Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
developments in image technology mean that images can be digitally reproduced
and manipulated for use on video, CD-ROM and the internet. Striking likenesses
of animals can be produced on a vast scale in IMAX® cinemas, or perform in three
dimensions as animatronic models. New digital procedures for cataloguing and
reissuing video and celluloid material offer renewed glimpses of now changed
habitats and extinct animals. All of these forms of virtual animals transform the
ontological and epistemological status of animals in representation, as well as
presenting new opportunities for animal display. Initiatives for replacing living
animals with forms of electronic representation are now being developed in various
forms of the electronic zoo which are the focus of this chapter.
1
Traditional zoological institutions and parks are increasingly incorporating new
technologies of animal simulation and display to add interpretation, interest and
educational value to their established forms of animal exhibition (Veltre 1996).
Most recently, Animal Kingdom, a 500-acre theme park which opened in Florida in
1998, claims to fulfil the Disney mission with a tribute to the animals that have
formed an important part of its own history. Animal Kingdom, centred on a
signature icon of the Tree of Life, offers a mix of high-technology animatronics,
featuring dinosaurs and mythical creatures, alongside the display of animals in large
safari enclosures. Yet further centres for the display of animals are under way in
which the virtual is set almost completely to replace the real. As of this writing
(January 2000), Wildscreen-at-Bristol (see
Figure 12.1
) is planned as the world's
first purpose-built wildlife and environment media attraction. Funded as one of the
UK Landmark Millennium Projects, and opening in spring 2000, the new centre
promises to change our perspectives on the natural world with interactive exhibitions
of wildlife films, an IMAX® cinema and ARKive:
Wildscreen will showcase the wonder of our planet, helping visitors observe
and explore life in a way that has never been done before. Live exhibits will be
combined with state of the art technology to help visitors get the most from
their visit. A stunning botanical house and giant IMAX® cinema—the first in
the South West—will further bring the experience to life. Visitors will learn
about their own environmental impact, and in the news gallery discover the
latest developments in natural history from around the planet. Wildscreen
will also be the headquarters for ARKive—an exciting, globally accessible
library of wildlife and scientific films, photographs and sound recordings.
(Wildscreen-at-Bristol press pack 1999)
Taking inspiration from a growing body of work on the changing nature of
zoological display within different cultures of natural history (e.g. Jardine
et al.
1996), this chapter explores the motivations for and implications of these sites for
the geographies of animal capture and display. A direct comparison reveals many
similarities between the spatial practices constitutive of and constituted by
traditional zoos and the new spaces of the electronic zoo. Both forms of animal
exhibition involve social and spatial practices of collection, accumulating resources
