Making zoo animals interesting
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- Опубліковано 28 кві 2024
- Animals, regardless of how exciting they can be, are often doing a whole lot of nothing. On top of this, a good zoo offers the opportunity for animals to go where, and do whatever they like. So with animals hiding away, lazing around, or simply off display, how do zoos offer their visitors the best possible experience?
From animal shows to behavioural opportunities, as well as a range of exhibit design techniques, lets take a look!
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References
BetMonarch Tour De Parrot by _DefyThemAll (vimeo.com/433439231) CC by 3.0.
Celebrating Einstein by Zoo Knoxville (vimeo.com/263002014) CC by 3.0.
JaxZoo_9-1-18-6662 by Rob Bixby (www.flickr.com/photos/scubabi...) CC by 2.0.
Sun Bear Forest by Osbornb (www.flickr.com/photos/osbornb...) CC by 2.0. - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
I personally think Zoos are better when the animal is enriched
100% an enrichment program is an essential part of animal keeping!
@@zooblether I think the Animals wellbeing should be at the forefront of the zoo exhibit design.
Yeah for this video I didn’t dive into the trade offs between visitors and animals. Given unlimited space and finances you could do both, but there is certainly a spectrum which you see at zoos. Possibly a focus for a future video 👍
Well said 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I personally think zoos are better closed forever. Keeping animals in captivity for profit wow amazing. Oh and saving a species in captivity isn't actually saving a species at all. It's not worth for their proce of freedom
That's another reason why ethical zoos are the best out there, not only are they good for the animals with lots of enrichments and hiding spots but they're also enriching for the zoo guests. One of my favorite parts of going to zoos is trying to find the animals in one of the several spots they could be hiding. Makes it so much more worth it to then finally see the animals than if they were just on display in a boring box :D
Absolutely!
THIS!
I agree, I don't go to zoos but I'm biking through forest and it's always cool to see new insect that I haven't seen before or try to find frog you heard jumping somewhere
My favorite example of this is a “look up for sloth” sign that I encountered once in a walk-through Amazonian rain forest exhibit. It was a simple “wet floor” sign that the staff had taped paper over. They said that they just moved it throughout the exhibit as needed (which was infrequent). It was such a great way to be both practical and whimsically inviting for the visitors. Everyone laughed when they saw it, and it definitely made more folks stop and observe the sloth than would have otherwise.
I love this idea!
The simplest ideas are often the best! Also means they are easy to implement.
So they just follow the sloth around with the sign (essentially)? that's pretty clever
An unusual example, but one of my favorites is the leaf-cutter ant exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo's insect house. It used to be just a generic glass box with the classic "see-through nest" display, but it's since been greatly expanded to stretch around the entire inside of the building with a series of glass tubes and chambers that lead to another display where they get their leaves. It's not only much more interesting to look at, but it's great educational material to showcase the amazing navigation and resource gathering skills ants are famous for
Love this idea! Saw a similar thing above the sinks in a bathroom once, behind glass where you’d expect the mirrors to be! Itwas cool to see something appear in a place you wouldn’t expect
That sounds amazing!
The zoo near me has the ants carrying their leaves along a branch through the exhibit in open air, which is kinda dangerous but I’ve never seen anyone bothering them
I love seeing how zoos get creative with their enrichments for animals. A channel I watch called Snake Discovery has a rescue alligator named Rex who is stunted, but they like to do lots of things to enrich her life. One of those things is giving her a sturdy ball with a handle and she'll actually play with it and death roll it sometimes! I didn't know until I saw her channel that you could enrich alligators in that manner, and so I'm excited to see what other enrichment items we can make for animals that people may have not thought could be enriched with toys!
I’m aware of the channel, don’t think I’ve seen that one though, and never worked with gators myself. Funnily enough though I was at a talk a few years ago about snakes, and enrichment for them. Big effort being made to offer snakes something more than simply handling and feeding them!
I like the idea for that video, I’ll put some feelers out and see what novel enrichment people have been designing!
I love Rex!
@zooblether
Thats cool. I dont agree with keeping snakes in a dark box with mimimal enrichment like a lot of snake breeders do.
