last week was great for me. i went to taronga zoo on the monday and melbourne on friday and sunday.
has anyone had the chance to go to taronga lately? i dont know if it was spring, the approaching 90th birthday celebrations or just the fact that it was a beautiful day but the zoo was honestly the best i have ever seen it look.
there is a new exhibit of palm squirrels in the jungle cat enclosure and the lion enclosure has been redevloped to better reflect their wild grassland habitat.
to highlight the 90th birthday celebrations a great range of signage has been devised contrasting the zoo of the future with that of the past at over a dozen landmark enclosures and buildings across the site. also, the elephant temple has been renovated and turned into a heritage museum-all about elephants.
the old safari lodge building has been turned into an interpretive centre for the two zoos conservation programs, history and collection. i especialy liked the way the signage highlighted the importance of integrated partnerships with in-situ projects and wildlife agencies. if all you knew about zoos was what you got from the news snippets crowing about how an endangered species birth was saving a species, than you could accuse zoos of simplifying conservation and blowing their trumpet a bit too much.
on the other hand this exhibition seems to give average zoo visitors an insight into how complicated and at times critical ex-situ conservation really can be.
has anyone had the chance to go to taronga lately? i dont know if it was spring, the approaching 90th birthday celebrations or just the fact that it was a beautiful day but the zoo was honestly the best i have ever seen it look.
there is a new exhibit of palm squirrels in the jungle cat enclosure and the lion enclosure has been redevloped to better reflect their wild grassland habitat.
to highlight the 90th birthday celebrations a great range of signage has been devised contrasting the zoo of the future with that of the past at over a dozen landmark enclosures and buildings across the site. also, the elephant temple has been renovated and turned into a heritage museum-all about elephants.
the old safari lodge building has been turned into an interpretive centre for the two zoos conservation programs, history and collection. i especialy liked the way the signage highlighted the importance of integrated partnerships with in-situ projects and wildlife agencies. if all you knew about zoos was what you got from the news snippets crowing about how an endangered species birth was saving a species, than you could accuse zoos of simplifying conservation and blowing their trumpet a bit too much.
on the other hand this exhibition seems to give average zoo visitors an insight into how complicated and at times critical ex-situ conservation really can be.