Having looked at redpanda's other photos, I now understand the situation. It seems a sensible arrangement to use the enclosure for the young pumas during the day.
I remain unimpressed, to put it mildly, by these cat enclosures at "RSCC".
Pitifully small and with furnishing that looks as if they were created by some enthusiastic homeowner - "Oh... I just bought a puma, you know. Built a nice cage for it in my back garden and decorated it with some branches and stuff. Built it all by myself! Come and have a look, old chap!"
I am enjoying these conversations, as everyone seems to be rather intelligent with their responses and there haven't been any totally outrageous comments. Much of the discussion comes down to the fact that different individuals have different expectations in terms of what they wish to see in any zoological exhibit. I fully admit that the photo on this thread sheds new light on the exhibit, but like Dan I am still unimpressed. The cats inside the enclosure have 3 large grey walls to stare at, and then mesh covering the only openings. The bare necessities seem to be provided for, but I have seen many clouded leopard and cougar exhibits with far more vegetation, cascading streams and small pools, and all sorts of items that create an ENVIRONMENT rather than a CAGE setting. I'm just really disappointed that this exhibit is actually fairly new, when in reality it seems already outdated. But there are people that have visited RSCC and see nothing wrong with this enclosure, and that perplexes me to no end.
Maybe it comes with the visit? I wasn't too impressed by the pictures I saw, but when I visited it seemed a whole lot better... I don't know, maybe the idea of seeing all those unusual animals in one go? Plus, the owner has spent loads on interpretive stuff and that so the place seems really dedicated and the animals seem really well looked after.
the enclosure is okay but could be vastly improved. simple things could be done with out major developemtn like painting a mural on the walls, i know that doesn't do much for the animals but its better then the grey walls. i would get rid of the neeting on top and replace it with a tall cage so expanding the height of enclosure relatively cheaply, then add a tall dead tree/log for the cats to climb.
overall this enclosure culd be far better but theres far worse enclosures out their
