Which is why I'm surprised. I think everyone's heard stories about people (usually a friend of a friend) getting bitten.
Walk-through exhibits
- Thread starter zooman64
- Start date
Which is why I'm surprised. I think everyone's heard stories about people (usually a friend of a friend) getting bitten.
1. The can give quite a keen nip (to poking and/or grabbing fingers);
2. How would you let people in their enclosure whilst preventing the mice from getting out?
They're notorious escapologists.1. Aardvarks seriously stink, don't think many would want to spend long in close proximity -also their sight's poor and I think unknown persons near them might freak them out;
2. Siberian Weasels and Mink, accident and litigation waiting to happen.
Basically as someone else has already said, there's lots of things that could potentially be displayed in a walk-through but that doesn't mean that it would necessarily make a better exhibit (and the exhibits would most likely cost more to construct and monitor).
Jesus that hamlyns monkey looks evil. Having seen keepers in enclosures with gibbons at twycros and london, and the surprising frequency they are kept as pets in the US,I'm supprised to hear they can be so aggressive.
With regard to other primates,considering Barbary macaques now appear in such exhibits, could any langue species be an option? Crested macaques?
With regard to other primates,considering Barbary macaques now appear in such exhibits, could any langue species be an option? Crested macaques?
I'd be hesitant about macaques in walk-throughs, but then I'm used to crab-eating macaques in southeast Asia which are a right menace! I was surprised to see a photo in the gallery of a walk-through with Barbary apes at Apenheul - perhaps they are calmer than other species? Crested macaques always seem pretty relaxed too. Does anyone know if all species of macaques carry Herpes-B, or only some species, because that is obviously an issue (!).
I'd say a lot of the langurs would make good walk-through inhabitants. Colobus seem like a good thing (mentioned earlier in the thread, with a photo link from Maguari). De Brazza's always seem very gentle to me but someone can say the opposite if I'm wrong. Lots of the South American monkeys are good candidates (marmosets, tamarins, squirrel monkeys, etc).
I'm waiting for someone to suggest baboons!!
(Actually, are captive geladas as unaggressive as wild ones?)
I'd say a lot of the langurs would make good walk-through inhabitants. Colobus seem like a good thing (mentioned earlier in the thread, with a photo link from Maguari). De Brazza's always seem very gentle to me but someone can say the opposite if I'm wrong. Lots of the South American monkeys are good candidates (marmosets, tamarins, squirrel monkeys, etc).
I'm waiting for someone to suggest baboons!!
(Actually, are captive geladas as unaggressive as wild ones?)
I've been in that enclosure and was a little cautious about it but they seemed pretty docile- I seem to remember no feeding notices though to discourage any interaction.
I would not trust any of the Macaques or Guenons though- those canines in the males are just too lethal. Colobus might be possible as they are very quiet and seem not to interact with people in zoos.
Don't know about Geladas' temperament in captivity but I imagine they have the potential to be aggressive in zoos as they have lost their fear.
that's what I was thinking. I'm always more circumspect with domestic and zoo animals which have lost fear/respect for humans than with wild animals which haven't (not counting wild macaques!!Pertinax said:
)from what I've seen (in video and photos) that seems to be the way they are at Gibraltar too. They always seem like a really casual sort of macaque.
macaques I would have less fear of; Barbary, Rhesus, Bonnet, Crab-eater. Stumptail.
Macaques I would be far more scared of; Lion-tailed. Moor/ Hecks. Sulawesi.
According to Wikipedia....
It footnotes to the following research -
Ostrowski, Stephanie R.; et al. "B-virus from Pet Macaque Monkeys: An Emerging Threat in the United States?". Emerging Infectious Diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Volume 4 Issue 1
This study can be read at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/4/1/pdfs/98-0117.pdf
I would rather go into a walk-through with, say, diana monkeys than crab-eating macaques. They can be really aggressive and easily angered. The black crested macaque, though, I wouldn't have a problem with. In Sulawesi they are just a really cruisy sort of animal, no bother at all (although of course captive animals may well be a different story, as we were earlier saying may be the case with geladas; certainly a male crested macaque could do a great deal of damage to a child if it got ticked off!)Pertinax said:
I sort of skim-read that earlier, but couldn't see sample sizes or which species were tested (I think it just mentioned which species were commonly kept), so I'm still not sure.
