I did say that but if it is we cant complain,I have never been to the park so i do not know. It could be that it was underneath one of the bushes in the enclosure?,Or it was being kept in for some reason?
Aimals are not just happy in naturalstic enclosures.
Like Jimmy said, what defines naturalistic, and how do we know the animals are happier in an artificial rainforest than they would be in a cage with loads of climbing poles and deep litter straw? I think this is the aesthetics debate again really. I'd go to Howletts over most other zoos any day
This in my eyes is what this is all about - what does define Naturalistic afterall?
I do agree it could do with more climbing pools and vegitation.
And i agree again i would much rather go to Howletts than any of the american zoos mentioned by SnowLeopard.
I looked at snowleopard's photos with great interest. As I said before it's hard to judge an enclosure's size from a photo, particularly when the photo was taken with a wideangle lens (as all these were).
Atlanta's enclosure is hideous - a lunar landscape with a pool, a few dead branches, some herbs and random arrangement of bamboo canes (which look fake - I've never seen that growth habit in any bamboo species). No real climbing opportunities (unless the branches are thicker than they look) so I presume the cat hides in the foliage. Unfair criticism? I'm sure it is, but that's what I see. I'm just trying to show how easy it is to criticise an enclosure from a photo and to show how aesthetics are always matters of opinion. To be fair, I'd say that the San Diego enclosure looks outstanding - but I have the same caveats about that judgement as about any other. I hope to have the chance to see these enclosures for myself one day so that I can make a better judgement.
Clouded leopards are very strange and sensitive creatures. Many years ago Dublin zoo found that their females would only rear their cubs successfully if they were moved into bare cages in the zoo hospital before giving birth. I think that their basic requirements may be quite simple, so that all of these enclosures are suitable (yes that means the RSCC one too). The siting of the enclosures, diet and, above all, the quality of care from their keepers may well be far more important.
There is so much 'chaff' in the forums (whats your best animals/ exhibits/ zoos; how I want my zoo to be/ I know more about my zoo than thou) that I had pretty much given up looking BUT it is the photos that really bring this site alive.
As has been said, we all rely on these to get a view of zoos we have not/ cannot easily visit and all members who post photos of their visits are to be commended.
I know most has now been said regarding this enclosure (on both sides) and I have not yet visited this collection but for what its worth, I think it looks a bit like a seaside flower bed (thinking Torquay) with a cage around it....has someone weeded the soil recently??
Its just incredibly uninspiring. I have no doubt that the animals are well cared for and could live with the size (roughly simliar to other enclosures for clouded leopard) but come on.....would it cost much more to fill it out a bit and do the walls really need to be prison-grey?
Lol I've never heard of it referred to as a flower bed before, but thanks for reasoning as opposed to saying it's just bad
Although I always thought the walls were green, but that's irrelevant and I'm colourblind lol.
As someone who has been to both san diego zoo and the rscc within the last year I can say that the rscc is bigger. People really do need to get their facts straight before posting such opinionated comments.
It most certainly is not the same size as Howletts. It may cover the same ground space but the most important thing for Cloudies is use of the vertical space (as they are arboreal cats) and the upright rounds in the Howletts enclosure are 20 ft high. Cloudies also need plenty of cover and outdoor nest boxes, I'm not debating naturalistic vs enrichment as that has been done to death, and I know how much hotwire goes in to a "naturalistic" enclosure to keep it that way... But, for Clouded leopards this particular enclosure is unsuitbale purely only because it isn't high enough and needs hiding places, presumably the RSCC don't want to breed the Cloudies they bought from Santago?!
Obviousley, he has an off-exhibit sleeping box, which is not exactly the same like hiding places in the exhibit. The lack of hiding places in the outdoor cage may well cause him to spend most of his time in the sleeping box.
