Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter pendraig_milnerae
- Start date
Given originally they where to do the orangutan/ study area of there own back / investments with out the grant I would say they should have the money plus extra saved by the grant, of course of set by the pandemic and its costs
AnOddGuy
Member
Hi. I'm new to zoochat but have been a frequent onlooker for sometime. I am due to visit Twycross tomorrow as it is my local zoo and its been some time since I've visited. I was really looking forward to it as when I went around October 2022, some things had gone or were unopened. The Martins had left, pets@twycross was replaced by the gruffalo land and the borneo longhouse remained unopened due to the avian flu risk and I was especially looking forward to giving that a visit tomorrow but as it seems, the zoo has become rather lackluster as of late with no lemurs, bushdogs or still the borneo longhouse. Twycross seems to have a trend of quietly getting rid of certain animals such as the red crowned cranes and grey kangaroos in the past. I will be taking my camera tomorrow and am more than happy to take pictures of certain enclosures that are out of use for updative purposes.
Manatee_Sloth
Member
I’ve been going to Twycross for 10 years, and it has been sad to see the recent closures of many exhibits. My feeling is that the more difficult areas of the zoo (a lot of the area around the Borneo longhouse seem quite susceptible to flooding) were left during Covid, and the zoo currently lacks the money needed to deal with them. But I think this is very much reflected in their current price - the pay for a day, visit for a year scheme is very good value, and it’s worth not forgetting all the things Twycross does have going for it - Gibbon Forest, the tigers, Chimpanzee Eden. Hopefully when the new development is done it will bring in some much needed money and at that point Twycross can focus on renovating existing areas.
Would like to see current state of whole length of the old Owl aviaries and adjacent areas if you can manage any of that..
Been a member for several yrs now and it’s so disappointing with all the animals gone I know theyre planning the big orangutan education building and hopefully in it several smaller enclosures so they can bring back some animals but this is yrs away in the mean time its not a good place to go unfortunately, we tend to go for about and hr or so if we want to get out as it’s not far from us but we purposely use the membership to go to other zoos.
AnOddGuy
Member
After going, this is what I have found out:
- After some time, the small monkey house has finally reopened with a new lick of paint and much better indoor enclosures. I also believe that the monkey house near the entrance is also receiving an upgrade as a sign on the door warned visitors of "wet paint" while remaining closed which I'm glad to see.
- The lemur exhibit is closed to the public with advertisements of the new centre on the walls.
- The path going from the rhinos to the old stork/monkey/martin area has now been locked meaning a backtrack back to the beginning of the trail (and a battle with several pushchairs!)
- Going from the L'Hoest's to the flamingos, the path is shut due to "waterlogged grass" which prohibits any access to the dik-diks, the old owl aviaries, the longhouse (which remains locked on the flamingo side) and the old bush dog enclosure meaning I couldn't get a good look at them unfortunately.
- And finally, the wet & wild area remains deserted with only tapirs, penguins and Diana monkeys. The prairie dog and crane exhibit (which I found nothing but a goalpost in) remain unused and deserted.
I have a few phone shots from my visit - just popped a few into the gallery to give a feel.
AnOddGuy
Member
Yeah, so has the lemurs as well as the tufted deer's which are still on their website but I believe are inaccessible. Other old enclosures are just shown as budlings or not shown at all (with the exception of the dik-dik which has a paw print). The new trend seems to be boarding off places they don't want people going into or looking into with log barriers.
Pandaboi
Well-Known Member
A couple of things to mention.
The family of siamangs which live at the start of the zoo near the meerkats are leaving for France, currently they reside in the old bonobo house.
Darwin and Tango the siamangs in gibbon forest are currently in the enclosure near the meerkats as their enclosure in gibbon forest is having some work done to it.
There is a new baby Black-Headed Spider Monkey in with the main group near the Vicunas and Orangs.
Valentina baby (Pileated Gibbon) is starting to climb around in the onshow indoor exhibit with mom’s supervision.
No work yet on the NSCC, hopefully work will start soon as building permission has been approved.
Next to the Sulcata tortoise is a new exhibit for pancake tortoise and spiny-tailed lizard. I believe they have lived BTS for a bit now and are now being put on show. The zoo has new signage for a lot of the species.
