Urban themed Exhibits

I don't know well the Skansen zoo (Stockholm) but its general theme and philosophy seems unconventional, because a large section of this zoo is themed on "native" Swedish domestic animals (the Skansen is a "museum" of Swedish culture more than a classical zoo, with a few exotic species), so this cat exhibit doesn't look shocking at all.

Fun fact : in Poland and Czech Republic (historically under Swedish influence), a "skansen" is a kind of ethnographic museum.
 
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Haliaeetus said:
I don't know well the Skansen zoo (Stockholm) but its general theme and philosophy seems unconventional, because a large section of this zoo is themed on "native" Swedish domestic animals (the Skansen is a "museum" of Swedish culture more than a classical zoo), so this cat exhibit doesn't look shocking at all.
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As I said, it probably isn't intended to shock visitors or have that kind of negative association.

This is probably just my personal interpretation of the exhibit as a conservationist but that is what comes to mind when I see this kind of thing.

I think it is great actually as it is quite thought provoking.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I quite like the Tasmanian devil one and I suppose it is quite accurate too considering how much of the natural habitat of this species has been replaced by farmland.
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Simon Plowright made a wonderful documentary called Quoll Farm, about a colony of Eastern Quoll thriving on an abandoned farm in Tasmania. Along with Brush-tailed Possums, they live in the roof cavity of the old house and use the sheds as hunting grounds. A Tassie Devil also lived under the house, and hunted in and around the sheds. This environment provides extra protection for them, especially now with the introduction of foxes. So yes, this exhibit is very accurate. Farmers are now being encouraged to leave old farm equipment in their paddocks because wildlife are using it as shelters and breeding dens. It’s a very interesting doco that’s worth checking out :)
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Domestic cat exhibit at Skansen zoo, Sweden:
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Goldfish / Asiatic carp & water pollution exhibit at Toledo zoo, USA:
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Photo credit to@Daniel Sörensen and @fkalltheway.
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I like the the look of the cat exhibit. That one at Toledo isn't there anymore.
 
akasha said:
Simon Plowright made a wonderful documentary called Quoll Farm, about a colony of Eastern Quoll thriving on an abandoned farm in Tasmania. Along with Brush-tailed Possums, they live in the roof cavity of the old house and use the sheds as hunting grounds. A Tassie Devil also lived under the house, and hunted in and around the sheds. This environment provides extra protection for them, especially now with the introduction of foxes. So yes, this exhibit is very accurate. Farmers are now being encouraged to leave old farm equipment in their paddocks because wildlife are using it as shelters and breeding dens. It’s a very interesting doco that’s worth checking out :)
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A very interesting point of view about the interaction between wildlife and human infrastructure.
 
akasha said:
Simon Plowright made a wonderful documentary called Quoll Farm, about a colony of Eastern Quoll thriving on an abandoned farm in Tasmania. Along with Brush-tailed Possums, they live in the roof cavity of the old house and use the sheds as hunting grounds. A Tassie Devil also lived under the house, and hunted in and around the sheds. This environment provides extra protection for them, especially now with the introduction of foxes. So yes, this exhibit is very accurate. Farmers are now being encouraged to leave old farm equipment in their paddocks because wildlife are using it as shelters and breeding dens. It’s a very interesting doco that’s worth checking out :)
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Thank you for mentioning this @akasha !

It sounds really interesting and I'm going to watch it if I find a full version online, have just found this great little clip of the documentary on youtube:

 
akasha said:
Yes, I liked that he offered a fresh perspective. In reality, people and feral animals aren’t going anywhere, so finding a way to co-exist with wildlife might be a more feasible solution for conservation.
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You don't think it would be possible to fully erradicate foxes and feral cats from Australia ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
You don't think it would be possible to fully erradicate foxes and feral cats from Australia ?
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Not a chance. (Rabbits have been targeted with disease and while numbers have been reduced, they still thrive.) Australia is too big and many parts of it are very remote to make hunting or baiting effective. I think feral-proof enclosures, such as Aussie Ark, Hamilton Commons, Woodlands, and the ones in Sturt National Park and the Pilliga, will be the only way to preserve our wildlife.
 
akasha said:
Not a chance. (Rabbits have been targeted with disease and while numbers have been reduced, they still thrive.) Australia is too big and many parts of it are very remote to make hunting or baiting effective. I think feral-proof enclosures, such as Aussie Ark, Hamilton Commons, Woodlands, and the ones in Sturt National Park and the Pilliga, will be the only way to preserve our wildlife.
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Thats an interesting perspective and quite pragmatic too, thank you for sharing it.

