Miscellaneous ruminations of a obsessed mind

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In a thread today I read about how annoyed some users get when they see people taping on the glass... I couldn't count the amount of times I've wanted to say to someone, "The animals don't come to your home and tap on the glass how about extending them the same courtesy?"... I get annoyed when children do it with their parent standing next to them and the parent say nothing..! However I get especially annoyed when parent do it in front of their kids..! Bah, what message does that send..! But I digress...

The point of the above is:

Has anyone gone to a zoo where there are; signs stating do not tap on the glass at risk of removal, or a zoo that has double glazed glass (two panes) so the taping doesn't disturb the animals..?

Has anyone gone the next step (that I haven't) and told people to stop taping..?

As an aside... Reading a book about San Diego Zoo (printed in 1982) they were talking about when they initially got Douc Langurs they covered the windows and slowing unveiled the public to the langurs in the hope of not upseting these particularly skittish animals... It got me thinking, does anyone know of a zoo that uses reflective glass..? It would be an excellent idea (IMO) considering some zoos use mirriors to "fool" flamingos into believing there are greater numbers and subsequently breeding...

That would be ideal... Double paned glass with reflective (one way glass) and some sound proofing... Keeping the humans away from the ears and eyes of the animals...

One can dream...
 
i defintally agree with you there, especially for skittish animals, such as langurs, though some animals like chimps do get enrichemnt out of interactiosn with ppl. So an inclusion of both systems would be great. So defintally, and i would say, if costs extended, most zoos would love this feature!
 
Hmm... I'm not a fan of apes (excluding gibbons) or elephants in city zoos... The money and space could be better spend on exhibits for smaller animals and in situ conservation/breeding (IMO)...

Won't be happening anytime soon though...
 
Thats true NZ, but until we change people expectations, zoo's need things like apes and elephants in zoos, though elephnats not so much, as we can see in america. A study i read found animals like elephants, giraffes, and ungulates do bad in cities, but if found, duue to teh habits of gorrillas, bears and big cats, often they can do perfectle well in city scenarios, provided proper exhibits of course.
 
okay lets not covert another thread into a "whats suitable for display in a city zoo debate"....the other thread is still raging!

i read the first paragraph of your opening post NZ, and was compelled to give an answer that a moment later you already seem to have considered.

before you blame the public for banging on the glass, blame the zoo for not doing anthing about it!! its the zoos responsibility to design exhibit that cater for both animals and public. if they end up with stressed animals due to glass banging thats a reflection of poor design on the zoos part.

mirrored glass? heard that one brought up a billion times. people have been suggesting it for decades as a good solution to give primates in particular a sense of privacy. still, i'm yet to visit a zoo that makes use of it.

why? i don't know. probably because it tints everything darker and thus doesn't give the same sense of unobstructed view that regular glass gives.
 
A survey (sorry I can't reference it as I forgot where I read it!) showed that the 4 of the 5 animals, (groups) people expect to see at a zoo are:

Elephants
Monkeys/Apes
Hippos
Big cats (namely Lions and Tigers)

I can't remember the last one so I guess that means people EXPECT when they go to the zoo to see at least some combination of:

African/Asian Elephant and;
Orangutan/Bonobo/Chimp/Gorilla

If you went to a zoo that had none of the above would you be dissapointed..?
 
i don't think WE would, but the gen public would be, therefore thats why we had elephant exhibit at taronga and melb, not dubbo or werribee, but we can change peoples minds. people will soon learnt to drive an extra half hour if they know they big animals will be there, and eventaully maybe even the city zoo with it's only small aniamls, will be a thing of the past, if demand sees fit. people now expect good exhibit, eriched animals, buts tillw ant to see active animals. Melbourne zoos first zoologist said he would love to see all the big aniamls at werribee, and all small otter/meerkat like animals at melboure. he said you can provide better habiatas for small animals- na derr, but what he also said was that these small, no mor epopular animals are actually more active than say a lion or hippo, so people get more out of a visit. it is this very slow transaction that is taking place.
 
Sorry Zooboy I may have misunderstood your post but...

There are Elephants at Dubbo, both species in fact...
 
yes, but remeber we got the 'old' ones from atronga to make way for new ones, 5 eles with potential babies will be better than 2 oldies.
 
this conversation is already happening here NZ..

http://www.zoobeat.com/22/oregon-zoo-11288/index6.html#post29479

but its probably more appropriate it takes place here rather than in a thread on oregon zoo.

NZ you mentioned....

Elephants
Monkeys/Apes
Hippos
Big cats (namely Lions and Tigers)

there is only one species on thjis list that really cannot be catered for in small zoos and its elephants. river hippos, being very large nocturnal grazers are probably not ideal either. however they have a very suitable substitute in the much much smaller pygmy hippo, which is, in my opinion around the maxium size that city zoos can cater for and i'll argue very much the public are equally satisfied with this smaller counterpart.

i think monkeys, big cats and apes are all suitable for smaller urban zoos. they also benifit from being allocated larger spaces from a zoo that gives up displaying larger species.
 
