Zoo pays feng shui expert to aid monkeys

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RobotGod

By RobotGod

Feb 13, 2007 in World

4 comments

By RobotGod.

The Los Angeles Zoo paid $4,500 to an expert in the ancient Chinese art of feng shui to ensure three endangered golden monkeys on loan from China can have a strong life force.

Consulting the feng shui expert was part of the cost for a $7.4 million enclosure for the golden monkeys debuting at the zoo later his year. Feng shui focuses on balance in design to promote health and happiness.
Feng shui is in demand among high-end architects and interior designers, but Beverly Hills-based feng shui expert Simona Mainini said the Los Angeles Zoo's effort may be a first in animal enclosure design.
"It's very experimental," Mainini said. "We don't have any books on feng shui for monkeys. We just have to assume that Darwin is correct and that there is a connection and what is good for humans is good for monkeys."
The exhibit for the male and two female golden monkeys is nearing completion and they are expected to arrive by the end of the year, once China approves the export permit.
Exhibit designers from the Seattle-based Portico Group said the enclosure was designed to re-create the feel of a rural Chinese village.

Whether Feng-shui works or not, the people at the zoo are believing in it, and that in itself will give them all the positive energy needed to insure that the golden monkeys thrive. It is an interesting idea for a zoo to do that. If other zoos follow, they should do astudy and see if it had any effect.

article:114136:5::0