Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2023

Nothing has appeared in planning applications either, nothing for the last few years even. Personally I’d like to see them revamp the whole area down there along with the dik dik, tortoise enclosures. In an ideal world I’d like to see the owls and the old monkey enclosures along side them demolished and replaced with housing for some new large mammal using the bottom rhino paddock as an out side area as I’ve never seen the rhinos use this paddock and only ever recall seeing a single elephant in it once. Thinking about it could this be part of the rhino phase two in the original master plan.
Those were my exact thoughts too about it being apart of the rhino phase in the masterplan, hopefully all will be revealed soon. I am guessing soon visitors won’t be allowed to walk down the path at the back of the zoo as a fence was being put up near the pathway too.
 
I’m not sure what’s happened as no one around to ask you might have better luck, could hope that are hand rearing it who knows ?
I’ll ask a keeper when I go, I stay at the zoo until closing and normally a lot of the keepers are around. Is there still a barrier stopping people from getting close to the glass?
 
Had a nice evening walk around Twycross zoo, unfortunately didn’t manage to catch a keeper to talk about Valentina and her twins. Thought it was closed when I first got there at around 3PM. I saw all the great apes which are my main priority’s to see every visit.

The Chimpanzees were outside as the keepers were cleaning the indoor areas out. The only Chimps inside the tunnels was Tuli and Samantha thought they came out later. Coco even with her arthritis and age she is still moving well with her being the only chimpanzee at the top of the climbing areas. Kibali and Jambo were squaring each over or but Kibali ran into the tunnel and banged on the doors leading into Peter and Tommys area. I came back round at 5PM and they were getting ready for bed and making their nests. Coco, Holly and Jomar decided to nap and stay close to the front while the rest were up high. Victoria like usual can never decide where she wants to sleep with her moving around and every time she moves she loses half of the material she collected. It’s never a dull day with the chimpanzees haha.

The gorillas and bonobos were locked in as they were about to be fed and the orangs were locked out as they were being fed indoors but I saw them all eat which was a nice treat.

I came back round to the gibbons to find it was open again, I saw all the gibbons but Valentina was a no show. I believe she is staying in her backstage dens after speaking to an educator. The educator told me she has been getting very stressed but couldn’t confirm if one of her offspring have passed away or has been taken to be hand reared.

Shufai was being naughty and cheeky like usual with him annoying Oumbie with him being chased after by his dad when he was getting told off. Ozala and Biddy just watched on as he was getting chased. Asante was in the backstage areas but she came out at the end of feeding time.
 
Had a nice day out at Twycross, I can definitely confirm there is only one baby Pileated gibbon with Valentina. Sudan (Black Rhino) was out in the grass paddock running around and having fun. They have started doing some work near the old lemur walkthrough with their being markings and machinery around that area, hopefully we will see the Orangutan enclosure sooner than we thought though nothing on the council website for a planning permission. It was confirmed today by a keeper that Lope (Gorilla) would be moving to Zoo du Bassin d’Arcachon, though they said plans could change but currently the plan is to move Lope to Zoo du Bassin d’Arcachon.

I then spent the rest of the day at my favourite place, Chimpanzee Eden, they were having lunch when they all got excited and Kibali was pushing Jambo around and they started fighting with the females jumping in afterwards. Jambo came out with multiple wounds on him but he seemed fine before I went.
 
I went for a visit today. As usual I started at the chimpanzees where Jambos troop was outside foraging for food. Whenever Kibali came over to Jambo he would leave and go over to Josie or Flynn. Kibali then came over to follow Josie around the enclosure. I got some good videos of the chimpanzees using the enrichment that was put out for them. It took holly a long time to figure it out and that she had to stand up to use it, she then left and Jomar came over and showed her how’s it done. The chimpanzees are my favourite part of my Twycross visits.

After that I went to the Gorillas, they were inside at the back eating so I decided to come back later at lunch time. I skipped the bonobos to go to Gibbon Forest. Valentina (Pileated Gibbons) baby is looking in great condition and it slowly starting. To get a bit of colour on its head. If you’ve visited Twycross you would have noticed the fence which stoped you from going outside to see the Pileated gibbon island and to get close to the viewing windows. It’s now been pushed back to only the window which hasn’t got leaves on it. The zoo hasn’t announced it yet but I’m assuming they will leave it for a weeks/ months as it’s still early days.