I'm not sure whether it would be possible but I certainly hope so as it would be nice to see the invasives and the pressure they cause on native species to disappear.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thats an interesting perspective and quite pragmatic too, thank you for sharing it.

I'm not sure whether it would be possible but I certainly hope so as it would be nice to see the invasives and the pressure they cause on native species to disappear.
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I lived on a farm pretty much my whole life, so I’ve seen the realities of feral animal management. Over the years we, along with neighbours, have tried shooting, trapping and baiting, but the feral animals still persist. Interestingly though, no management has been attempted this year, and fox numbers are extremely low. But so are Wedge-tailed Eagle sightings. Roo carcasses lie undisturbed by scavenging now, which is both perplexing and a little concerning. We haven’t figured out why yet, though something has obviously happened in the wider ecological system to trigger the current mouse plague.
But yes, I hope that one day a solution will be found and Australia could return to a more natural state.
 
Haliaeetus said:
Fun fact : in Poland and Czech Republic (historically under Swedish influence), a "skansen" is a kind of ethnographic museum.
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Correct. "Skanzen" in Czech language is widely used name for open-sky museum of traditional local village architecture, aroud 15 such places exist here and around 10 in Slovakia. It has been inspired by Swedish Skansen museum and zoo, Czech people who visited it loved it and copied the idea including the name. The oldest one showing Labe lowland village in Přerov opened in year 1900. The biggest one in Rožnov opened 1925 and has 80 hectares and over 100 houses, and frequent shows with music and dances. Skanzens are favourite local tourist attractions (Rožnov has around 350.000 annual attendance).
 
Paleoarchontas said:
The interesting irony is that some of the best exhibits involve human architecture and structures, but specifically not urban ones.
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Well I’m my opinion urban houses and towns are extremely ugly so that could be a contributing factor. People also might just find architecture they don’t see too often in zoos to be interesting. I mean an exhibit based on someone’s backyard isn’t as special because you can go home and see it. It’s the same problem with having Raccoons in zoos, I see them every night why should I go to a zoo to see them. It just doesn’t have the same effect on people.
 
I am quite surprised that the Animal Encounters Village from the Colombus Zoo and Aquarium hasn't been brought up yet, especially since many of the exhibits are locking when in consideration to the rest of the zoo.
 
akasha said:
I lived on a farm pretty much my whole life, so I’ve seen the realities of feral animal management. Over the years we, along with neighbours, have tried shooting, trapping and baiting, but the feral animals still persist. Interestingly though, no management has been attempted this year, and fox numbers are extremely low. But so are Wedge-tailed Eagle sightings. Roo carcasses lie undisturbed by scavenging now, which is both perplexing and a little concerning. We haven’t figured out why yet, though something has obviously happened in the wider ecological system to trigger the current mouse plague.
But yes, I hope that one day a solution will be found and Australia could return to a more natural state.
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I see, thank you for sharing your experiences Akasha !

Yes, I think it can be incredibly challenging to try to erradicate feral animals and these efforts can take years or even decades to deliver even small amounts of success.

I personally don't think it is impossible to erradicate invasives from Australia but I do think that it will be a gruelling uphill challenge in terms of logistics, economics and cultural changes and it goes without saying that there would have to be the requisite political will to do so.

From what I've read I get the feeling that advances in CRISPR "gene drive" technology may really prove to be the game changer when it comes to efforts to erradicate invasives but as of yet this has yet to be implemented so fingers crossed.
 
There's a general confusion in this topic : between properly urban environments, and other human realizations (that can include local and "exotic" farms and villages, for example).
 
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