What makes tiger exhibit great?

stetley

stetley

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What makes for a really great tiger exhibit?

Consider answering any (or all) of these:
What makes it superior from the
The publics point of view
The keepers point or view
The animals point of view
 
stetley said:
What makes for a really great tiger exhibit?

Consider answering any (or all) of these:
What makes it superior from the
The publics point of view
The keepers point or view
The animals point of view
Click to expand...

Looks too much like school work to me.:rolleyes:
 
Whats your favorite Tiger exhibit?

Lets try this again! (Nope, its not a school project! I am long out of school!)
 
Last edited:
Whats your favorite Tiger exhibit?

:) Lets try this again! If you have a favorite Tiger exhibit, please let me know so I can check it out

(Nope, its not a school project-I am long out of school!)
 
stetley said:
What makes for a really great tiger exhibit?

Consider answering any (or all) of these:
What makes it superior from the
The publics point of view
The keepers point or view
The animals point of view
Click to expand...

What makes a good tiger exhibit;

A raised viewing platform, somewhere a tiger can relax. A pool of some sort (maybe a moat) somewhere a tiger can bath. A cubbing den if they hold a breeding pair. Enrichment - for example; hidding food up a pole or a tree. Other sort of enrichment are, swapping enclosures for them to try out each others scents, getting some faeces from a deer/antelope species.

Glass viewing, something that children and adults can see a tiger for it's size and appearance. Indoor viewing, something that you can see the animal under cover/indoor.

For the keepers, I think what any keeper would like is somewhere they can take the tigers off-show and crate/weight them without having to knock them out for anything.

Animal viewing, all I can think of is somewhere they can eat, sleep, and get away from the public.
 
A new and exciting trend for tiger exhibits is glass-fronted ponds with underwater viewing. I have not seen one in person yet, but I know here in the USA Bronx Zoo has it and another zoo also in the Northeast (I forget which one). Cincinnati Zoo will be opening one this summer. Does anyone know if there are any outside the USA?

As far as what makes it great, I think any exhibit that is large and has variable terrain with a mix of open areas and forest.

Best in this country is probably the Minnesota Zoo.
Other good USA ones (that I have personally seen) are Fort Worth Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Nashville Zoo.

I am eagerly anticipating the new sumatran tiger exhibits next year at Phoenix Zoo and San Diego Safari Park.
 
Arizona Docent said:
A new and exciting trend for tiger exhibits is glass-fronted ponds with underwater viewing. I have not seen one in person yet, but I know here in the USA Bronx Zoo has it and another zoo also in the Northeast (I forget which one). Cincinnati Zoo will be opening one this summer. Does anyone know if there are any outside the USA?
Click to expand...

Leipzig zoo has a fantastic tiger underwater view. At one time the pool also had huge sturgeon in it as well!

Adelaide zoo sort of has this--one edge of the pool in the exhibit is a glass wall, but it is located deep inside the exhibit so not nearly as effective as the Bronx or Leipzig.

Busch Gardens and (I think) Virginia Zoo have underwater tiger views, and I think Seattle is planning one too.
 
I think with tiger exhibits that people always go with the more natural the better. People I have seen will react better to an exhibit that uses chainlink or other metal fencing to blend into the background than any exhibit involving mock rock or moats even if they do have glass viewing.
 
reduakari said:
Adelaide zoo sort of has this--one edge of the pool in the exhibit is a glass wall, but it is located deep inside the exhibit so not nearly as effective as the Bronx or Leipzig.
Click to expand...

Adelaide also has a more traditional underwater view into the same pond.
Here's a link to a site with some photos of both water viewing areas:
DSLRUsers.com • View topic - Adelaide Zoo Immersion Exhibit
It should be noted that those photos must have been taken when the exhibit was quite new because both exhibits are very lush now.

My favourite tiger exhibit in Australia has to be Melbourne Zoo though. It is quite big, has two large viewing windows as well as a raised viewing over a moat, and it has been around for almost 20 years. And a second exhibit is on the cards to allow more flexibility for when there are cubs etc.

http://www.zoochat.com/51/melbourne-zoo-july-2009-a-90426/
 
Public feeding and presentations - people go mad over it.
Indoor viewing.
Also, in few zoos which made raised tree trunk of platform, often tigers like to sit on it, and public likes to photograph them. Apparently many big cats love to watch their environment - somebody compared it to watching TV.

Underwater viewing I saw was always disappointing. Tigers don't go into water, and if they do, the sight is just some tiger paws dangling in the water. They are not otters or anything. One of more expensive flops in exhibit design.
 
Jurek7 said:
Public feeding and presentations - people go mad over it.
Indoor viewing.
Also, in few zoos which made raised tree trunk of platform, often tigers like to sit on it, and public likes to photograph them. Apparently many big cats love to watch their environment - somebody compared it to watching TV.

Underwater viewing I saw was always disappointing. Tigers don't go into water, and if they do, the sight is just some tiger paws dangling in the water. They are not otters or anything. One of more expensive flops in exhibit design.
Click to expand...
I have to disagree with the last comment. In parts of the world where the weather can be hot and humid, tigers spend a significant time in the water. It is true they are more likely to rest in shallow areas than swim in deep pools, but I've seen swimming/wading tigers (on hot summer days) in Miami, Washington DC, Leipzig, Columbus, Minnesota and (underwater) at the Bronx. It may be rare but it's very cool to see when it happens.
 
Wow, another underwater tiger exhibit that I was not aware of. (To be honest, I was not even aware there was a Baton Rouge Zoo).
 
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