Trip to Dudley Zoo and Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park

Crowthorne

Crowthorne

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It looks like I'll finally be making it up to these two zoos very soon, and it'll be a first visit for both of them! I was wondering if any of the regulars know of any special or unusual animals or species (or buildings!) that are not to be missed?

I don't know much about the Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park, but Dudley looks interesting from a zoo-history-nerd perspective, and I'm looking forward to seeing their Tectons, being familiar as I am with the Tectons at ZSL London Zoo. Otherwise, is Dudley a standard ABC zoo? Although I generally get excited by seeing any species I can't see at London, so Chimps and Orangs are on my must-see list.

I won't be doing the National SeaLife Centre on this trip, as the other days are filled with the cathedral and the botanic gardens. Maybe next time.
 
Dudley doesn't have too much unusual, but white-lipped peccaries might be new for you? Dudley also doesn't do "knock out" exhibits, but (other than the orang's, maybe the giraffes) you won't find too much to complain about, and the gelada family enclosure is particularly attractive. As a Tecton fan you should find the site to have plenty of information around about it's Tecton structures and their history. The castle is worth a look as well for first time visitors.

BWCP is a different experience entirely, it's only 6 and a half acres and really well laid out so you shouldn't miss anything. The nocturnal house and reptile house are both small but perfectly formed with decent collections, and hopefully the new loris house will be open by the time you get there. :)

I bet the Sea Life Centre would've made the cut if a certain marine-based mustelid species had arrived...? :p
 
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Thank you for the helpful info @Brum Yes, I think white-lipped peccaries are new, that is good :) Geladas aren't too common either, don't think I've seen any in a few years.

A loris house would be great, but as I'm going next week, they'd better hurry up and open it! Nocturnal Houses are a big soft-spot of mine, so great to know I'll get to see one next week :)

I bet the Sea Life Centre would've made the cut if a certain marine-based mustelid species had arrived...? :p
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Short answer, yes ;)
 
Dudley

In terms of animals/exhibits I'd recommend seeing the...
  • Gelada baboons. Dudley has two groups, both of which have nice enclosures. They have a good sized family group (may be on the left or right hand side of the chairlift), and a bachelor group a bit further up the hill.
  • Yellow-breasted capuchins. A very active group in a good enclosure behind the discovery centre/ Go Wild theatre near the sea lions.
  • Patagonian sea lions. The bull (called Oba) is an impressive animal. The size of the pools, which are themselves listed Tectons, often divides opinion.
  • Lar gibbons. Not an unusual sight in the UK but Dudley have 3.2 very active (weather depending) individuals in lovely little naturalistic enclosure, with good viewing, to the left of the sea lions.
  • Carpathian lynx. Not the best enclosure but, according to Zootierliste, the only other holders in the UK are Exmoor, Port Lympne, Newquay, Dartmoor, and Camperdown.
  • Chimps. An excellent outdoor area and a decent indoor area, however, the group itself, being all-female, are not very active at all.
  • Lorikeet walkthrough. These aren't the most exciting exhibits in the world but Dudley's is a good one. Contains rainbow lorikeets, black capped lory, green-naped lorikeets, roul-roul partridge, Victoria crowned pigeon, terrapins, 2 large white-throated monitor lizards, and whatever they've decided to put in the pool area that week.
  • Orangs. Two large adult males, one adult female, and one juvenile female. The outdoor areas are the worst in the UK, but have a look at the adjacent African wild dog exhibit, the entirety of which will soon be turned into huge new naturalistic orang outdoor area.
  • Lemur walkthrough. The 3 lemur species it contains aren't particularly unusual, but the exhibit itself is very good and has recently undergone a huge revamp.
  • Almost everyone's seen Sumatran tigers, but the zoo's female, Daseep, is very striking, and the male, Joao, is enormous.
  • Barbary sheep. A large herd in a very old enclosure. According to zootierliste, the only other holders in the UK are Africa Alive and Five Sisters.
  • Binturongs. Well...because...everybody loves binturongs!
  • I'd also recommend the birds of prey display at 12pm. The talk is always very good, but it's a bit pot luck as to what birds they fly. Also nice that it is held in the castle courtyard so you are surrounded by the castle ruins.