I walked around to see the Orangutans and Dusky Langurs, the langurs were inside but the indoor viewing area is almost impossible to look into. I only saw the male as the female was in the tunnel connecting the indoors to the outside enclosure. The orangutans were fine, Batu was in the back while Maliku and Basuki were clinging to the ceiling grabbing food from the keepers.

I went round to see Lope. He is now inside quarantining before his move to France (confirmed by keepers) he has no longer got access to outside and spends most of his time inside the dens. When he came out he grabbed some food and ate it at the top of his enclosure. Afterwards he came down to stare at the tortoises. The keeper I spoke to said “the whole team will miss Lope, some of us have been working with him since he was born and some have only just started. But he will always be remembered in the Ape team and has made an impact on everyone’s lives” I will miss Lope but I hope he has a good life in France.

I went to the see the Bonobos, Keke, Chela and Upendi’s troop was on the right and the troop with Lena and her children was on the enclosure on the left. They were all pretty tired. I’m still learning the bonobos names and how to tell them apart. I believe it was Lola who grabbed Upendi and started to carry him around in her chest.

The main family of gorillas were eating before they started messing about. Shufai threw a stick at Ozala and got chased around by his mom. Oumbie came out and stopped it all and went back in to carry on eating. Asante was messing with a dead pigeon in the enclosure with a child saying “the monkey is eating the bird!” I then walked away and got some photos of Biddy who was just lying down watching the world go by.

I went back to the chimpanzees where they were being fed inside. Victoria started hooting which made Kibali upset and he started banging the glass and doors. Jambo was being groomed by Tuli after lunch. Coco and Holly were sharing food. Coco is looking better after having her medicine to help her with her Arthritis. Jomar didn’t care for the food and went outside where he found some leftovers from breakfast. He went straight to the top of the climbing structure. While inside Kibali was causing more trouble, Flynn went to calm him down and they started grooming each over. On my visits over the last couple of months I’ve noticed Kibali becoming more dominant over Jambo. The keeper said they believe Kibali will soon take over Jambo but they hope it won’t be for a couple of years to come as Kibali still has some learning to do.

After the chimps I headed to the Red Ruffed Lemurs and the Tufted Deer. Unfortunately the deer have now been blocked off. I believe they are getting ready to be moved to a new zoo. Hopefully they will stay in the UK. The Lemurs were sleeping like usual.

The tigers weren’t Inside the onshow enclosure or outside. A lady shouted “the zoo says they have tigers but they don’t! It’s just a hoax to get you here.” I’ve also seen multiple people on Facebook and Instagram saying the same thing. I did reinsure the lady that the tigers do have access go off show dens if they don’t want to be seen by the public. She then grabbed her child’s hand and walked off. At the end of my visit I saw her shouting in guest services. I wish the zoo would get signage about the tigers and saying that they do have them they just don’t want to be onshow right now. Same with Jambo and explaining why he is “naked”. It’s not because of bad care as many think, it’s because he has alopecia.

The old Lemur Walkthrough is now 100% blocked off. You can no longer see it unless you stand on the chimpanzee viewing deck. The zoo has published “screening opinion” on the planning persimmon for the zoo. I think the new Orangutan enclosure may be coming sooner than we thought.
 
I went for a visit today. As usual I started at the chimpanzees where Jambos troop was outside foraging for food. Whenever Kibali came over to Jambo he would leave and go over to Josie or Flynn. Kibali then came over to follow Josie around the enclosure. I got some good videos of the chimpanzees using the enrichment that was put out for them. It took holly a long time to figure it out and that she had to stand up to use it, she then left and Jomar came over and showed her how’s it done. The chimpanzees are my favourite part of my Twycross visits.

After that I went to the Gorillas, they were inside at the back eating so I decided to come back later at lunch time. I skipped the bonobos to go to Gibbon Forest. Valentina (Pileated Gibbons) baby is looking in great condition and it slowly starting. To get a bit of colour on its head. If you’ve visited Twycross you would have noticed the fence which stoped you from going outside to see the Pileated gibbon island and to get close to the viewing windows. It’s now been pushed back to only the window which hasn’t got leaves on it. The zoo hasn’t announced it yet but I’m assuming they will leave it for a weeks/ months as it’s still early days.

