No investment equals closure. A 10 year old building is modern, a 20 year old one is just going around the corner, a 30 year old building is not done and outdated. Sound financial management and good investment is what is called for.
Hallo Kifaru. I agree that some zoo buildings are past their sell-by date. For example the Casson Pavillion created lots of problems for elephants and their keepers. Even some modern buildings have problems. For example, on a visit to Prague Zoo in 2009, I visited the recently-built South-east Asia building. One of the exhibits was very small and almost on the floor. I had great difficulties bending down to see and I expect that many elderly people would be unable to do so. Generally speaking, I think Prague Zoo is one of the best zoos I've visited, but this exhibit was a mistake. Unfortunately, many zoo buildings gain listed status, regardless of whether they benefit the animals, so zoos have to retain buildings that are much more than 30 years old. Dudley Zoo has had lots of problems with listed buildings. That is why I would prefer new exhbits to be pre-fabricated, where possible, so that enclosures can be divided or enlarged without needing planning permission.
I agree with your philosophy ..., but alas the punters want to see rhinos, elephants and the like ... and those have left the premises. Orangs were done away with simply because of their - perhaps undeservedly - lesser appeal and because there simply was no dosh to pay for sound animal management.
I agree that many punters want to see the ABC animals, perhaps because these are the animals they know most about. Animal books and TV programmes have incorporated more species over the years. For example, Nick Baker's 'Weird Creatures' has included hellbenders, tarsiers and pink fairy armadillos, while there was a programme about lorises a week ago. There's nothing wrong with trying to interest visitors in animals that they've never heard of before, rather than animals they expect to see in every zoo they visit. It's a case of having a balance and encouraging visitors to visit other zoos if they want to see certain species, rather than having zoos like high street chain stores, where you visit one branch in a town and it has the same merchandise as the branch several hours away.
When the zoo was threatened with closure, 20 years ago, the management decided to cut the number of species by about 33%. There were 3 species of great ape at the time (this was before orang-utans were split into 2 species), so one species would leave the zoo. As gorillas had bred well in the previous decade, the zoo decided to keep gorillas. Originally, it tried to disperse its chimps, but no zoos would take the group, so the orangs moved instead. I don't think this was anything to do with any lesser appeal of orangs - at least, the volunteers weren't told anything about this.
Closure was probably something the past government seemed to wish for given that they stopped any subsidy to the UK's premier zoo ..., yet it still remains an authorative institute in in situ and ex situ conservation.
I think you may be right. I've never really understood the justification for taxpayers subsidising tickets and building works at the Royal Opera House, when the Colisseum is a few minutes' walk away. One of the previous comments implies that MPs are more likely to visit the opera than the zoo, so there is a vested interest there. When the zoo was threatened with closure, several zoos around the world questioned why London Zoo didn't receive taxpayers' money and I agree with Kifaru that this was probably a political decision. Without going too much into politics, I notice that while the coalition government says there is no money for some things, there is always money for others. The extra £40 million for the opening display at the Olympics is a case in point - trying to pretend that the UK has money to waste, while some of us are in the middle of a 4 year pay freeze.
Perhaps ZSL should be asking for help with its conservation work around the world, rather than for expensive exhibits, especially if, as you say, they will be replaced in a few years time.
