Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoos New Elephant Exhibit
- Thread starter ZYBen
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from what i have seen, i personally feel australias elephant exhibits arn't exactly outstanding....more so just acceptable. the facilities in terms of health and management of the animals are generally good or great, but thats offset by the small size.
i also have a personal distaste for any zoo that needs to keep elephants indoors for any extended period of time due to the climate.
my feelings - just in case ya didn't get it by now!!!!
i also have a personal distaste for any zoo that needs to keep elephants indoors for any extended period of time due to the climate.
my feelings - just in case ya didn't get it by now!!!!
good zoo elephant exhibits
having been to europe and seen quite a few zoos there, i can say that most zoos that dont have the facilities to keep them dont have them, as opposed to trying to maintain them in sub-standard exhibits. for this reason, edinburgh zoo and paris zoo are both 'elephantless', and so is the national zoo of the UK, the london zoo. romes zoo, too, is phasing them out in the future.
the zoos that do have them though, or the ones i visited, must be doing something right, as both whipsnade, with a 5 acre + exhibit and amsterdam zoo are breeding succesfully. these zoos underscore the importance of maintaining 'herds', which i think is more important than space, although obviously there is a standard of space all elephants need.
but as good as these exhibits are form the elephants perspecive, they arent perfect and also makes me question-what is the reason for having zoos? not elephants in zoos, weve had that debate, but what purpose do zoos serve???. neither whipsnade or amsterdam engage the visitor as melbourne's 'trail of the elephants' or taronga's 'wild asia' seem to do, in so far that there are educational outcomes from these exhibits that are valuable, ie
elephants are important
elephants are important to eco-systems
elephants have a place in asian culture
elephants live with other rainforest species, and they are all inter dependent...
this comes back to zoo pros comments about good and bad exhibits for all species. a good zoo exhibit for any animal would reflect its natural habitat, but what about the info being presented, etc...
its these key themes presented by australia's zoos which make me think our exhibits here, whilst not perfect, are at least doing their job at getting across conservation themes. of course, both australian zoos and european zoos boast portfolios of in-situ conservation projects, another aspect of 'zoo work' that could be better communicated, if only to 'legitimise' and reinforce the role of the modern zoo
having been to europe and seen quite a few zoos there, i can say that most zoos that dont have the facilities to keep them dont have them, as opposed to trying to maintain them in sub-standard exhibits. for this reason, edinburgh zoo and paris zoo are both 'elephantless', and so is the national zoo of the UK, the london zoo. romes zoo, too, is phasing them out in the future.
the zoos that do have them though, or the ones i visited, must be doing something right, as both whipsnade, with a 5 acre + exhibit and amsterdam zoo are breeding succesfully. these zoos underscore the importance of maintaining 'herds', which i think is more important than space, although obviously there is a standard of space all elephants need.
but as good as these exhibits are form the elephants perspecive, they arent perfect and also makes me question-what is the reason for having zoos? not elephants in zoos, weve had that debate, but what purpose do zoos serve???. neither whipsnade or amsterdam engage the visitor as melbourne's 'trail of the elephants' or taronga's 'wild asia' seem to do, in so far that there are educational outcomes from these exhibits that are valuable, ie
elephants are important
elephants are important to eco-systems
elephants have a place in asian culture
elephants live with other rainforest species, and they are all inter dependent...
this comes back to zoo pros comments about good and bad exhibits for all species. a good zoo exhibit for any animal would reflect its natural habitat, but what about the info being presented, etc...
its these key themes presented by australia's zoos which make me think our exhibits here, whilst not perfect, are at least doing their job at getting across conservation themes. of course, both australian zoos and european zoos boast portfolios of in-situ conservation projects, another aspect of 'zoo work' that could be better communicated, if only to 'legitimise' and reinforce the role of the modern zoo
really? i don't particuarly think our zoos stand out above other well-funded zoos of the world for education or gathering public support for conservation initiatives.
what zoos can do to improve in this department, the role of what exactily a zoo is today, where they are going and what they should be, is not a particuarly new topic to this forum..
...you should try and have a search through the old threads..
what zoos can do to improve in this department, the role of what exactily a zoo is today, where they are going and what they should be, is not a particuarly new topic to this forum..
...you should try and have a search through the old threads..
elephant at Anchorage Zoo
Zoo Elephant - Asian Elephants at the Zoological Gardens of the World refers .
If you look down the bottom of that site , there is a section which lists zoos that no longer have Asian elephants . They have also included Anchorage Zoo
Is there some new development that has happened ?
Or is Maggie an African elephant ?
Zoo Elephant - Asian Elephants at the Zoological Gardens of the World refers .
If you look down the bottom of that site , there is a section which lists zoos that no longer have Asian elephants . They have also included Anchorage Zoo
Is there some new development that has happened ?
Or is Maggie an African elephant ?
maybe you dont think that because you may be unaware of some aspects of these organisations work? its a possibilty that you dont know everything, and may be surprised occassionaly, like i am, to discover just how much conservation work our zoos do. take taronga's study on seal's whiskers. by analysing seal's whiskers at the zoo and comparing them to the marine mammals research centre findings, in antartctica, the taronga-led research team is investigating how global warming is affecting the antartctic food-chain.
i think the zoos do a good job on the budgets they have, even though at times they might waste money, or could do things better. at the end of the day, zoos could simply stop at putting animals on display. but they do more, and we all know that
i think the zoos do a good job on the budgets they have, even though at times they might waste money, or could do things better. at the end of the day, zoos could simply stop at putting animals on display. but they do more, and we all know that
Its incomplete too. They only list 7 elephants in Singapore. But we have 10. They got the age of the dominant bull wrong too.
my point exactly.
ok i misunderstood you... it thought the point you were making, which youve made before, is that you feel zoos dont do enough conservation work.
the point i was trying to make is that i feel they do quite alot of good work, well beyond captive breeding and reintroduction programs and funding partnerships in far-flung asian countries. but i also thinkthat they could better communicate this side of their work to the wider community, if only to make people more aware of the complex role that they are playing.
anyway, were both clear now, i think lol. perhpas they could start sending out guns with their in-situ conservation packages, for population management. :| zoo boy, that was a bad thing to say.
the point i was trying to make is that i feel they do quite alot of good work, well beyond captive breeding and reintroduction programs and funding partnerships in far-flung asian countries. but i also thinkthat they could better communicate this side of their work to the wider community, if only to make people more aware of the complex role that they are playing.
anyway, were both clear now, i think lol. perhpas they could start sending out guns with their in-situ conservation packages, for population management. :| zoo boy, that was a bad thing to say.