Gupta La20masterplanning

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24 landscape no. 20 | summer 2008

Dr. Brij Kishor Gupta | Adit Pal

ver the last few decades the

Zoo master plan has evolved

from a document organizing

the institution spatially, to one that

deals with issues of management,

maintenance, revenue generation,

education, and wildlife conservation.

This is in keeping with the increasingly

complex roles of zoos themselves,from institutions with taxonomic

displays of fauna to centers of

conservation. An important aspect of a

zoo master plan is that it is a

development guide for the future,

which is created to prevent ad-hoc

decisions being made by changing zoo

administrations, but at the same time

has the flexibility to accommodate

unforeseen conditions – new animal

acquisitions etc.

A master plan may be created for a

new zoological park on an

undeveloped site, or increasingly it is

created for an existing zoo, in order to

reorganize the institution along new

lines of thinking, and provide a

development road-map for the future.

In a manner similar to other

architectural or landscape planning

projects, the zoo master plan process

involves multiple steps:

Master Plan Process

Inventory

This includes background informationon natural factors (climate, geology,

hydrology, soils, and existing

vegetation), infrastructure (utilities,

structures), cultural systems (historic

and surrounding uses, cultural values)

as well as historical case studies and

current trends of similar institutions. In

the case of an existing zoo, this would

include a comprehensive analysis of

the existing animal collection, and

quality/condition of exhibits.

Analysis

The spatial opportunities and

constraints analysis is no different from

that for a non-zoo project, with the

exception that the opportunities seen

are different due to the nature of the

program. For instance a steep

escarpment which might be evaluated

as a conservation area in a normal site

analysis could instead be seen as a

backdrop for a particular kind of

exhibit, with the cliff forming a natural

barrier. Similarly depressions in the

land which might be seen as having

potential for groundwater re-charge

might become in addition, wetlandexhibits.

Surveys

This is an often overlooked component

of a master plan, usually because

designers are reluctant to take the time

and effort to engage with the

community. Surveys allow for a

compiling of emotions, memories,

attitudes and information that visitors

retain from their visit to a zoo, and are

important in terms of not only providingan engaging experience but crucial to

the development of an interpretive /

educational program. This is

particularly important for existing zoos

seeking to redevelop. Surveys

internationally have shown that the

largest number of repeat visitors to a

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landscape no. 20 | summer 2008 25

zoo are local and from the surrounding

region – not tourists, and this is likely

the case for India as well.

Development Programme

Aided by workshops/meetings with the

zoo staff and other wildlife specialists,

the master plan programme addresses

exhibit planning in terms of facility

requirements, animal health and

welfare, as well as non-tangibleaspects such as of the “vision” and

mission statement. A zoo is a far more

complex institution than a library or

museum, since it deals with living

things, and the curatorial and

maintenance staff inputs are critical to

the success of a master plan.

Concept Master Plan

Alternative concepts to the

organization or re-organization of the

zoo, based on the site analysis,

development program, and mission

statement, are created and evaluated

by a core master plan group which

includes the zoo director, curators, and

wildlife specialists. The alternatives at

this stage embody in common the

basic organizational thrust – which ahundred years ago would have been

taxonomic-based (mammals, reptiles,

birds etc) but has since evolved to

ecological/biome-based (tropical

forest, grasslands, riverine etc.)

Draft Master Plan

The selected concept alternative is

further refined with existing site data,

and staff and visitor-inputs, and is

synthesized into an illustrative plan

which organizes the components –

exhibits, buffers, maintenance areas,

visitor areas, circulation, etc in detail.

Master plan level budgets and financial

phasing are usually included at this

stage, since the development of redevelopment of a zoo is an

expensive process by any standards.

FACING PAGE: Hornbill provided with wooden logs

to make nest

ABOVE: Naturalistic enclosures of sambhar at Indira

Gandhi Zoo, Vishakhapatnam





Final Master Plan

The draft master plan is reviewed

internally as well as externally by any

agencies that have jurisdiction – in

India this would be the Central Zoo

Authority. And in a manner similar to

any other master plan process,changes are incorporated and a final

master plan report is created and

published.

Master Plan Components

One of the first tasks in the master plan

process is to define what the master

plan actually is, which may also be

referred to as a strategic plan,

feasibility study or development plan.

