Event Name: Zoo Excursion
Event Time and Place: May 5th National Zoo Washington DC
The first building that I went into was the Small Mammal House. The information that was listed for each animal were the Species of the animals, as well as where the animals natural habitat was.They also detailed their diets and notable features, such as specific appendages unique to that animal. The 4 species that I witnessed on display there were the Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine, Golden Lion Tamarin, Meerkat, and Naked Mole-Rat. There were no other types of displays for that exhibit to my knowledge. I think the education level that this was aimed at was for young teens and children. Non-SGCer’s were paying attention to the informative displays. second building that I went into was the Amazonia building. Similar information to the small animal house was listed for each animal.The 4 species that I saw in that exhibit were the Aquatic caecilian, the Arapaima, Electric Eel, Freshwater Stingray. There was a top view of the Arapaimas that allowed you to see them directly and not through the glass. I think this exhibit was also aimed at young teens and children. Less people were paying attention to these informational plaques than at the other exhibit. One way that the Zoo aids with public understanding of Animals is by including practical examples of how the animals naturally behave. One example of this I noticed was next to the Cheetah exhibit there was an activity where you go through it pretending to be a cheetah stalking prey for a speedy ambush. There was also a similar activity outside the elephant exhibit where there was a tunnel system set meant to imitate Meerkats crawling around their caves. An example or environmental augmentation for the comfortability of the animals was the rocks and cover for the Cheetah in its exhibit that allowed for it to simulate hiding a lot better. Another example of this were the artificial tree roots in the tanks where the turtles were.