Response 3: So Incredibly Immersed

1- 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?

Hornaday pushed for modernized zoo exhibits in hopes for more habitat-like environments to better observe animals. These were to be without bars, as he called them “barless dens.” Blair meant to boost the scientific and educational aspects of the zoo in order to raise awareness for habitat conservation. The African plains exhibit boosted zoo attendance and popularity, but failed to place the viewers in the environment, thus making them more tourists than conservation supporters. Osborn continued this mission for conservation, doing scientific studies on natural resource depletion and working to establish preserves outside the zoo context. Hancocks praises the Bronx zoo because of its historical upbringing and its progressive strides toward drawing the natural world and the institution closer together to both inform one another.  

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 major innovations were Bioclimactic zones, which entails pairing animals with naturally ideal climate zones to which they are suited and are more likely to live more happily. Because of Seattle’s temperament, it made an ideal setting for this decision. The landscaping immersion of the animal’ habitat was considered superior because it more accurately replicated the animal’s natural environment and thus the animal would behave more closely to what it does in the wild. This technique of landscaping also continued out into the viewing area, giving a sense of “being in” the environment and ultimately a better, more nature sensuous experience.

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?

The discourse that took place was that of encouraging education and understanding of the animal over the voyeuristic spectacle. Though the mouse is small, it presents a more impactful role on the environment. So much so, that it is worth the experience of learning as the attraction, that the environment too is part of that experience knowing it is an outward ripple of interaction with the animal in question. So the Sororan Desert Museum radically thought up a large grassy enclosure, where no mice are to be seen, and no proghorn deer is put on display for commercial benefit.

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?)

Wilson’s argument about habitats and environments preferred by humans as a result of evolutionary process makes a lot of sense. On the subject of biophilia, I believe that at some base level, humans recognize themselves as part of a complex life cycle that includes animals as well as the environment in a sense of interdependency and coexistence. Zoos certainly have a problem with this sort of controlled interaction. By making zoo enclosures more like nature and less like a construct of nature, it would help to break down the depressing experience to see animals in a starkly restrictive environment and improve upon the livelihood of the animal.