As noted earlier, a zoological park is acomplex institution in terms of

functions, and where most designers

run aground is an inability to move

beyond the spatial organization of a

master plan. Activities related to the

master plan process include strategic

planning, development of financial

resources and operational strategies

and business planning, which analyses

human resources and operational

opportunities. The term

‘comprehensive planning’ is

sometimes used to describe a fully

integrated planning process that

combines physical, financial and

operations planning. Collection

planning guides the management of

living collections of animals and plants.

Zoos may also have a Master

Educational Plan or a Conservation

Master Plan, Animal Collection and

Management Plan. A comprehensive

master plan would typically include:

Staffing and operational guidelines

Education and research

programmes

Marketing and public relations

Animal collections and facilities to

house and support them

Fund-raising and development

Financial planning

Assembling a comprehensive master

plan is an expensive and time-

consuming process, and may zoos

address one or two components at a

time. A phased approach still has its

benefits in improved management, and

the already existing components canalways be folded in to the main master

plan process at a later date.

Master Plan Aspects

Legislation

All zoos in India are covered under the

Zoo Act of 1991. Planners, architects

and landscape architects who engage

in zoo design in India should have

responsibility to ensure the zoo client

understands both what they are doing,and why, and to understand whether

the objectives laid under National Zoo

Policy, 1998 and guidelines laid under

Recognition of Zoo Rules, 1992 are

being met. In addition the Central Zoo

Authority has published books to aid

zoo planners – these are listed at the

end of the article.

Circulation and Accessibility

Getting people and staff around a zoo

is more difficult than it sounds. Older

zoos generally have a non-hierarchical

circulation plan, in which an open

network of roads crosses the zoo and

most if not all Indian zoos are planned

this way. While this may allow for

reasonably efficient maintenance, it

creates a non-directional and often

confusing visitor experience, and of

course conflicts between maintenance

movement and public movement. A

contemporary new zoo, if planned

correctly, is more like a hotel in terms

of circulation, in that service

movement is almost totally separated

from visitor movement, so that the

latter’s experience of the zoo is not

hindered. Few visitors to state-of-the-

art amusement parks such as Disney

World realize that below and behind all





the attractions are a maze of service

tunnels and facilities which keep the

entire operation running smoothly and

out of sight. At a minimum, even if

circulation paths are shared between

visitors and service personnel, the

service areas themselves arecompletely hidden or screened off

from visitor view.

A zoo is a public institution and needs

to allow all types of users to move

around and view exhibits with an equal

amount of ease. At the master plan

level this means ensuring that no

movement path has a gradient of more

than five percent, and otherwise

providing ramps for wheelchair

access. Stairways may be provided asshortcuts as long as alternative ramped

paths are also provided. Every viewing

spot into an exhibit need not be

accessible by wheelchair, but the main

viewing areas certainly do need to be –

this becomes a planning challenge on

sites with a lot of topographical

variation. Viewing sightlines into

exhibits and over barriers need to take

into account people sitting in

wheelchairs as well as small children

who cannot see over barriers.Interpretive exhibits and graphics

should ideally also be designed for the

blind and the visually-impaired. In

general any zoo master plan should

strive for universal accessibility.

Animal Collections and Facilities

Animal collections are of course the

core component of any zoo master

plan and in the case of a new zoo the

planner has a real opportunity to

engage with the zoo client indetermining the philosophical direction

of the zoo in terms of exhibit types.

More commonly, the planner is brought

in to prepare master plan for an

existing zoo and thus existing animal

collections have to be dealt with.

Historically animal collections at most

FACING PAGE

Signage at Bhubaneshwar Zoo

THIS PAGE ABOVE

Layout plan of Woodland Park Zoo. Zoo architects: Jones & Jones





zoos are a hodge-podge of exotic and

local animals, and generally speakingzoo directors and curators hate to give

up or lessen the number of animals

they have on display, since numbers

are often associated with boasting

rights. Convincing a zoo client that a

smaller number of animals in higher

quality exhibits is an exercise that most

international zoo planners have to go

through on a regular basis. However,

through a series of participatory

workshops, it is usually possible to shift

the direction of the existing animalcollection, by suggesting species to be

exchanged with other zoos. Zoo bred

animals cannot be returned to the wild

by law, unless they are part of a

carefully managed reintroduction

program in which the genetic diversity

of the reintroduced animals is not

suspect.

