Zoo tour conclusion

Simon McGlary

Simon McGlary

Well-Known Member
A while ago I said I was going to tour zoos for my holiday in September. Well, I ended up visiting 10 zoos and wildlife parks in 10 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. The places I visited were (in order) South Lakes, Chester, Cotswold, Bristol, Longleat, Marwell, London, Howletts, Whipsnade and Twycross.

I have since been asked what my favourite park was and to be honest, I don't have one. I have favourite exhibits, events or talks but other than that I came to one overriding conclusion which I think best sums up all good zoos today. All have weak points, which they are all aware of and want to do something about, and all have strong points. All zoos are keen to know what other zoos are doing differently and are more than open about it. Indeed the exchange of information is very open and transparent. All zoos have their own conservation projects going on all over the world and all are out pushing the conservation message.

Some of my favourite exhibits were those that probably wouldn't be expected, Bugs at London and the bat walk through at Chester for example. I loved the big cat feeding at South Lakes and have since found out that it is producing much healthier cats! That burts of energy makes all the difference.

It was a fascinating journey and I am currently writing a report of my trip with my thoughts on each park. It's looking like it could well be almost 40 pages long but meanwhile I have photos and a few videos over at my Facebook page! One thing I have discovered, you can spot a zoo enthusiast, volunteer or worker in another zoo a mile off. The photos they are taking are different from your everyday zoo visitor and they stand 4 to 5 times longer at en exhibit as well and can't help sharing their observations with others!
 
Simon McGlary said:
It was a fascinating journey and I am currently writing a report of my trip with my thoughts on each park. It's looking like it could well be almost 40 pages long but meanwhile I have photos and a few videos over at my Facebook page! One thing I have discovered, you can spot a zoo enthusiast, volunteer or worker in another zoo a mile off. The photos they are taking are different from your everyday zoo visitor and they stand 4 to 5 times longer at en exhibit as well and can't help sharing their observations with others!
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I'm glad you had a good tour. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts with us soon.

Alan
 
Sounds like a great holiday to me !

Some of my favourite exhibits were those that probably wouldn't be expected, Bugs at London and the bat walk through at Chester for example. I loved the big cat feeding at South Lakes and have since found out that it is producing much healthier cats! That burts of energy makes all the difference.
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I agree Bugs at London was very good and ditto for the Chester bat walk. What happens at the South Lakes cat feed ?? (if you don't mind explaining now ...)

I also agree about enthusiasts lingering ...... there are some exhibits where I could very happily remain for at least an hour or more (to the annoyance of my family who aren't quite so enamoured).
 
We would all love to read your 40 page report, if you felt inclined to post a link to it on this site. Cheers!
 
No I didn't and I'll even admit that right at this moment in time, I have no idea where or what South Lakes is - other than it being a zoo of course ! :o

However, what I love about this site is that you read a snippet of info like this and are then intrigued and prompted to go off * and find out more about it ..... leading (usually) to some interesting reading and often (yet) another place to put on the 'to visit' list !

( * ....... which is what I'll be doing shortly).
 
Follow this link to the Amur tiger feed the day I was there.


I've since been told by a reputable source that tests on big cats that have died at South Lakes (almost always due to age) have much higher bone densities than big cats from other zoos, a sign of excellent health!
 
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In the video the presenter said that Nina was on her own in the enclosure so has her brother died or is it just he hadn't been let out of the house yet?
 
I'm led to believe that he has died as apparently she is now the only Amur tiger the park has. Perhaps it was tests done on her brother showed how healthy a way of feeding big cats this is!
 
Shame about Egor the old Amur Tiger.He was a great ambassador for the species.
I have read quite abit that the feed pole was orginaly 'invented' by Glasgow Zoo a few years back before the closure but becuase they didnt promote it much not much was known.However when South Lakes took it over they havent talked about anything since!
The Feed pole is used by other Zoos now i think Shepreth use it to but quite a few do just cant name them!
Its not my ideal way to feed a big cat because they dont normally climb up trees to get food and its always for small bits.Large Carcasses i think is better but everyone to their own :)
 
Just one question if feeding Big Cats up a pole is so good for their health WHY is South Lakes the only place that does it every day?Most other collections vary how they feed Big Cats not relying on only one method!
 
