Kaycee Conaway Week 3

Hornaday, Blair, and Osborn as the Bronx Zoo leaders pushed for what change in the zoo’s public mission? In terms of design, what changes did Osborn institute? What were the pros and cons with the African Plains exhibit in the 1940s? Overall, why does Hancocks seem to priase the Bronx Zoo? -Before this time, the main objective of zoos was to display the animals in a fashionable manner and make a pleasurable viewing experience for the audience. Animals were kept in small cages and were treated like collectables. But Hornaday, Blair, and Osborn set out to change that. Their mission was conservation and education. They were pioneers in present day displays and habitats for animals. They believed that the experience of viewing an animal should feel like stumbling upon them in their natural habitat. Large spaces were created for the animals, with vegetation and cohabitation with other animals from their natural habitat. The downside to the African Plains exhibit lended itself to the fact that it was more of a panoramic setup, rather than an immersive experience. This meant that people were mostly just entertained by it, rather than learning much about conservation. The Bronx Zoo gives the animals plenty of space. Their main focus is conservation and education, which justifies having the animals there in the first place. 2a- What does Hancocks argue were the major innovations which they introduced at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo? How was their approach to design, lansdscape, and animal grouping different from what came before and why did they feel it was the superior? It is multi-component, so try to identify all the parts. -The Woodland Park Zoo created exhibits that brought the viewer into the natural habitat. They were sure to hide the barriers between the people and animals, so the people didn’t feel separated. They also considered every part of the animals’ natural habitat, and replicated everything perfectly. The habitats were then organized according to climate regions. 2b- There is a discussion about similar issues at the Sororan Desert Museum concerning proghorn deer and mice. What seems to be the radical departure that zoos committed to the “landscape immersion approach” are taking to the question of conservation, size/configration/materiality of exhibits, and the goals for animal experience as well as human experience at zoos? -They made sure there was a flow to the configuration of the exhibits, with paths leading the viewer on small paths that made them feel like they had found it on their own, and they are really in the exhibit. The animal spaces are large enough that there is no guarantee of the viewer seeing the animal. This is significantly different from any zoo before, because before that zoo’s main objectives were to entertain people. This became strictly about education and reality, and the happiness of the animal always comes first. 3- What do you make of Wilson’s evolutionary argument for the habitat features and landscpaes that humans prefer? It is part of his more general argument about “biophilia” arguing it is n’t just landscape, but all the animasl within them that wwe also have a deep draw to. What implications would it have not for zoo design (a la Hancocks) but also for the reasons behind or obvious desire to see animals (a la menageries and zoos, a la Berger?) -This argument basically says that the animal’s well being and happiness is the most important part of the best kind of zoo. Seeing an animal goes beyond just seeing it on diplay in a cage, people want to see it live and move and do what it usually does in the wild. Human desires to experience animals comes from wanting to see something completely different from us.