My personal thoughts on the matter… kind of… but not really.
I think there is one thing that can be agreed upon - which is that animals of any kind require some amount of space for traversing. Innovative viewpoint, I am aware… and this goes also for reptiles.
But I feel one trap that animal keepers everywhere often fall into… is the trap of spectacle. In days gone by it was common to see elephants in zoos chained to one area so that in visitor hours they were always in clear view. This offers no benefit to the elephant whatsoever, as it has no opportunity to eat of its own accord, something that elephants spend much time doing, or to take care of its skin very well. Of course basically no collections, in developed nations anywho, would consider doing this. But yet, many people I think do a similar thing with reptiles. We can agree that a tortoise doesn’t need a great deal of vertical space; since tortoises don’t fly, and most species don’t fly very much. But some reptile keepers do keep reptiles in exhibits of one key purpose - public display. These reptiles don’t have enough room for an enriched life, to whatever degree they carry out that enrichment. The standard for those in most reptile houses is… slightly better methinks.
But I do think it takes more than space for fulfilment. You could keep a snow leopard or a manul in a grassy field… but it would be very boring for an animal that has evolved to live in rugged terrain. But even so a rugged exhibit with enough space for a snow leopard to do a lap around and not much else doesn’t cut it either, even if you fill this box to the brim with opportunities. I do feel that motion is a key element of such opportunities; so that animals can interact with them at their own pace.
One thing I think about is the possibility of changing terrain once in a while - sometimes zoos alter the branchiation opportunities of their monkey exhibits, for instance. I suppose for a desert living tortoise, of an environment where much is unmoving, where not much happens geographically speaking, this isn’t an issue of urgency. But for a snow leopard or manul, which lives in an environment where at least avalanches happen every once in a while, this could provide interesting opportunity.
I think another thing to draw ideas off is what falconries do often. Some falconries have moved past tethering birds at times when they are sedentary; building them proper aviaries. But even so they are still taken out for flying display, where in addition to showing visitors to the anatomical prowess of these birds, it also provides the birds with an opportunity to use their musculature in a proper manner. But even with this luxury some birds are a bit more sedentary than others - I recall there was one bird of prey centre I was aware with that had a female bald eagle. She used to be used in flying displays, but has grown a bit bitter since, and so she doesn’t go out to fly anymore, which she doesn’t seem particularly perturbed by. Obviously not something possible with every kind of animal, but I think some interesting ideas could be drawn from this.
I think in regards to grazing there are some ideas as to how this could be managed. Different antelope and hooves mammal have preference for different sort of grass, and even rewilding centrals in the UK seem to find this has interesting effects. One thing I think some zoo directors seem to forget is that nature doesn’t exist in a vacuum - and that by allowing several species to shape the habitat in their own manner could make for something truly interesting to behold; including how various species use the space in relation to each other.
I think there is one thing that can be agreed upon - which is that animals of any kind require some amount of space for traversing. Innovative viewpoint, I am aware… and this goes also for reptiles.
But I feel one trap that animal keepers everywhere often fall into… is the trap of spectacle. In days gone by it was common to see elephants in zoos chained to one area so that in visitor hours they were always in clear view. This offers no benefit to the elephant whatsoever, as it has no opportunity to eat of its own accord, something that elephants spend much time doing, or to take care of its skin very well. Of course basically no collections, in developed nations anywho, would consider doing this. But yet, many people I think do a similar thing with reptiles. We can agree that a tortoise doesn’t need a great deal of vertical space; since tortoises don’t fly, and most species don’t fly very much. But some reptile keepers do keep reptiles in exhibits of one key purpose - public display. These reptiles don’t have enough room for an enriched life, to whatever degree they carry out that enrichment. The standard for those in most reptile houses is… slightly better methinks.
But I do think it takes more than space for fulfilment. You could keep a snow leopard or a manul in a grassy field… but it would be very boring for an animal that has evolved to live in rugged terrain. But even so a rugged exhibit with enough space for a snow leopard to do a lap around and not much else doesn’t cut it either, even if you fill this box to the brim with opportunities. I do feel that motion is a key element of such opportunities; so that animals can interact with them at their own pace.
One thing I think about is the possibility of changing terrain once in a while - sometimes zoos alter the branchiation opportunities of their monkey exhibits, for instance. I suppose for a desert living tortoise, of an environment where much is unmoving, where not much happens geographically speaking, this isn’t an issue of urgency. But for a snow leopard or manul, which lives in an environment where at least avalanches happen every once in a while, this could provide interesting opportunity.
I think another thing to draw ideas off is what falconries do often. Some falconries have moved past tethering birds at times when they are sedentary; building them proper aviaries. But even so they are still taken out for flying display, where in addition to showing visitors to the anatomical prowess of these birds, it also provides the birds with an opportunity to use their musculature in a proper manner. But even with this luxury some birds are a bit more sedentary than others - I recall there was one bird of prey centre I was aware with that had a female bald eagle. She used to be used in flying displays, but has grown a bit bitter since, and so she doesn’t go out to fly anymore, which she doesn’t seem particularly perturbed by. Obviously not something possible with every kind of animal, but I think some interesting ideas could be drawn from this.
I think in regards to grazing there are some ideas as to how this could be managed. Different antelope and hooves mammal have preference for different sort of grass, and even rewilding centrals in the UK seem to find this has interesting effects. One thing I think some zoo directors seem to forget is that nature doesn’t exist in a vacuum - and that by allowing several species to shape the habitat in their own manner could make for something truly interesting to behold; including how various species use the space in relation to each other.