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My corn snake is in a bioactive enclosure, with live plants, his basking lamp mimicking a day/night cycle, different sized rocks, branches to climb on, natural hides, substrate deep enough to burrow in, isopods and springtails. I did research to build his habitat to make sure it mimicked his natural environment if he was a wild snake as much as possible. I also add and remove stuff, like plants and rocks so he has new things to examine. In good weather he gets to go out and explore around the grass in my backyard.
Ive had him for 7 years. And yeah, hes a snake without the same range of emotions as my dog. But he seems to be a contented snake. If he is awake and I put my arm in his habitat, he comes right to me and climbs my arm so I can lift him out. Hes healthy and alert and I never see him performing stereotypies or listlessly curled up in the same hide for days on end. Also, he and his habitat is an amazing display piece. Hes a bright pink red and orange amel about 5 feet long.
Rex is so baby!! 💕
oh i love snakr discovery
rex is best girl
I’m not against zoos by any means, if they treat animals right with care, enrichment and space they can be perfect places for conservation and education.
Absolutely!
I dont know, I personally like watching animals do what they actually would do in the wild, basking, resting, just chilling etc.
Well unfortunately you’re not the general public
I've seen a lot of cases where zoogoers look at an animal chilling in one spot and think that they're "depressed", or not moving because they feel "trapped". Sometimes my own pets go out to the backyard just to sit and blink as the wind passes by. I think it's cute, but zoos with "lazy" animals might catch a bad rep because people tend to project human emotions onto the creatures on display.
@@problemsfan4132 I wonder if a sign saying "this species needs X hours of sleep per day." could remedy that, to some degree at least. Most animals need significantly more sleep than humans, but people don't realize that their own sleep cycle isn't universal.
@@problemsfan4132I don’t think there “depressed” but a zoo is for entertainment and the people running the zoo make it a priority to appeal to the guests. I don’t think the higher ups care about the animals at all.
@@ryukai3003 Of course they aren't depressed... But less knowledgeable people sometimes think they are. People who don't understand how animals work project human emotions onto them sometimes. That's what they were trying to say.
personally, I really love the bio domes at burgers zoo in the netherlands, even though not every part of the dome is filled with animals, it is filled with plants from the region they are trying to portray, and i think this really helps the immersion and also makes the domes themselves the attraction and not only the animals
I’ve not been to Burgers zoo, yet! But when done well this type of exhibit is amazing. Not only can you “not see” certain animals and it still be great, but I think it also makes visitors take the time to “explore” and see what you can find!
@@zooblether you should definetely come see the dutch zoos!
Artis, blijdorp and burgers zoo are all pretty well done
Amersfoort has a (smaller) night exhibit that is like that too! Because of the dark it takes some time to spot all the different animals in it
@@ApequH yeah I also have been there, also really like that part!
A nearby zoo in Denmark, Ree Park, has an interesting design in a big safari ground which you drive through in a jeep (with a lot of African animals of course). One of the things the guide told us, is that they on purpose built it on some steep hills, so the animals can never see the whole pen from any one spot. This motivates them to keep moving throughout the day and explore, instead of being passive, which is of course great both for the animals and the visitors.
Cool use of landscaping for the visitors too, blocks other vehicles and let them “discover” new animals 👍
I think a great example of a zoo enhancing its exhibit and how much it affects visitor experience is the update to the Como Zoo polar bear exhibit in Minnesota. This was the zoo I grew up going to, and its polar bear enclosure was all bare, geometric ground growing up. More recently, they redid it into a naturalistic pasture with several water features instead of the one pool it used to have, and the whole area of the zoo feels different and more exciting now - even though it is technically harder to find the polar bears now
And this is why Jurassic Park failed to display their animals. Electric fences only deterred them from going near.
Ironically the fences were for legal reasons I believe, the investors were extremely worried for safety concerns which was the main pressure for the plot to begin in the first place.
It would make sense that greedy investors and corporate wouldn’t think any further then hitting target goals for an all profit zoo, especially considering the contexts around it.
I like to watch the livestreams of Africam and Namibian cams. You’re right, most of the animals are staring at the horizon a lot of the time. Or walking to the waterhole, drink, and walk away from the waterhole.
