Arizona Docent

fossa exhibit

October 24-25, 2017
Having just seen this in person I am sorry to report there is a glaring design flaw that is not readily apparent in the photos. The entire exhibit is set about three feet too high in relation to the visitor walkway. If you look closely you will note that the bottom of the exhibit is about the same level as the top of the visitor railing. However only a small portion of the land area is also at this level where visitors can see the entire animal (I got exactly one photo of a pup up close before he scampered away). The main floor level is behind rocks that are at eye level to me - and I am over six feet tall. I can see the tops of their bodies on this main level but not their feet. Anyone who is short or in a wheelchair would have no view of them at all. They can only be seen clearly when they are on the cliff (which would put them at a distance) or on the small bottom level. The use of silver mesh (instead of black) also makes viewing difficult on sunny days (like the ones I visited on). If they had set the entire exhibit three feet lower (or the path three feet higher) it would be fine, but as it is it is almost useless from a visitor perspective. Considering the amount of money and expertise that is going into Africa Rocks, I find the whole thing maddening and confusing. The primate exhibits (that are open so far) do not suffer this same fate.
 
On a scale of easy to impossible, and assuming the consensus is that you are right about there being a viewing problem, how feasible would it be to raise the level of the visitor walkway?
 

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San Diego Zoo
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Arizona Docent
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Canon Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Aperture
ƒ/6.3
Focal length
24.0 mm
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1/60 second(s)
ISO
400
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Off, did not fire
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4T6A0698.JPG
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Date taken
Tue, 24 October 2017 4:51 PM
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