With regards to interesting buildings/ structures there's the...
  • 11th century castle. You can climb to the top of the castle keep via the spiral staircase for some excellent views. The entrance to the Castle Creatures exhibit, which contains lots of information on the history of the castle, can be found in the castle courtyard.
  • Vintage chairlift. The only one in the country. Offers good views of the geladas and Sulawesi macaques. I wouldn't recommend it if heights aren't your thing.
  • Entrance/gift shop. A Tecton and superbly refurbished to give it a new lease of life. It was originally built as a café.
  • Old turnstile entrance. No longer used, the rear of this wave-like Tecton can be seen opposite the flamingo house once inside the zoo. The front can be seen from the main road (but this is a long way around to walk).
  • Ex-polar bear pit Tecton. An iconic structure. Located between the tigers and howler monkeys. Was remodelled slightly to accommodate Inca the elderly Asiatic black bear, who passed away recently.
  • Ex-elephant house Tecton. As bad as elephant houses get, it was originally built as small/ low as possible so as not to obstruct the view of the castle keep from the road. Currently used as indoor accommodation for the wallabies as well as off-show aviaries.
  • Tropical bird house Tecton. An imposing structure. Currently empty despite the zoo's best efforts. Interesting to see how they've wrapped the lion enclosure around it. I call it the world's most OTT lion shelter.
  • Bear ravine Tecton. A huge, impressive structure. Open to walk around. It will soon be used to contain bears once again.

I'd also recommend planning your route, via the map, before you visit in order to see everything you want to, as large chunks of the zoo could easily be missed.

I tend to go...
Left out the entrance/gift shop, flamingos, snowy owls, avoid the steps, follow the slope up towards the tigers, giraffes, otters, right at the top of the otter enclosure, orang outdoors, gibbons, double back to the sea lions, Queen Mary café for refreshments and loo break, castle courtyard, double back to the sealions again, capuchins and small monkeys behind the Discovery centre (aka Go Wild Theatre), penguins, reptile house, wallaby walkthrough, reindeer, peccaries, orang indoors, African wild dogs, top of otter enclosure again, lemur walkthrough, lions, down long winding path, chimps indoor, lorikeet walkthrough, chimp outdoor, farm and barn (open 12.00 - 12.45pm and 2.15 - 4.30pm), camels, quick walk through the funfair, back to the exit/gift shop.

Enjoy your visit.
 
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Benosaurus has put together an excellent summary of Dudley's highlights. The only animal 'must sees' I would add are: giant anteaters - a relatively new species for Dudley and one I personally find fascinating. They are on the left of the main path opposite the binturongs.

And one tip - if you can't see the red pandas from the main vieiwng area opposite the giraffes, then there is another viewing area at the back of (and in between) the two small primate houses (where the yellow breasted capuchins are) which allows you to look down on the red panda enclosure - they are often high in the trees and much easier to see from this vantage point, especially at this time of year when there is so much leaf cover.

Enjoy your visit and I look forward to hearing your feedback. I am hoping to get to Birmingham Wildlife Centre myself one of these days.
 
Thank you @Benosaurus for such a thorough outline of the zoo! I've been known to miss bits at even small zoos, so I'll definitely be referring to your walkthrough guide! :)

and thank you @Angel for the tips. I really do like anteaters, and now they're leaving my local London, I'll be making the most of seeing them at Dudley for sure. :)
 
Broadly agree with Benosaurus but I prefer to spare my knees the climb and go up on the chairlift or train and get off at the castles and then spiral downhill. Chairlift not for the faint-hearted. Scary going up but petrifying going down. If you just go up look over your should as you near the top.
 
I'm not sure if it's open all the time, but at the far end of the entrance/ gift shop there is a small 'Tecton interpretation area', which has lots of info and old photographs of the Tectons, that you may find interesting. And, like @Brum says, each Tecton around the zoo has a large sign next to it with detailed information specific to that Tecton.
 
Well I'm on the way! Should be in Birmingham at lunchtime. Was planning on going straight to the BWCP but their website isn't great, so asking the locals, do they do food there? It's small so I'm guessing not really. Just so I know whether to grab anything at Birmingham New Street on the way. Thanks all!
 