I remember watching those all the time pre-Netflix etc. I’d always wait on waterholes hoping for something exciting to happen, my younger self hoping for one of those epic standoffs between a lion and a croc over some prey! Best I ever got was a mix of different hoof-stock and a few birds drinking!
@@zooblether I watched Africam from the nineties. And last year I saw my first lion, never saw one before.
@@zooblether oh, I and saw an unplanned meeting between wild dogs and some wildebeests with calves. But i was afraid to watch how that ended.
Amazing! And for sure, nature can seem cruel certainly not for the faint hearted!
I am from Prague, where the largest Zoo in Czechia is located. It’s partially on a rocky hill, and the steep stone wall is used as a habitat for mountain goat (or similar animals). It’s great use of otherwise really harsh terrain and it’s super entertaining to watch the animals climb! One of my favorites for sure
Love this. I saw a similar thing somewhere in Europe when I was a kid. The zoo perimeter met with a cliff face and they had a row of enclosures giving access up the sheer cliff. Was really impressive to see!
I feel bad when people insist zoos are horrible or claim they're just animal jails. That may have been true hundreds of yeara ago, but most reputable ones today are anything BUT animal jails. They are meant for education of the public, including threats, info about the animals' wild range, and so on. And many zoos help by breeding animals appropriately for re-releaee.
OF COURSE the wild would be the best place for them. Sometimes, though, humans are dumb and make life difficult for them, like with hunting for traditional medicines. I like that we are really understanding things better now and that there are so many programs to help these rare creatures. If it wasn't for zoos and/or captive breeding, we likely would have lost many spectacular creaturss, like whooping cranes, the California condor, tree lobsters, red wolves, and many species of bsts, frogs, and turtles.
zoos have a lot of benefits for both people and animals, yeah !! wont say anything you haven’t already, so, animals born and raised in captivity that are socialised with humans very rarely can be let back into the wild so there’s many a case where that animal is brought to a zoo or something similar :]
and also good lord the amount of zoos I went to. and still do, occasionally. if you want kids to have an interest in nature and animals and all that, it’s really not that hard!!
I have two cats. They are both lazy. I go to the zoo and I see big cats being lazy. I love to look at them
Something I've been wondering for a while now: why are pools for small whales (dolphins, belugas, etc) so boring?
Usually, I think about this from the animals pesrpective. You're supposed to make enclosures that mimic the animals native habitat to make it happy, but the ocean isn't made of concrete. It's not even that the ocean is such a difficult enviroment to recreate that zoos don't bother because aquariums do, even for fish that probably need a similar amount of space like whale sharks.
But thinking about it from my own perspective as a guest makes the question even more baffling. I don't want to see an orca in a concrete bathtub!
I always assumed it is because these are open ocean animals. They don't really live in coral reefs or Rocky shores. They just live in water and more water.
@@leonmat26 but that water still isn't sorrounded by concrete. Shouldn't they at least get a substrate of some kind, like sand or gravel?
I think no matter how hard you try you cannot recreate an environment that gives the animals what they need ( compared to the wild at least ). Zoos are for entertainment not for the well-being of animals.
@@ryukai3003 That is a complicated, nuanced and, ultimately, important discussion to have, but not the one I'm trying to have.
We at least *try* with everything else, why not with small whales, some of the most intelligent animals on the planet?
@@leonmat26 also, they live in the entire ocean, shore included.
I don’t know how quality it is, but I have pleasant memories of the holiday themed enrichment at my local zoo. Tigers rolling around jack o lanterns to extract chunks of horse meat and chimps tearing apart Christmas presents for a watermelon. Some families had holiday traditions to go see those events. I hope it’s good for them, because it’s a fun time.
I was recently at the Sad Diego Zoo on a rare rainy cold day. even so the Zoo was really great. and big, it can def be a half day or whole day affair depending on your pace. A majority of the exhibits are on a winding pathway down one side a a canyon then up the other-side of the canyon many of the bigger enclosures have multiple viewing places and levels.
highly recommend the SD zoo is you find yourself in the socal area
Recently a zoo in de Netherlands (Ouwehands Dierenpark) got koala’s. This is the first time a zoo in the Netherlands has these animals, so lots of people go there to see them. The climate here is however a lot colder than Australia. So they placed warmed tree’s in their outside enclosure to stimulate the koala’s to go outside and climb the trees
This is a great example! Thanks
I was lucky enough to visit a few parks in Southern Africa. Most of the the time the wild animals are fairly unactive. Wild lions nap alot (I did get to see a few playing). Most of the antelope and zebras spend pretty much all their time grazing. The elephants however, are much more active and seem happier in the wild. After seeing wild elephants, I don't think they should be kept in zoos (unless a zoo can design a truely enriching environment for elephants).
