I'm really not sure how I feel about this. This was one of the greatest Snow Leopard enclosures in the world and though they seem to have done a very good job at terraforming it so that lions and tigers would look a bit less out-of-place, the steep rock faces are still excellent for snowies and it's weird that for long periods they won't have access to them due to being in other enclosures. I also suspect that those rock ledges could perhaps be inconvenient for the tigers and lions.
@Kalaw I was just at Point Defiance Zoo (USA) this past weekend and even though the exhibits in the Asian Forest Sanctuary are not anything like the quality on display at Panthera, there's still a lot of joy walking up to an enclosure and not knowing whether one will see a Sumatran Tiger, Malayan Tapir, Lowland Anoa, Small-clawed Otter, White-cheeked Gibbon or Siamang. The species are rotated through the different environments, and they are rewarded with new smells and sights, and I can't help but feel that it's beneficial to both the inhabitants and visitors. Hopefully this revamped complex in Zurich will be great for the animals.
@Kalaw
I second this sentiment. Although I generally think this development has been overwhelmingly positive for both visitors and big cats, I think one can clearly see that certain habitats were designed with only one of the three inhabitants in mind. The cats are sometimes in enclosures that simply don’t meet the specific species’ requirements as well as other enclosures in the complex do.
@Kalaw@Cichlid
I agree with @snowleopard and would just like to add that all three cat species are good climbers. Especially for lions rocks are a frequently used part of their habitat in the wild (for example Kopjes).
Wooden elements such as boards or fallen tree trunks can also be found in many snow leopard enclosures.
I suppose it's a subjective opinion as to which setup someone prefers, but I trust Zurich with their decision as the zoo is clearly one of the best in the world, and each cat species literally has triple the space it would normally have otherwise.
