This dissertation explores the relationship between man, animal and architecture within the theoretical discourse of the liminal. This exploration comes to pass within the context of humanity’s on-going captivation with animals and the manifestation of this in typological architecture as Zoological Gardens. The National Zoological Gardens of Pretoria situated in within the Central Business District forms the proposed context of this dissertation. Potential manners in which the relationship between man and animal manifest as spatial construct or architecture are investigated, within the context of the Zoological Gardens. The strict boundary conditions that exist within this context are consequently criticised. The existing concrete palisade fence epitomises these strict boundaries; between man and animal, city and Zoological garden and observer and observed. The intervention considers the liminal space which is created due to these boundaries, and the possibilities of this liminal space, or third space, as a habitable threshold. The threshold is programmed as an urban intervention that addresses the boundary condition by facilitating public open space, public amenities, Zoo interface and a Gratis Observatory Route. The dissertation challenges conventional architectural typologies and proposes an intervention, a “third nature” that occupies this liminal space. The new condition attempts to blur the rigid boundaries between the existing conditions of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the Zoo. The intervention takes on the program of functioning as a public dwelling for man, in the form of public open space, while simultaneously offering an urban habitat for animals. The proposed intervention manifests as a typological architecture that creates thresholds over which to renegotiate the relation between man and his understanding of “Nature”. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

An increased understanding of species-specific behavioral needs has lead zoos to focus on providing more naturalistic and stimulating environments. Scientific assessments of how changes in habitat affect animal behavior are necessary in improving overall animal welfare. This study examined the move of three orangutans housed at the Oregon Zoo into a new and innovative exhibit. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE), which offers systematic information regarding the success or failure of the built environment (Maple & Finlay, 1987), was utilized to effectively evaluate the results of the move. The collection of behavioral data and adrenal activity monitoring through collection of non-invasive saliva, urine and hair provided a comprehensive methodology for comparing changes in behavior and physiological functioning. Behavioral results showed that following the move to the new enclosure animals spent less time inactive, more time at higher elevations and utilized exhibit structures at a greater frequency. Hormonal results suggest that detection of cortisol in orangutan hair could be a useful tool for monitoring chronic stress.

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An increase in outbreaks caused by zoonotic agents has brought about intensified efforts to address the transmission of infectious organisms in animal settings. In October 2002, the CDC released recommendations for the use of waterless hand sanitizer (WHS) in human healthcare settings. The question arises whether WHS may be as effective in veterinary and animal agricultural settings given some of the dissimilarities in conditions. To address this question, three studies were conducted. The first was a retrospective analysis of a Samonella agona outbreak which occurred in 2001 at the Large Animal Teaching Hospital of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM). The second evaluated the pattern of use and efficacy of hand hygiene products in the VMRCVM Large Animal Hospital. The third study assessed the efficacy of WHS among visitors to a children's petting zoo at the 2002 Virginia State Fair. Regarding the Salmonella outbreak, it is thought that a calf from the university owned dairy herd was the index case. A total of 16 equine patients acquired S. agona while hospitalized. The nosocomial disease incidence risk for in-house patients was estimated to be 33% (16/49). The LAH was closed for 7 months for cleaning, disinfection and renovation. The total cost of the outbreak was estimated to be at least $755,000. Waterless hand sanitizer proved useful in the veterinary hospital setting. When measured immediately after use, WHS reduced bacterial loads on the hands of 20 LAH personnel (P < 0.001). Before WHS use, HBC ranged from less than to 20 to 48,800 CFU/ml with a geometric mean of 6,926 CFU/ml. Counts after WHS use ranged from less than 20 to 23,400 with a geometric mean of 1,152 CFU/ml. Differences in before and after ranged from -4,000 to 48,200 CFU/ml with a median of 9,700 CFU/ml. The logarithmic reduction in bacterial load before and after WHS use was 0.78 (79.7%). In the petting zoo study, bacterial counts on the fingers of the children sampled before use of WHS ranged from 40 to 75,200 CFU/ml with a geometric mean of 8,653 CFU/ml. After WHS use, bacterial growth ranged from 19 to 58,400 CFU/ml with a geometric mean of 1,727 CFU/ml. Differences in before and after ranged from -35,600 to 59,400 CFU/ml with a median of 8,190 CFU/ml. The logarithmic reduction in bacterial load before and after WHS use was 0.70 (82.2%; P< 0.001). These data suggest that WHS may be of benefit in veterinary medicine and animal agriculture as a means to reduce nosocomial and zoonotic infections. / Master of Science