When I went to the Nashville zoo, they had a massive open-air exhibit with monkeys, who were just swinging around this monkey jungle gym like 50 feet up in the air. Seeing them in motion like that was unforgettable, easily the most active I’ve ever seen animals at a zoo behaving.
Animals are never boring ❤
I think it's good to have periodic displays of the animals' unique skill sets to both enrich the animals and get the interest of the people who come to see them. Now more than ever we need people to take interest in earth's creatures, and zoos are a great way to inspire awe and wonder.
Sometimes my family enjoys scanning the habitat for the animals when they are not fully in the open. It’s fun when one of us finally sees them and points them out to the rest of us
I feel like there are many ways zoos can keep guests and animals happy!
Or a combination of many! Always fun to note all the little features you could easily overlook!
After playing tons of Zoo Tycoon 2, these come as secone nature! Hahah
Busch Gardens Tampa has some amazing exhibits, and even has multiple animal care areas where you can go to learn more about the animals and how they are kept.
Its not just zoos. But a lot of people who keep a variety of reptiles also have very complex setups and enrichment to consider.
People are constantly suprised when i take my chameleon out that he can do tricks or interacts with his environment beyond moving about for food or thermoregulation. Theyre also suprised at how social he is since most people see grumpy petstore chameleons that arent socialized properly.
Most people dont see reptiles as being very intelligent or capable of learned behaviour simply because they are reptiles. Ive used everything from plant racks for climbing enrichment, living walls, a reptile elevated pathway throughout my house, puzzle toys, ASL for gesture training (since its already a fully fuctional language) and more. My enclosures are mini biomes with their own weather, scupted terrain, deliberatly chosen plants for climbing, hidden misters lights dripping systems and heat bulbs. Ive got streams and waterfalls and underground water caves in some of my more aquaticly enclined reptiles. Some are made as acurate to their natural conditions as possible and others are more whimsical while still maintaining necessary parameters.
Absolutely. There’s a lot of issues in the “pet” industry. But a large amount of private holders are vastly improving the standards of husbandry and continue to do so. This can both be from a “display” perspective but also vastly improve welfare.
@@zooblether To be fair, we now know much more about these species then what we once did which has allowed us to improve things like display and husbandry. I still remember when bearides were considered acceptable to be kept in in 20g tanks. Or when anything other then a mesh enclosure for a chameleon would get you crucified by keepers because the enclosures available werent built with reptiles in mind, just fishtanks. We have a much better understanding of their social dynamics and interaction with their environments, including what enrichment is for a reptile.
It's interesting to me to see how reptiles have different observable behavior in the wild vs captivity, not just based around stimuli and environment but their comprehension of whats happening around them based on previous experience. Even WC and CB chameleons have very notable differences in how they react and interact with everything.
But I've also always gone completely overboard when it comes to enrichment and enclosure design to begin with. Some of my reptiles have entire rooms turned I enclosures (mind some of them need a pretty big space to begin with...)
Is there some kind of trick zoos and that use to keep ambient temperature up I bigger enclosures?
A combination of the kinds of lamps and heaters available commercially, but more often than not once you have multiple setups, it’s cheaper and easier to heat the room. “Ambient temperature” is then much warmer than you’d expect and those species which need it get individual heating to supplement that. Either a heated room with individual setups, so you can have any kind of heating, or if specially built, then underfloor heating, ac units or static radiators (substrate/species dependent).
Werribee zoo was my favourite zoo visit, you get in a bus and drive through whats essentially a massive sanctuary, the animals will sometimes come right up to the bus (ocassionally blocking it and you have to wait a while XD) but it was so cool! And they just seemed to all exist together, its been a long time so Im probably forgetting some of the ways they may have seperated some of the animals but watching them exist in as natural a habitat as possible was the coolest experience.
