2023-08-24 07:20:02
Opinion More variety
Zoos keep animals and visitors busy here
Many animals in zoos only wake up during feeding times. So that they don’t doze around all the time, carers are always thinking up new activities for them. In some places, they go one step further – and offer activities that also involve visitors.
Status: 07:20 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
By Kira Hanser
responsible editor travel/style/motor
Occupational therapy at the zoo: a tiger tug-of-war
Quelle: Shutterstock/Denise Allison Coyl
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In a zoo, there are usually clear rules: the animals are in the enclosure and the visitors watch them. Such animal observations are very popular: 75 percent of Germans like to go to zoos, not only at home, but also on city tours. When asked: “What do you like about zoos?”, a Forsa survey commissioned by the Association of Zoological Gardens revealed that species protection (35 percent) and contact with and observation of animals in nature (24 percent) are most important to them.
As far as the observation is concerned, however, one has to say: Most of the time, the animals only wake up at feeding times. So that they don’t just doze around, zoo keepers are always thinking of new activities: tigers have unchewable plastic balls to roll around and hoses to pull, hay bags are hidden high up in the treetops for elephants, chimpanzees are given tools to poke around, and lions also like to eat zebra droppings placed in the enclosure for beautiful hunting dreams.
Yes, sometimes there is even prescribed turtle sex, for example at the San Diego Zoo in California. This then becomes a bit of an animal peep show, where the audience is surprised to find that the comparatively sluggish Galapagos giant tortoises are tireless and can grunt extremely loudly.
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This is really a species-appropriate and species-preserving occupational therapy, even if some visiting families with children are embarrassed in this most-visited zoo in the USA. You could elegantly combine this with an educational talk, because thanks to the reproduction program in the enclosure, the lovestruck turtles have already fathered 800 babies.
Tug of war in the zoo – with a tiger
Several zoos around the world go one step further. Activities are offered there that not only get zoo animals going, but also visitors. By interacting with each other. Spectacular example: tug of war – with a tiger.
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A knotted rope is stretched between the cage bars. As soon as people pull outside, the loose end of the rope jerks in the enclosure. This is irresistible for the big cat. The tiger pulls on the jerky end of the knot, the visitor tries to hold on to the other end. Spoilers: the predator always wins.
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Zoologists describe the game as an enrichment program that aims to promote physical activity. And if zoo visitors can also take part, it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. Some animal protection organizations consider this acceptable, while others reject it as a spectacle.
Such tug-of-war occurs at Roosevelt Park Zoo in North Dakota, Emirates Zoo and Al Ain Zoo in Abu Dhabi. Busch Gardens in Florida has also tested the unequal showdown. And in Texas, three professional wrestlers lost at the San Antonio Zoo, the young lion didn’t give up a millimeter of rope.
In Europe, Britain’s Dartmoor Zoo has canceled the tug of war after animal rights activists protested outside the entrance. Now “a day as a big cat keeper” is offered there instead, including shoveling tiger droppings.
Is this bear human? – Video causes confusion on the internet
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