The grass doesn't exist because they did not want to put irrigation in for grass. Elephants ruin grass and irrigation heads and also trees with protective metal around. In other climates with very successful elephants exhibit, they have the extra rain to combat the elephants trampling on top of it, and at the park they have more exhibit space. In EO, they would probably have to soak the ground each day to give the grass a chance.
In regards to the utilitrees, the vine on top of it is supposed to grow over the sides and hang down to cover the metal, but it is growing slower than usual. In my opinion, they aren't that bad and quite practical, and they will look better once (or if) the vine covers the side. If they weren't the only feature inside of the dusty exhibit, I don't think it would receive such bad rep.
It can either be extra additional exhibit space or an off exhibit pen. No matter what, the view is still conflicting and the blending of the landscape is abrupt as ever,
Oh my God, Wushi's huge! Wasn't it just days ago when he was romping around up in Polar Rim, coat still chocolate brown and horns almost non-existent?
Now look at him! More than 50% of his body's gone creamy yellow, he's got his horns coming in now and he's almost doubled in size! My beloved Wushi's grown up... I wish I could've seen him as a newborn in person.
It is my understanding that one of the reasons for creating it was to address one of the biggest complaint the zoo receives which is the the long boring line to see the pandas. The people in line will now have interesting animals and information to read.
Which brings up another point. Why did they build such a small exhibit for their star animal? At the time it was built (many years ago) it cost well over a million dollars, they had empty adjacent hillside they could have utilized, and they just stuck them in a small area with an equally small viewing cue so that people are forced (by the ever present staff person on the microphone) to keep moving. What if the panda is asleep when you walk by? Too bad - your tough luck.
Back to bashing EO, someone earlier on the thread said budget should not be a factor in rating an exhibit. Why not? Should a base model Nissan and a fully loaded Porsche be judged by the same standard?
Which brings up another point. Why did they build such a small exhibit for their star animal? At the time it was built (many years ago) it cost well over a million dollars, they had empty adjacent hillside they could have utilized, and they just stuck them in a small area with an equally small viewing cue so that people are forced (by the ever present staff person on the microphone) to keep moving. What if the panda is asleep when you walk by? Too bad - your tough luck.
Back to bashing EO, someone earlier on the thread said budget should not be a factor in rating an exhibit. Why not? Should a base model Nissan and a fully loaded Porsche be judged by the same standard?
If you are looking to buy a car, it would presumably be your money spent to pay for it.
We are not directly paying for the zoo exhibits.
I can understand saying an exhibit is disappointing based on how much it cost, but what matters is how good the exhibit is relative to other exhibits.
When we rate zoos, we don't consider the cost of the entire zoo do we? Would you put the #8 zoo above the #1 zoo because it cost significantly less to build?
Same with exhibits. Congo Gorilla Forest is generally considered one of the best exhibits and the best for the great apes, but I'm guessing it cost a lot more than a lot of other great ape exhibits. So would you put a much cheaper exhibit above CGF because the gap between the exhibits in quality does not justify the difference in cost?
So again, I can see saying something is disappointing based on cost or saying one exhibit or zoo is more efficient with their money, but the bottom line should be how good the exhibit or zoo is.
And of course, something that I have pointed out many times that some choose to ignore is that construction costs are a lot higher in certain parts of the country and an exhibit complex also will cost a lot more when the entire space has to be cleared of developed space. If you really want to make such a big deal of cost, at least properly take these things into consideration.
