Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2021

Just seen a article in the local rag for the surrounding villages about the new Twycross money Notting that hasn’t been said before now in other articles except this one suggests they could start the build early next year with the view to opening Easter 2024 E14C3AFF-19AF-4F99-92F7-46BBC2EFDE0C.jpeg
 

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That is interesting, if based on info from the zoo directly, it pretty much confirms Orang-Utan's will be next inline for a new home. Makes sense considering that one is directly linked to the new centre too.
 
Should see a planning application soon then. The NSCC is costed at £10m in the pdf, so maybe the £20m received will cover more than that + Orangs. Given the Bonobos have moved to the area where the Gorrila Islands are proposed and out of the area where 'Bonobo Haven' will be, perhaps that's in anticipation of their new home. Gorilla Islands is last on the list, according to the timeline, so would make sense. I'm interested to see where they move the Lemur Walkthrough to, given the Orangs will be where the existing one is.
 
rubymurray said:
The NSCC is costed at £10m in the pdf, so maybe the £20m received will cover more than that
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It's quite unbelievable to me how barefaced Twycross have been throughout this. I mean asking for 20 million pounds (a gigantic amount of money) to build a white elephant that will only cost 10 million pounds.

However, even more shocking is that the government is just like 'yh sure it's all yours and spend the rest how you want'. o_O
 
Benosaurus said:
It's quite unbelievable to me how barefaced Twycross have been throughout this. I mean asking for 20 million pounds (a gigantic amount of money) to build a white elephant that will only cost 10 million pounds.

However, even more shocking is that the government is just like 'yh sure it's all yours and spend the rest how you want'. o_O
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I don't really subscribe to the view that Twycross are a) building a white elephant at all b) building the NSCC purely as a vehicle for renewing the rest of the Ape enclosures. Why would they take on a £10 million overhead in order to achieve that?

What I think they've been doing for a number of years is trying to raise their profile in order to give themselves the clout needed to generate more cash. They've been doing it by appointing high profile advocates, partnering with universities, by involving people of influence on the board, including politicians and the CEO herself has been out there doing it through the media. I think the NSCC is part of the process of them being taken more seriously and is part of the masterplan. In this case I'm not particularaly cynical about it.

Himalaya was a different story, it's obvious they tacked on various bits in order to qualify for the grant and pay for other parts of the building. Not much I can add about the workings of government, but on this occasion I'm just pleased a zoo got £20m to spend.
 
rubymurray said:
Should see a planning application soon then. The NSCC is costed at £10m in the pdf, so maybe the £20m received will cover more than that + Orangs. Given the Bonobos have moved to the area where the Gorrila Islands are proposed and out of the area where 'Bonobo Haven' will be, perhaps that's in anticipation of their new home. Gorilla Islands is last on the list, according to the timeline, so would make sense. I'm interested to see where they move the Lemur Walkthrough to, given the Orangs will be where the existing one is.
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The total project cost was originally £28m (£10m for the centre and the rest on the surrounding animal exhibits and improvements, £6m had already been completed). The money will pay for everything else in scope, so the science centre plus new exhibits for at least the remaining apes. There is also potential we'll see a new penguin exhibit and a new monkey tropical forest exhibit as part of this too.
 
jamie779 said:
I assume we are all here because we are fundamentally animal lovers and if this serves to improve animal wellfare, then surely it can o ly be positive?
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Sorry, what do you see is serving to improve animal welfare?
 
GiraffeJack10 said:
I may be wrong but wasn't the new science conservation centre going to be built around the new orangutan enclosure? An improved orangutan enclosure would be a massive step in the right direction for animal welfare, particularly as the current orangutan enclosure is dreadful.
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In the concepts we've seen, they're integrated yes. In addition, there will be new enclosures for the gorilla and Bonobo (actually brand new!) too. So this will deliver huge strides forward for the welfare of all the apes (and more) at Twycross. Then there is the potential outcomes of any research. So lots of potential benefits of this project and funding.
 
jamie779 said:
Oh come on!! If they get a new orang habitat out of it, then surely this is only a positive.
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Isn’t that the point of the science center also to be able to study and observe the apes also, which one would assume would result in better animal welfare understanding not just for Twycross but all captive situations over the world ?
 
jamie779 said:
Oh come on!! If they get a new orang habitat out of it, then surely this is only a positive.
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Sorry but you posted following comments about the one way system (maze) without quoting anything else so I thought you were referring to that!
 
pipaluk said:
Sorry but you posted following comments about the one way system (maze) without quoting anything else so I thought you were referring to that!
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It is usually a good idea to read the whole thread before jumping to conclusions.
 
First visit on Saturday for well over a year, on a freezing cold day. I've never been a regular at Twycross (visiting maybe once a year or so), but this is probably my new local since moving.

Few questions I probably should have asked before hand, and a few that came up during the visit:

Are the Tufted Deer still held? They were signed, but no-shows (could have been due to the excessive cold though, there were a lot of no-shows)

Same for the Crowned Lemurs, still there, or just hiding from the cold?

What is the name of the silverback gorilla? How many gorillas are there? When I was a regular at London I got to know their troop, and it would be nice to get to know the troop at Twycross better.

Are the Orangutans off-show? Their house seemed to be closed off, and wasn't sure if they were still in residence, or had been moved for some reason?

The Bonobos were being monitored (both groups), and they were being quite vocal and active. I know they've not been in the 'new' house for long, so maybe they're still settling in.
 
The name of the silverback Gorilla there is Oumbie and he has 3 females, Biddy, Asante and Ozala and at least 2 young Gorillas. I used to do the same when I worked at Twycross at a volunteer, I got to get to know all the animals. I did spend a bit of time with some of their former Gorillas just watching them etc.

I haven't been to Twycross for nearly 10 years now.
 
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