Are there any walk-thru flamingo exhibits out there?
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
There is a flamingo walk-through at Woodside Farm in Bedfordshire. It's not a zoo, but it has some zoo species (lemurs, capybara, flamingos etc.) in addition to the normal farm animals.
Also a colobus monkey walk-through has been mentioned. I was reading the 2007 masterplan for London Zoo last night and noticed that what I assume was the Snowdon Aviary was labelled as an African Aviary walk-thorugh with 'touracos and colobus monkeys'... I know that 5 years later those plans may be very outdated and irrelevant to the current plan for the zoo, however it shows that at one point and maybe still, colobus monkeys have been planned for a UK zoo.
I'll add that to the list of possible 'nasties' then.
Actually I would be very wary of virtually all Old World Monkeys in close confinement- potentially just about any of them could be dangerous in certain situations I think.London, and other zoos too, often produce exciting-sounding plans that never come to fruition, maybe this is one of those. As more recently they have ditched the idea of mixing the Colobus with the Gorillas, possibly the walkthru idea didn't stand much chance either.
In 1971, I experienced a walkthrough enclosure of moor macaques at Thoiry in France. They are chunky monkeys, but there didn't seem to be any problem while I was there. On the other hand, I don't really like to see any monkeys in walk-throughs: I know that squirrel monkeys seem to be OK at Blackpool and Regents Park and there are also white-faced sakis with them at Blackpool and on their own at Edinburgh - but both species can be nervous, on the other hand I feel that all Old World monkeys have the potential to do a lot a damage if they feel provoked by a human. Not worth the risk IMHO.
Alan
I certainly wouldn't be keen on a walk through with colobus. We visited a nature reserve in The Gambia whilst on holiday some years ago. Whilst the lions, hyenas and antelopes were contained by the flimsiest of fences (untensioned chainlink that wouldn't have stopped an angry rabbit and that you could quite happily put your fingers through to touch the lions!) the reserve was effectively a giant walkthrough exhibit for monkeys. We nearly got bitten by a very aggressive red colobus that followed us for several yards - most unnerving.
We also visited the sacred crocodile pits where the dwarf crocodiles were allowed to roam freely, with staff there to watch them and ensure that the tourists didn't do anything too reckless. One crocodile was so used to humans that you could actually stroke his back!! Anyone for a crocodile walk-through??
We also visited the sacred crocodile pits where the dwarf crocodiles were allowed to roam freely, with staff there to watch them and ensure that the tourists didn't do anything too reckless. One crocodile was so used to humans that you could actually stroke his back!! Anyone for a crocodile walk-through??
In terms of walkthrough enclosures, I think a move away from smaller primates and towards unusual rodents would be interesting - rather than an enclosure of squirrel monkeys and various marmosets/tamarins, an enclosure of species like siberian flying squirrels, prevost's squirrels and alpine marmots would appeal greatly to me.
Just a thought against walk-throughs -- they all involve visitors being potentially inside an animal's living space, with the boundaries more fluid than in a non-walk-through exhibit. There is a lot to be said for viewing an animal that can't get at you, and that knows you can't get at it. Even some male squirrels can get aggressive to people. All hoofstock are potentially dangerous, all primates are either dangerous, vulnerable or both. Birds are the safest group, but even then you've got to be careful with other than small passerines. I would never trust Emus, which are in walk-throughs in some places. Not too comfortable with Rheas either. A moment's misunderstanding by either visitor or animal can do a lot of damage.
I've been following this thread, and have to say i agree about the risks to the public, which could also lead to the potential prosecution of the zoos concerned.
Lemurs and small monkeys have proved to be successful & relatively trouble free, but the suggestion of larger old world monkeys to me seems ridiculous, i commented on the signs at woburn displaying the size of their monkeys teeth, which dont manage to deter people from winding down windows to feed them! In a walkthrough the risk would be too great!
I'm not keen on the idea of meerkats (or mongoose) either, given the public perception (particularly kids) that they are cute!
the visitor can probably get closer to the animals through a pane of glass anyway!
I've almost been expecting chimps or wolverine to be suggested!