Drayton Manor Theme Park Drayton Manor Review

M

Mike11

Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Having been on a Summer Camp in Cannock Chase i was very happy to spend a day in Drayton Manor but unlike my friends i spent most of my time in the Zoo!
It was a very wet day when i visited so quite alot of the animals where in during the morning and early afternoon.
The first thing you see as you come through the Zoo-Gates are 2 fairly-deceant sized and tall cages the first for a small group of about 7 Rhesus Macaques and next to them a small group of about 5 Pig-Tailed Macaques.The Cages have Fake Rock that slopes up towards the back of the enclosure with a cave or 2.There are a few platforms for the monkeys to climb on but they do look qiet barren but this was probs because of a very miserable day.The Monkeys definately made good use of the cage fencing many of them climbing up to the top and chasing each other round the cages - Great fun to watch.
The next thing you come to is a great Reptile House i am not normally drawn into Reptile Houses in Zoos but this one i thought was fantasic and must of housed about 30+ species including loads of Snakes,Lizards,Caimans,Dwarf Crocs and Tortoises/Turtles.All of the 'Viavariums' where glass fronted and where all quite spacious with plenty of rocks for the Reptiles to climb on and each of them had a pool.The Tortoises however had a small tiled enclosure which i thought was far too small and some grazing should be avaliable but that was the only major downside of the Reptile Collection,
Overall it was a great House - One of the best i have seen.
The Meerkat Enclosure has a large outdoor enclosure with plenty of bushes and mounds and it must be quite hard to spot them it has good glass viewing aswell.The Inside house is very warm and spacious with large sandstone mounds where you get a great view of them as you walk on a wooden walkway about 2 foot of the ground,However it was very barren and the Meerkats do not get much privacy at all.
I have to leave this for now but it will be continued very shortly
Hope its useful and theres alot more to come!

