I couldn't agree more. As someone who values aesthetics when it comes to zoo design I find many photos of Colchester Zoo rather interesting. How else can one immerse the public into the exotic world of rare and endangered animals? Anyone can showcase lions on cement or baboons on wooden poles and it is a surprise with all of Colchester Zoo's newfound wealth in the past 20 years that the zoo continues to create functional exhibits that could probably be erected in a farmer's backyard. Still, the zoo has more mammal species than just about any other in the United Kingdom and it also has a great history book out as well.
Reminds me of Twycross primate enclosures withh childrens plastic toys on the floor ! I have not visited Twycross recently so am not certain if they still do this .
The very wet winter hasn't helped the look of this but more ledges or shelves rather than just poles would be more suitable for highland Geledas, for me any way.
I can't put my finger on why the exhibits at Colchester look less than impressive, but they never have been top notch compared to some zoo's, but they have a good mix of animals and it works for most people so they are getting something right. And on my last visit it was much improved in lots of ways from my visits of a few years ago.
The very wet winter hasn't helped the look of this but more ledges or shelves rather than just poles would be more suitable for highland Geledas, for me any way.
Being mainly ground-dwelling grass/seed eaters this enclosure isn't really suitable (aethsetically) for Geladas at all. Some large rock piles for climbing/resting would be more suitable and natural than all the wooden construction. But over and above that they really need a big field as at e.g. Edinburgh or Howletts if their natural foraging behaviour isn't going to turn it into a bare/mud patch as here.
One of Colchester's main problems is they have(or had) a very large collection in a very confined space. The newer extension/developments have alleviated that to an extent, but is probably the reason for the use of a lot of the concrete and fake rock in some enclosures. As I've said before- if they can't give the Geladas are larger grassy enclosure, they'd almost look better in a concrete/fake rock one, than they do here- this represents the worst of both possibilities.
Being mainly ground-dwelling grass/seed eaters this enclosure isn't really suitable (aethsetically) for Geladas at all. Some large rock piles for climbing/resting would be more suitable and natural than all the wooden construction. But over and above that they really need a big field as at e.g. Edinburgh or Howletts if their natural foraging behaviour isn't going to turn it into a bare/mud patch as here.
One of Colchester's main problems is they have(or had) a very large collection in a very confined space. The newer extension/developments have alleviated that to an extent, but is probably the reason for the use of a lot of the concrete and fake rock in some enclosures. As I've said before- if they can't give the Geladas are larger grassy enclosure, they'd almost look better in a concrete/fake rock one, than they do here- this represents the worst of both possibilities.
I don't think this enclosure is great by any means, but they have been very successful breeding Gelada. If they had a mock rock enclosure, the zoo would probably take even more of a hammering!
I personally would prefer to see a zoo with plenty of animals in acceptable enclosures rather than a handful of species in multi-million pound ones!(no need to name any particular zoo!)
