Hotwire

[European Fauna]

I would love to hear the opinions of Zoochatters about the current trend for use of hotwire as a primary contention method in many new exhibits , especially for primates.I believe that a good debate on this would raise consciousness and show that this is a far less innocent method than it may appear.I can think of so many examples , but one of the worst does not even employ hotwire as a primary method , but rather to protect enclosure plantings.This is the outdoor gorilla area in Madrid Zoo (Casa de Campo) - there are various planted areas and their distribution results in any fast movements by the gorillas making accidental brushing of the hotwire far too easy.The upshot is that the gorillas seldom enter two-thirds of the outdoor area , and move with great care when in this area.They always seem to be checking their distance and avoid any fast play.Prolonged observation in many exhibits with hotwire has convinced me that many animals seem to be permanently stressed by needing to take it into consideration at all times.Such strands of wire would be utterly irrelevant to most animals if unelectrified ,so the animal must give them an unnatural attention which can be a chronic stressor.By the way, I have nothing against a couple of strands to top-off an enclosure , or to prevent climbing-out.What do you Zoochatters think?

 

[Meg-T]

I agree that the use of hotwire certainly seems to affect the behaviour of many species, and better methods could be employed. I also think it is unnecessary to use it to fence off areas of planting, if the animals are not supposed to utilise the plants they should not have been put there. I think hotwire does have its uses (like along the top of enclosures, etc.), but all to often is used to create a better 'atmosphere' for human visitors (to create fenceless immersion exhibits, for example), rather than to suit the animals or their welfare.

Saying that, I keep horses, and have used electric fencing for years, with no adverse effects on their behaviour. I know it is not quite the same as hotwire, or zoo species, but just highlighting that it could possibly be utilised in some situations.

 

[BlackRhino]

Well it is extremely necessary in gorilla exhibits. Without hot-wire trees would be destroyed and the gorillas would no longer have the canopy that is necessary in having a great gorilla exhibit.

 

[Dan]

I am with European Fauna on this issue. Not fond of hotwire at all and prefer to see it used as little as possible. IJust like EF I can stand "a couple of strands to top-off an enclosure" but when it is used as intensely as it evidently is in the gorilla exhibit in Madrid, it makes me sick!

 

[James27]

Well it is extremely necessary in gorilla exhibits. Without hot-wire trees would be destroyed and the gorillas would no longer have the canopy that is necessary in having a great gorilla exhibit.

Then use Howlett's design *hides from people who don't like cages*.
Hehe, nah I understand it's use on a couple of trees, but when you get an entire enclosure where every single plant and tree is protected then to me it's a waste of the animal's space.

 

[BlackRhino]

Hmmm, Howletts or Bronx's Congo Gorilla Forest? Tough decision

 

[Pertinax]

there are various planted areas and their distribution results in any fast movements by the gorillas making accidental brushing of the hotwire far too easy.The upshot is that the gorillas seldom enter two-thirds of the outdoor area , and move with great care when in this area.They always seem to be checking their distance and avoid any fast play.

That is such an accurate observation of how Gorillas would behave in such a situation that I believe 100% it must be causing a problem there. A case of taking hotwiring to an extreme where it is disadvantagous to the Gorillas. I have not come across this before but with the continuing trend toward such enclosures and the desire to proect growing vegetation, it is likely to happen more perhaps.

 

[reduakari]

That is such an accurate observation of how Gorillas would behave in such a situation that I believe 100% it must be causing a problem there. A case of taking hotwiring to an extreme where it is disadvantagous to the Gorillas. I have not come across this before but with the continuing trend toward such enclosures and the desire to proect growing vegetation, it is likely to happen more perhaps.

I can imagine this response in a situation where there were a lot of hotwired plants/areas in a relatively small space, but at large exhibits like Congo, Disney etc. gorillas very quickly learn what areas are "hot" and avoid them, but certainly don't cower in fear or actively avoid the protected areas. They often comfortably rest or play inches from the "offending" wire, and with plenty of other things to interact with (including constructed climbing trees and vines, unprotected live trees, shrubs and bamboo clumps) they have plenty to keep themselves busy and occupied. One of the favorite "games" I've seen is young animals reaching skillfully through the hotwires to snatch bits of vegetation growing on the inside--there's no fear--in a way it's just another challenging type of "puzzle feeder." The end result as pointed out earlier is that major trees are preserved (providing the much desired "canopy"), masses of low vegetation are allowed to flourish (creating for visitors a nice tropical ambiance and for gorillas the above-mentioned "puzzle feeders"), and some vegetation is available for eating or simply destroying by the gorillas, just as in nature. All in all a far more satisfying environment for all concerned (animals AND yes visitors) than any steel cage strewn with straw. But in both instances ("Howletts-style" or "naturalistic/immersion"), the most important element is the composition of the social group: gorillas create their own enrichment if kept in large, multi-generation families. And they certainly don't need extreme right-wing multi-millionaires "playing" in their cages with them to be happy.

