and a back garden bird collection in a fairly well wooded county, but I can usually source all the branches I want for perching.

We've been doing a fair bit of importing recently, but may have to consider adding Dorset to our list!

 

[Andrew Swales]

On reflexion, the U.K. Does have a history of captive bears in wider society than zoos. Apparently dancing bears were a thing up to at least the mid-nineteenth century. There was apparently a saying, referring to a situation in which one had missed seeing something really close and obvious, 'If it was a bear it would have bitten you!'. This reflects the presence of bears as a fairly common object.

Yes, this was the case historically - but bears, including dancing bears have survived into much more recent times on the European mainland, resulting in their position in social culture, town bear pits, folk art from the black forest, town coats of arms etc - none of which occurs in the UK; presumably because of their earlier local extinction. The White Stork is another spp of social importance on the mainland, largely missing from the UK.

The current scarcity of bears in zoos in the UK, must (as detailed by TM and TLD) be to their being phased out after targeting by the BBC, and other anti-zoo media and pressure groups in the 1990s. I distinctly remember graphic pictures of the the pits at Limburgse Zoo in Genk, (which still come up on a Google search) featuring in the anti-zoo output of the BBC....

 

[Tim May]

Locally - Polars at Wellingborough, Thorney too, along with Asiatic Blacks at the latter. Plus Sun Bears at Banham, Linton (?), Norfolk and Wicksteed, and Browns at Norfolk and Lilford - off the top of my head...

Indeed. Colchester had both brown bear and Asiatic black bear too.
I can recall bears in small seaside menageries too when I was small child. A sun bear in the small zoo in Peter Pan's Playground on the Southend seafront; brown bear cubs in the zoo on the Ramsgate seafront; a sloth bear (?) in Chalkwell Park...

 

[Andrew Swales]

On reflexion, the U.K. Does have a history of captive bears in wider society than zoos. Apparently dancing bears were a thing up to at least the mid-nineteenth century. There was apparently a saying, referring to a situation in which one had missed seeing something really close and obvious, 'If it was a bear it would have bitten you!'. This reflects the presence of bears as a fairly common object.

I have attempted (and failed, sorry) to add some pictures here from my collection showing dancing bears being paraded in the streets of Berlin in 1927, and plastic Preiser toys/models of dancing bear + gypsy (Barenfuhrer mit Bar) from the same era as Britains plastic toys, the latter copied from the beautiful masse models made by TippleTopple/Pfeiffer earlier in the century. The species is much higher in the German public psyche.

(just managed to put these on the gallery under 'memorabilia')

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The current scarcity of bears in zoos in the UK, must (as detailed by TM and TLD) be to their being phased out after targeting by the BBC, and other anti-zoo media and pressure groups in the 1990s. I distinctly remember graphic pictures of the the pits at Limburgse Zoo in Genk, (which still come up on a Google search) featuring in the anti-zoo output of the BBC....

We're definitely in the middle of something of a bear revival in the UK at present, mind you in terms of collections which have been actively going into bear species over the past decade or so, we have had the following:

Scottish Deer Centre (Brown Bear)
Camperdown (Brown Bear)
Five Sisters Zoo (Brown Bear)
Yorkshire Wildlife Park (Brown Bear, Polar Bear)
Wild Place (Brown Bear)
Wildwood (Brown Bear)
Edinburgh (Giant Panda, Sun Bear)
Wingham (Asiatic Black)
Highland Wildlife Park (Polar Bear)
Port Lympne (Spectacled Bear)
Noah's Ark (Spectacled Bear)
Chester (Sun Bear)
Colchester (Sun Bear)

So 15 arrivals across 13 collections - although one of these holdings (YWP Brown Bear) has admittedly recently ended.

Conversely, in the last decade only four collections have ceased to keep bears altogether:

Dudley (death of last animal)
Dartmoor (death of last animal)
Blair Drummond (last animal moved to another collection)
RSCC (closure of collection)

 

[Andrew Swales]

We're definitely in the middle of something of a bear revival in the UK at present, mind you in terms of collections which have been actively going into bear species over the past decade or so, we have had the following:

Scottish Deer Centre (Brown Bear)
Camperdown (Brown Bear)
Five Sisters Zoo (Brown Bear)
Yorkshire Wildlife Park (Brown Bear, Polar Bear)
Wild Place (Brown Bear)
Wildwood (Brown Bear)
Edinburgh (Giant Panda, Sun Bear)
Wingham (Asiatic Black)
Highland Wildlife Park (Polar Bear)
Port Lympne (Spectacled Bear)
Noah's Ark (Spectacled Bear)
Chester (Sun Bear)
Colchester (Sun Bear)
So 15 arrivals across 13 collections - although one of these holdings (YWP Brown Bear) has admittedly recently ended.

Absolutely - and, thanks entirely to the electric fence replacing the concrete...
- and Wolds too...

 

[Jana]

5. Style of primate exhibits. British zoos love telegraph poles and fire hoses. For me, these straight poles of uniform width seem ugly. Especially in contrast to much more beautiful and innovative plant life. You are right, they ARE ugly, but in our area at least, tree trunks and natural branches are IMPOSSIBLE to source. Every single piece of cleared timber from woodland is chipped at source, as it is easier to transport pre-chipped, and sold to biomass power stations. Nothing is left, so we have no alternative other than to 'buy-in' our furnishing. We are always on the look-out for areas of local woodland to purchase to provide such a source; but in 20 years of actively searching, nothing has come up for sale.

Maybe part of the difference is country specific rule for biomass subsidy. At least in the Czech republic, it is impossible to get subsidy for wooden chips made from timber with diameter larger than 7 cm.

 

[pipaluk]

We're definitely in the middle of something of a bear revival in the UK at present, mind you in terms of collections which have been actively going into bear species over the past decade or so, we have had the following:

Scottish Deer Centre (Brown Bear)
Camperdown (Brown Bear)
Five Sisters Zoo (Brown Bear)
Yorkshire Wildlife Park (Brown Bear, Polar Bear)
Wild Place (Brown Bear)
Wildwood (Brown Bear)
Edinburgh (Giant Panda, Sun Bear)
Wingham (Asiatic Black)
Highland Wildlife Park (Polar Bear)
Port Lympne (Spectacled Bear)
Noah's Ark (Spectacled Bear)
Chester (Sun Bear)
Colchester (Sun Bear)

So 15 arrivals across 13 collections - although one of these holdings (YWP Brown Bear) has admittedly recently ended.

Conversely, in the last decade only four collections have ceased to keep bears altogether:

Dudley (death of last animal)
Dartmoor (death of last animal)
Blair Drummond (last animal moved to another collection)
RSCC (closure of collection)

Dudley and at least one other zoo are due to get brown bears shortly I believe.

 

[HOMIN96]

2. German zoos are less obsessed with meerkats. True, meerkats are very common on the Continent, but a level less than in Britain. I heard there is one particular advertisement in British TV, which popularised meerkats.

Wasn't it basically a reality show/documentary? At least that is what I remember from my younger days as it was televised here in Czech Republic too...

 

[Brum]

Wasn't it basically a reality show/documentary? At least that is what I remember from my younger days as it was televised here in Czech Republic too...

Meerkat Manor is what (I think) you're referring to. But the current trend is due to "Compare The Market" adverts which feature meerkats with Russian accents...

 

[Jurek7]

Thanks everybody. I actually expected that more German-speakers will comment, too.