A broad understanding of exhibit

design types and barrier types is

crucial to the master plan since theseoccupy different amounts of space. For

example the leopard or any other

small/medium cat, which has climbing

capabilities, can be exhibited inside a

steel caged enclosure (older zoos and

most zoos have this) or a stainless steel

net enclosure (state-of-the-art zoos

generally use this). Caged enclosures,

unless built large and expensively,have the obvious drawback of being

far too small for the animals

movement requirements. Netted

enclosures are somewhat better since

the net can structurally drape across

trees and natural/artifical rock

formations in a less visible way, which

makes for better viewing and

interpretation but doesn’t necessarily

provide more space. A third option is

an open-moated exhibit in which the

moats are very wide (6 m or more) andvery deep – this last option would

occupy a significant amount of more

master plan space.

Animal Behaviour and Health

As noted earlier, zoo design is

complex since it involves an

understanding of animal behavior and

health. Animal behaviour inputs in the

wild can be provided by wildlife

experts and biologists, or if time and

money permits, by observing first-handthe activities (sleeping, feeding,

hunting, playing) of the animal in the

wild itself. Though behavioural

enrichment techniques that allow

animals to mimic their activity patterns

in the wild, are normally explored

during detailed exhibit design, a master

plan may point towards these by the

incorporation of environments thatafford such behaviour in the first place

– for instance a forest of llanas

(creepers) for monkeys to swing from,

or a series of cascading pools for otters

to swim in.

Mixing in vegetation with animal

exhibits, though desirable from an

environmental point of view, is always

a difficult exercise since in an

enclosed space, the wear and tear on

plants and trees is usually excessive tothe point where the plants are gone

within days and the trees have their

bark scraped off. For a master plan

then, existing vegetation has to be

evaluated carefully and either kept

outside an exhibit, or protected within

an exhibit, or only if it can be shown

that the species in question does not

impact vegetation, left inside the

exhibit unprotected. Toxicity to animals

is of course a major concern, and any

toxic plants/trees need to be identifiedearly on and kept outside exhibits.

Zoo animals, as are our pets, are

closely associated with their keepers

and the veterinary staff, and the inputs

of these staff members are crucial to a

master plan. Though it is rare for a





master plan exhibit to be designed

around a specific animal, certain ‘high-

value’ animals such as elephants,

koalas, pandas, and gorillas have

warranted this in the past.

Staffing and Operational Guidelines

Master plans at one level set goals to

be achieved, but the attainment of

those depends on how practical the

master plan is at a level of

implementation, staffing and operation.

Zoo staff expertise can assist in

reducing implicit master plan costs by

helping resolve programmatic or

functional issues and elements clearly.

As noted earlier, staff is an invaluable

resource that know the institution better

than anyone else and by drawing upon

their knowledge the zoo designer is

able to articulate the plan to greater

effect.

A comprehensive master plan

evaluates the staffing requirements for

all aspects of the zoo. For exhibits, thekeepers must be able to service the

animals easily and efficiently and

administer proper husbandry

techniques to ensure the mental and

physical well being of the animals. If

the exhibits by virtue of their design

require less maintenance, then zoo

staff can concentrate on other issues

such as improving animal health, and

greater interaction with visitors.

A zoo planners inputs at first glance

appear to have nothing to do with

operational guidelines. But schedules

and methods of food delivery, storage,

and preparation, as well as garbage

collection/disposal/incineration,

recycling, staffing shifts, and zoo

security, all may impact the master

plan in direct and indirect ways. In

addition every zoo needs to have a

disaster preparedness plan which

includes animal escapes and this plan

includes procedures for personnel as

well as a physical plan which allows

different areas of the zoo to be isolated

if need be.

Visitor Facilities

The best zoos in the world also

generally have superb visitor facilities,

from visitor entry pavilions (ticketing,

information, restrooms, zoo shops etc),restaurants, snack bars, toilets,

children’s play areas, and shaded rest

areas. Often these facilities are

clustered in groups located

strategically across the master plan.