I walked around to see the Orangutans and Dusky Langurs, the langurs were inside but the indoor viewing area is almost impossible to look into. I only saw the male as the female was in the tunnel connecting the indoors to the outside enclosure. The orangutans were fine, Batu was in the back while Maliku and Basuki were clinging to the ceiling grabbing food from the keepers.

I went round to see Lope. He is now inside quarantining before his move to France (confirmed by keepers) he has no longer got access to outside and spends most of his time inside the dens. When he came out he grabbed some food and ate it at the top of his enclosure. Afterwards he came down to stare at the tortoises. The keeper I spoke to said “the whole team will miss Lope, some of us have been working with him since he was born and some have only just started. But he will always be remembered in the Ape team and has made an impact on everyone’s lives” I will miss Lope but I hope he has a good life in France.

I went to the see the Bonobos, Keke, Chela and Upendi’s troop was on the right and the troop with Lena and her children was on the enclosure on the left. They were all pretty tired. I’m still learning the bonobos names and how to tell them apart. I believe it was Lola who grabbed Upendi and started to carry him around in her chest.

The main family of gorillas were eating before they started messing about. Shufai threw a stick at Ozala and got chased around by his mom. Oumbie came out and stopped it all and went back in to carry on eating. Asante was messing with a dead pigeon in the enclosure with a child saying “the monkey is eating the bird!” I then walked away and got some photos of Biddy who was just lying down watching the world go by.

I went back to the chimpanzees where they were being fed inside. Victoria started hooting which made Kibali upset and he started banging the glass and doors. Jambo was being groomed by Tuli after lunch. Coco and Holly were sharing food. Coco is looking better after having her medicine to help her with her Arthritis. Jomar didn’t care for the food and went outside where he found some leftovers from breakfast. He went straight to the top of the climbing structure. While inside Kibali was causing more trouble, Flynn went to calm him down and they started grooming each over. On my visits over the last couple of months I’ve noticed Kibali becoming more dominant over Jambo. The keeper said they believe Kibali will soon take over Jambo but they hope it won’t be for a couple of years to come as Kibali still has some learning to do.

After the chimps I headed to the Red Ruffed Lemurs and the Tufted Deer. Unfortunately the deer have now been blocked off. I believe they are getting ready to be moved to a new zoo. Hopefully they will stay in the UK. The Lemurs were sleeping like usual.

The tigers weren’t Inside the onshow enclosure or outside. A lady shouted “the zoo says they have tigers but they don’t! It’s just a hoax to get you here.” I’ve also seen multiple people on Facebook and Instagram saying the same thing. I did reinsure the lady that the tigers do have access go off show dens if they don’t want to be seen by the public. She then grabbed her child’s hand and walked off. At the end of my visit I saw her shouting in guest services. I wish the zoo would get signage about the tigers and saying that they do have them they just don’t want to be onshow right now. Same with Jambo and explaining why he is “naked”. It’s not because of bad care as many think, it’s because he has alopecia.

The old Lemur Walkthrough is now 100% blocked off. You can no longer see it unless you stand on the chimpanzee viewing deck. The zoo has published “screening opinion” on the planning persimmon for the zoo. I think the new Orangutan enclosure may be coming sooner than we thought.
Some people are stupid the amount of times I’ve told people that the animals are there I think some visitors expect them to sit there on show ! Also think the information about jambo etc would be good,, thankyou for such a lovely report x
 
I went for a visit today. As usual I started at the chimpanzees where Jambos troop was outside foraging for food. Whenever Kibali came over to Jambo he would leave and go over to Josie or Flynn. Kibali then came over to follow Josie around the enclosure. I got some good videos of the chimpanzees using the enrichment that was put out for them. It took holly a long time to figure it out and that she had to stand up to use it, she then left and Jomar came over and showed her how’s it done. The chimpanzees are my favourite part of my Twycross visits.

