The Definition of Grotto

Moebelle

Moebelle

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I see photos on Zoochat that say, "*Animal* Grotto", and all it is is an exhibit surrounded by a tall, fake/real rock wall. A grotto by definition is a cave-like structure or a cave itself, not a rock wall surrounding an area. Sure there is a cave most likely in those exhibits people call grottoes, but it isn't one big cave in general. I'm just curious as to why people call them that. Here are some examples.

http://www.zoochat.com/39/african-wild-dog-exhibit-279241/
http://www.zoochat.com/556/jul-2012-american-black-bear-exhibit-280043/
http://www.zoochat.com/1115/porcupine-grotto-279433/
http://www.zoochat.com/562/grizzly-bear-exhibit-detroit-zoo-42074/
http://www.zoochat.com/545/sloth-bear-exhibit-274509/
http://www.zoochat.com/597/empty-bear-grotto-273934/
http://www.zoochat.com/562/detroit-zoo-2003-bear-grotto-136839/
http://www.zoochat.com/622/sun-bear-exhibit-199709/ (I am shocked people call this an outdated exhibit)
http://www.zoochat.com/1128/giant-anteater-white-nosed-coati-exhibit-242984/
http://www.zoochat.com/549/polar-bear-pit-175356/
 
Moebelle said:
I see photos on Zoochat that say, "*Animal* Grotto", and all it is is an exhibit surrounded by a tall, fake/real rock wall. A grotto by definition is a cave-like structure or a cave itself, not a rock wall surrounding an area. Sure there is a cave most likely in those exhibits people call grottoes, but it isn't one big cave in general. I'm just curious as to why people call them that.
Click to expand...

While a grotto by one definition may be a cave, clearly another definition is something like 'a zoo exhibit which is mostly surrounded by tall rock walls'. Words regularly have multiple definitions. I doubt there were ever animal cages termed grottoes that actually were (real or artifical) caves, so the definition is unlikely to have originated via the words correct usage in a zoo-setting. Perhaps it was marketing spin when new exhibits surrounded mostly by tall rock walls were built at a zoo, and other zoos copied the idea and took the name as well, thus enshrining the term in the zoo world?
 
a grotto is indeed a cave. However, artificial grottos have been popular in romanticised garden settings for centuries (particularly in the massive gardens of European royalty and other-such rich folk). These grottos are usually adorned with statues of Greek gods, waterfalls, fossils and shells in the walls, and that sort of thing. Often garden grottos of this nature are explicitly cave-like, but equally many are deliberately not cave-like, they are more like a rock cliff encircling a seating area, or just a rocky overhang. Some grottos are nothing more than a niche in a rock wall where a statue sits. When Hagenbeck started designing "natural" enclosures for his zoo in Hamburg, many of these enclosures (especially for the big carnivores like lions and bears) were constructed much like the stylised grottos of these gardens - not specifically cave-like but just reminiscent of caves because that gave what was considered a natural look, and it made it easy to have moats in front for that all-important "un-caged" appearance. Hence in the zoo world, any enclosure surrounded by artificial rock walls is termed a grotto.
 
Today, there is only one grotto worth mentioning, and it isn't zoo related... :)

(Actually, come to think of it, it is. They have a full time aviculturalist there.)
 
Grotto = unnatural structure, possibly of polystyrene, sheltering old white-haired beardy man in red suite +/- elves.
 
1.
a cave or cavern.
2.
an artificial cavernlike recess or structure.

From dictionary.com
 
I agree with the definitions above, but I do think 'grotto' has been overused on here in the past - including for grass paddocks that just happen to have walls on two sides and moats on the other two, for example.
 
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