Regards
 
And now for Section 2,
You now get to the Sumatran Tiger Enclosure it is very long and thin and is in the Center of the main zoo.One Side next to the Reptile House has a few meters of Gardens so you cannot see the Tigers but as you go round to the other side you get a great view the barrier is about 6 foot but is sligtly closer than other zoos so you can get a tad closer.The Enclosure has a concrete pool and the far end with a few bushes next to it.The section in the middle has a small hill of fake rock which is overlooked by a glass viewing window.As you go down the enclosure you come to a very reasonable sized Compound which has 2 platforms and a hanging Rope toy.The Tiger House is of a very good size with a glass viewing area looking out to a large indoor area with a platform.The Tiger Dens are only viewable if you look through the Tiger Passage.The Enclosure was i thought very good and was great for 2 15 year old brothers Suma and Kali they had a deceant amount of space,Large Seperation facilities and a pool.
Next to the opposite side of the Tiger House is the Chimp Enclosure.For 1 Chimp it was of a very good size.It is a large semi circle with very tall glass viewing areas with concrete barriers between them.A moat surrounds the Semi Circle and above that is a strange Wooden area that surrounds the Moat on the Chimp Side.The Grassy area in the middle has tall climbing frames and groups of Rocks below them.Toto the elderly male chimp made great use of the climbing frame and when he was out would sat ontop of one looking accross the entire park.There is no indoor viewing for the Chimps.
The 'Monkey Complex' as i have called it is a series of tall cages all of a generous size but all rather thin.The first you come to is the Columbian Spider Monkey Enclosure which holds Bruce and his son Angel.It has several climbing frames but like most of the monkey enclosures it is abit barren.Right next to these is the Patas Monkey Enclosure the fence that sperates the two species has about 6/7 foot of fake rock rolling up it.They have a reasonable sized group of about 5/6 individuals and the enclosure has a wooden shelter and a floor of woodchip like most of the primate enclosures at the zoo.Next in a L shape enclosure is a pair of Lar Gibbons in this enclosure there are metal struts on the cieling of the Cage and it was great to see one of them swinging about through the enclosure whilst the other watched from a small cave on the Fake Rock barrier.Next up is a rather barren Ring Tailed Lemur enclosure which held the average group of about 7 including young ones.The House is of a generous size and most of the monkeys where spending the day warming up in their House.The only viewing clearly avaliable is for the Ring Tails.All of the species make great use of the Cage fencing to climb on.
The Penguin Enclosure behind the Monkey Complex at the top of the Zoo has a rather shallow pool with no underwater viewing but with a plentiful Rock Beach where most of them where sheltering.There is a Rock Fountain in the middle of the Pool.
The Siberian Lynx Enclosure features 2 Enclosures both with a tall fake rock wall with caves to hind on with loads of climbing frames and a rope bridge.Its of a very generous size and is covered with loads of vegitation.The two Lynx's came out at the end of the day and were pacing along the fence it looked like to me they were getting ready to being fed.There is no indoor vewing for any of the Cat Species except from the Tigers.
The Black Leopard Enclosure is tall with a glass viewing window in the middle the back wall is made up of fake rock with a rock platform for the leopards.It has loads of log platfroms and has loads of climbing oppurtunities for the Leopards.There is a large speration compound which has a platform but is rather barren with a muddy floor.The enclosure is full of vegitation and makes it hard to see the leopards when they do not come out into full view.The Zoo houses 2 leopards and elderly male leopard who they think was rescued from a circus called Ziggy and a young 6 year old Female (who i have forgotten the name of) who came from Spain i think.They are looking for a breeding partner for her and as Linton have a young male Black Leopard who is looking for a mate so perhaps there is a possibility of her going to Linton and Ziggy spending the rest of his days at Drayton Manor.Overall it was a very good enclosure.
Next up is probably the best enclosure at the park - The Fishing Cat Enclosure.It has a stream running through it with rocks surrounding it with many of Tropical plants aswell.Fake Rock as again used here as the back wall of the enclosure which disgises the Indoor House and has a cave which one Fishing Cat spent most day in keeping dry! I really did like this enclosure it gave the cats loads of privacy with the amount of vegitation there is in there.They have bred quite alot of fishing cats which is a very good thing within its self and they have been sent to other collections around the World.
The Next 'Complex' is a series of small cages rising up to a small central hill.This houses Scottish Wild Cats and Geoffreys Cats.The only indoor thing for these cats are small hutch type dens.The enclosures have plenty of climbing oppurtunities with loads of vegitation i did see the pair of the Geoffy's but not the Scottish Wild Cats.
Drayton Manor had a great Cat Collection most in very good enclosures and they are kept in good condititions.
The Small mammal Complex houses 2 species of Tamarin and 2 sepecies of Marmoset i cannot remember the species but i will add them soon.The outdoor enclosures where small but full of vegitation and climbing oppurtunities and the House is fairly basic with all on view to the public through Glass veiwing windows.With the amount of young in these enclosures they appear to have been rather succesful!
The Owl avairys are all rather average - Tall with a few perches and quite alot of vegitation Drayton Manors Owl Collection includes -Milky Eage Owl,Barn Owl,Spectacled Owl,Great Grey Owl and Snowy Owls.The zoo also houses several Eagle and Hawk Species but the enclosures seem to be very barren with no perches at all.
The Paddocks around the farm house Brazzilian Tapir,Fallow Deer,Reindeer,Ostrich,Emu,Rhea and Chilean Flamingo.These Paddocks are all very simple with lots of grazing space and the odd shelter.The Flamingo Enclosure has the Stream running through it and it holds a group of about 15+.
So Overall Drayton Manor is the Typical Theme Park Zoo,
Loads of Fake Rock is used but perhaps abit too much especially for the Monkey Species.And as you would expect Feeding times are very common for almost all of the species.I think i remember Gerald Durrell or John Aspinall probs both saying something along the lines of 'Tiger Feeding Daily at 4:30 is a bad sign for any zoo' - This im afraid is true for the case of Drayton Manor the Zoo is very public based.Its animals however looked in great condition and enjoying themselves.Education is a big part of the zoo and has a good Discovery Centre however it was closed the Day i visited for what looked like some sort of Childrens talk.
I did like the Zoo and it was suprisingly quiet for a Theme Park Zoo but as more people go to the Theme Park and not many to the Zoo and it generally being a miserable Zoo lead to this.
But it springs up a Question - 'Theme Park Zoos are they a good thing?'
Hope you have enjoyed my review!
Sorry if i have rambled on quite abit but Review-Writing isnt my strongest point.
Hope you have enjoyed it and i am looking forward to writing more about my Summer Visits.
Kind Regards
 
