What the fake!

Benosaurus said:
What is it: Fake giraffe
Where is it: Tierpark Hagenbeck, Germany
Which enclosure: Zoo entrance
What year: 2018
Score: 4 out of 5

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Giraffe statue at entrance - ZooChat

Additional comments: Looks like it's inspired by Giacometti, but there still appears to be the intent of realism.
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This statue was the offending object in a weird national debate last year after 22 years of standing there without anyone taking notice. A local leftist politician and some agitated citizens suddenly clamored that the statue was glorifying colonialism and racism and wanted it removed. The creator of the statue dryly remarked on local news (with the reporter having a hard time not to laugh) that the "man" was originally white, but now covered in a layer of dirt and patina. He offered to clean the statue, if the politician paid for it. Nevertheless, as a result of this and other public discussions regarding Hagenbeck's past, some anonymous activists threw paint bombs at the zoo's pay kiosks to demonstrate their protest against racism.

Did I mention that I have a hard time understanding how stupid "woke" people can be?
 
Batto said:
This statue was the offending object in a weird national debate last year after 22 years of standing there without anyone taking notice. A local leftist politician and some agitated citizens suddenly clamored that the statue was glorifying colonialism and racism and wanted it removed. The creator of the statue dryly remarked on local news (with the reporter having a hard time not to laugh) that the "man" was originally white, but now covered in a layer of dirt and patina. He offered to clean the statue, if the politician paid for it. Nevertheless, as a result of this and other public discussions regarding Hagenbeck's past, some anonymous activists threw paint bombs at the zoo's pay kiosks to demonstrate their protest against racism.

Did I mention that I have a hard time understanding how stupid "woke" people can be?
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What the fake! I don’t even understand how a statue of a black man can be racist; is it because he’s with a giraffe? That’s stupid as heck and I kinda think it’s funny how their reaction to a twenty two year old statue is assaulting the employees.
 
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ChIkEn NuGrEt said:
I don’t even understand how a statue of a black man can be racist; is it because he’s with a giraffe?
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According to the woke claimants, the combination "African black man on African animal" + "Location to a zoo that profited from colonialism" is racist. Somehow. Don't ask me - I don't get it either. Apparently, you need to wear some very thick ideological goggles to perceive things that way.
The kiosks were bombed at night, so no zoo employee was directly attacked.
 
Batto said:
According to the woke claimants, the combination "African black man on African animal" + "Location to a zoo that profited from colonialism" is racist. Somehow. Don't ask me - I don't get it either. Apparently, you need to wear some very thick ideological goggles to perceive things that way.
The kiosks were bombed at night, so no zoo employee was directly attacked.
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Oh okay but still why would the zoo be responsible for this; it doesn’t seem like they really did anything. I really hate when people get offended for other people; like when people call me; a Mexican racist for wearing a sombrero.
 
ChIkEn NuGrEt said:
why would the zoo be responsible for this
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Because the statue is located near the entrance of a zoo that used to show ethnological exhibitions in the 19th and early 20th century. Which in the mind of these claimants underlines its racism.
As for the sombrero: that's "Cultural Appropriation" and another form of racism, according to woke activists. ^^
 
Batto said:
Because the statue is located near the entrance of a zoo that used to show ethnological exhibitions in the 19th and early 20th century. Which in the mind of these claimants underlines its racism.
As for the sombrero: that's "Cultural Appropriation" and another form of racism, according to woke activists. ^^
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Dang it I just noticed that the tone is a bit different because I forgot to put a comma after Mexican. I am Mexican American, and I don’t care if my white, black, or Asian friends wear sombreros I don’t care if ANYONE does.
 
Batto said:
Because the statue is located near the entrance of a zoo that used to show ethnological exhibitions in the 19th and early 20th century. Which in the mind of these claimants underlines its racism.
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Seriously nearly one hundred freaking years ago, give me a break it reminds me of when people asked the Bronx zoo to apologize for their ethnological exhibitions from over one hundred years ago. I think it would be interesting to have an museum exhibit on humans and how their skin color and other things like long arms and stuff are specially adapted for different things. So more like a exhibit on genetics and adaptation than on race. Kind of like this Modern Human Diversity - Skin Color.
 
Does anyone have a picture of Seaworld Turtle Trek's land portion? I remember that they had a leatherback model in one of the exhibits that was realistic enough that I convinced myself that it was real. Then I asked a staff member and turns out it's fake.
 
The model California Leaf Bats at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum were so good I thought they were alive until I read this sign.
 
I know this isn't from the ZC gallery but I still wanted to share this and bring up discussion about the Saitama Children's zoo and the Asahiyama zoo.


What is it supposed to be? A canyon/cliff
Where is it (what zoo/ collection)? Saitama Children's Zoo
Which enclosure (if applicable)? Manul cats
What year was the photo taken? Footage is from 2021
My score out of 5. Not bad.


What is it supposed to be? An acacia tree
Where is it (what zoo/ collection)? Asahiyama zoo
Which enclosure (if applicable)? Giraffes
What year was the photo taken? 2020
Your score out of 5. 3/5 While I do like unnatural and outrageous things I feel that this might be a little too concerning. And I recall hearing about accidents caused by this "tree"
 
MGolka said:
What is it: Fake Rocks shaped like Indian Rhino
Where is it: Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Which Enclosure: Between White-Naped Cranes and Indian Rhino/Pere David's Deer in Asian Highlands
What Year: 2018
Score: 5 out 5

Blends in and most people don't even realize that it is in shape of a rhino's head. However once you point it out, people don't un-see it.

View attachment 457065
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I disagree with most others assessment. For my eye, this is definitely mock-rock. Well done, but fake. Among other things it appears to blend rather fluidly with the fake embankment to the left-hand side. And its surface texture looks like sculpted concrete with various dyes added to me.

I will agree however that it looks nothing at all like a rhinoceros.
 
PossumRoach said:
Which enclosure (if applicable)? Manul cats
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This reminds me of a Pallas's cat enclosure in Zurich, which had so good fake rocks that it was shown in many photos. Including one at HMW. This exhibit now holds Swinhoe's striped squirrels and Derby's parakeets.
 
I would not make a sheet like the others because this come from an external source and not from Zoochat Gallery, but I just found now this incredibly well done fake Madagascar pink moth bugs (Phromnia rosea), a little known species, as lifesized replicas on a fake Ficus branch at Bronx zoo, photographed in 2008:

Phromnia rosea
Phromnia rosea

I wonder if any member of Zoochat that visited Bronx in these years have the same scenery photographed, and uploaded to gallery? In this case it could be made a sheet like the others... I just needed to share it because I'm impressed by the quality (since I've commented in this photo 12 years ago to just now, I tought these were real alive ones!)
 
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