Zoo Visits During The "New Normal", Some Thoughts.

Pertinax said:
I think it does yes, then you hear a milkman clinking bottles I think, as if its early morning. I never miss it...particularly as Black Rat is now almost certainly extinct as a wild mammal in UK. ( Bristol's are probably from a lab or semi-domesticated strain)
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Interesting, its never occurred to me - probably due to not giving it any thought - that there may be such a strain of black rats. Dudley's too possibly?
 
Pertinax said:
That is what I thought too. 'Showcasing' is exactly the word I was looking for, its certainly lacking here at present.
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By the way, have to ask, you mentioned in an earlier comment that the current Livingstone's fruitbat walkthrough enclosure at Bristol was once utilized for chimpanzees or orangutangs.

Did the enclosure look much different back then ? and was it in the 90's when the enclosure was repurposed for the fruit bats ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
By the way, have to ask, you mentioned in an earlier comment that the current Livingstone's fruitbat walkthrough enclosure at Bristol was once utilized for chimpanzees or orangutangs.

Did the enclosure look much different back then ? and was it in the 90's when the enclosure was repurposed for the fruit bats ?
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Actually I can't remember what it looks like now- I don't usually go through there on my visits. But the rockwork at the back of all three outdoor enclosures is still there- may be partly hidden by foliage. Gorillas ended up dominating the house, because they had more than they could keep in one group, so they occupied two of the outdoor cages, the middle one and the fruit bat one. Orangs and Chimps had to alternate in the third outdoor(now Keas) until the Chimps were discontinued. The last two gorillas were moved out of the house in September 1995 after which the whole house was redesigned as a nocturnal house + the three new outside exhibits for Keas/Red Pandas and Fruitbats.
 
Pertinax said:
Actually I can't remember what it looks like now- I don't usually go through there on my visits. But the rockwork at the back of all three outdoor enclosures is still there- may be partly hidden by foliage. Gorillas ended up dominating the house, because they had more than they could keep in one group, so they occupied two of the outdoor cages, the middle one and the fruit bat one. Orangs and Chimps had to alternate in the third outdoor(now Keas) until the Chimps were discontinued. It was around late 1990's(?) when the whole house was redesigned as a nocturnal house + the outside exhibits.
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Ah I see, I was just wondering as I assumed with what I remember of the metal structuring in place that it could have once been used for orangutangs before being repurposed.

I think it is a brilliant enclosure for the fruitbats anyway, still impressed with it almost two decades later and I only visited the zoo once, and I think they are an incredible species.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Ah I see, I was just wondering as I assumed with what I remember of the metal structuring in place that it could have once been used for orangutangs before being repurposed.

I think it is a brilliant enclosure for the fruitbats anyway, still impressed with it almost two decades later and I only visited the zoo once, and I think they are an incredible species.
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I don't think its the same mesh as before though I can't remember- but I don't think so. The Orangutans never lived that side of the house, they were the other end.
 
Pertinax said:
I don't think its the same mesh as before though I can't remember- but I don't think so. The Orangutans never lived that side of the house, they were the other end.
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Oh I see. Well it is a great use of space for the bats and in terms of an immersive enclosure it is very impressive indeed. I wrote about it on this thread recently.

Best enclosure / exhibit design for lesser known smaller mammals.

Please feel free by the way to comment on any enclosure for small mammals of conservation concern that you have seen at a zoo and has impressed you in terms of husbandry and / or educational value for visitors. It would be much appreciated :).
 
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