I have yet to see a nice exhibit for ...

RonBurrgundy · 13 Apr 2023

I have never seen an exceptionally good enclosure for Tayras (in person or on Zoochat) that I can remember. Usually these are aviary-like cages and are not particularly large, which does not mean that the animals are housed inadequate in terms of their needs. However, I yet have to see a spacious, pleasent looking enclosure (similar to the Yellow-throated artens in Nürnberg (Uploaded By: Maguari)).

snowleopard · 13 Apr 2023

RonBurrgundy said:
I have never seen an exceptionally good enclosure for Tayras (in person or on Zoochat) that I can remember. Usually these are aviary-like cages and are not particularly large, which does not mean that the animals are housed inadequate in terms of their needs. However, I yet have to see a spacious, pleasent looking enclosure (similar to the Yellow-throated artens in Nürnberg (Uploaded By: Maguari)).

I would agree with your comments and I've seen Tayra in some horrible little cages. Perhaps the best Tayra exhibit that I've come across would be at the fairly new South American House at Germany's Zoo Neuwied. The outdoor enclosure is long and narrow, and the indoor area is impressive:

Here are two photos I took in 2019:

iluvwhales · 14 Apr 2023

I think petting zoos/children's zoos seem to be consistently "not looking the best for welfare or naturalness"s. Obviously, farms are not natural environemts by themselves. What I mean is more "kiddyfying" and less cool facts about goats, horses, chickens, etc. in favor of dirt and straw on the ground, barns or lean-tos, and platforms for the goats. Surely somewhere in one of the many zoos on Earth I have yet to visit is a farm animal exhibit that gives dignity and makes reference to the actual lives of farms animals in nature, not just their use in agriculture or "pellets for 25 cents." If nithing else, it's all the same farmy kiddy theme.

TinoPup · 14 Apr 2023

iluvwhales said:
I think petting zoos/children's zoos seem to be consistently "not looking the best for welfare or naturalness"s. Obviously, farms are not natural environemts by themselves. What I mean is more "kiddyfying" and less cool facts about goats, horses, chickens, etc. in favor of dirt and straw on the ground, barns or lean-tos, and platforms for the goats. Surely somewhere in one of the many zoos on Earth I have yet to visit is a farm animal exhibit that gives dignity and makes reference to the actual lives of farms animals in nature, not just their use in agriculture or "pellets for 25 cents." If nithing else, it's all the same farmy kiddy theme.

.... farm animals in nature? Farm animals don't live in nature. They've been domestic for thousands of years.

tigris115 · 14 Apr 2023

You can still make something unique and creative with farmyard animals.

RonBurrgundy · 14 Apr 2023

snowleopard said:
I would agree with your comments and I've seen Tayra in some horrible little cages. Perhaps the best Tayra exhibit that I've come across would be at the fairly new South American House at Germany's Zoo Neuwied. The outdoor enclosure is long and narrow, and the indoor area is impressive:

Here are two photos I took in 2019:

That actually looks quite nice. Neuwied is still on my bucket list since it is not too far away from were I live.

JVM · 14 Apr 2023

I would say that it's less that zoos want to keep domestic animals so badly and happen to end up building a kiddy farm for them, and more that zoos need to build a kiddy farm for certain purposes and domestic animals happen to serve those purposes better than wild animals... although with the rise of walkabouts and lorikeet feeding, the need for goat petting yards is slightly reduced.

RonBurrgundy · 14 Apr 2023

tigris115 said:
You can still make something unique and creative with farmyard animals.

A good example could be Nordhorn in Germany.
They have a farm with rather small stables for the animals. However some chickensroam free and the horses, donkeys and cows, for example, rotate across a large pasture. There are also big natural pens for the pigs next to it.