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Helsinki Zoo Mammoth Dig

Just completed is a children’s mammoth excavation in Helsinki Zoo, Finland. The 10 meter long skeleton is buried in sand and is designed to be a fun and safe way for young archeologists to practice their bone unearthing skills.

The mammoth dig (or mammuttimonttu if you prefer) is a temporary attraction and the skeleton, which is made in five seperate pieces, will be moved to a different part of the zoo at a later date. With a total weight of 2,200kg, the bones, which are made from steel reinforced concrete can be moved with heavy lifting equipment and assembled elsewhere when required. The present location will one day be turned back into a (living) creature enclosure.

The zoo made a short film showing the moving of the mammoth to its new home. We made the bones under cover a few hundred metres away from its current location.

Mammoth excavation

Mammoth dig

Disguising ugly buildings as rock formations pt 2

Main Contractor : Houthoff Zoo Design

Further on from my last post, here are some images from the completed Colobus monkey ‘rock’ house at Rotterdam Zoo. We have built a kopje rock inspired boulderscape around three sides of the structure and managed to totally hide the square dimensions of the building. Inside, the zoo building is a fully functional home for Colobus monkeys.

Kopje rock formations are found in the Serengeti of Kenya and Tanzania and  can be thought of as islands on the African plain. They are havens for wildlife as they offer protection from the searing sun and offer ‘look outs’ for mammals such as cats and monkeys.

We hope we have made an authentic looking kopje outcrop and at the same time beautified an otherwise boring looking zoo building.

artificial boulders

artificial boulders

artificial boulders

artificial boulders

artificial boulders