okay a few points: when I went to drayton Manor (we are talking around three ears ago mind you) I thought the lynx enclosure was rather smal, I dont know if this has been replaced (it was right by the leopards) and gave little privacy to a rather private cat. Secondly the small monkey house, when i went there was a little enclolsure tucked away to the side of the door with a sign saying it was being prepared for loris, did you notice this?

I agree with you on the reptile collection with many species (including snapping turtles when i went!) but I felt the penguin enclosure far too small. next to the penguins where two sea lions in seperate enclosures that were disgracefully small (smaller then my nan's fish pond) in a circular shape in which the sea lions (they were in two seperate but identical pools) would just swim around their circular island over and over again in the same way ever few minutes. :(

And finally, I thought the bird of prey areas were fantastic with a large ararya of species in really tall cages with natural trees (conifers) I dont know if this has changed but the were really good when i went.


ooh and around the farmyard bit was a red squirrel enclosure and a weird rodent bit with chinchillas and lots of rats/mice all in caged ontop of each other (along a wall)
 
The sealions have since moved elsewhere and the penguins are in there old pool.
 
I agree with you on the Lynx enclosure it was quite small but of a reasonable size and it could've done like most of the enclosures at Drayton Manor more privacy for the animal it keeps.
The Zoo is very 'Guest-Friendly' so even on a wet and miserable day i saw most of the animals and it was quite easy to.
I did see the small enclosure in the small mammal enclosure and no it was not used for Loris it was for a tamarin/marmoset species a group of about 5 with no outdoor enclosure however the other group of the same species did - I do not know whether they are rotated or not it wouldnt suprise meif they were.
The Old Sea-Lion pool is going to be refurbished for a new penguin pool but nothing has happened yet except from a bit of a cleanup.
The Bird Of Prey Aviarys were all rather good but perhaps abit barren for a few of them but good use was made for some of them with the coniffers inside them.I did not spend much time round the birds so i didnt comment that much about them.
Overall the zoo keeps the animals it can keep well but all the animals could of done with abit more privacy especially for the cat species which are generally rather private species.
The Red Squirell enclosure also had Golden Pheasants in it aswell but the Red Squirell's where great to watch,however i do not remember the other bit one other thing is a group of quite alot of Porcupines kept in the old pig-yards which in my opinion was not very suitable for them.
Hope this helps and hope you enjoyed reading the review i may of rambled on abit though!
 
Riziki said:
I agree with you on the Lynx enclosure it was quite small but of a reasonable size and it could've done like most of the enclosures at Drayton Manor more privacy for the animal it keeps.
The Zoo is very 'Guest-Friendly' so even on a wet and miserable day i saw most of the animals and it was quite easy to.
I did see the small enclosure in the small mammal enclosure and no it was not used for Loris it was for a tamarin/marmoset species a group of about 5 with no outdoor enclosure however the other group of the same species did - I do not know whether they are rotated or not it wouldnt suprise meif they were.
The Old Sea-Lion pool is going to be refurbished for a new penguin pool but nothing has happened yet except from a bit of a cleanup.
The Bird Of Prey Aviarys were all rather good but perhaps abit barren for a few of them but good use was made for some of them with the coniffers inside them.I did not spend much time round the birds so i didnt comment that much about them.
Overall the zoo keeps the animals it can keep well but all the animals could of done with abit more privacy especially for the cat species which are generally rather private species.
The Red Squirell enclosure also had Golden Pheasants in it aswell but the Red Squirell's where great to watch,however i do not remember the other bit one other thing is a group of quite alot of Porcupines kept in the old pig-yards which in my opinion was not very suitable for them.
Hope this helps and hope you enjoyed reading the review i may of rambled on abit though!
Click to expand...

