Its classic Colchester!!!!: Another monument to fakerock and poles!. But much as we might laugh, some of these exhibits do work for the animals- the Mangabey 'forest' is a good example though I think the outdoor Orangutan enclosure is just hideous.
To be fair, unless you have a very large area to play with, naturalistic enclosures are problematic with something as strong and destructive as a bear. (Or an Orang-Utan, for that matter).
Striking a happy balance between safety, stimulation, and display isn't always easy.
karenZOO
I see from facebook it now has a winter opening date!! Hope there is no more delays! :eek:[/QUOTE said:
No surprise there then, i know i've said it before, but this saga just goes on and on. When they said Easter, i predicted it wouldn't be Easter 2013! I find it crazy they've built several new enclosures in the two years since they started this, whilst the bears will remain in the old orang cage into a 4th year!
Like Orangs, or elephants, you dare build for bears on the cheap at your peril. For all three, if there's a way that they can escape, it will be found.
We visited the zoo at the weekend after not being able to get there for a while and I thought the whole zoo was looking great!
To be honest the fake rock etc does not bother me at all and I don't even notice it. I was saying to a friend who was visiting for first time in years that they have A LOT of fake rock and she said 'well aren't all zoos a bit fake, hardly able to recreate Africa in a cage'!
The bears seem more than happy in there temporary enclosure and seem to make full use of it whenever I see them but will be lovely for them to get some new stimulation and space!
Pertinax it is a shame they chose the church side to build the orang enclosure with hindsight it would have been best to wait and see if they could have had a reshuffle within the zoo and made space, following the loss of some animals. I would have loved to have it where the tigers are and with the restrictions put on planning with the church and having to sink it, the money spent could have built something spectacular
I would have loved to have it where the tigers are and with the restrictions put on planning with the church and having to sink it, the money spent could have built something spectacular
Yes its a great shame the Orangutan enclosure is sited where it is- the inside is fine but I hate the outside area, both the materials and the sunken aspect. The Tiger enclosure on the other hand is fine- spacious, good eyelevel viewing, quite naturalistic. For the Orangutans anything at eyelevel with lots and lots of poles and connecting ropes(more like a giant version of the Colobus in the African area?) would have been much preferable.