Crowthorne said:
Well I'm on the way! Should be in Birmingham at lunchtime. Was planning on going straight to the BWCP but their website isn't great, so asking the locals, do they do food there? It's small so I'm guessing not really. Just so I know whether to grab anything at Birmingham New Street on the way. Thanks all!
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There is a cafe on site that does food at BWCP. Any questions feel free to ask any of us keepers! :)
 
Thanks @Benosaurus today was a washout, was meant to go to Dudley Zoo but got soaked through just getting to Birmingham New Street! Trying again tomorrow :) thankfully yesterday was fine for BWCP!
 
Well, my work computer is having a go-slow afternoon, so that has to be a sign that it’s time to put my thoughts on Birmingham onto paper. Some other things in life have overtaken me since this trip just 2 weeks ago, which has given me some brain fog, but hopefully I can remember enough to review the zoos properly :)

Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park

This was the first zoo of the trip, we got a taxi straight there from Birmingham New Street. Had to give the taxi driver directions though, which did have me a bit worried!

I found this little zoo to be such a lovely place. It’s not big or flashy, but what it does it does well. As a guilty nocturnal house fan, the small nocturnal house was my definite favourite part of the zoo, with a family of very active slow loris (a species I don’t always have great luck with!), brush-tailed bettongs which were a delight to watch, and completely unexpectedly, an unsigned family of douroucoulis! Although I knew there was a Komodo Dragon, a species I’ve seen frequently at London, I’ve never seen one so well displayed or so active. I was also very taken with the active family of capuchins, very inquisitive ASCOs, and the rather lovely little reptile house. I’m not sure I’ve really seen tamarins and marmosets in such big, natural trees before! Something I really like about little zoos like this is that you have the time to really watch the animals and maybe take time to focus on animals I might normally skip past, like the Komodo Dragon, or the Mara. I also managed to see the European Pond Turtles, which pleased me.

There were no-shows of course, binturongs at the back of their house being one (although we could just see a nose), and not a peep from the bamboo lemurs.

One big downside I found was the extensive use of glass, which made viewing and photography a bit difficult, but I can understand why they use it, with families seeming to be their main audience. Also, the maps are out of date (red squirrels have been replaced by parrots for example), which was a little disappointing.

Of course, any visit to a zoo on a quiet school-day will always give it bonus-points in my mind. Walking around this zoo was very pleasant, especially with the little rivers flowing through it. There seems to be a lot of active building work going on, a sign that the zoo isn’t standing still, which I found admirable and very pleasing. I would love to come back when some of the buildings are complete. I hope the zoo can raise the money to repair the spider monkey enclosure which looks very sorry in its fair-damaged state.

All in all, this is a lovely zoo to spend an afternoon, and I feel I have really developed a soft-spot for it :)

Next up: Dudley Zoo
 
Dudley Zoo

The trip to Dudley Zoo had to be postponed for a day due to torrential rain (thankfully, Birmingham has a very good museum, with an excellent gallery for the Staffordshire Hoard). We took the route outlined by TLD in the UK public transport thread, getting the train from New Street to Tipton, and walking to the zoo past the Black Country Living Museum.

When we got to the zoo, we found the outside to be a sea of families with small children, pushchairs and buggies. So many buggies. NO-ONE WARNED US IT WAS THE UNDER 5’S FAMILY FUN DAY! Dear lord, I’ve never seen so many buggies in my life. This has to be the zoo-nerds worst nightmare, and it did seriously marr the day. Thankfully they all started to disappear after 2pm, but by this point we were quite exhausted and overwhelmed, but made the most of the quiet after the storm.

Putting the hoards of children to one side for now (!), it was very interesting to visit a zoo that was designed as it was, with so many of the original buildings from the Tecton era still in place, and still in use. My favourite exhibit however, has to be one of the first you see on entering the zoo, and that’s the large enclosure for Geladas on the side of the castle mound. It was simple, yet stunning – a hillside, with a fence around it and some climbing frames. Funny how in a zoo with highly stylised Tectons, it would be a simple patch of enclosed scrub that would stay with me most. Animal highlights were of course the geladas, the very active gibbons, the wonderful bush dogs running around like wind-up toys in what I thought was a pretty decent enclosure (although it could have done with more water), the tigers are an impressive pair, the Carpathian lynx, and seeing two big impressive male orangutans. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen Black Rats, which were in the castle, so small and delicate compared with the more usual brown rats. Also got lucky enough to see a Red Panda being target trained and a snow leopard stalking a very brave squirrel in the trees next to the enclosure. The lorikeet walkthrough was a fun one, one of the better ones I’ve been in, and the enclosures in the reptile house were very well done I thought. I liked the Barabary Sheep enclosure, although it was maybe a little on the small side. Actually, I liked this side of the zoo most, between the snow leopards and the new macaw aviary.

