Taronga Taronga Taronga » Taronga Zoo

21-04-2008

Of course, and ill challenge you to find a zoo that is. Give it time, and hopefully it will come around like a fine wine- matures with age- not to mention a fine collection of animals.

21-04-2008

yes but by the same token. for the above mentioned funding agreement, taronga should be alot closer to perfection than it is at times and alot more 'perfect' than most

21-04-2008

lol Zootopia- in pursuit of the perfect zo. I think that was the best motto it ever had- shame it's been dropped.

21-04-2008

how about all thsoe zoo pics- been refreshing the agllery every few mins to find if you have put some up!

21-04-2008

im watching bad boys 2 and am too engrossed in the car chase. sorry boys and girls. tomorrow night. over and out glyn

22-04-2008

It's great that there is open criticism of a world renowned zoo, as too many people are satisfied with every zoo visit and don't dig deep to analyze the problems that are lurking underneath the surface of even the very best animal collections. All of the world's zoos have problems with allocating space to animals, reducing stress and pacing in carnivores, and dealing with the deterioration of newer exhibits. It sounds as if Taronga needs to do some spring cleaning, but I suppose in Australia the fall season is in full swing and the high-profile summer has faded into obscurity. In North America many zoos have a "downtime" in the winter, where admission rates are lowered and exhibits are constructed in anticipation of children being unleashed from school for the following summer. It is a pity that there are a number of empty enclosures, as that is consistently a massive turnoff for visitors.

mua ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa!
22-04-2008

so the word from glyn is GSO is a disappointment! just wait till i get up there and get stuckinto it!

its a shame - because i thought B2B was a bit fat pile of crappola.

i liked the concept of a farm and domestic animals incorporated into an australian setting. i liked the idea that it told a story about how to live a sustainable lifestyle. the idea of nature living on your doorstep. only it ended up being a house showcasing a fictional kid's pet reptiles. the adjoining "bush" is even worse.

woolemi, on the otherhand i love. i'm thinking melbourne zoo should scrap its lousy platypus house (they have never bred there anyway) and convert its GFA into a woolemi type exhibit.

(oh and i recently got a woolemi pine for my birthday)

but as much as i love a good taronga bashing - thats a shame about GSO. i was really looking forward to it. it angers me when animal space is compromised for nothing but "dead" public areas. being on the harbor taronga was in a unique position to have live fish etc as part of the exhibits.

and i very much agree about a coastal aviary - shame.

22-04-2008

I wasn't really disappointed as such in GSO, although I agree it was light on animals. It was, however, a massive improvement on the old seal pools and the penguin exhibit was fantastic. I was also curious about the pelicans - I read in Zoonooz there were going to be 20! Maybe I misinterpreted. And by the way, when I went the rhino paddock wasn't empty: the zebras had been moved from the giraffes into there. Utterly agree on the African Waterhole generally, however - looking very uninspiring. (I think they already have finches - Black-headed Mannikins? - in the Palm Aviary too.)

22-04-2008

lol Patrick. dont get too excited. its still fantastic and better, in the case of the seal pool and penguin exhibit than anything ive ever seen.
however, as I have noted, there are a whole range of ideas they skipped out on which is an opportunity lost. it relies heavily on signage to interpret many aspects of the GSO ecosystem; a job which live exhibit could have done better.

Good critics!
22-04-2008

Hey, can i just say i am thrilled to see this contructive discussion taking place, Unfortunatly there were a few aspects missed due to lack of money, 54 mil is alot but unfortunatly to to rising costs because of the ele's and the ongoing battle there we had to cut few things.
But the best zoo exhibits take a while to find thier place and mature as modern zoo designs are trying to build ecosystems and ecosystems don't just start, it's a very long ongoing process to mature an exhibit to a full state.

22-04-2008

well i hope GSO matures into a modern 'eco-system' or 20th century zoo exhibit as put by zooboy, and reaches its full potential. unlike B2B which seems to have fizzled out and now sits forgotten in taronga's lower corner.

23-04-2008

Am I the only one that thinks pelicans are lame? You can see them driving through the suburbs of Adelaide and all through the Murray River region, I mean they are not really part of the Southern Ocean eco-system.

Am I right in assuming there is only one penguin pool for the 2 species of penguins?

23-04-2008

Yes, you're right, but it's one huge pool with several different viewing areas. And yes, I can see your point of view with the pelicans. (Surely something a little more exciting wouldn't have been too hard. Tourists may like the pelicans, but most Australians are going to walk right past them.)

23-04-2008

regarding pelicans i disagree. they are a marine bird and they do live on the coasts of australia so thus are as much a part of the "great southern oceans" as any other animal there. so i'm struggling to see aw101's point about them not being part of the ecosystem.

as for interesting - i think they are. the australian pelican has the longest beak in the avian world. they are quite tame and the feeding sessions are fun to watch.

can i ask - what would you prefer? what australia marine birds would be more interesting to you guys?

23-04-2008

what?...... and in what way does GSO function as an aquatic ecosystem?

if your talking about the size of the trees, i hardly think that's going to improve conceptual flaws.