Establishing baseline activity budgets for zoo-housed captive animals can be important in tracking behavior changes that may indicate medical or other concerns, as well as assessing overall welfare and the need for implementation of interventions such as increased amounts of enrichment. This study sought to calculate activity budgets for the current spider monkeys residing at the Central Florida Zoo, a father-daughter pair of Ateles geoffroyi. Having a baseline activity budget is also valuable because major changes in behavior may accompany the upcoming introduction of new individuals to this particular group of spider monkeys. BORIS behavior coding software was used to log behavior continuously over 58.3 hours of observation. The individuals in this zoo setting spent significantly more time stationary (resting or still and awake) and less time engaged in feeding behavior than wild spider monkeys. However, they spent as much or more of their time moving than Ateles species in natural settings. Temperature and exhibit renovation had minimal to no observed effects on activity budgets. Human presence usually has the effect of increasing activity and vigilance of animals while decreasing resting time, but on busier days at the zoo, one subject (a pet-reared male spider monkey) spent more time resting and less time moving than when there were fewer zoo visitors. No aggression was observed, but affiliative social behavior like allogrooming and embracing was observed infrequently. The study animals appeared to lack the bimodal pattern of activity (with activity peaking early and late in the day) common in wild spider monkeys, a finding that is consistent with activity budgets of other spider monkeys that are frequently exposed to humans. Time of day affected activity budgets to a small degree; the monkeys became more active later in the day and spent more time resting in the morning.

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The long-neck Kayans have long been subjected to scrutiny by both Thai and foreign writers. This study traces the historical existence of the Kayans in Burma and their status as refugees within Thailand. Since the arrival of the first group of Kayans in late 1984, this tribe have been of interest to the provincial government of Mae Hong Son, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, NGOs and tourism developers. All of these groups, in one way or another, claim to be protecting the interest of the Kayans. This thesis investigates the validity of claims that Kayan interests are being protected. It further questions the government’s move to centralise the Kayans into one settlement at Huay Pu Kaeng. I argue that the Kayan race is the most marginal beneficiary of the Kayan ethnic tourism and illustrate how their vulnerability has been exploited both by government agencies and tourism developers.

Zoologische Gärten (Zoos) haben den Auftrag, zur Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) beizutragen. Allerdings ist umstritten, welche Wirkung die angebotenen Bildungsmaßnahmen bei Zoobesuchern erzielen. In Anlehnung an Vorgehensweisen aus dem Bereich der persuasiven Werbekommunikation ist das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie die weiterführende Beschreibung der Zielgruppe Zoobesucher anhand kommunikationsrelevanter psychologischer Merkmale ebenso wie die empirische Überprüfung der Wirkung gedruckter Nachhaltigkeitsbotschaften auf Zoobesucher. Dafür wurden 310 Besuchern des Zoologischen Garten Magdeburgs Nachhaltigkeitsbotschaften mit emotional positiv bzw. negativ gefärbten Inhalten, regionalen bzw. überregionalen thematischen Inhalten oder informativen bzw. lösungsorientierten Inhalten an einem Eye-Tracker präsentiert. Dabei wurden das Blickverhalten und die nachhaltige Verhaltensabsichten der Probanden registriert. Demografische und psychologische Merkmale sowie das Erinnerungsvermögen der Probanden an vorab betrachtete Inhalte wurden per Fragebogen erhoben. Im Ergebnis zeigten sich die Probanden als überwiegend erholungs- und freizeitmotiviert und als gegenüber Nachhaltigkeitsthemen gering involviert. Das Blickverhalten der Probanden war unabhängig von der emotionalen Färbung der Nachhaltigkeitsbotschaften. Auch die nachhaltigen Verhaltensabsichten standen nicht in Zusammenhang mit der emotionalen Färbung bzw. dem thematischen Inhalt der Botschaften. Im Vergleich zu lösungsorientierten Inhalten zeigten sich Probanden stärker an informativen Inhalten interessiert und betrachteten diese intensiver. Gleichwohl war ihre Erinnerungsleistung an lösungsorientierte Inhalte besser. Die Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund der interdisziplinären theoretischen Grundlagen diskutiert und münden in fünf anwendungsorientierten Vorschlägen zur Optimierung gedruckter Nachhaltigkeitsbotschaften in Zoos. / Zoological Gardens (zoos) are mandated to take active part in public conservation education. The true impact of those education efforts on zoo visitors, however, remains subject to discussion. Employing theories from the field of persuasive marketing communication the study aims at broadening the understanding of the target group’s characteristics relevant for successful communication and at empirically investigating the impact of printed conservation messages on zoo visitors. 310 visitors of Zoo Magdeburg were shown presentations containing either emotionally positive or negative content, regionally or globally related content or informative or solution-oriented content. During viewing the participants’ visual attention was recorded using eye tracking. At the end of the presentation participants were requested to indicate their intentions for sustainable behaviour by mouse-click. Their demographic and psychological characteristics as well as their recall ability for viewed content were investigated with a questionnaire. Findings suggest that zoo visitors regard zoos as locations for recreation rather than for education and that they should be considered a low involvement target group with regards to topics concerning sustainability. The visual attention of participants was independent of the contents’ emotional bias. Similarly, intentions for behaving in a sustainable way were neither influenced by the emotional bias nor by the topic portrayed. Participants indicated higher interest for informative content than for solution-oriented content and also looked at informative content more intensively. Nevertheless, the recall test revealed better memorization of solution-oriented content. The findings are discussed with regards to the interdisciplinary theoretical background. As a conclusion five suggestions are made on how to optimize the impact of printed conservation messages in zoos.