Guinea pig enclosure at my local Zoo!

[Sugar&Ellie]

So I searched, guinea pigs Edmonton. Which is where I live here In Canada.

The link im about to post popped up and I didnt even know my local zoo had a guinea pig enclosure! But I'm not sure what to think of it, I'm not sure if it's humane or not.

If it weren't healthy it would have been shut down by now. Our APO's officers check the zoo twice a year for inhumane treatments and animal activists are all over the place!

This is crazy!

Picable - Photo Page: Guinea Pig Enclosure in Edmonton Valley Zoo

[LauraBean]

I don't think I've ever seen guinea pigs at a zoo either!
Its very cute and roomy! I don't see any reason it couldn't be used for outdoor playtime, but hopefully the piggies don't live there 24/7.
There are a few things I don't see that ought to be present: water bottles, hay, definately a secure top!

[blackarrow]

Take a look at the "cleanliness" of the water the pig is trying to drink.

There's a lot of room between "healthy" environment and "conditions so obviously bad it's actually illegal." It certainly isn't a safe conclusion to make that it's OK for them because officers who visit twice a year and likely know little or nothing about guinea pig care haven't actually shut it down.

[pigsmakemesmile]

I agree with the water issue, doesn't look to kosher...I hope that's not where they reside 24/7 either....The encloser doesn't look big enough to house them all safely and comfortably. I don't know what to really make of it as I've not seen something like this before.

[LauraBean]

Eeek! I didn't look very closely earlier.......that water is AWFUL! Also....whats to stop a smaller pig from falling in and drowning? Particularly baby pigs (if you'll look at the far right hand of the pic, it looks like a hole has been dug under the fence (possible a very persistant boar from the next pen?) )
I also now notice a "constant" feeder
These conditions are adequate to keep a pig alive(for a bit), but not happy and healthy.

[Bamysmum]

They had a couple of set ups like these where I grew up in Dorset, England. The one I remember was actually a bit nicer than the linked picture - it had a faux 'natural' set up with actual burrows and lots of places to get warm, sleep and hide for a large herd of guineas (I never saw any babies and from memory it was a single sex colony). In Dorset England about 15 years ago guinea pigs were promoted by breeders and pet shops as needing lots of space to run around in were often kept in large outdoor enclosures. The climate is mild so people tended to keep their pigs outside in spring/summer/autumn and inside in the winter in an indoor enclosure (indoor cages were uncommon when I was growing up). Not sure what's done nowadays. I remember being 14 and meeting someone who kept their pigs in a small indoor cage and I thought it was really weird.

[Sugar&Ellie]

I dont think they're living there 24/7 considering there's only 4 months out of the year that it's warm.

Plus, it was a picture taken from a visitor so the people that work there probably clean the exibit every few hours so we dont know when the picture was taken.
This is just the guinea pigs' outdoor area, we dont know what they sleep and eat in. This is not the full exibit, it is only a smaller area where most of the piggies were at that moment.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions by this picture alone.

[Ash-Ro060708]

Oh my gosh! The orange and black guinea pig on the left hand side of this photo(link below) looks just like my Baby Boo! And yes the water does a bit dirty. It would be neat to go there and see for myself when ever I make it to Edmonton.
Picable - Photo Page: Guinea Pigs
My Baby Boo in in the mid right of this photo
Floor time-All 3 boys - Guinea Pig Cage Photos

[Sugar&Ellie]

Wow, they do look alike. Looks like he's in some photo shoots!

[catzeye21138]

Eeek! I didn't look very closely earlier.......that water is AWFUL! Also....whats to stop a smaller pig from falling in and drowning? Particularly baby pigs (if you'll look at the far right hand of the pic, it looks like a hole has been dug under the fence (possible a very persistant boar from the next pen?) )
I also now notice a "constant" feeder
These conditions are adequate to keep a pig alive(for a bit), but not happy and healthy.