I believe the fifth was birds...

Pygmy hippos should be even more popular..! I remember the first zoo I thought I had a chance to see them was Melbourne, how dissapointed I was when they were off exhibit (or hiding really well!)... I have however since seen them at Taronga (horrible enclosure IMO)...
 
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in all honesty i can't rate pygmy hippos highly enough when it comes to there suitability for life in city zoos.

they are true hippos, being familiar to all those seeking hippo
they are largely solitary leaving zoos free of ethical issues regarding housing them togther.
they are inquisitive and rather active so long as the zoo provides underwater viewing.

so its no surprise they were certainly one of melbournes most popular exhibits and i loved them. they are now in dire straights in australia, largely in part because of what i can only assume was a reluctance for zoos to part with their animals for pairing. melbourne/adelaide "pair" now at taronga for breeding are both technically past breeding age as far as i can tell...
 
I was at Taronga in September and only saw one..?

I think Pygmy Hippos are more attractive to zoos enthusiasts (sp?) and less attractive to the general public than "normal"/nile hippos... Why..?

The general public want to see something that is as large as possible, clap their hands and then go on the swings after eating a cheeseburger...

While enthusiasts want to see something that is rear/endangered, well cared for (as a rule) and breed. I.e. for something... All these things the Pygmy Hippo fulfills and well...
 
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taronga have 3 NZ

the original is in retiremnt off display, and 2 new ones should be now on exhibit, in the hippo exhibit, and in the old tapir/peccary exhibit.

i agree on the whole large thing, though i do agree that the public should like the p. hippo just as much, it is both terrestrial as well as aquatic, making for a more intereting exhibit (common hippos mostly water during day, and without underwater veiwng really quite boring.

Taronag is contructing a new hippo exhibit i eblive, which should be great!
 
The majority of zoo visitors are fools and ignorant twits, content to see the megafauna like elephants, lions, tigers and gorillas. People with a conscience like most of us on this website prefer to see rare and endangered animals in stimulating exhibits that challenge the inhabitants. The smaller mammals that entice viewers to remain at a particular enclosure for longer than 20 seconds are usually various species of mongoose, monkeys or lemurs. After that it's onward in search of something to feed the wailing children.
 
Oh and to get answer the original post, Chester uses a thick camoflage netting on the inside of the windows in the Buffy-Headed Capuchin indoor enclosure as well as covering up very large sections with wood. When it first opened, there were large clear windows, however it changed in 2005, I believe.

There has also been wooden and foliage barriers built preventing visitors to get right up close to the glass for the Mandrills in the Monkey House.

Re: Tapping
I have visited Twycross Zoo once and when i went into the gorilla house, there were about 50 people crammed in there pushed right up against the glass. The silverback (Mamfe I believe) looked very nervous and was rocking back and forth. Then a group of people started banging on the glass right by the gorilla's face...

...they didn't stay long inside the gorilla house once he had reacted ;)
 
When our nocturnal building was built many years ago they used double pane glass on the large tank that was supposed to house platypus. Over the years we've had water rats, bettongs, tree kangaroos, a leucistic alligator, echidnas, and striped possums on exhibit. Our former director swore that no one could hear anything in the tank--wrongo! It muffled the sound but we could still hear kids yelling and folks banging on the windows.

I often politely ask folks not to tap on the glass on our snake and lizard exhibits. Most comply quickly. One of my favorite zoo moments occurred at the Toledo Zoo when a young girl was screaming and banging on the glass at the underwater hippo viewing area. After a few minutes of this the hippo came up next to the glass, back-end first, and deposited a huge amount of waste product just on the other side of the girls face. She ran screaming from the exhibit, several folks had a good laugh, and the hippo continued it's lazy stroll!
 
CZJimmy said:
Oh and to get answer the original post, Chester uses a thick camoflage netting on the inside of the windows in the Buffy-Headed Capuchin indoor enclosure as well as covering up very large sections with wood. When it first opened, there were large clear windows, however it changed in 2005, I believe.

There has also been wooden and foliage barriers built preventing visitors to get right up close to the glass for the Mandrills in the Monkey House.

Re: Tapping
I have visited Twycross Zoo once and when i went into the gorilla house, there were about 50 people crammed in there pushed right up against the glass. The silverback (Mamfe I believe) looked very nervous and was rocking back and forth. Then a group of people started banging on the glass right by the gorilla's face...

...they didn't stay long inside the gorilla house once he had reacted ;)
Click to expand...

I think that mandrill barrier was needed. I remember the first few times we visited and the male was usually at the glass getting stroppy. He seemed to take particular offence to women that tapped on the glass with pink nail varnish?!

Regarding mirrored glass, wouldn't some animals get upset by looking at their own reflections, particularly those that wouldn't realise it to be themselves?
 
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