Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2019

Status
Not open for further replies.
What great comments from @cliffxdavis and @Brum - I am so fond of TZ, the place means a lot to me. I completely agree with you both. The developments have improved the place no end and I can't wait for the next phase.
I would have thought it would have made more sense to put one group of bonobo in the old chimp house, rather than mara, even if just as temporary measure. This is just my thoughts though, not a criticism!
 
Is it two distinct Bonobo groups though? As far as I remember, they were swapping individuals within the two rooms from time to time, something they wouldn't be able to do so easily if in different buildings.
 
littleRedPanda said:
Is it two distinct Bonobo groups though? As far as I remember, they were swapping individuals within the two rooms from time to time, something they wouldn't be able to do so easily if in different buildings.
Click to expand...

@littleRedPanda is correct - the group is one, but managed in a fission-fusion style (the modern husbandry practice for bonobos). So individuals are swapped regularly and occasionally both groups are mixed together completely.
 
ShonenJake13 said:
@littleRedPanda is correct - the group is one, but managed in a fission-fusion style (the modern husbandry practice for bonobos). So individuals are swapped regularly and occasionally both groups are mixed together completely.
Click to expand...
How does that work? In the wild the individuals would be making the decisions themselves on where they go and with whom, but in a zoo setting wouldn't the individuals be being moved solely by keeper decision, given that the groups are in separate enclosures and the apes probably can't tell the keepers "hey, I wanna go over there today"?
 
Chlidonias said:
How does that work? In the wild the individuals would be making the decisions themselves on where they go and with whom, but in a zoo setting wouldn't the individuals be being moved solely by keeper decision, given that the groups are in separate enclosures and the apes probably can't tell the keepers "hey, I wanna go over there today"?
Click to expand...

It is indeed up to the keepers for the most part - they base it off of a couple of main factors, namely relationship and breeding recommendation. Obviously any sons in the group stay in the same subgroup as their mother, but occasionally a couple of females will also stay together because they form a close alliance, or will be separated because their characters don't work together for a prolonged period. Certain males will be mixed with certain females as well to try and get the ideal genetic match - for example in Wilhelma (where they have practiced fission-fusion for a very long time now) they currently have their wildborn male in the subgroup with the three younger females that are all relatively new to the group (all arrived in the past year or two) to try and get an ideal genetic matchup - if it doesn't succeed they will put them in with the other subgroup that has the captive-born (and highly successful) breeding male and his mother.

The bonobo group makeup has changed a lot since I last went - since I last visited they have swapped out two mother-son pairs for a family unit of four (mother and three sons, two of which are adult males) and a mother who was already pregnant when she arrived and has now had her daughter. Back when I last visited they regularly kept three of the five adult females in one subgroup and two in the other, together with offspring this meant that the former subgroup had three male and three female animals in it (the beta female and her two sons, one of which has passed away but was meant to become the secondary breeding male, one of the two aforementioned mother-son pairs that have since left the zoo, and a young female animal who I will touch on again in a moment) and the latter subgroup had two male and four female animals in the subgroup (the alpha female, her adult son and adolescent daughter, the mother of the young female animal in the other subgroup and the other mother-son pair).
To touch on the incompatible characters again briefly, the young female animal that was kept in the other subgroup to her mother at the time of my last visit was rejected by her not long after birth. The zoo hand-reared her for half her childhood and her (now deceased) father looked after her once she was on solid foods. She has since been mixed with her mother and I believe is protected by the alpha female so it's better than it was, but for a long time her mother would frequently bully her if the two subgroups were ever combined for a lengthy period.

The keepers do also occasionally leave the doors open between the two halves so that the whole group can spend time together, but this is a pretty rare occurrence given that the facilities don't really allow for emergency separations if a major scrap breaks out.
 
Totally unrelated note, but does anyone remember what the two smaller exhibits in the old elephant house (now bonobos) used to hold? They were in the corners of the current Aldabra tortoise indoor enclosure if that helps?
 
Brum said:
Totally unrelated note, but does anyone remember what the two smaller exhibits in the old elephant house (now bonobos) used to hold? They were in the corners of the current Aldabra tortoise indoor enclosure if that helps?
Click to expand...
Think there was some kind of monitor lizard but not sure of species...
 
First visit today in over two years (summer 2017), the zoo really does seem to be on the up now! Chimp Eden is excellent, the tigers have plenty of space (although it could do with a bit more foliage), the giraffe house is well done, and the conversion of the elephant enclosure for the black rhino seems to have gone very well. The Gibbon islands still look underused, but the indoors are very good. It'll be interesting to see where the zoo will be going next if their most recent developments are anything to go by.

I even bought membership, because it was great value and the reciprocal zoos are ones I'll likely visit. It's also currently £10 off, making it even better value.

One thing I had forgotten is just how muddy the place is; I'm sure I have half of Leicestershire stuck to the hem of my jeans! If they could do a bit more with the paths it would be a massive improvement
 
Crowthorne said:
It'll be interesting to see where the zoo will be going next if their most recent developments are anything to go by.
Click to expand...

