This is really ugly--what is the point of these basic corrals? I'm tired of hearing criticism of "multi-million dollar US zoo exhibits" as opposed to the "simple" approach to zoo building, which too often consists of this sort of embarrassing, meaningless enclosures.
with all do respect i don't think a zoo has to spend milions on a an exhibit for it to be good, and i am not sure you can say anything about it if you didnt see it for you own eyes.....cause i don't think it's the whole exhibit
No its not the whole enclosure. it was pretty basic but then so were all the enclosures. certainly didn't come across as a very wealthy zoo. They had some ammmals when I visited in 2004 but the giraffes were new.
I don't have a problem with the basic corral design (although a wooden one would look a bit less harsh, aesthetically), but what I DO have a problem with is the fact that the public can walk right up to the fence and feed the giraffes. Not just the feeding issue, but it is quite dangerous because if a giraffe is upset, they swing their heads at you and that's like being hit with a sledgehammer.
Quite agree, however the public were only allowed near the animals when supervised by a keeper, the 'feeding' area was roped off and you were only permitted through when you had paid and the keeper was there the whole time, didn't really thibnk it was any worse than Colchster where you could feed the eles & Giraffes, not sure if they still do that?
Although I have had sympathy for some of the (in my opinion) excessively critised zoo exhibits within these galleries, I have little here because the place obviously has/had some money that it could have spent much more on enclosures/aviaries if it had choosen to. The non animal bits all look well designed and well built at some expense; the entrance building, other gift/gallery buildings, restaurant, 360 seat indoor ampitheatre, large man made ponds and waterfalls home only really to a couple of black swans.
I am only just back from 12hr journey home from cyprus so will stop ranting and get some sleep. Will add thread,images soon, if any questions about bird and animal park will try and answer.