There are however downsides at this zoo, both for animals and people. I’m so glad to hear the orang enclosure is going to be extended, it is barely adequate at present, but they’re doing the best they can with the legacy building. The giraffes really don’t have enough room, but can’t really see how it could be expanded. The bird display in the castle was not running on the day we went due to the family even taking over the castle courtyard, which I don’t think had been explained anywhere at all. The zoo’s people facilities are also not great, the loos we used in two separate parts of the zoo, were both awful, the food was poor, and considering this was a special event day in June, none of the snack bars were open. Only two food outlets were open, and of course every family was trying to cram into them. I’m not sure how many of the visitor facility problems were caused by the vast numbers of families with very young children visiting for the special event day, or a legacy of 1930s buildings, or both, but they really have put a black mark against Dudley which I really wish I didn’t have to give.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot at Dudley that I liked, and maybe if I’d visited on a day when every under-5 in the West Midlands wasn’t crowded around the tiger viewing area, I might have liked it more. But it’s a zoo with issues which could do with some work on the visitor facilities, which would really improve the visitor experience. As it stands, they really need to improve their food and especially their loos. I really want to like Dudley, and it’s such a shame that the visitor experience has detracted from what was otherwise a nicely done and historically interesting zoo.

Next: Birmingham Botanical Gardens
 
Finally, a quick note on the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. I really like a botanic garden, and this one is going close to the top of my list of favourite ones. The glasshouses are small but well done, and the gardens are nicely landscaped. Of course, coming right after Buggy-Hoard-Day at Dudley Zoo, the peace and quiet was wonderful! The tearoom was excellent too, I recommend it :)

Birmingham Botanical Gardens, however, does have some birds on display. Other gardens have animals, usually fish, or small birds and reptiles for pest control, but the birds at Birmingham are kept in separate aviaries. Of the birds I saw, there wasn't anything you couldn't get in a decent pet shop or from a parrot breeder, but they added some noise and movement to the gardens. The birds are kept in three places - at the far exit from the entrance glasshouse, in a set of Victorian-style aviaries opposite the tearooms, and down the far end of the gardens in a Mediterranean-style garden.

I took photos of most of the birds and labels I saw, but they're still on my camera, so I can't give an exact list right now. Mostly the birds were either parrots (cockatoos, macaws, budgerigars, cockatiels, lovebirds etc), or finches.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed the West Midlands, even if you had to endure the screaming hordes at Dudley! I'd have probably gone to the Black Country Museum for a couple of hours and waited for the crowds to thin out at the zoo, the food's better as well. ;)
I personally think BWCP is a perfectly formed little zoo which is ideal for young families on a budget, but then it also has some pretty nice species for the enthusiast as well.
Your thoughts on the Botanical Gardens surprised me as I genuinely thought you'd be underwhelmed, I'm glad I was wrong. :p

You get up to anything else whilst in Birmingham?
 
Hi @Brum sorry, I thought I'd replied :confused:

I'll remember the prospect of better food at BCLM for any future visits. I saw on the Museums Association that they recently got the funding for 'significant redevelopment' so maybe I'll take a visit when that is finished (for anyone interested: Significant redevelopment confirmed for Black Country Living Museum | Museums Association).

To be honest, after the buggy-scrum at Dudley, ANY nice, quiet, peaceful garden with tasty food and decent loos would instantly get a thumbs-up from me! But it is also just a very nicely laid out gardens, and as a houseplant fan I love to see what they've got going on in their greenhouses. They also have a really lovely Japanese garden and Bonsai collection (which puts the Bonsai collection at Kew to shame!).

Apart from the trips outlined above, we also went to the Museum and Art Gallery (because it was dry in there, when outside was torrential rain), trying not to get lost in the Bullring, and coveting the haberdashery section in John Lewis :D
 
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