Predator/prey immersion exhibits

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al
  • Start date Start date
lion cage? hmmmm don't you mean tigers?

i don't (like it) so much, becuse i'm uneasy about what would ever happen if an orangutan or gibbon fell or descended into the tiger exhibit.

not the ideal choice of species for a "mixed" exhibit if you ask me.
 
@ZooYouthBen: why isn't the o-line in use? When I was in Adelaide last June it was just an ugly pole in the otherwise excellent sumatran tiger exhibit. Has the o-line not been used in at least 8 months?
 
There are no current plans to use the O-line, as the zoo is a dynamic place what was planned when Immersion was first built has altered slightly.
 
ha - changed their plans already?!!! never!

jo - was it due to safety concerns that its not used?
 
If the o-line hasn't been in use for a minimum of 8 months (due to the zoo being a "dynamic place") then why not sell it for scrap metal? Ha!
 
I can't go into the reasons behind why the O-line hasn't been used, but it would be silly to sell it as scrap metal, those things are expensive to make!
 
@Jo: I was being sarcastic, but it is rather ridiculous that the o-line was constructed with much fanfare only to be promptly discarded like yesterdays news.
 
oops, my sarco-metre must be on the blink. Sometimes things change between planning and usage that can't be helped and you have to adjust, and in this case I don't see it as a bad thing.
 
went with mixed exhibit Orangs/Siamangs instead. The tower in the Tiger exhibit is a dead-end and not ideal if you have Siamangs and Orangs in together. Should that change (i.e. Siamangs be removed from the primate side of the equation) I'm sure you'll see Orangs hanging above the Tigers.
 
fact finder said:
went with mixed exhibit Orangs/Siamangs instead. The tower in the Tiger exhibit is a dead-end and not ideal if you have Siamangs and Orangs in together. Should that change (i.e. Siamangs be removed from the primate side of the equation) I'm sure you'll see Orangs hanging above the Tigers.
Click to expand...

Are you an Adelaidian fact finder? I might know you?
 
fact finder said:
went with mixed exhibit Orangs/Siamangs instead. The tower in the Tiger exhibit is a dead-end and not ideal if you have Siamangs and Orangs in together. Should that change (i.e. Siamangs be removed from the primate side of the equation) I'm sure you'll see Orangs hanging above the Tigers.
Click to expand...

i certainly hope not! since your an adelaide zookeeper, surely you see the risk associated with dangling great apes above tigers? imagine how stupid and disgusted everyone will feel if a gibbon or orangutan is eaten in front of a crowd of onlookers?

i can't believe this dumbarse idea ever come to fruition!!
 
the concept has plenty of potential but....
what connects the oline to the main orang exhibit, or is it just not connected? more than one rope strung very close together would probably be ideal and minimise the risk (god forbid) of a primate dropping
mixing the primate species together is great. but not on the oline. it would suck if some aggression sparked a primate food drop into the tiger exhibit....do the primates access, or at least was it planned the oline freely or is the access from the night den and therefore limited by the keepers?
just a few questions on design-hope someone can help
 
Back to the original subject of this thread, is stress involved when predator and prey species can see each other? Based on personal experience, I think it depends on a lot of a lot of different factors. The mere sight or smell of a lion might not be stressing in a negative way for a zebra, but combined with other factors it might be disasterous. Same goes for the predators. They get used to seing prey species very fast and they learn (just like predators in the wild) which individuals they have a chance of catching. Obviously not the ones on the other side of the fence or moat... The key word here is habituation. Both predator and prey learn that they have nothing to gain/fear and I believe that if they live in an otherwise good enclosure, it can be enriching for them. Obviously there is no rule here, some very nervous individuals or species may never adapt to a setting like this.
 
glyn said:
the concept has plenty of potential but....
Click to expand...

plenty of potential for a public relations nightmare and a %@#$ load of bad press!!

firstly, this is not a particularly exciting concept in my mind. its one thing to see a mixed species exhibit with animals both on the ground and in the canopy another when the "canopy" is nothing more than a steel pole and some ropes. its an artificial object so the impact is lost anyway. secondly, the exact same concept could be recreated a lot safer if the o-line simply passed behind or to the side of the tiger exhibit. the animals could still see one another, the visitors could still see both at the same time and a good gardener would have no problems disguising the fact that there would be a fence between the two animals.

lastly, why choose tigers to dangle the apes over the top of? if it was a gimmick they were after - would it not be just as cool to see them over some other creature thats a little more benign? maybe humans perhaps?

or is it possible that the apparent "appeal" of this concept is the perceived danger?
 
Last edited:
The Bronx Zoo has their lion exhibit almost within their African Plains exhibit, I went there during the winter so I only saw the lions in their exhibit and tons of peacocks just begging to be attacked and eaten....

The San Diego Zoo has a deep wide moat between the caribou and the polar bears, viewed from the polar bear exhibit viewing window it actually looks as if the caribou are occupying the same enclosure as the polar bears

At Disney's Animal Kingdom you can see the deers and blackbucks adjacent to one of the tiger enclosures, obviously there is a moat between them but this cannot be seen

One of the more interesting enclosure is at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where they display their prairie dogs in tunnels in the same area as the tunnels for the ferrets, obviously the two tunnel systems are separated but this is a very cool concept and it looks as if the two species occupy the same set of tunnels.
 
aw101 said:
The Bronx Zoo has their lion exhibit almost within their African Plains exhibit, I went there during the winter so I only saw the lions in their exhibit and tons of peacocks just begging to be attacked and eaten.....
Click to expand...


This exhibit was built in 1940, the bears and the neighboring nyala (on one side) and Thompson gazelles (on the other) are separated by deep, dry moats
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top