Post #387069 by bigbrotiki on Sun, Jun 15, 2008 2:53 AM

My current German TV movie project involves a female zoo keeper as the lead character, and for the first time in a while have I spent some time in Zoos again. We are shooting it in three different ones to become one in the movie.

Tiki restaurants not only have drawn on the museum concept of dioramas, as I explored in this post:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27616&forum=17

but also on the complete exotic environs created in green houses in Zoos and parks all over Europe and the world. Beginning with Don The Beachcomber in Hollywood...

...places like the Kahiki in Columbus and the Kon Tiki in Tuscon, to name just a few, had viewing windows onto tropical flora that sometimes was inhabited by exotic fauna like birds and lizards. This was easier to do in the warm climates of Florida and California, but even more effective as an escapist concept in other parts of the country that had harsher weather.

While some animal enclosures utilize realistically painted backdrops like the restaurant dioramas did:

..other Zoo interiors try to let the animals and the visitors traverse the same space. This is less effective when the animals are still caged up:

...but recently Zoos have made the effort to let tame animals roam freely with no glass or division separating the visitors:

(note the lizard checking out the ant eater)

...so that not only can one enjoy the incredible exotic flora:

...and and the dense, jungle like environments:

...but also a variety of animals in their habitat, as if being on a jungle expedition. The ceilings of these greenhouses are so high that one forgets that one is inside:

The Cologne Zoo greenhouse is my favorite because it has some incredible vistas:

..which are enriched by exotic birds, bats, lizards, and all kinds of critters roaming around:

Of course, what really tops it off is when you ad a piece of primitive art to the mix, like this Papua New Guinea pole peaking out of the jungle:

This really was a nicely done carving, here are some details:

And here we have an example of a human family, not in their native habitat: :)

Zoo ARCHITECTURE also embellished the exotic, here is the old entrance of my home town Hamburg's "Hagenbeck's Animal Park":

Carl Hagenbeck was 19th Century animal importer, and was the first to also exhibit the "Native people in their environment" shows I mention in my books. Because of that the entrance is not only adorned with animal sculptures, but with the likenesses of an African and of an American Indian Warrior. These statues had a profound effect on me as a little boy entering through these gates. I will always remember them as among the coolest, most exotic pieces of art in my youth.

The Cologne Zoo has some nice examples of Moorish/Indian architecture:

The entrance of the old Elephant house from 1864:

...the building had gotten too small, so the NEW Elephant house became a spacious temple of modern architecture:

A zoo keepers feed hut:

And, in closing, a wonderful statue from the 1930s:

I hope you all enjoyed this little visual vacation into another exotic world, and please support your local Zoo. Next: Lemur Love!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-06-15 06:16 ]