Hopefully, those "some of us" still rate the animal welfare aspect a lot higher than the aesthetics aspect. Otherwise, you'd prove the anti-zoo lobby right...
What animals tend to have the worst exhibits?
- Thread starter Pleistocene891
- Start date
Of course! As I tried to suggest in the above quote, I would never consider aesthetics as being more important than animal welfare. And if I had to choose between A) an aesthetically beautiful exhibit that was horrible welfare-wise for its inhabitants or B) an aesthetically ugly exhibit that was spectacular welfare-wise for its inhabitants, I would easily select exhibit B every time. I just felt it would not be right to entirely ignore aesthetics in a discussion of exhibit quality.
ketoflukes
Well-Known Member
Of course! With adequate enrichment, social welfare, etc. they can be perfectly fine. I'm more-so just talking about my own desire to see nicely designed Cetacean exhibits since I'm a sucker for aesthetic vibes
Exactly this. Sometimes I just like to see animals in well-designed exhibits because I feel it adds to my own experience of observing the animal.
Bengal Tiger
Well-Known Member
What is DAK?
Disney's Animal Kingdom
In my humble opinion, reptiles get the short end of the stick a lot of the time. For example, there are exhibits for leopard tortoises on here which are far too small, even for a hatchling. Yet they keep animals that are at least over a year old in them.
Interesting, do you have any specific examples for this? I can understand the rationale for saying a lot of snake and lizard exhibits are not adequate, but I've yet to see an inadequate tortoise exhibit, barring at a roadside zoo in which pretty much everything had exhibits that were inadequate. Unfortunately, reptiles is an area that it seems pretty hit-or-miss. There are some zoos with excellent reptile houses with top tier exhibitry (for Buffalo Zoo I'd argue the reptiles got some of the best exhibits in the zoo), when there are other zoos that reptiles seem like afterthoughts and don't get the same level of attention to detail and the same high standard that other animals tend to get. So some zoos do it really well, and others not so much.
So off the top of my head, the Tennessee Aquarium's is one of the worst. Not only is it too small, but they had a pair, which with tortoises usually ends up with one being bullied. The reason I specified Leopard tortoises is it's a species I keep, so I have a little bit more knowledge on them compared to most reptiles.
Another I just thought of, until pretty recently manatees used to sometimes have absolutely dreadful exhibits... Even in some of Europe's best zoos. Artis and Nuremberg spring to mind as some of the worst examples but they certainly weren't alone. Luckily in the last decade or so there has been massive improvements and now we see some great exhibits at zoos like Burgers and Wroclaw.
Disney Animal Kingdom
From an animal welfare and representative aspect, the current manatee exhibit at Nuremberg is an improvement; not so much in regard to breeding success, though. Some zoo folks already joke that the past successful impregnations were the result of manatees accidently squeezing past one another in the previous narrow enclosure..."Sorry dear, just got you pregnant again while trying to reach for the lettuce"
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
Snakes have been mentioned in this discussion, and I'd like to take that and specify - I feel like venomous snakes in particular are given pretty crappy enclosures at many (not all) facilities I've seen, event those that otherwise do reptile exhibits fairly well. In interests of keeper safety (which is a very understandable concern), the exhibits tend to be much less complex, sometimes almost bare, to make it easier for keepers to find and safely work the animal. This is a trend which I feel is starting to change as some zoos work towards shifting snakes instead of working them directly from the primary enclosure.
How you keep (and exhibit) your venomous snakes is influenced by various factors. "Snake farms" for venom collection, laboratory settings and breeders tend to focus on enclosures that are designed to be easy to clean and work within, especially when they keep a larger amount of snakes. Show terraria are usually more naturalistic, even though national culture/attitudes, individual expertise and local legislation have a significant impact on their realization. In general, (venomous) snake exhibits in American zoos tend to be smaller and less "naturalistic" than, say, those in major zoos and professional collections in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. And while outdoor exhibits for European vipers, Pacific and Timber rattlesnakes etc. exist in European zoos, there are far lesser outdoor snake enclosures in the USA.
But there are, as usual, always exceptions to the rule.
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Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
Agreed, and in this case I was referring to exhibit spaces, rather than off-show housing, which is another kettle of sorry fish. Even in the same reptile houses that I've worked in, I've often noticed a discrepancy between the quality of exhibits for the venomous vs. nonvenomous species, and have had curators fretting if we tried to add too much "clutter" to a venomous snake enclosure.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
Maybe they don’t want the venomous snakes to be too hard to find in case they think the snake is missing? “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? Not saying that the venomous snakes are the enemy, but I think a missing king cobra is a bigger cause for concern than a missing gopher snake.
Of course, I’m just guessing here.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
No guessing, you're spot on. That's what the mentality is. Not only making them easier to find, but easier to work. Especially if you're dealing with a fast, active, arboreal elapid, having a lot of furniture in the exhibit can be risky. That being said, it does lead to a much less enriched environment with far fewer outlets for natural behavior
Splendid! Which species?
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
For direct work cleaning enclosures with snakes present, mostly North American pitvipers, with a few venomous colubrids (tentacled snake, Madagascar leaf-nosed snake) as well. For snakes removed prior to cleaning, mambas, cobras, bushmaster, jumping vipers - a diverse mix of almost everything that isn't an Australian elapid.
I understand that your facility is largely a venomous reptile collection. I'd be interested in hearing about how you strike a balance between natural, stimulating environments and managing handler safety.
I understand that your facility is largely a venomous reptile collection. I'd be interested in hearing about how you strike a balance between natural, stimulating environments and managing handler safety.