I thought you said the lynx enclosure was "very generous" :p

Anyway, good news on the sea lion front and it is unfortunate to here there is no loris :( oh well.
 
It wthinking ba looking at pics it could've been alot better,
Shame about the Loris i agree the Small Mammal House has just turned into a Marmoset/Tamarin House do you think it is what they planned?
The two female Sea-Lions have been moved to other zoos to take place in the breeding programme it was said on a notice outside the old Sea Lion Enclosure so it is good news.
Hopefully the refurbishment will be quite soon as the penguins could do with it pretty quickly!
Regards
 
Hi there. We have been to Drayton Manor a few times and will be going again this year. We really love it. And my youngest loves the Thomasland.

<a href="http://love-baby.co.uk/">Draytom Manor</a>
 
I will be visiting shortly and will be putting a honest review on here or may start a new thread for updates 2012

Has anyone been lately if so what should I look out for.
 
Have to say the overall standard might not look up to some of the 'better' zoos in the UK, But the reason why I liked Drayton Manor was because it was still a proper little zoo, you walked in and you knew it was a zoo, however whenever I go to Chessington I never feel like that, always feel very distant, I have to say as much as I love having a zoo, I think the one at Chessington is loosing it a lot.
 
I must admit I would rather go to the smaller collections as they seem to have an atmosphere that the bigger (glory) zoos just can't match.
By glory I mean the zoos that are now getting to the stage where it's all about taking money, money, money
 
adrian1963 said:
I must admit I would rather go to the smaller collections as they seem to have an atmosphere that the bigger (glory) zoos just can't match.
By glory I mean the zoos that are now getting to the stage where it's all about taking money, money, money
Click to expand...

I think you're being a little simplistic there. The bigger zoos realise they need to be organised, and make money, for a number of reasons:

1. To maintain a higher standard of exhibits;
2. To build new exhibits;
3. To keep a large number of species (well);
4. To keep the species the public want to see (i.e. pinnipeds, great apes and Elephants are all very expensive to keep;
5. To get more visitors in and donate higher amounts to in situ projects.
6. To build up cash reserves to sustain the zoo and achieve all of the above during troubled times when visitor numbers drop (recession, foot & mouth).

It's very rarely bigger UK zoos are trying to make money for monies sake (profits).

Personally I enjoy good little zoos in different ways and sometimes for different reasons to the way I enjoy good large zoos. Though there are some less satisfying smaller zoos I think it's sometimes the "medium zoos" that tend to fail to work well -seemingly too large to be run efficiently (and not bringinging in enough funds to cover the extra "diseconomies of scale") and too small to easily maintain the zoo and fund new developments.

If you're wondering what I'd class as a medium zoos, think of those covering fairly large spaces but not holding pinnipeds, great apes and Elephants (at all or well). I can easily see the small and large zoos surviving and doing well in (say) 25 years time but it's harder to imagine how the medium zoos will develop.
 
Managers at the Zoo have made Jordan one of the two female West African dwarf Crocodiles an account on 'Plenty of Fish' a human dating site.:rolleyes:
 
Went today and had a very quick walk round the zoo, and I didnt even go round the whole zoo so I cant really add to much but saw a couple of things worth noting...

- One of the Tigers has died at 19 years old due to Kidney failure, and plans are afoot to find a "mate" for the remaining male. (possibly by the name Kali (going by memory)
- Signs up about the lone chimp highlighting why he is alone and that when he passes they will not be getting any more.
- There were only ducks in the old penguin pool (didnt see any penguins but could have missed them)
- There was a baby meerkat
- There was a tiny baby white lipped tamarin.
 
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