Sometimes these are themed around

exhibit zones, and take the form of

‘villages’ with vernacular architecture.

Programming visitor facilities into the

master plan requires discussions on

visitor numbers, walking distances and

servicing – and designing these takes

the usual skills that architects and

landscape architects already have.

FACING PAGE

LEFT: Layout signage of Manda Zoo, Jammu

RIGHT: Signage at Bhubaneshwar Zoo

THIS PAGE ABOVE

LEFT: Logo of Hyderabad Zoo

RIGHT: Graphics at Whipsnade, UK





Visitor Message

Understanding the psyche of the typical

visitor is important in terms of

communicating the larger message of

conservation and the more direct message of

protecting the zoo premises itself. There are

large cultural differences between Asian,European, North and South American

societies in their behaviour and understanding

of animals, as well as differences between

different parts of a society (north and south

India for example) and different age groups

(school children, teenagers, elderly) and

gender. But there is a general agreement that

all 21st century zoos need to have an implicit

conservation message which includes their

role in that conservation agenda.

Education and ResearchIn aiming to become centers of conservation,

noted at the start of this article, zoos may take

on different functions apart from exhibiting

animals, including wildlife rescue and

conservation breeding, field research, and

education. A master plan needs to identify

education and research issues along with the

physical plan right from the start. If the zoo

determines that the major educational theme

is to be conservation of local wildlife, the

facilities and programmes would be very

different than if it were to concentrate on

conservation of endangered species from

around the world. The resultant animal

collections and facilities would be dissimilar

and to some extent the staffing requirements

would be different as well.

Marketing and Public Relations

Public relations affect the overall impression

of a zoological park and its staff. It may

develop a plan to deal with tragic events,

such as the loss of a valued animal or one

that is liked by the public. There should be

guidelines to handle sensitive issues that are

both pleasant and unpleasant. Having these

strategies outlined prior to the events taking

place will make a smoother transition during

difficult times or when key decision-making

personnel are unavailable.

THIS PAGE

ABOVE: Hidden enclosure for chimpanzee at Nehru Zoo, Hyderabad

BELOW: Flamingo exhibit at Jersey Zoological Park, UK

FACING PAGE

ABOVE: Aviary at Bhubaneshwar Zoo

BELOW: Safari at Whipsnade Zoo, UK





Fund-raising and Financial Planning

A comprehensive master plan includes a

revenue generation analysis (in case of an

existing zoo) and proposed revenue streams

for the future development of the zoo. While

gate receipts and fees will help meet a zoo’s

running costs, large development projects – both facilities and programmes – need other

sources of capital generation. Over the past

couple of decades, several western zoos

have been successful in financially turning

themselves around with the help of such

master plans – Zoo Atlanta is a well known

example.

In most zoos in India the gate collection goes

directly to their treasury grants and the

resultant sources of income are limited – this

affects the way these institution can develop both physically and programmatically.

However, an institution may set up a

registered society as done by many zoos in

states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil

Nadu and many more, so that funds can

directly deposited in society’s account and

can be used as and when needed. Zoos may

also look for corporate sponsorship programs

for additional funding support. However, the

investment policies and advertising

requirements of the corporation need to be

evaluated to ensure that there are no conflictswith the goals and objectives of the zoo

master plan.

A significant amount of fund-raising in the

most financially successful zoos around the

world is event-based. This may involve

opening up special areas of the zoo on a

limited basis, usually in the off-hours when

the facility is not open to the public. A master

plan may accommodate for such special

events and provide the facilities and suggest

operational guidelines and staffing needs toaccommodate these.

Financial planning deals with the costs of

operation of the zoo and capital

improvements. While fund-raising looks at

sources of income, financial planning seeks

to effectively manage the zoo once the





income is in place. An example is the

construction of a new set of exhibits or

facility – if the project has to be phased

then the overall higher cost and lower

visitation during construction need to

be accounted for.

Post-occupancy Evaluation

A zoo is a relatively easy institution to

conduct post-occupancy evaluations in.

Staff can be questioned, animals

observed and visitors surveyed. In an

existing zoo, as noted at the start of this

article, the master plan process starts

with just such an evaluation of the

facility, so it is cyclical in a sense.

