Reaseheath as an agricultural college is undergoing a period of regneration (of which the animal unit is included).
The entire animal section is subsequently going through phases of redevelopment. The first phase was the development of the paddock areas (check zoogiraffes picture of the Tapir enclosure - it is far better than the RSCC's barren bog). The second phase was the construction of classrooms and a dog-grooming centre. Another phase involved further development of the paddocks to include more species and provide better enclosures for some of the animals. One of the next phases is the construction of an exotics and small mammal building and based on the last time i saw the plan, a new meerkat exhibit for this small group is planned. The college has not been able to devote the vast majority of it's budget to the animal section (like a zoo would) because some of the total budget has to go to the other areas (like farming and equine), so it is a staggered build involving less money than a zoo is able to spend (There is also no regular revenue from gate receipts to use either).
and why are aesthetics so important in a place whose sole aim to is to train people for a career in an animal industry (and not neccesarily a zoo-based one)? You and snowleopard have said before that it is important for the public to understand an animal's environment by the zoo exhibting it in a replication of it's environment (to an extent I agree with this) however, in Reaseheath's case, there is no public to "educate" so therefore it does not have to spend a large amount of it's budget on mock-rock or realistic exhibit boundaries when artificial substitutes function just as well.
Funny i might have guessed which people on here would have a go at this picture,but then i`ve visited the place and have seen at first hand how good condition the animals are in,although aesthetics are important to me the condition of the animals is far more important than how good the exhibit looks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I was studying there 2 years ago, we were given the task of "sprucing" up the enclosures when there was going to be an important visit. I assume it will still be the case now and the newer exhibits look 'tidier' than this one anyway.
