Volume 3, No. 10. May 23, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a tiger exhibit!
The Bronx Zoo in New York City, New York, announces the arrival of Tiger Mountain,
May 15, 2003. Measurements: 3 acres (1.2 hectares), two exhibit areas, 10,000
gallon (38,000-liter) forest stream with fish, 4,000-square-foot (372 square
meters) night quarters with maternity area, three holding pens, six Siberian
tigers (capacity for eight), two interactive display areas, 600 feet (182 meters)
of public pathway. Delivered by Archipelago, Cetra/Ruddy Incorporated, Magian
Design and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
John Gwynne, chief creative officer and vice president for design with the Wildlife
Conservation Society, parent company of the Bronx Zoo, reckons a whole generation
of New York school children have never seen tigers in person. The zoo had Siberian
tigers, but they lived in the Wild Asia exhibit viewable only from a monorail
that operated from May to November. “We realized all the school children
who come in the winter time when the monorail was closed never got to see the
tigers,” Gwynne said.
Now they can see the tigers, in a big way. Big because now the Siberians can
be viewed up close through glass. “The tiger is an inch away from the glass
looking at you. It’s a wonderful thing,” Gwynne said. The two sisters
from the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, in particular, are curious cats and like to
eye visitors at close range. “The Bronx-born cats are used to people on
a train going by,” Gwynne said. “It will take them a little while
to warm up.” Two Indochinese tigers have moved into the vacated Wild Asia
exhibit.
School children with faces painted to look like tigers presided over the official
opening of the $8.5 million exhibit. Its landscape replicates the northern spruce
and oak forest of the Siberians’ habitat, which conveniently resembles
that of New York state. Visitors enter two rustic, tarp-covered pavilions built
of recycled wood to view the tigers. The stream flows into a four-foot (one-meter)
pool right up against the glass, a pool housing minnows and carp. “We’ll
see what the tigers do with (the fish),” Gwynne said. “I feel it will
be a lucky day when the tigers catch up with them.” The tigers already
are experimenting with the pool despite chilly weather, lounging in the shallow
area and playing with the waterfalls.
Speaking of play, the Bronx Zoo has launched a new program with Tiger Mountain
allowing guests to watch the keepers engage the cats in enrichment programs.
One panel of the pavilion pulls down like a Murphy bed to become a stage and
reveals a stainless steel mesh through which the keepers can give the tigers
treats. The sessions are scheduled every two hours, and in any given session
the tigers may play with big balls and tires, react to perfumes, look for hidden
treats, or engage in a tug-of-war with the audience or a 300-pound garage door
spring hooked to a ball. “Every day is different,” Gwynne said. “Since
they’re cats they will do one thing one day and another day want to do
another thing. They aren’t trained, so they can do what they want.”
If the tigers don’t want to do a behavior the keeper wants to show the
audience, the keeper can refer to a video monitor above the stage and, by clicking
a remote, immediately select footage of the tigers engaging in that particular
behavior a previous day.
Upon exiting the tiger viewing pavilions, guests walk through what Gwynne calls
a “conservation garden maze” of birch, spruce and holly which leads
to a choice of interactive displays. To one side is the researcher’s tent
with film clips (see additional story in this issue of THE LOOP) and a camera
trap that photographs the guests walking past and comparing the image to those
captured of tigers, poachers and other animals in the wild. To the other side
is the “axles of evil,” a replication of a poacher’s truck with
boxes containing bones, pelts and body parts, touch-screen monitors with lessons
about tigers’ endangerment and an interactive strategies game.
At the exit, guests can contribute pocket change for tiger conservation. Coins
deposited in a vortex cause a low, rumbling roar; bills place in the box results
in a loud roar. “We’ve already had to increase the size of the dollar
bill box,” Gwynne said.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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