Diatous troop of bonobos were outside today enjoying the sun which was nice for photographs on my break. The bonobo troops get mixed around weekly, this week in Diatous troop it was Diatou, Keke, Batia, Lola, Likemba and Maringa. Batia loves playing with little Lola and they seem to enjoy each others presence. In the other troop consisting of Lena, Rubani, Lucuma, Louisoko, Cheka, Ndeko, Upendi and Yuli. Lena and Cheka spent a while grooming each other while Rubani and Yuli were together the whole time grooming and having sex. I wouldn’t be surprised if Yuli becomes pregnant soon. I believe she has a breeding recommendation.
The chimpanzees were quiet like usual, the troop is getting older and less active. Hopefully the zoo can bring in younger west African chimpanzees soon to breed with Kibali.
The family of siamangs which live at the start of the zoo near the meerkats are leaving for France, currently they reside in the old bonobo house.
Darwin and Tango the siamangs in gibbon forest are currently in the enclosure near the meerkats as their enclosure in gibbon forest is having some work done to it.
There is a new baby Black-Headed Spider Monkey in with the main group near the Vicunas and Orangs.
Valentina baby (Pileated Gibbon) is starting to climb around in the onshow indoor exhibit with mom’s supervision.
No work yet on the NSCC, hopefully work will start soon as building permission has been approved.
Next to the Sulcata tortoise is a new exhibit for pancake tortoise and spiny-tailed lizard. I believe they have lived BTS for a bit now and are now being put on show. The zoo has new signage for a lot of the species.
Diatous troop of bonobos were outside today enjoying the sun which was nice for photographs on my break. The bonobo troops get mixed around weekly, this week in Diatous troop it was Diatou, Keke, Batia, Lola, Likemba and Maringa. Batia loves playing with little Lola and they seem to enjoy each others presence. In the other troop consisting of Lena, Rubani, Lucuma, Louisoko, Cheka, Ndeko, Upendi and Yuli. Lena and Cheka spent a while grooming each other while Rubani and Yuli were together the whole time grooming and having sex. I wouldn’t be surprised if Yuli becomes pregnant soon. I believe she has a breeding recommendation.
The chimpanzees were quiet like usual, the troop is getting older and less active. Hopefully the zoo can bring in younger west African chimpanzees soon to breed with Kibali.
Nice to read some updates… Especially a baby spider monkey!
May I ask, where do you get your information? Such as who has a breeding recommendation and all of the bonobo names? Impressive!
I wonder what will go in the old siamang building when the remaining ones go back over to gibbon forest after the work is complete?
Pandaboi
Well-Known Member
I’m over the moon to have a baby spider monkey in the troop. You can find a lot of information here on zoochat likes names etc. For other info like who has a breeding recommendation you have to ask the keepers who work with them and friends for. I have a home made studbook for most of the animals at Twycross, the apes and larger mammals all have a more in depth one including the past and deceased individuals. For others like the Vicuña and Tapir I only keep records of the living ones at Twycross and a few of the old ones born in the last few years.
I can also get info from old studbooks, for example, the Pileated gibbons have a studbook from 2009? I believe so it lists the old and the current present individuals at the zoo.
I’m hoping the old siamang enclosure gets demolished but for now nobody knows
Weren’t there a couple of lemurs or howler monkeys left in the old lemurs enclosure I could see them going in the old siamang enclosure before a new lemur enclosure is builtI’m over the moon to have a baby spider monkey in the troop. You can find a lot of information here on zoochat likes names etc. For other info like who has a breeding recommendation you have to ask the keepers who work with them and friends for. I have a home made studbook for most of the animals at Twycross, the apes and larger mammals all have a more in depth one including the past and deceased individuals. For others like the Vicuña and Tapir I only keep records of the living ones at Twycross and a few of the old ones born in the last few years.
I can also get info from old studbooks, for example, the Pileated gibbons have a studbook from 2009? I believe so it lists the old and the current present individuals at the zoo.
I’m hoping the old siamang enclosure gets demolished but for now nobody knows
Weren’t there a couple of red lemurs still left there in the back enclosure
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
Twycross has announced that 32 year old Peter the Chimp is being relocated today to ,Blair Drummond Safari Park they hope that this will then allow Tommy the chimp to integrate into the chimp group