Miserable Zoo Animals?

Looks like a combination of Koln and Berlin. I'm glad to read Mr Zakharov's pointing out that he is not intending to be critical of zoos - and certainly the animals don't look 'miserable' to me (whatever that might mean).

The Daily Mail has a place in heaven due to its campaigning for justice for the killers of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered just over 20 years ago, but in al other respects it is a vile and tawdry rag in which this sort of sensationalist misrepresentation is only to be expected!
 
The "bear" in the third to last photo looks like a tree kangaroo to me.

Where is the elephant exhibit in the last photo? Is that the Berlin Tierpark?

Also, why is this guy considered an artist for taking normal pictures of zoo exhibits?
 
The assertion of "glumness" seems odd. Most of these faces appear to me at rest, one could call that serene (although that is as much projection as calling them glum).
I wonder if the Artist has taken photos of ecstatic or euphoric animals? Giddy? Homicidal? Pensive?
 
DavidBrown said:
Where is the elephant exhibit in the last photo? Is that the Berlin Tierpark?

Also, why is this guy considered an artist for taking normal pictures of zoo
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No, the elephants are definitely not from Berlin.
If in Germany, I wonder Frankfurt, because of the skyscrapers? Never have been there, I must admit.
Good question about the quality of the pictures. In German forums I have seen much better, but equally disturbing.
 
The elephants shown are in Köln, the same as the Przewalski's horse. I must say I am uncomfortable with this as so often in zoos visitors see a naturally solitary animal and say 'oh he's so lonely' - animals are always 'he' by the way - or 'he looks sad' even though they don't express feelings through the same facial expressions as we do. Orang utans are a great example of this.
 
Zooplantman said:
The assertion of "glumness" seems odd.
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I do understand your reaction. Don't you think, it makes a difference having been in front of the enclosure while taking the picture? There is much more information about what you have seen than you could ever convey by a photo, not to talk about the atmosphere.
 
In my book this is bad photography. The first gorilla and the P's horses are strong images (although I'm not sure about the colour palette in the horse photo). The rest look lazy to me; I see no comprehension or compassion in any of them - not even any respect for the animals. The comment that zoo animals have 'lost the memory of their ancestral breeding grounds' is just dumb.


Alan
 
Taisha said:
And I agree with Mr. Zakharov!
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Taisha, why are you on ZooChat? No offence but I don't think I've seen you post many (if any at all) positive comments regarding zoos... :confused:

And I agree with DavidBrown, the bear does look awfully similar to a tree kangaroo. ;)

Last point, I find this article ridiculous. The animals appear healthy and normal. It's not like there are any full on distressing pictures. This is just anthropomorphic personification at its worst.
 
David Brown - it is definitely a tree kangaroo.

I agree with everyone, it's silly to think that the animals are glum because of the their expression - does that mean we are glum when we're not smiling?

And how can your tell the giraffe, or the lion, are glum when they are looking the other way? And that last photo of the seal's backside tells me nothing.

Finally - hippos always look to me to be smiling.
 
Humans seem to believe that they can assign emotions and feelings to animals. It would be much easier to determine that animals are "unhappy" or "glum" or "bored" by looking at their physical condition. Is their coat in good shape? Do they appear to be thin or obese? Do they exhibit signs of poor nutrition? Do they seem to be constantly sitting staying in one spot, hiding, pacing, etc.? We cannot read the minds of animals. The tree kangaroo looked quite comfortable with the keeper in the enclosure. Animals are not humans and we need to not project our feelings onto them.
 
Zooplantman said:
I wonder if the Artist has taken photos of ecstatic or euphoric animals? Giddy? Homicidal? Pensive?
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Literally laughed out loud!

I think there is a book here for the right photographer.
 
Brum said:
Taisha, why are you on ZooChat? No offence but I don't think I've seen you post many (if any at all) positive comments regarding zoos... :confused:
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@ Brum

You are right in one point, you may not have seen me to post positive comments on the Berlin institutions. In this respect I am far from being the only one in Berlin, but the only one on ZooChat.
The curse of pictures is, that they never tell you the whole story.
And the curse of ZooChat is, that following my experience here, you should better refrain from telling it.
In Germany I like quite a lot of zoos, like Eberswalde (near Berlin), Leipzig Rheine, Rostock, Hamburg, and more.
But as with the News, humans, -and I am no exception, seem to be more compelled to comment on things they don't like, or would like to be changed, with the exception perhaps, of fans for hunting, meat or alcoholic beverages during zoo visits on ZooChat.
 
sooty mangabey said:
Looks like a combination of Koln and Berlin. I'm glad to read Mr Zakharov's pointing out that he is not intending to be critical of zoos - and certainly the animals don't look 'miserable' to me (whatever that might mean).

The Daily Mail has a place in heaven due to its campaigning for justice for the killers of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered just over 20 years ago, but in al other respects it is a vile and tawdry rag in which this sort of sensationalist misrepresentation is only to be expected!
Click to expand...

It's also a newspaper which publishes this article and then a couple of years ago one like this Chimpanzee bottle feeds tiger cubs at zoo in Bangkok, Thailand | Mail Online says all you need to know about the Daily Mail...
 
Both of these articles are astonishingly ridiculous, even idiotic! Excellence in reporting at its best!
 
The 'bear' is definately a tree Kangaroo.;)

I think the photos are meant to be evocative, portraying a quiet, forlorn feel in the exhibits. It does achieve that in some of them and I've seen similar exhibitions of such 'artistic' photos before- its nothing new.

The outdoor Gorilla enclosure is Koln- its a very good one, plenty of vegetation and the covered roof all around the edge for security. Not sure where the indoor Gorilla is- not Koln I don't think.

I have a feeling the captions may have been provided by someone else rather than the photographer?
 
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