Usually when guinea pigs are kept in herds like this at zoos, they have all females and no males on display. If you look closely at the fencing, it appears to have meshing on it as well. You see two other guinea pigs walking along it, not under it. Like rats, guinea pigs like to walk near walls. At least mine do!

What I'm wondering is what is inside that little house in the middle of the display. There's definitly something in there!

[Sugar&Ellie]

Usually when guinea pigs are kept in herds like this at zoos, they have all females and no males on display. If you look closely at the fencing, it appears to have meshing on it as well. You see two other guinea pigs walking along it, not under it. Like rats, guinea pigs like to walk near walls. At least mine do!

What I'm wondering is what is inside that little house in the middle of the display. There's definitly something in there!

I think the only thing in there is ALOT of fresh hay!

[1frankie7]

If you look at the photo of the pigs up close, the poor thing look at his nails! they look an inch long!

[mitzi]

Hi , I've been to this zoo. The guinea pig inclosure is ok. They seem to have alot of room. They are not pets, they are raised by the zoo to feed other animals. I know because I asked. So they are only kept through the summer months and I am sure they keep a few for breeding later.

[mitzi]

The guinea pigs had alot of rock shelters not shown in the picture and alot of hay. They were also popcorning alot when I last saw them.

[Sugar&Ellie]

I should probably check it out, since I live 10 minutes away! Its a shame that they feed them to other animals, but, it's the food chain!

And about the nails! I posted on that picture saying it was a disgusting display of ownership.

At the Dog Daycare in my work, this person dropped their dog off that's nails were so long the pads on his feet were being pushed up off the ground. Like she was wearing high heels. We cut around an inch and a half off without charging them for it and the dog still had about half an inch of nail left that was the quick (pink on the nails) that we couldn't cut off.

[IluvePiggies]

Our local Zoo has Guinea Pigs too. Maybe 3-4 at the most.
http://z.about.com/d/stlouis/1/0/6/4...uineapigs2.JPG
They keep them in a tall, box shaped wooden cage. It doesn't have wire. Its all painted wood. Completely safe for the Guinea Pigs. Have water bottles and a Zookeeper is always there if a little kid wants to pet it. They put the Guinea Pig(s) on that ledge and let the kids pet it. You can also "Adopt" Guinea Pigs from there. Well, techincally you pay for its healthcare, food etc.

[ppqppq]

The guinea pigs at the Edmonton Zoo live in that outdoor pen 24/7 through the summer fall and spring. There is no protection from overhead predators and they are regularly picked off by hawks according to the zookeeper ho taught the children from our school for a week. The sows and boars are kept together to make more babies because they are used for food for the zoos other animals. The bales of hay in the pictures are actually straw and are used to hold up artificial rocks that serve as shelter from wind, rain and early snow. Veggies and fruits are fed twice a day but not the kinds or amounts from this site. Pellets are free fed constantly and the water is cleaned every day. Visitors can reach over the fence and zookeepers state that they are aware that some of their guinea pigs are stolen by members of the public. Leaves from the overhanging trees fall into the pen in the autumn.

[Kipsie]

Our local fair is going on now and had a breed show, racing contest, dress-up contest, and other stuff for guinea-pigs. I missed the dress-up one, and next year, i'll be 19 and too old to enter. I really wanted a blue ribbon or whatever for my pigs.

From what PP says, this zoo in Canada just raises them for food, so they don't care much about caring for them. The people who steal the guineas to save them aren't totally wrong, but if they're stealing to abuse/breed them or feed to their own pets, then ugh.

PS Do you all think piggy racing is humane? I've been wondering about that...

[Cogni]

I hate that idea, that the poor piggies are being raised for food for predator animals. I wonder if they feed them alive or if they freeze them. I wonder if they tell the children viewing them that the piggies will soon be fed to other animals.

[ppqppq]

They humanely kill them first. And, no, they do not tell small children, but I am an adult and I asked. I ask a lot of questions.