If you have a watch of the lecture at Dr Sharon Redrobe OBE | Nottingham Trent University, at 47:37 there is a slide that details plans for the next 10 years. They're ambitious and are mostly focused around the vision 2030 presentation that's on youtube. The slide lists the anticipated order of developments, starting with a phase 1 (and possibly also phase 2) Orangutan facility. It's an interesting lecture if you're inclined to watch the whole thing.
 
rubymurray said:
If you have a watch of the lecture at Dr Sharon Redrobe OBE | Nottingham Trent University, at 47:37 there is a slide that details plans for the next 10 years. They're ambitious and are mostly focused around the vision 2030 presentation that's on youtube. The slide lists the anticipated order of developments, starting with a phase 1 (and possibly also phase 2) Orangutan facility. It's an interesting lecture if you're inclined to watch the whole thing.
Click to expand...
I study at NTU - they're always putting on talks from zoo professionals. A few of my friends went to this talk and really enjoyed it :)
 
pangolin12 said:
Think there was some kind of monitor lizard but not sure of species...
Click to expand...

I can't remember the exact sequence of moves/enclosure remodels but there were certainly Black-throated Monitors in there for a long time, and either before or after that there were sloths.
 
ThomasNotTom said:
I study at NTU - they're always putting on talks from zoo professionals. A few of my friends went to this talk and really enjoyed it :)
Click to expand...

She strikes me as being a mightily impressive woman. She's incredibly self-assured and seems to have a very clear vision. She's also been very astute in recognising, it appears, that raising her own profile and making friends with influential people and organisations might be the key to funding that vision. It's a very substantial list of new developments to undertake over ten years, the remaining apes plus rhino phase 2, penguins, monkey forest AND a national learning centre. She'll deserve more than an OBE if she comes close to delivering that lot. She's not far off delivered everything to date, though, so it wouldn't surprise me if she pulled it off. Best of luck to her!
 
rubymurray said:
She strikes me as being a mightily impressive woman. She's incredibly self-assured and seems to have a very clear vision. She's also been very astute in recognising, it appears, that raising her own profile and making friends with influential people and organisations might be the key to funding that vision. It's a very substantial list of new developments to undertake over ten years, the remaining apes plus rhino phase 2, penguins, monkey forest AND a national learning centre. She'll deserve more than an OBE if she comes close to delivering that lot. She's not far off delivered everything to date, though, so it wouldn't surprise me if she pulled it off. Best of luck to her!
Click to expand...

She is definitely the best thing to happen to the zoo since it’s original founders.

The 10 year plan is as expected really, all major apes to get new homes plus some other ad-hoc stuff as things move around. Though I wonder what Rhino phase 2 is as they’ve already landscaped the paddock extension right? I wonder if we’ll see a new house designed specifically for the species.

Can’t wait to watch it all unfold!
 
rubymurray said:
monkey forest
Click to expand...

'Monkey Forest'- Looking into the future hopefully it would be along the lines of the 'Gibbon Forest' which houses the majority of the Gibbons that were all held previously in older style housing. Would all the current viable groups of larger monkeys be included though? If so, as things are at present, there would need to be housing for;

Guenons- De Brazza, Diana & L'Hoest's groups.(3)
Langurs. Spectacled and Francois groups.(2)
Colobus monkeys.(1)
Spider monkeys.(1)

I may have forgotten something, but even if not that would require at least seven enclosures, unless any of these species are to be dropped during the intervening period, which is perhaps more likely.

Then there are the Marmosets and Tamarins, and some Lemurs which I presume would be included also?
 
Last edited:
rubymurray said:
She strikes me as being a mightily impressive woman. She's incredibly self-assured and seems to have a very clear vision. She's also been very astute in recognising, it appears, that raising her own profile and making friends with influential people and organisations might be the key to funding that vision. It's a very substantial list of new developments to undertake over ten years, the remaining apes plus rhino phase 2, penguins, monkey forest AND a national learning centre. She'll deserve more than an OBE if she comes close to delivering that lot. She's not far off delivered everything to date, though, so it wouldn't surprise me if she pulled it off. Best of luck to her!
Click to expand...

I think she is wonderful. Engaging, passionate and committed. She has delivered so much at TZ already and I have every faith the zoo is in safe hands for the future. Long may she reign!
 
I believe Twycross own some land used for staff cars behind the Tigers, I don't know about any other land around.

I like the sound of the future plans for Twycross over the next 10 years or so. Let's hope the zoo can pull all these plans off.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Does TWZ owns space outside the current perimeter to expand?

A mighty brilliant talk from Dr. Redrobe!
Click to expand...
I would think so though I don’t know for sure, there recent development on the tigers and gibbons have used the fields behind the zoo for access and material delivery’s and this would be there only direction for expansion as they are covered by roads on other directions. I think there current expansions are based on current sites though and redevelopment of these areas though I couldn’t see them having trouble purchasing more land and the site is a locally well supported attraction
 
Don't they own quite a few extra acres behind the current collection boarders as I sure it's be mentioned on here before that the fields to the rear of the collection are rented to the farmers also the fields behind the nature reserve also rented to farmers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top