The main point of the green zoo keeping concept is to make sure that these do not make any harm to the surrounding area and also that they are comfortable for both the inhabitants and the visitors. In some cases the “greenness†of the zoos would come from the fact that they need less physical space while in other cases the materials used would be eco-friendly.
While at the moment the whole idea seems to be a little futuristic, there are some projects in progress that would rebuild some of the existing zoos to offer them a new look and also to follow the green rules. One of these projects has been created by Hila Davidpu, Eli Gotman, Tal Gazit, and Hofi Harari.
It would be created in a small man-made island in Buenos Aires and it would look like a skyscraper. This vertical zoo will be beautiful, organic and functional at the same time. The proposal got the name of “Eco-cliffâ€, because it is meant to look like a natural cliff that would offer nesting for the migrating birds.
For some it might seem unnatural to house animals in such a structure, but the creators wish to keep animals that naturally would be living in such environments. Nonetheless at the moment it isn’t clear whether the zoo has been created to hold some other kinds of animals as well.
The animal enclosures made of steel would represent the inner core of the zoo, with a footpath winding around it. The nets and cables would offer support for the vegetation and would offer a more natural look.
Another example of green zoo keeping could be met outside St. Petersburg, Russia. The main idea would be to recreate Pangaea, the huge continent that later turned into the 7 continents known today.
The zoo of the city is showing signs of aging, and it is becoming too large for the city. There has been a large space found, where the animals would be more comfortable and where they would have a more natural setting. The visitors will find a mixture of artificial ad natural in the zoo, but the priority would be the needs of the animals. One question that still remains is regarding the sustainability of the project.
This new structure would be placed on an archipelago and each of the continents would be represented by an island, connected by walkways. In case of Northern America and Eurasia the zoo will be set up as a recreation of the Arctic ice.
The zoo is meant to represent a metaphor of history and it also shows the connection between man and nature. The designers tried to create a perfect world and to place it in the real one.
The main difference between the two cases presented is the space used. While the first one would like to use as little space as possible, the second one would spread across 1.15-square-miles, but it would offer more space to the city itself, to develop new homes and business spaces.
