Compare this photo to the RSCC sun bear enclosure in England, which is a sand pit with thick black bars and ugly wire around much of the cage. I've uploaded loads of photos of this outstanding, award-winning grizzly bear exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo, and my theory is that if a zoo cannot create a spacious, naturalistic environment then it simply shouldn't bother at all. Encapsulating nature is what the best zoos do, and the worst ones put their animals behind bars and wire fences. Instead of immersing the public, the worst zoos simply have animals in cages.
and my theory is that if a zoo cannot create a spacious, naturalistic environment then it simply shouldn't bother at all. Encapsulating nature is what the best zoos do, and the worst ones put their animals behind bars and wire fences. Instead of immersing the public, the worst zoos simply have animals in cages.
That view is a little elitist. And you're making a broad generalisation about facilities based upon how an enclosure is constructed, and is unfair to many smaller facilities.
Twenty years ago most zoos (including most in the USA) were all bars and wire. Knocking down enclosures and building better ones takes a lot of money and time, plus a lot more time if you want to do most of the enclosures in a zoo. Smaller facilities don't have the resources to fund enormous enclosures.
In the last few years there has been a lot of construction at Taronga Zoo, building bigger and better enclosures (GSO, B2B, Elephant/Asia Precinct, Bull Elephant Facility), but many people complain about all the construction going on.
The statement that "the worst ones put their animals behind bars and wire fences" is correct, but should not be taken to mean that if animals are kept behind bars and fences then that zoo nis in the 'worst zoos' category. Some can encapsulate nature very well behind bars & fences.
Don't think I am defending any particular zoo or fauna park (like RSCC mentioned); I am merely suggesting that Snowleopard's assertion is not quite so black-and-white - there are a lot of grey areas.
