Alpaca and Somali blackhead sheep paddock, 2021-06-12

A rather uninspired choice

@nczoofan Maybe indeed a choice of convenience given the availability of the alpacas at Planckendael, but I still think the alpacas are a nice reference to the former use of the entire area including this paddock and the current lion exhibit, which used to be an area housing several kinds of domestic ungulates, as well as tying into the mountain theme of this zone.

That said, I personally do hope the alpacas and sheep aren't going to be the final inhabitants for this area. However, the limited paddock and stable space make it difficult to find a suitable wild species for this area. The only real option would have to be a smaller cold-tolerant ungulate, and I don't think the outer walls would allow for climbing species without reconstruction. So that limits your options rather greatly.

@KevinB Is this a photograph? It looks like a computer rendering.

@Arizona Docent Definitely a photograph. I really don't get where you get the rendering part to be honest.

All I did to the original was brighten it up a little bit, not something I otherwise don't do.

Ok, thanks. I guess it's just the effect of using an ultra-wide angle lens (I looked at the info just now and you were at 14mm).

@Arizona Docent I have a 14-150 mm and a 70-300 mm lens, so I was shooting at the very minimum here, as I tend to do with large(r) exhibits.

I can see what @Arizona Docent means. When I saw the thumbnail, I thought it looked like a scale model.

Maybe the lack of shadows makes it look like the animals and plants are superimposed on to the image.

And thanks @KevinB for the photos. Always happy to see new images of Antwerp Zoo.

@PAT That could be the case. The lack of shadows is probably because the image was taken under a sky that was mostly, if not entirely grey and overcast for most of that day. I still don't see the rendering or scale model thing to be honest, but perhaps that is because I was there, took the photo and know Antwerp as well as I do.

Thank you for your appreciation of the photos. I have some more to come from the 06/12 visit, and I also visited again on 07/17 and I will try to post those photos as soon as possible also.

For me, also, it definitely looks like a model. I think it's because of that rear wall which looks like a bad plastic mold - the sort of thing you get on the back of home-terrarium walls - and so it gives the image a miniature diorama feel.

@Chlidonias I still don't get it why people think this looks like a model, I just don't see it. And as anyone who has visited Antwerp can testify, this is definitely the real exhibit and what it looks like.

Maybe I did something wrong with the image either when taking it or when processing it. If that is the case I really need to know. Until I can figure this out maybe I should consider halting my photo processing and gallery posting.