Apologises for the delay in finishing my review of Jersey zoo, I've been busy with starting back at college amongst other things.
The gorilla enclosure was absolutely fantastic and definitely one of the best I've ever seen. You can get almost completely uninterrupted views of the gorillas from around the entire enclosure while it's still large enough to give them space and privacy if they choose. The enclosure itself is huge and has a variety of foliage, elevation and climbing structures making it the perfect habitat for captive gorillas. However, the indoor house was very uninspiring and nothing special but with a new gorilla house planned for the not too distant future, there's no complaints to be made from me.
A short walk from the gorillas is, in my opinion, the most impressive part of the zoo; the orangutan islands. The 2 islands are home to the zoos orangutans as well as a pair of gibbons, one white-handed and one white-cheeked. The white-cheeked gibbon was brought in as a companion after the male white-handed gibbon died. During the orangutan and gibbon talk we were told that no male white-handed gibbons were available to be brought in so the female was put on birth control and a white-cheeked gibbon was brought in instead as the species is critically endangered and the zoo want to potentially breed this species in the future. As for the orangutans themselves, I don't think I've ever seen the species look so comfortable and content in a zoo environment as I did at Jersey. The islands are very large and densely planted with huge climbing structures that the apes were making full use of throughout the day. There's also multiple viewing areas around the enclosure at varying heights. It may be a bit difficult to follow an individual if it moves out of view from one point as the pathways are very spaced out and cover quite a distance between the apes favoured spots but you could almost forget that you're looking at captive animals at some points where you're completely surrounded by orangutans if you're on the pathway between the two islands. The house itself isn't outstanding but compared to some orang houses in England, it's far more suitable.
The geladas is another stand out enclosure (as are most of the enclosures at Durrell in all honesty.) There were far more of them than I expected to see but I didn't manage to count them.
It covers a pretty big area and definitely takes advantage of the geladas more terrestrial behaviours with mostly open ground with a lot of logs and other features to keep them occupied.
The Sulawesi macaque enclosure just past the gelada is much more green and perfect for the species with lots of space, foliage and privacy as a more shy species.
Tamarin woods was quite a sight seeing small tamarins and marmosets exploring the huge area with virtually no barriers. While they were hard to spot, this only added to the experience as it felt like you were in South America looking for wild callitrichids.
In the valley at the centre of the zoo you can find the flamingo lake, an absolutely stunning view. I could've, and very nearly did, stood there all day taking in the view of the beautiful Jersey sky across the lake with red-breasted geese and a flock of around 70 Chilean flamingos. This is one of those zoo views that photos can do no justice for and you really have to see it for yourself.
At the bottom of the zoo there are two large tunnels, one containing the huge Aldabra tortoises that used to be at Bristol zoo and the other being 'butterfly kaleidoscope' which, in addition to some gorgeous butterflies, contains some Galapagos tortoises. The tortoises in both tunnels also have access to outdoor areas. The butterfly house, while simple, is still really fun. There's something about butterflies that just brings out the childlike wonder in anyone.
The Guernsey goat enclosure in also located in this area. The enclosure is certainly large enough and they definitely seemed comfortable enough. Earlier in the day I did see the goats being walked around the zoo and being introduced to some children. You can say what you like about the inclusion of domestics at Jersey but there's no doubt that an interaction between the goats is going to make the day of younger visitors who otherwise may be less interested in the zoo with very few 'abc' species.
The Island bat roost is another enclosure that you really need to see for yourself. The enclosure is huge and the sight of so many enormous Livingstone's fruit bats asleep, hanging from the ceiling was pretty impressive and getting to see such an endangered species in such large numbers was great.
The gentle lemur and ring-tailed lemur enclosures were very naturalistic spaces with foliage and climbing opportunities but from a visitor standpoint, the viewing wasn't the best with very limited outdoor viewing for the ring-tails in particular. I didn't manage to see the aye-aye in the nocturnal house despite waiting for quite a while which was a little disappointing but it can't be helped.
Kirindy forest appeared to be like a ghost town with almost every species being a no show with the exception of a couple of lemurs in the distance. The kirindy forest walk-through aviary was beautiful and very peaceful with no other visitors in there. It did feel as if it could benefit from slightly more birds though. The Jewels of the Forest walk-through aviary near the entrance also left me feeling like they could be better stocked but both still beautiful aviaries nonetheless. The very impressive bird collection throughout the rest of the zoo more than made up for this though.
And that's all I can remember from my absolutely brilliant first, but certainly not last, visit to Jersey Zoo. It met all of the very high expectations I had built up over the many years leading up to my trip and exceeded them. I really cannot wait to go back but if I do, I don't think I'll ever want to leave. The only slight negatives were that I felt some of the signage could be improved with more information about some species and some of the plants around enclosures like the flamingos and meerkats could be trimmed back, but I did see staff trimming some plants in some enclosures so I'm sure they'll get around to it. Overall it was an incredible trip and certainly one I will never forget for years to come. I hope I haven't been rambling on too much and I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my thoughts on Durrell and Jersey Zoo
