Australia Adventure

snowleopard · 21 Aug 2012

July 7th, 2012. This excellent zone opened in 2011 and it was a real treat as the theming is impeccable for a small zoo. Usually these areas contain the obligatory wallaby paddock with a couple of emus behind fences, but Blank Park went all out with their thematic design. Large wooden gates greet visitors at the entrance, and the walk-through area is well-shaded and contains a large pool. Bennett’s wallabies, black swans and emus are surprisingly all in the same area as their human counterparts, and at the entrance is a small aviary with these 3 species: rainbow lorikeet, red lory and eastern rosella. Along the short pathway are Aboriginal artwork, didgeridoos and various Aussie signs before Bundarra Station greets visitors with its authentic outback appearance. This train station has an indoor/outdoor kookaburra exhibit, a walk-through budgie/parakeet encounter and numerous Australian facts listed on the walls.

DavidBrown · 21 Aug 2012

I'm curious what our Australian ZooChat friends think of attempts to replicate parts of their country in American zoos. Do these exhibits look ridiculous to them? Cool? Indifferent? Are there any past discussion threads on this subject?

Chlidonias · 21 Aug 2012

DavidBrown said:
I'm curious what our Australian ZooChat friends think of attempts to replicate parts of their country in American zoos. Do these exhibits look ridiculous to them? Cool? Indifferent? Are there any past discussion threads on this subject?

there are various photos with comments but I can't recollect any proper threads specifically on the subject (regarding Australia in particular). I think most Australians probably "appreciate" it in a way, because it's not like Hindu temples with elephants inside, or the ridiculous Egyptian thing for giraffes that I saw recently in one photo from America (I can't remember the zoo), and in lots of Australian zoos you get the same sort of "Australian" theming because it is sort of aimed at the visiting tourists.

The main thing that gets on my wick with overseas zoos doing Australian exhibits is that they almost always include non-Australian animals (quite often kea; in the case of the above photo snowleopard mentions red lories).

Another thing often commented upon is how "Australian" exhibits usually have features like red sand (a desert theme for even woodland species like Bennett's wallabies), water towers, wrecked cars, etc, and so they can end up looking quite ridiculous from an Australian perspective. If they are done well though, then they can look great.

BeardsleyZooFan · 21 Aug 2012

Chlidonias said:
or the ridiculous Egyptian thing for giraffes that I saw recently in one photo from America (I can't remember the zoo)

You mean this?
http://www.zoochat.com/562/reticulated-giraffe-280455/

Chlidonias · 21 Aug 2012

yes, that is indeed the monstrosity I meant

Ituri · 29 Aug 2012

Chlidonias said:
The main thing that gets on my wick with overseas zoos doing Australian exhibits is that they almost always include non-Australian animals (quite often kea; in the case of the above photo snowleopard mentions red lories).

This usually bothers me too, but it bothers me less when they jump the Torres Strait and include animals native to New Guinea, because most of them have close relatives living in Queensland that are otherwise not available (example, Matschie's tree-kangaroo)

It does seem rather difficult to stock an exhibit with purely Australian animals, and I think many people tend to think of that entire part of the globe as a singular place.

Chlidonias said:
Another thing often commented upon is how "Australian" exhibits usually have features like red sand (a desert theme for even woodland species like Bennett's wallabies), water towers, wrecked cars, etc, and so they can end up looking quite ridiculous from an Australian perspective. If they are done well though, then they can look great.

This also stems, I think, from the popular perception of Australia as a singular place. Most Americans think of all of Australia appearing as the desert surrounding Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock), not realizing the variety of different habitats present on the continent.

I have yet to see an Australian exhibit in the United States that meets my expectations for biogeographical literacy.

reduakari · 30 Aug 2012

Ituri;589458 I have yet to see an Australian exhibit in the United States that meets my expectations for biogeographical literacy.[/QUOTE said:
Don't hold your breath--although I've heard the National Aquarium in Baltimore went through a lot of internal debate about whether the "purity" of the Northern Australian concept of their big new addition would be lost with the addition of crowd-pleasing (but geographically-inappropriate) koalas. In this case, geographic authenticity won over marketing. Was this the right call? Given the fairly tepid public response to the $40+ million addition featuring zero charismatic critters, one does have to wonder.....

Australia Adventure

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