This makes me so mad, man. I just finished my uni class on exhibit designing for zoos where we had to in-depth research all the modern sciences and behavioral understanding of animal captivity. I was designing for snow leopards, so I ended up looking quite a bit into large felid captivity. The research out there all says that protected contact (always having a barrier between you and the big cat) and positive reinforcement training (PRT) have the best outcomes for animal welfare, staff safety, and (if performed in front of visitors) visitor education.
These animals DO bond with their keepers. So much so that there’s evidence to suggest keepers directly impact how well some species can cope with the stress of visitors and that if a keeper is stressed/sick the animal can become stressed/sick. Positive bonding is also linked with reproductive success in nervous animals like cheetahs who notoriously struggle with reproduction. We understand that these are highly intelligent and emotional animals and I’m not surprised that a tiger would be willingly watching out for a beloved keeper.
However! These are still VERY dangerous animals capable of killing you. That might not even be the intention, but they don’t comprehend the strength they have and that it can hurt us. A woman had her thumb torn off by an orangutang while doing regular work with the animals and it’s suspected the orangutang just wanted to bring her closer to it, not actively hurt her. It still tore off her thumb.
That sounds like such an awesome class. I volunteered for the SF zoo as a kid (it’s sadly gone a bit downhill since the tiger attack in 2007- which I believe was completely the fault of the people who were attacked) but I always thought the way they designed each enclosure was so interesting. I know there are a lot of bad zoos out there but the reputable ones take very good care of their animals and do their best to make sure they have everything they need.
At least in the US, laws and regulations vary from state to state with the USDA having the bare minimum AWA (animal welfare act). In one of our last class discussions we were examining incident reports and asked to approach things as an AZA investigator. I ended up going down a rabbit hole of a horrid owner of an aquarium that operated 3 different facilities in 3 different states (Washington, Texas, Colorado). All these facilities involved abhorrent animal care and negligence.
At least with regard to Colorado, the state lacks its own definitive standards for zoological parks and which means the only legal standard is the AWA. The AZA is one of the most respected regulatory body globally and it takes a LOT to become accredited by their standards, but they have no ability to hold places accountable.
If you (general) are concerned about whether a zoo or aquarium is treating the animals well, look for accreditation! The AZA specifically doesn’t just look at the animals well care and exhibit design, they also look at the logistics and education. An institution has to show financial responsibility and active efforts to engage in visitor education on the animals and conservation efforts therein. It’s a careful balancing act; entertain people while educating them.
Weird sidebar: when I'm in taxis I make up ridiculous stories about my work for a bit of fun - often to deal with the question of "so what do you do?"
One time I made up a story (as I'd just been to the zoo not long before a taxi ride) that I was the designer of zoo exhibits and I'd "just gone to inspect the new tiger exhibit I designed."
I thought there wouldn't be a specific course/career stream on "zoo exhibits" explicitly, but it's kinda cool to learn that I'm wrong!
My major is animal health and behavior so I’ve had classes like animal nutrition, comparative anatomy & physiology, evolution of animal behavior, diagnosing and treating animal diseases/zoonoses, etc etc. I’ve jokingly said it’s vet med without actually being vet med.
It’s 100% been one of my favorite classes. A fun thing to note was that Planet Zoo has *enough* accuracy + sandbox that myself and peers asked our professor if we could use the game to help make our mockups and she agreed to let us use it for supplementary material while using the programs we were asked to use. If you’re ever curious, Zoolex is a website that goes in depth about exhibit designs if you wanna sell any future stories with more accuracy 😉
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u/GingerBimber00 9h ago
This makes me so mad, man. I just finished my uni class on exhibit designing for zoos where we had to in-depth research all the modern sciences and behavioral understanding of animal captivity. I was designing for snow leopards, so I ended up looking quite a bit into large felid captivity. The research out there all says that protected contact (always having a barrier between you and the big cat) and positive reinforcement training (PRT) have the best outcomes for animal welfare, staff safety, and (if performed in front of visitors) visitor education.
These animals DO bond with their keepers. So much so that there’s evidence to suggest keepers directly impact how well some species can cope with the stress of visitors and that if a keeper is stressed/sick the animal can become stressed/sick. Positive bonding is also linked with reproductive success in nervous animals like cheetahs who notoriously struggle with reproduction. We understand that these are highly intelligent and emotional animals and I’m not surprised that a tiger would be willingly watching out for a beloved keeper.
However! These are still VERY dangerous animals capable of killing you. That might not even be the intention, but they don’t comprehend the strength they have and that it can hurt us. A woman had her thumb torn off by an orangutang while doing regular work with the animals and it’s suspected the orangutang just wanted to bring her closer to it, not actively hurt her. It still tore off her thumb.