Love your videos ❤
I appreciate that, thanks!
This is super interesting! I never considerd how zoos are able to keep the experiance as engaging as they do, so this was an awesome insight.
Great video by the way, super educational, very intriguing and well edited!
I'll definately be considering these when visiting my next zoo 💯
Dartmoor zoo is deffo my favourite zoo because a lot of the animals seem happy
my partner and i managed to get an awesome display of behaviors from a gorilla family, the babies were playing and then we even got to see mums mating behavior which was interesting. we were the only ones watching so it felt really cool and special. the babies would slap the glass and we would slap back they loved it
I was really worried that this was going to say that it was giving people misconceptions about animals and their behavior and misinforming people or even worse that they are mistreating animals but this ended being adroit, informative and even a little bit heartwarming, thanks for the video man!
Hey man, thanks for this. Had to look up adroit, but it’s much appreciated!
Me when I see an animal: 😯
Me when I see an animal do lliterally anything: 🤩
There's a mountain in Austria that has a bird of prey exhibit and a macaque monkey exhibit. The monkeys basically have a whole forest to themselves where they do all their monkey things with only a tiny part of it accessible to guided tours that however is built to showcase all of their quirks such as intelligence toys and a swimming pool. The birds of prey on the other hand are let out of their aviaries on the regular and will just roam the area for days on end before returning on their own terms, which works out well since most of them are native to the area anyways. The flight show we visited actually got hijacked by one of the eagles who decided to return from his field trip just after they let out the kites, which all proceeded to flee back into their aviary. The staff on these attractions basically has to improvise nonstop around the behavior of these animals. They have their tricks (mostly food), sure, but if one of the birds decides to fly off or none of the monkeys who have figured out the intelligence toys are nearby, that's just how it is.
And just in case anyone's wondering about the co-existence of free roaming eagles and baby monkeys, apparently the monkeys are a lot more dangerous to the eagles than vice versa. They said one of the eagles landed in a tree at the monkey exhibit once and the monkeys proceeded to go crazy and climb up the tree to get it. The eagle managed to take off just in time, but overall the birds avoid the monkeys and focus on catching their natural prey.
You should do an interview for the design podcast 99% Invisible! This is exactly the kind of thing they love exploring.
Hey I appreciate that, but there are people far more knowledgeable about design than I am! Would certainly make a good listen though!
Wow! Thank you for sharing these ideas and videos! I have just found this inspiring channel and the videos really made me think about the relationship between the design of enclosure and the animal behaviour.
You are so welcome! Glad you’re enjoying it!
I think that old animal shows were more than “a little” problematic.
The zoo near my childhood home had moats as the front fence in most of their carnivore exhibits and it was cool as hell
Certainly a good way to “remove barriers” and let people feel more in the presence of these species!
"Animals are BORING!" This is literally the plot of "Fierce Creatures".
Well that’s a blast from the past!
I mean I love good zoos that enrich their animals, and I think they’re important, but nothing can beat seeing the animal in the wild
If the animals are okay with being seen, let's make that happen in whatever ways works. If not, perhaps we can convince them to spend the private time they need while in front of cameras or reverse mirrors that sneakily let well-manored visitors take a peak. Also, though, I have deep respect for the keeper who quietly gives a talk about lions while the lions sleep motionless in the corner of their cave. Maybe the keeper could explain how often the lion preferst do this and why and when it is more active and what sleep is like for a lion. Maybe there are objects and pictures he can show. But I do like the idea that if animals truely need to do things that are not entertaining, or to experience hiding to satisfy the ways they prefer to interact, they should not be forced to be always aware of our presence seeing them and trying to get them to do things, like celebreties in glass houses. Maybe artists who want to draw or paint animals would enjoy animals that move very little. Certainly, an overlooked lesson of the animal world is that many animals, wild or otherwise, find happiness in routine, lack of conflict, the easiest way of getting food possible, friends they know well enough to largely ignore most days, and rest. Sure they have exciting moments, but we can come to apreciate their predictibility and the smaller nuances of their existence too, in addition to understanding why they may not want to be seen. Zoos have always existed as places for people to see animals, like wildlife documentaries. But outside zoos seeing a fair-sized wild animal at all, is a highlight of the day in and of itself. I wonder if zoos can help more people see and notice animals that way, even as they do their best to allow us to see what we might not be able to otherwise.