Since a master plan usually takes

years to implement, a post-project

evaluation needs to wait until enoughcomponents of the master plan are in

place to make a survey worthwhile.

Results of the survey and observation

point to mistakes as well as successes,

and are inputs for the next round of

master plan updates, which would

typically take place on a 10-year or 20-

year cycle.

The most effective way to ensure that

the planning process succeeds is to

develop a constituency within the zoo

organization which will advocate for

the plan’s implementation and the

realization of their shared vision and

dreams. This requires the designer to

accept that the master plan is not the

creation of a single individual or of a

group of talented designers, but a

collaboration of a team of specialists

and zoo personnel.

Dr. Brij Kishor Gupta is a Scientist working with Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. He has over fifteen

years of experience working with wildlife conservation, ex-situ breeding, zoo planing, design and management, and ha s contributed scientific papers to

various national and international journals. He is also a recipient of PETA’s 2007 Proggy Award for Animal Welfare Scientist.

He can be contacted at [email protected]

Resources

Though there are thousands of zoos

around the world, and hundreds of zoo

planners and designers, there is a

surprising dearth of published zoo

design guidelines and manuals - a

search on Amazon.com will tell youthat. Most available information is in

the form of articles in scattered

journals and magazines which makes

accessing the information time

consuming. Part of the reason for this

is that every zoo plan and every exhibit

design is seen as a one-off solution to a

unique set of site and programmatic

conditions.

Since zoo planning and design in India

is a generally rarified field, there arefew qualified professionals available to

engage in these endeavours. In

response to this the CZA has for over a

decade, run workshops for its zoo

directors, some of which were based

on aspects of zoo design. More

recently the CZA sponsored a training

programme for zoo directors and

managers on zoo master planning – the

proceedings are available from the

CZA on CD by request. For those

willing to become a paying member of

the American Association of Zoos and

Aquariums, there is a resource center

on its website for AZA members.

Finally, there is no substitute to visiting

zoos around India and around the

world, and learning through

observation and documentation.

All images courtesy Dr. Brij Kishor Gupta

References

1. A. K. Patnaik, S. K. Sinha, Brij Kishor Gupta.2007. Master Planning of Zoos. Published by theNadankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneshwar 320Pp,.

2. Brij Kishor Gupta. 2000. Principles and Stan-

dards for Barrier Design. Proceedings of the short-term training course organized by CZA and Schoolof Planning and Architecture, Pp. 15-23. Publishedby Central Zoo Authority and School of Planning and Architecture.

3. Brij Kishor Gupta, B.A. Daniel and SallyWalker. 2006. The need for scientific studies of

visitation trends in Indian Zoos. Zoo’s Print, Vol. XXI, No. 7, Pp. 21-24.

4. Brij Kishor Gupta. 2008. Environmental Enrich-

ment of Wild Animals in Captivity. Indian Zoo YearBook, Vol.. Vi, Pp.30-44, Published by the IndianZoo Director’s Association and Central Zoo Au-thority.

5. Brij Kishor Gupta. 2005. Creating Wildlife

Habitats. A+D Architectural Design – A Journalof Indian Architecture, Vol. XXII, No. 2, Pp 24-31.

6. Brij Kishor Gupta, 2006. Role of the Zoo in pre-

serving Biodiversity. Environ, Vo. IX, No. 3, Pp.12-19.

7. Cook, Jonathan, The Language of Planning, inThe Support Centers of America; Reprinted fromThe Non-Profit Times, November 1987 and March1988.

8. Coe, Jon, New and Sustainable Directions in

Zoo Exhibit Design , in Wild Mammals in Captiv-

ity, Kleiman, D., Editor; University of ChicagoPress.

9. Coe, Jon and Brij Kishor Gupta. 2007. Zoo Mas-

ter Planning Processes, Published in MasterPlanning of Zoos – Proceedings of Training Programme on Master Planning of Zoos for Direc-tors and Managers of Zoos in India held on 11-16th April, 2006 at Bhubaneshwar. Published bythe Central Zoo Authority. Pp. 299-308.

10. P. R. Sinha, Bipul Chkrabarty, Brij KishorGupta. 2004. Indian Zoos Complementing in situ

Conservation of Wild Animals. WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) News. No.2, Pp 7-8.

Adit Pal can be acontacted at [email protected]

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