I really enjoyed it - almost all the animals were very visible, the exhibits were (mostly) very well-sized (sometimes an issue when exhibits are so heavily-themed) and the theming was generally nicely done, with some good attention to detail.
The little niggling problems:
- the lawns - as discussed elsewhere, a golfing fairway does take the edge off a supposedly naturalistic exhibit
- The Rules - every zoo has rules, and indeed every zoo should have rules, but here The Rules were ever-present - the largest sign at the entrance to each indoor area related The Rules for that area, and two rather stern looking women in uniform (examples of what Hercule Poirot would call femmes formidables that we dubbed the Zoo Police) strolled the pathways enforcing The Rules without mercy. There was no food from outside to be brought in, for example, and they were opening bags to check. Just felt The Rules were a little too ever-present.
- the gorilla viewing area that was suddenly entirely unthemed - was this where the money ran out? Suddenly it's just flat concrete and metal-framed windows and it just looks like they haven't finished.
- one or two exhibits had rather limited viewing (the Common Hippos had very little non-underwater viewing, and the camel area was just bizarre!) but again, that's a factor of the layout they've chosen.
I think it can be summed up as - very nice, but I'm glad all zoos aren't like that. I think this type of zoo is much more enjoyable in moderation!
The looks very nice for uneducated visitors, but many enclosures are not at all equipped for the animal`s needs. The gorilla/monkey enclosure above is a good example - size is ok, but totally open with much too few climbing possibilities and useless fake rock (which I do not find good looking.... The animals can`t get away from each other nor the visitor`s eyes. Most monkeys and all apes are arboreal species and are very stressed when they have to sit in open space on mowed lawns!! The chimp encloure is even worse and the second gorilla enclosure is no better.
The enclosures for the large mammals - elephants and hippos - are very small if you consider that they have 10 elephants. This is not a good zoo if you take the living conditions for a lot of animals into account.
Looks nice, but I can see where some have a problem with the well manicured lawn. In my book though, this beats the concrete floors, so common in zoos worldwide 50 years ago, any day.