Did not expect my hometown zoo (Hagenbeck) to randomly get a shoutout lol
It's not about giving animals a choice, it's about triggering their program, instinct. By definition they can't make choices.
Love the video and for some reason you remind me of Ron Jeremy
I wonder how the aliens running the zoos in year 2200 will make humans more interesting?
Nice video. I know some of this because of the animasl shows and kids tv i watched.
I’d rather be able to see them since I wouldn’t otherwise get the chance. I don’t especially care. I want the animals to be happy.
Man looks like he could be related to Hugh Laurie
Its never lupus
While I have very mixed feelings on zoos, I really enjoyed hearing about the different techniques that go into the presentation of exhibits! Great video and solid info
Glad you enjoyed it! Having mixed feelings is perfect, it lets you listen to insights from both sides and make informed decisions yourself! Happy to have you here learning!
I honestly forgot zoos are a business
The mission statement and goals of any good zoo won’t include a section about generating x amount for shareholders or bonuses, their Mission will be more aligned with what you’d expect. But you do need to keep the lights on. Some work very well on donors and sponsorships, but most will rely most heavily on ticket sales.
Interesting
I think zoos should be better for the animals than the guests.
I certainly think animals are the priority. But they don’t have to be mutually exclusive
Buuuuuuuut I want to see cows!!!!!🐄
It is troubling that I came across your channel by chance besides actively searching for this kind of content, the alforithm is not algorithmin. Might I recommend that you play Planet Zoo and apply all these principles that you know of in game and showcase the sessions on your channel. The game while a game, does have some realistic concepts and is extrememy versatile in what it allowa you to do with exhibits, in regards to buildings, landscaping, barriers, shelters, animal enrichment , heating and cooling systems. I think that would make for very engaging content, carrying the educative points you aim to convey to a much broader audience!
Hey! I appreciate you reaching out! I grew up playing zoo tycoon! The OG planet zoo! I’m well aware there’s a big crossover, but moving forward I will be highlighting more than just zoo design. My aim here isn’t just to grow a channel but be a real positive influence highlighting the good work zoos do. I have a lot of plans and getting stuck “building” my own zoos takes away from that. Stick with me and I’ve got a lot more to show!
@@zooblether Thanks for the reply, played some zoo tycoon my self. I am definitely sticking around, I am hooked!
❤
Someday, there are going to be zoos where there are animatronics on display that are good enough to do some of the things that animals do for during shows, that you CAN switch on and off as many times as you want, and allow the animals to go 'back stage' more often if they want.
I think we don't need zoos at all
Lol
0:01 EXCUSE ME?!?
also sitting in an aviary waiting for diner all day cant be good for the birds either
We need to feed the tigers live goats like in Jurassic park. Show the kids what nature is truly like.
We should ban zoos alltogether
It's doing an incredible job at keeping endangered species alive while being educational, inspiring and actually profitable to local communities. Keep zoos around
0:01 Nuh uh they’re very interesting
seaworld should go to hell
Reason zoos became less popular is beacuse of stupid animal lovers and conservations like Peta and paws, saying all zoos are bad
True some zoos are bad, for example asia doesn't have anything to support the animals. But zoos are actually really useful for several reasons
1st education
Kids nowdays spend lot of time on their phones, not having a touch with nature, so zoos can be effective way to let kids explore that nature and learn more about animals
2nd protection of local wildlife
IN the wild, wild animals are faced with lot of struggles, lots of babies became orphan or injured animals roam wich they can die, so people find these animals and Bing EM to the zoo so they can care them till they are fully capable of going back to the wild
3d saving endangerd species
Unlike human world who is expanding, world of animals is decreasing, some species like siberian tigers, polar bears and rhinos are criticaly endangerd species, even northern white rhino went extinct in the wild, with only two females remaining, so zoos dedicated so much efforts to save them, for example scimitar oryx and Przewalski's horse were declared extinct in the wild, now they were introduced to the wild and they bred and they were coming back
Who misunderstand the issue.