Just as each zoo has one thing that really attracts visitors, Edinburgh it's the penguin parade, at South Lakes it's the big cat feeds. There is no reason why they couldn't vary the days they feed the cats on the poles, South Lakes chose to do it every day. In some zoos enclosure design doesn't make this type of feeding practical, often due to the age or design of the zoo itself. This therefore means the keepers have to come up wuth other ideas for feeding their animals. This doesn't just apply to big cats either, but all animals. Some zoos have been on the sites for decades and therefore restricted as to how things are developed. Some zoos, like South Lakes, are younger and specifically designed to enable this. There are a lot of different reasons for the way zoos feed there animals and all are looking for new ideas to enrich the lives of their animals.
 
Simon McGlary said:
Just as each zoo has one thing that really attracts visitors, Edinburgh it's the penguin parade, at South Lakes it's the big cat feeds. There is no reason why they couldn't vary the days they feed the cats on the poles, South Lakes chose to do it every day. In some zoos enclosure design doesn't make this type of feeding practical, often due to the age or design of the zoo itself. This therefore means the keepers have to come up wuth other ideas for feeding their animals. This doesn't just apply to big cats either, but all animals. Some zoos have been on the sites for decades and therefore restricted as to how things are developed. Some zoos, like South Lakes, are younger and specifically designed to enable this. There are a lot of different reasons for the way zoos feed there animals and all are looking for new ideas to enrich the lives of their animals.
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I`m sorry but if it was as that good for the Big Cats as South Lakes claim every collection would be re-designing the enclosures so they could do it as well,and if your reputable source is who I suspect it is I will take a rain check on how accurate it is!
 
Simon McGlary said:
There are a lot of different reasons for the way zoos feed there animals and all are looking for new ideas to enrich the lives of their animals.
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Surely the key to enrichment is introducing ever changing variety into the lives of the animals. Sticking the meat on the end of a pole every day (apart from, I assume, "fast days") just means it's part of the animal's daily routine. This might arguably be beneficial exercise and a spectacle to draw people in (a commercial reality) but I struggle to see it as enrichment.
 
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But in terms of cardiovascular exercise and as someone else mentioned, buildling up healthy muscle and bone density, I think this is a valid form of feeding. I think other zoos have brought this in for their large cats since South Lakes became well-known for it. I don't think it should act as a replacement for behavioural enrichment, but it serves to use muscle tissue in a way that dumping meat on the ground doesn't.

I wonder whether some zoos/licensing authorities are wary of training a large cat to climb/jump up high surfaces......
 
Absolutely, I don't disagree with anything you've said -I just don't think this feeding method (if used all the time) should be waved about as enrichment.
 
If it is the only form of feeding or enrichment then I'm not too keen, but if it is part of a greater regime of enrichment and feeding then it is very definitely a good thing. Note that the meat portions aren't that big for cats of this size! This way the can be fed daily by giving them smaller feeds whereas other zoos might give one large feed a week and several smaller feeds and a starve day following the big feed. It is very much a variation from one park to another. As I say some parks are unable to change enclosures to introduce pole feeding, either from the point of view of other priorities or park geography. Some are introducing it as an additional activity. Those that are unable to do these tall pole feeds often place the food at different places in the enclosure from one feed to the next to encourage a hunting behaviour. Like I say, every park is different and for a whole host of reasons and I'm sure will be looking for other ways to replicate the that cardiovascular burst.
Can I just say, ont thing that I really didn't like about South Lakes was the speakers everywhere pumping out rainforest and jungle noises. I'm sure it set the siamangs off in the afternoon when there was the sound of gibbons coming from the speakers!
 
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