Call of the Wild Zoo New collection in Essex: Call of the Wild Zoological Park

Thoughts after my first trip today - The zoo is clearly very new, and in its early stages of development.

Most of the newer exhibits are quite nice, with the Serval, ring tailed lemur and meerkat exhibits shining out to me. Colobus are arriving soon, as already mentioned in the forum, and their exhibit seems decent for a small group.

The tropical house has developed considerably when compared to photos already on the forum - I'll post updated images at some point in the next week. Lots of construction was taking place inside.

It will be interesting to see how the zoo continues to develop, especially after the new arrivals and exhibits opening in the summer.

As mentioned, I'll upload exhibit photos within the next week or so.
 
Yesterday, 7th, I visited The Call Of The Wild Zoo, for the first time since it has changed hands. I used to visit Tropical Wings often as I live fairly close. Lots of staff busying themselves with cleaning and maintaining exhibits. Whilst workmen were gardening, and building. They were all very polite and helpful, and I was lucky enough to see the young Barn Owl being trained. The tropical house now has a lovely big pool area which houses the Spectacled Caiman. The butterflies and Victoria Crowned Pigeon fly free. Also in the tropical house are Burmese Python, Biak Tree Monitor, Nile Monitor, Yemen Chameleon, Java Sparrow & Common Marmoset. The Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman exhibit appeared dark and empty? The Wallaby Walkthrough is still there, except the wallabies now share with Rhea, and various Bantams/Chickens. The Llama and Mara are also in this area. Outside I noticed a couple of signs informing visitors of Flamingos and Leafcutter Ants coming soon.
Other species I saw yesterday were:-
African Civet, Asian Small Clawed Otters, African Pygmy Goats, Canadian Horned Owl, Bengal Eagle Owl, Chaco owl, Tawny Owl, Brown Wood Owl, Striated Caracara, Harris Hawk, Green Winged Macaw, Blue Throated Macaw, Hyacinth Macaw, Blue and Gold Macaw, Umbrella Cockatoo, Kookaburra, American Red Squirrel, Ring-Tailed Coati, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Brown Lemur, Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Black and White Colobus, Squirrel Monkeys, Crested Porcupine, Striped Skunk, African Grey Parrot, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Donkey, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Common Genet, Kune-Kune Pigs, Meerkat, & Serval.
For photographers the netting/fencing and mesh could be a bit of a problem, but with the right lens and a bit of patience you can overcome this. A few exhibits have mesh 2ft in front of mesh, making decent shots a challenge.
A very enjoyable first visit, and I will be returning in a few months to see the progress. Fingers crossed, that this turns out to be a very successful venture for them. Look out for shots of the day/exhibits etc.
 
Is the zoo still on and within the footprint of the old Tropical Wings,as even though it's a fairly decent zoo the size could restrict the number of species kept?
 
Eric said:
Is the zoo still on and within the footprint of the old Tropical Wings,as even though it's a fairly decent zoo the size could restrict the number of species kept?
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It's the same footprint but I think they have not opened it all up yet so it is still smaller than the old tropical wings zoo
 
When I went (and I don't think things have changed since), the current zoo occupied a slightly smaller footprint than Tropical Wings. The area that formerly housed the otters, the end part of the wallaby walkthrough and the domestic paddocks at the far end of the park were off-limits.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
When I went (and I don't think things have changed since), the current zoo occupied a slightly smaller footprint than Tropical Wings. The area that formerly housed the otters, the end part of the wallaby walkthrough and the domestic paddocks at the far end of the park were off-limits.
Click to expand...
That is how it was last week
 
Another new species arrived at Call of the Wild Zoo yesterday - a female red fox, which lives in an enclosure near the zoo entrance (only place I can think of is one of the former owl aviaries behind the displays lawn).

The information has come from a photograph posted on a Call of the Wild Zoo fan page on Facebook.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Another new species arrived at Call of the Wild Zoo yesterday - a female red fox, which lives in an enclosure near the zoo entrance (only place I can think of is one of the former owl aviaries behind the displays lawn).

The information has come from a photograph posted on a Call of the Wild Zoo fan page on Facebook.
Click to expand...

I'd not be surprised if she attracts the attention of the local wild males coming to sniff round her enclosure
 
I have seen that another new species has recently arrived at Call of the Wild Zoo - the Central American wood turtle. According to Zootierliste, they are the only ones of their species on display in a British zoo.

The information has come from two photographs posted on a Call of the Wild Zoo fan page on Facebook.
 
Today(1st Dec) I paid my second visit to Call of the Wild. Quite a chilly day, but bright. Not many other visitors, so the pathways were clear for photos. I arrived just before 1pm, just in time to catch the owl ( Barn & Chaco) flight display, and the mammal (Striped Skunk) display.
Species I saw, that I didn't see on my first visit were:
6 banded Armadillo,
Binturong
Crested Porcupine
Red Footed Tortoise (tropical house)
Russian Tortoise (tropical house)
Red Tailed Black Cockatoo
Red Tailed Racer (tropical house)
Splashback Dart Frog (tropical house)

Species not seen, or off show were:
Burmese Python,
Bearded Dragon,
African Grey Parrot,
Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman
Rhea
Llama
Yellow Mongoose

The walkthrough Lemur enclosure was locked,(it was locked last time I visited) but the Ringtails were outside enjoying the sunshine. Bindi the female Binturong shares her exhibit with the ASC Otters. The signs for Leaf Cutter Ants, and Flamingos that were 'coming soon', on my last visit, have disappeared. With the Avian Flu outbreak perhaps that has been postphoned for now. Not sure about the Leafcutters though? The entry to the tropical house, is where the Burmese Python (not seen), Red Tailed Racer, Splashback Dart Frogs, Sailfin Lizard and Caiman Lizards are. In the aviaries outside, It was lovely to see 2 Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, they definitely weren't there on the previous visit, and close by, the Red Fox enclosure.
Photography wise, although it was a bright day, lots of foliage and trees along the walkways made my camera (FF Canon1DX) search for light. The interior of the tropical house is bright, so no probs there, apart from the instant fogging of the lenses when you go in. I made the mistake of swapping my lens inside,and everything fogged up and wouldn't clear until I went back outside. So no shots to upload of inside the tropical house unfortunately. Outside,some exhibits are mesh, gap, mesh.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Just checking, was the Biak tree monitor still present in this section?
Click to expand...
I didn't see it, but it may have moved to a different area of the tropical house. I didn't stay too long in there as I was concerned about the dampness getting in my lenses and the time was getting on. The Nile Monitor was there as was a beautiful Red footed Tortoise.
 
Very random question, but does anyone know where call of the wild got there squirrel monkeys, armadillos or ring tailed lemurs from?
 
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in South America and/or Madagascar, a mummy and a daddy mammal loved each other very much....

That's where they came from initially.....
 
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