Edit:

But to address the original question, I am amazed to see how many zoos in the UK seem to use electric wires as primary barrier to enclose primates. It may well be that for this to be effective, the voltage is set very high to really discourage animals from testing it more than once. This seems dangerous, because when power is interrupted or fails there is effectively no barrier containing these potentially dangerous animals, and the visual impression of all the exposed wires is very negative ("concentration camp" for monkeys...).

 

[James27]

Aren't the gorilla enclosures at Bronx only half an acre each? If so then there appears to be a hell of a lot of hotwire for such a large group of gorillas in that size area.

 

[James27]

And they certainly don't need extreme right-wing multi-millionaires "playing" in their cages with them to be happy.

You actually make a fair point and then you go and wreck it with this
I could argue that gorillas don't need a massive artificial woodland built by a large blood sucking corporation to be happy but I don't (Not meaning Bronx btw). And I don't agree, I don't think they're more satisfied in a vegetated exhibit. You just need to look at their activity levels to see... Oh wait, you've never seen the Howletts groups in person!

 

[BlackRhino]

Aren't the gorilla enclosures at Bronx only half an acre each? If so then there appears to be a hell of a lot of hotwire for such a large group of gorillas in that size area.

A half-acre is small for a gorilla exhibit? (And they are both a little larger than a half acre).

 

[James27]

There are a few in the UK that are an acre in size, I just can't imagine, what is it, 10 gorillas on an exhibit half the size of gorilla kingdom. I'm not saying it's small, I just think it would seem it with a lot of hotwire used.

 

[BlackRhino]

Well, the two elephant exhibits at MMZ are the same sizes as Congo's gorilla exhibits and they are pretty sprawling (look in the Miami Metrozoo photo-gallery). I'm just using that as reference for size since its extremely hard to see how large Congo's gorilla exhibits are. I can't imagine hot-wire affecting the exhibit space that much. Besides in Congo the gorillas have plenty of things to climb and other shrubs to destroy.

 

[Monty]

I have electric fences around my stock and have never had any negative effect from them, I even touch them accidentally myself occationaly.

I keep horses, and have used electric fencing for years, with no adverse effects on their behaviour. I know it is not quite the same as hotwire, or zoo species

What is the difference between an electric fence and a hotwire? My fences which are often one or two wires run between 4,000 and 8,000 volts. This varies between units and amount of fence electrified. I would like to see anybody touch my fences and tell me the voltage they were. I don't believe you could tell the difference as they doth give you a jolt and you will be more careful not to touch them next time which is what they are designed for.

 

[Zooplantman]

I would love to hear the opinions of Zoochatters about the current trend for use of hotwire as a primary contention method in many new exhibits , especially for primates.I believe that a good debate on this would raise consciousness and show that this is a far less innocent method than it may appear.I can think of so many examples , but one of the worst does not even employ hotwire as a primary method , but rather to protect enclosure plantings.This is the outdoor gorilla area in Madrid Zoo (Casa de Campo) - there are various planted areas and their distribution results in any fast movements by the gorillas making accidental brushing of the hotwire far too easy.The upshot is that the gorillas seldom enter two-thirds of the outdoor area , and move with great care when in this area.They always seem to be checking their distance and avoid any fast play.Prolonged observation in many exhibits with hotwire has convinced me that many animals seem to be permanently stressed by needing to take it into consideration at all times.Such strands of wire would be utterly irrelevant to most animals if unelectrified ,so the animal must give them an unnatural attention which can be a chronic stressor.By the way, I have nothing against a couple of strands to top-off an enclosure , or to prevent climbing-out.What do you Zoochatters think?

I have not seen the Madrid exhibit, but I would not jump to the conclusion that the behavior you describe is due to the hotwire. Perhaps it is. Perhaps it is due to another factor. After Bronx Zoo's Congo was opened, I mentored a graduate student studying the animals' use of the enclosures. It took months of observations, developing and testing theories, to arrive at an understanding of why the gorillas did or did not use a space. (and I heartily agree with @reduakari's statements from my years of experience at several institutions).