After that I went to the Gorillas, they were inside at the back eating so I decided to come back later at lunch time. I skipped the bonobos to go to Gibbon Forest. Valentina (Pileated Gibbons) baby is looking in great condition and it slowly starting. To get a bit of colour on its head. If you’ve visited Twycross you would have noticed the fence which stoped you from going outside to see the Pileated gibbon island and to get close to the viewing windows. It’s now been pushed back to only the window which hasn’t got leaves on it. The zoo hasn’t announced it yet but I’m assuming they will leave it for a weeks/ months as it’s still early days.

I walked around to see the Orangutans and Dusky Langurs, the langurs were inside but the indoor viewing area is almost impossible to look into. I only saw the male as the female was in the tunnel connecting the indoors to the outside enclosure. The orangutans were fine, Batu was in the back while Maliku and Basuki were clinging to the ceiling grabbing food from the keepers.

I went round to see Lope. He is now inside quarantining before his move to France (confirmed by keepers) he has no longer got access to outside and spends most of his time inside the dens. When he came out he grabbed some food and ate it at the top of his enclosure. Afterwards he came down to stare at the tortoises. The keeper I spoke to said “the whole team will miss Lope, some of us have been working with him since he was born and some have only just started. But he will always be remembered in the Ape team and has made an impact on everyone’s lives” I will miss Lope but I hope he has a good life in France.

I went to the see the Bonobos, Keke, Chela and Upendi’s troop was on the right and the troop with Lena and her children was on the enclosure on the left. They were all pretty tired. I’m still learning the bonobos names and how to tell them apart. I believe it was Lola who grabbed Upendi and started to carry him around in her chest.

The main family of gorillas were eating before they started messing about. Shufai threw a stick at Ozala and got chased around by his mom. Oumbie came out and stopped it all and went back in to carry on eating. Asante was messing with a dead pigeon in the enclosure with a child saying “the monkey is eating the bird!” I then walked away and got some photos of Biddy who was just lying down watching the world go by.

I went back to the chimpanzees where they were being fed inside. Victoria started hooting which made Kibali upset and he started banging the glass and doors. Jambo was being groomed by Tuli after lunch. Coco and Holly were sharing food. Coco is looking better after having her medicine to help her with her Arthritis. Jomar didn’t care for the food and went outside where he found some leftovers from breakfast. He went straight to the top of the climbing structure. While inside Kibali was causing more trouble, Flynn went to calm him down and they started grooming each over. On my visits over the last couple of months I’ve noticed Kibali becoming more dominant over Jambo. The keeper said they believe Kibali will soon take over Jambo but they hope it won’t be for a couple of years to come as Kibali still has some learning to do.

After the chimps I headed to the Red Ruffed Lemurs and the Tufted Deer. Unfortunately the deer have now been blocked off. I believe they are getting ready to be moved to a new zoo. Hopefully they will stay in the UK. The Lemurs were sleeping like usual.

The tigers weren’t Inside the onshow enclosure or outside. A lady shouted “the zoo says they have tigers but they don’t! It’s just a hoax to get you here.” I’ve also seen multiple people on Facebook and Instagram saying the same thing. I did reinsure the lady that the tigers do have access go off show dens if they don’t want to be seen by the public. She then grabbed her child’s hand and walked off. At the end of my visit I saw her shouting in guest services. I wish the zoo would get signage about the tigers and saying that they do have them they just don’t want to be onshow right now. Same with Jambo and explaining why he is “naked”. It’s not because of bad care as many think, it’s because he has alopecia.

The old Lemur Walkthrough is now 100% blocked off. You can no longer see it unless you stand on the chimpanzee viewing deck. The zoo has published “screening opinion” on the planning persimmon for the zoo. I think the new Orangutan enclosure may be coming sooner than we thought.

Interesting visit report thanks! I wonder where the tufted deer are off to, they are so lovely and a highlight there - hope to see them again somewhere.
 
Twycross is very close to my heart, I’m excited for the future. It’s a shame that the tufted deer are leaving. I hoped they would have kept them and put them in the old crane enclosure near the tapirs and flamingos but unfortunately not.
 
Twycross is very close to my heart, I’m excited for the future. It’s a shame that the tufted deer are leaving. I hoped they would have kept them and put them in the old crane enclosure near the tapirs and flamingos but unfortunately not.
Maybe you can find out where they are going to on a future visit? The tufted deer are unusual but don't make a very good exhibit there, often being secretive and unseen, people don't like that sort of exhibit...
 
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