The indoor exhibit for lions in the Jungletent in Munich Zoo. Quite a nice and light exhibit. The exhibit is here split in two during feeding time. One section for the male and one for the two females.
July 2007
@Toddy: Trust me, Zebraduiker's heart is in the right place when it comes to zoos. Similar to me, however, due to having experienced his share of zoos worldwide both before and behind the scenes, he favours a more realistic approach torwards zoos.
The exhibit here is indeed not optimal; it has various flaws besides the ones mentioned (f.e. heating up in the summer). I have personally stood in this very exhibit (without any [awake] lions, of course) and it is indeed rather tiny, even for a human. The outer exhibit isn't any better; they miscalculated the size of the water moat and had to increase it on short time notice, resulting in a huge water moat and far less usable space for the lions. Housing lions in a "Jungle Tent" isn't of great educational value, either...BTW: the plants are real.
EDIT: You can see some pics of the outdoor lion exhibit in this gallery.
I never said that the outdoor exhibit was any good. I think that they should put a high glass wall around it, and then dry and fill the moat to make it part of the exhibit. Possibly just give the lions a whole new exhibit...
The most interesting thing about this exhibit is the cable-net roof, for humans at least. Not sure if the lions appreciate the innovative use of ETFE cladding
