Are Asian zoos overtaking Europe and N America?

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I just read several recent threads and realized, that Asian zoos amassed some amazing wildlife and exhibits:
- Biggest aquarium: Dubai.
- Biggest diversity of sea mammals, including up to 8 species of seals in one zoo in Japan, African manatees in China, and multiple aquariums with dolphins, killer whales and belugas.
- Biggest aviaries and perhaps biggest bird collection - in Jurong, Singapore.
- Amazing primates, like breeding groups of proboscis monkeys and douc langurs in several zoos.
- Species not or rarely found elsewhere, like giant pandas, snub-nosed monkeys (well, maybe having unique animals because you don't want to share them is not a reason to praise), multiple birds-of-paradise, bairds tapirs etc.
- Night safari in Singapore is totally new concept not found elsewhere.

So, well, maybe relative economic growth of East Asia compared to stagnation/crisis in Europe and USA is beginning to show in zoo world?
 
I think Asia has a long, long way to go before it can seriously compete, if that is the right word, with the zoo 'superpowers'.

With a handfull of exceptions, Asian zoos are pretty miserable and even the better collections are often postage stamp facilities with mediocre enclosures at best.

There are some examples of good zoos like Zoorasia and Singapore but attitudes on the whole are very different and I think it will be some time before zoos like this are the norm in Asia.
 
I would not be so sure that your conclusion is right.

Given the economic buying power of the Asian giants, I would assume that in those countries with a larger middle class section zoos will improve quite quickly.

Also, the Asians on the whole are hard-working folks and they have a knack to copy and excel ... (after all your mobile, PC and TV and loads of other appliances are Asian in origin).

On another note: zoos in the "western world" will from 2010 on see a down turn (as peoples' incomes will be seriously affected and so will their leisure dollars).
 
I'd like to say that I agree with K.B.; Asia is at the moment a roaring giant, next to all news stories you hear about the recession are from countries on both sides of the Atlantic (i.e. the US and various European countries, such as mine of course) meanwhile you hardly hear a word about what the situation is like in Asia.

Of course the Eastern Asian countries went through a major recession in the mid-1990s so their economics may still have been on 'caution' stage while the entire western world was behaving as if there would be no tomorrow.

Despite the disturbing news and photos that sometimes come from the Chinese zoos, I have confidence in the Chinese, even if only because they have so much money that they need to spend it somehow. And with all the interest in animals (how many visitors is Beijing Zoo getting in a year? 10-20 million?) I think they'll soon start pouring it into the zoos, if they haven't started it already.
 
GDP per capita in China is less than 1/10 of that in my country of residence and around 1/10 of that in Australia or United States. Even if the crazy growth rates China have now continue (the Chinese government is trying to lower them because of risk of overheating) it will take many years before the per capita income can be compared to that in western Europe or United States. For more than a year western Europe (overall) and United States also experiance growth (not recession) but it is much slower than the Chinese and it is impossible to predict what will happen in the future. Will the high debt countries in southern Europe manage to pull it through? Will western Europe (overall) and USA experiance recession again when the stimulus packages stop? That depends on how much the wheeles have started turning and right now I don't know any serious economist that can answer those questions with any certainty.

Some of the things mentioned in the first post also has to do with easy supply of rare animals that in some cases follow channels that would be illegal or at least unpopular if known to the general public and it was in western Europe or USA. If you have top notch facilities but is happy to get animals through questionable sources it isn't a top zoo in my book. Other things like the proboscis monkeys and douc langurs at least in part depend on climate and that sort of advantages can be seen everywhere. They get the animals of humid tropical areas, we (depending on where exactly you live) get colder climate animals. I still haven't seen a polar bear exhibit in any humid tropical region that I would call successful. The example of Baird's tapir is good if only looking at Europe but almost all in captivity are in zoos in USA where not really a rarity:
https://app.isis.org/abstracts/Abs76875.asp#1.0

Purely guesswork: The metropolis city zoos in east Asia will become even better and their placement as some of the top zoos of the world will be even firmer. The rest (=most) will remain below average with change being very slow.
 
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I've been looking at the biggest aquarium in the world discussion before and been unable to come to any real conclusion of why Dubai sometimes is called the largest. Perhaps someone here can explain it?

Dubai Aquarium has 10 million litres of water. Source Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo The Dubai Mall

Ocean Voyager tank at Georgia Aquarium has 6.3 million gallons (=almost 24 million liters) of water. Source Georgia Aquarium | Explore The Aquarium | Ocean Voyager | Atlanta Sightseeing

Perhaps I'm just missing something?
 
I think it's important to add that it's not just about money; attitudes towards the display of animals are important to consider.

Japan had tonnes of money to throw around during the bubble era - as indeed it did - and despite having some incredible aquariums its zoos are on the whole mediocre at best with concrete and bars only recently being slowly replaced by more naturalistic enclosures in some collections.

Attitudes towards animals and their enrichment and welfare are far from progressive in almost all of the Asian countries - I include Japan, the most economically developed country in this.

There might be a handfull of impressive 'megazoos' like Singapore but many major zoos as well as regional and smaller collections will, I have no doubt, need to undergo a revolution in attitudes before they can be considered world leaders.
 
Jurek7 said:
I just read several recent threads and realized, that Asian zoos amassed some amazing wildlife and exhibits:
- Biggest aquarium: Dubai.
- Biggest diversity of sea mammals, including up to 8 species of seals in one zoo in Japan, African manatees in China, and multiple aquariums with dolphins, killer whales and belugas.
- Biggest aviaries and perhaps biggest bird collection - in Jurong, Singapore.
- Amazing primates, like breeding groups of proboscis monkeys and douc langurs in several zoos.
- Species not or rarely found elsewhere, like giant pandas, snub-nosed monkeys (well, maybe having unique animals because you don't want to share them is not a reason to praise), multiple birds-of-paradise, bairds tapirs etc.
- Night safari in Singapore is totally new concept not found elsewhere.

So, well, maybe relative economic growth of East Asia compared to stagnation/crisis in Europe and USA is beginning to show in zoo world?
Click to expand...

It is important not to equate biggest with the best. Obviously you could have the biggest diversity of animals but all in tiny cages (not syaing they are but simply pointing the flaw in your proposal).
 
Vulpes said:
where has the big collection of marine mammals?
Click to expand...
Toba Aquarium in Japan is the facility with eight species of pinniped.

And I agree with everything Shirokuma has said.
 
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