For Bjorn--"HOT GRASS"

The conundrum with exhibiting elephants is if you surround them in a very safe pipe barrier, the public perceives them as "being in jail."(I have never heard a horse stall refered to as a jail. Just some more of the misinformed ignorance.) If you remove the bars and use the "visually appealing" moat system, pioneered by Carl Hagenbeck you have the rare instance of escape(San Francisco's Tatiana with felines) or in the case of Annabelle, injury resulting in death. I recall a Gorilla falling into a water moat around the exhibit at the Bronx Zoo a number of years ago, in which the Gorilla drowned. Humans are actually ignorant enough to fall in, as occurred at the Jersey Zoo a number of years ago. The public also(strange as it seems) objects to hot fences or electric wire placed to keep the animals away from a moat. As zoo's are always having to balance animal health/safety with public misperceptions they are continually working on solutions to both. A product on the market which may be a solution is "Hot Grass". The effect of an electrical deterent with the visual appeal of not "being in a jail." I should think a 3 or 3 and a half foot "patch" of grass around the interior of the moat would keep animals away from the dangerous edge. It's greatest advantage is it will also attract the elusive Long Limbed Champagnehaired Nymphet, pictured below who like to graze on it after a fresh rain. It makes it easier to trap them, instead of going out bar hopping looking for them, leaving you more time to look after the animals in your care. LOL

Total Habitat Zoo Stuff