In Reply to: What's your view? posted by struth on Wednesday, 30. January 2008 at 16:48 Bali Time:
At first I thought it was fantastic, the enclosures are clean & very natural. Not until a couple of days later I got to thinking about it...I do have reservations about the level of knowledge the keepers have about so many exotic animals. I'm not sure who the whole place is run by, I'll have a look at the website though. I had a niggling thought that all the animals did seem to be right there in front of us as we passed in the truck & were not roaming around the enclosure, was there a reason for this? Maybe because of the heat they were just all hanging out in the shade & snoozing. The photos with the baby animals were wonderful - an experience not available in Australia, then I started thinking too hard again & wondered what will they do with them when they get too big for the "baby animal" photos? The lion cub can't just be thrown back in with the rest of the pride as they would kill her. Ditto the white tiger cub and the baby orangutans.
Dont get me wrong...I loved it, I can't wait to go back once the marine part is completed, and I would love to work there (I am an animal technician by trade and just giving my opinions).
I do know for a fact that the few snakes they had were housed next to flying foxes (fruit bats). Bats are a favourite food for snakes so must be quite frustrating for them to have dinner flying around in the next cage! Also the albino boa constrictor had a condition called "star gazing", one of my own pet snakes had this once & it's fatal if not treated properly, hope it gets the veterinary care it needs.
Sorry for gasbagging...
Please email me if you would like a private discussion about my feelings.