Enclosure design

There are three main groups to think about when designing enclosures:

• Animals
• Keepers
• Public

Animals

• Are they group-living or solitary?
• Are they sedentary animals or very active?
• What wild habitat do they come from? Think about temperature and humidity.
• Do they climb, or hide under ground? Do they need a flat area or 3D structures? If they climb, is mesh or bars better for them as a barrier, rather than glass, a moat, or another structure?
• How far do they like to be able to see? For example, cheetahs are long sighted and like high points with long views, whilst some other animals are very short sighted, so a long view is not important to them.
• Is the enclosure interesting – do the animals need toys to play with?
• Are they nocturnal, crepuscular, or diurnal?
• Can you mix them with other animals?
• The animals need privacy, perhaps separate dens off public show.
• How big an area does the animal need? For example, wild ring-tailed lemurs may spend their entire lives within 200m of where they were born, if that area provides them with all they need. A carnivore’s territory will increase as food becomes more scarce – compare the Sumatran tigers’ small territory in the wild, with the vast ranges patrolled by Siberian tigers or polar bears. Animals will usually only move to find food, escape danger or find mates.

Keepers

• Need to feed the animals the correct food and provide them with fresh water without the animals escaping, usually without going into the enclosure with the animals.
• Some animals are dangerous and keepers never go in with them, others allow varying degrees of interaction with keeping staff.
• Enclosures must be easy to keep clean to minimise chances of disease.
• Animals may need to be isolated for moving to other collections or for veterinary purposes, sometimes from a distance with an anaesthetic dart or sometimes whilst still unsedated. An example is the tunnels of the monkey enclosures, a section of which can be stopped by dropping doors at either end so that the monkey can be isolated and moved without ever being manhandled or sedated.

Public

• Most of the animals must therefore be visible.
• The public often likes to see ‘naturalistic’ enclosures. However, these may be totally impractical. For example, herbivores will quickly destroy most living plants in their enclosures, so that their paddocks often look very bare. Naturalistic enclosures, however, are often more pleasing to the public and may be better educationally to illustrate the correct habitat.
• Should the animals be visible all the time? Many people don’t stop to look carefully or to watch, but hurry past if they cannot see the animal immediately.
• Perception of freedom – do the public like the use of islands, moats (water or dry), bars, wire mesh, glass, to separate them from the animals.
• Information for the visitors about the animals, their habitats, etc – where is the information to be placed?

Other considerations

Building materials
Non-toxic, withstand wear and tear, easy to clean. Strong and safe enough to keep very powerful, dangerous animals in. Ecological soundness of material.

Environmental enrichment
Toys, scatter feeding to encourage foraging, feeding at unpredictable times of day, or even unpredictable days. Feeding in novel ways. Making the animals work for their food. Allowing animals out in the Zoo grounds, to interact with the public or even give rides.

Cost
Zoos are not made of money and all enclosures have to be compromised by the space available and the cost of the whole budget.

Also, planning permission, having enclosures which are listed buildings, housing the animals whilst the enclosures are modified, etc, etc, etc.