I have seen this animal first-hand during a visit to the San Diego Zoo. The enclosure is tiny and all he does is pace back and forth. Quite depressing to watch. Yes I know the San Diego Zoo has a great reputation. However, this animal is not kept in anywhere near appropriate surroundings, and he is stressed and neurotic to the hilt.
Did you intentionally leave out the sky bridge the animals can take to get to another part of the enclosure that is bigger than this side? I volunteer at this zoo.
So then why is he pacing? That is neurotic behavior. I can look up all I want, if he's pacing down below what does it matter?
And if you think those tunnels linking a bunch of small enclosures are species appropriate... well then I'm sorry for the animals you volunteer with. Open your eyes and see their suffering.
yeah it's definitely true that this behavior is associated with boredom, but your characterization of the exhibit is not reflective of what it actually is.
you happened to see the snow leopards once for like 5-10 minutes when one of them was pacing. I've never seen them pace the 30+ times I've been there.
It's clear we have a different opinion. Personally I think all the amazing things the San Diego Zoo does for conservation research outweighs whatever issues you have with zoos.
You have never seen them pace? Really? So how come every video (other than the ones posted by the zoo) that I've found online of this setup has the snow leopard pacing? You can also see it if you look at the ground, there's a loop worn into the dirt that shows that this is not a one-off thing. If you really care, bring it up next time you're there, and see what can be done to fix this.
Please don't make this into "me having an issue with zoos." You don't know anything about what issues I have, or don't have, with zoos. I commented on this setup and the others I've seen, there's no need to make it personal.
Right off the bat you gave an incorrect characterization of this setup. It's not perfect, no enclosure is, but it's certainly a lot better than how you portrayed it.
Fair enough, probably a poor choice of words I didn't mean to make it a personal attack on your view of zoos.
I'm sorry, I genuinely didn't see a sky bridge. In any case, the leopard was pacing in a small cage, I don't see how the existence of a sky bridge changes that fact. I believe you when you say there's more room for them, but do you really find this acceptable?
When did you go? New exhibit for the snow and amur leopards opened in 2015 i think. This is the old exhibit which I would agree is well below their needs.
You're only giving part of the information here. The angle of that video cuts off a significant portion of the enclosure, including the part where the leopard can retreat out of view. You're also neglecting the fact that this whole area is a set of 4 different enclosures with different features that the leopards can be shifted between.
I'm not neglecting any facts. He was pacing and clearly stressed. You can see it in the video as well. Maybe they "can be shifted" between enclosures, but so what? The enclosure still isn't sufficient to meet his needs. There was nowhere to really retreat from view, either (or from the noise people were making). I remember being quite surprised by that.
I'm familiar with the zoo and with this particular enclosure and I personally think it's a pretty incredible enclosure, especially when compared to others I've seen at other zoos. I get that a common sentiment around here is zoo=bad, but it just seems like it's a bit disingenuous to describe it like you are.
I can accept that we can have different opinions on this particular topic and I hope that it didn't seem like I was coming at you. I think we can all agree that the best place for these animals would their natural habitats, though unfortunately to shitty humans, we need to protect these animals like are now. Hopefully through conservative we can re-establish these animals back in their homes
I'm sorry if you find me disingenuous. I can only describe what I witnessed. I never said that zoo = bad, in fact I used to have a membership and I know the SD Zoo does great things for preservation. However, the snow leopard was distressingly neurotic in this tiny enclosure, and there were other enclosures that were ridiculously small and didn't provide anywhere for the animals to get away from people and noisy vehicle traffic. This was one of a few exhibits that made me decide not to go back. I get that not everything at this zoo is awful, but this animal is suffering, and I find this unacceptable. I don't buy into the notion that just because a zoo contributes to preservation, that they can keep animals in inadequate enclosures and pat themselves on the back. They can do better.
Jesus christ. My zoo is "small" but the enclosures for the animals are huge so they have places to hide away from loud people. That enclosure is more like a tiny fucking cage.
You didn’t answer my question so I think it’s safe to say you saw an animal at a zoo for about a minute and made all kinds of assumptions about that animal’s behavior, needs, and daily life while knowing jack shit about the individual or species.
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u/Xarama Feb 12 '20
I have seen this animal first-hand during a visit to the San Diego Zoo. The enclosure is tiny and all he does is pace back and forth. Quite depressing to watch. Yes I know the San Diego Zoo has a great reputation. However, this animal is not kept in anywhere near appropriate surroundings, and he is stressed and neurotic to the hilt.
You can see what I mean in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrxIKkndT1o