rev:text
| - I should preface this by saying the following: I'm studying to become a primatologist and focus in animal welfare law.
With that said, I'm actually super impressed with the Henry Vilas Zoo as a free zoo. Since, like I said, my specialty is on primates, I can judge them the best comparatively to the other animals.
From what I could determine, the animals were in FABULOUS conditions despite being captive. The orangutans and chimpanzees both seemed very cheerful and cooperative with their "buddies." When a lemur (yup, lemurs are primates!) injured itself, they removed all the lemurs off-exhibit to continue socializing the injured one. Since primates are VERY social creatures, this earned a huge amount of respect from me.
However, there are some negative aspects of this: there are a lot of people on a given day--which isn't surprising. It's free, it's a zoo, and there's a lot of kids in Madison. The parents can be pushy, it can be claustrophobic. But it's extremely clean given the circumstances and the animals are in great condition.
If you're a parent, an animal-lover, or just bored--the Henry Vilas Zoo is a GREAT place to go to.
|