Manor House Wildlife Park Wild Welsh zoo

There are 3 islands in total , the third does not have housing yet . The first has a pair of B & W Ruffed Lemurs , the second is for the Siamang ( a female is due to arrive from Ireland ) .

I think it will be a real shame if the Bison depart , they are very impressive . I do not see them being in a position to receive the Rhinos for some time yet .
 
Bele said:
There are 3 islands in total , the third does not have housing yet . The first has a pair of B & W Ruffed Lemurs , the second is for the Siamang ( a female is due to arrive from Ireland ) .

I think it will be a real shame if the Bison depart , they are very impressive . I do not see them being in a position to receive the Rhinos for some time yet .
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Waching the third episode the islands didn't look that big? Are they a decent size?

I concur on the bison, the opening sences is impressive with the herd. Shame these could not be placed in the llama enclosure and get rid of them instead.
 
taun said:
Waching the third episode the islands didn't look that big? Are they a decent size?

I concur on the bison, the opening sences is impressive with the herd. Shame these could not be placed in the llama enclosure and get rid of them instead.
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i got the impression they were getting rid of the llamas too.
 
Yeah I agree Re: the bison! they are an impressive species. That poor lemur! they were determined to amputate some part of his anatomy! the islands don't look very big and I think the trees on shore and on the island are a bit too close together. an agile leap from a gibbon would clear the moat!

Dont mean to sound so negative, this seems to be a nice little zoo that is def working in the rght direction. I look forward to seeing how it develops over the next few years!

BTW are there any cats in this zoo?
 
Over here in Australia we got a show called 'HJelp, I just bought a zoo' about the same zoo and how it was opening in less then one month and all the things they needed to do to get it ready. It was pretty interesting but I only saw one episode and it was never advertised again.
 
The only carnivores are meercats . I cannot remember , over the years , ever seeing any cat species there .
 
Bele said:
I think it will be a real shame if the Bison depart , they are very impressive .
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I agree. Both species are not commonly seen in the UK anymore- the American bison is not only impressive but a species with a very interesting history and a good 'conservation' message too. It seems very shortsighted-why could they not maintain both Rhino and Bison?
 
Pertinax said:
I agree. Both species are not commonly seen in the UK anymore- the American bison is not only impressive but a species with a very interesting history and a good 'conservation' message too. It seems very shortsighted-why could they not maintain both Rhino and Bison?
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One of the biggest reasons was cost, so swapping them with two rhinos want make a massive dent in their outgoings.
 
Where will the Bison go? I cant imagine every zoo being willing to take on a herd of bison!
 
The bison paddock is 10 acres surely they could make the paddock in to two seperate ones or place the bison in another paddock or even mix them, wonder if they will mix the rhino with antelope or any other species.
 
camel leopard said:
The bison paddock is 10 acres surely they could make the paddock in to two seperate ones or place the bison in another paddock or even mix them, wonder if they will mix the rhino with antelope or any other species.
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I still think its short sighted to get rid of them. The larger a collection is, the more chance it has of drawing in visitors and of them returning, even if they don't conciously come back to see Bison or any other one animal species specifically.

Maybe I should start a herd....:cool:
 
I don't think the owners get excited about the same kinds of animals that zoo enthusiasts do. In a way its refreshing.........I think owners with previous zoo experience may not spend as lavishly ensuring their slightly anthropomorphic tendencies are seen to. What you have is fairly expensive exhibits and inveitably some slightly misguided attitudes to conservation AKA buying white rhino in from South Africa. They may also be aware of Bison farming in North Wales and not consider a farmed species something they want to use valuable paddock space to exhibit. Personally I think they are suited to conservation-based teaching but I can see an African Savannah enclosure springing up in their place. I do think they must be having some difficulty placing them as I'm sure they'd not want them to go to a farm.
 
They do give valuable paddock space to Llamas - there are groups in two of the largest paddocks , others house domestic Bactrian camel and Reindeer , admittedly all species they inherited . Since the arrival of the new owners the long-established small herd of Scimitar-horned oryx have gone ( ? died out) and a couple of Przewalski stallions have arrived .

It was stated on the last programme that many of the Bison herd are male , there are two big bulls and I assume most of those born are bulls . The group could be reduced to one breeding bull and the cows .

The house in the Bison Paddock is a large , tall , basic agricultural barn with no pens or any outside yards , which I believe would be necessary to manage Rhino properly . It would also need some form of heating and probably insulation . When this big area was first opened the Bison , Zebra , Ostrich , Oryx and I think Sitatunga were all thrown in together with no management of the animals possible . On my next visit the Oryx and Ostrich had moved out , Sitatunga probably died , and Emu had been introduced - the Bison , Zebra and Emu then shared the area long-term . In the last couple of years the Zebra were given a separate paddock , this still only has open shelters and no yard .

Does any collection - it would probably be a Safari Park - mix White rhino with Bison in a large paddock ?
 
Bele said:
Does any collection - it would probably be a Safari Park - mix White rhino with Bison in a large paddock ?
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Knowsley used to not sure if they still do,they used to have the odd problem between the respective Bulls but apart from the odd stand off between them they got on fine.
 
johnstoni said:
I don't think the owners get excited about the same kinds of animals that zoo enthusiasts do. In a way its refreshing........
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I know what you are saying. To them Bison represent an old style 'boring' species they have inherited. Its not dissimilar to Cricket St Thomas who had Bison in the paddock neat the carpark and replaced them with some Prezwalski's-yet (to me at least) the Bison were definately the more impressive spectacle of the two.

I agree that bringing in White Rhino(or other 'big' species) seems almost obligatory nowadays for any developing Zoo with big aspirations, if they have the funds to do it. But as Bele suggested, proper indoor housing and yards for Rhinos will cost them a lot of money but there we are. I can follow their thinking/logic over this but I don't necessarily agree with it.
 
Bele said:
They do give valuable paddock space to Llamas - there are groups in two of the largest paddocks , others house domestic Bactrian camel and Reindeer , admittedly all species they inherited .
I think Llamas are regarded as 'visitor friendly' Camels are 'big' and odd looking and increasingly Reindeer are being kept by Zoos who capitalise on the Christmas 'market' with them. Bison don't fit so well into these categories(although they duplicate 'big' and 'humped' with camels) so maybe that's why they opted to move them. I don't much like the idea of Rhinos/Bison mixed but its a better one than having them go altogether.(I agree they could definately weed out the extra males to give a better ratio in the group though.)
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In the great scheme of things I dont think Rhino are as big of a crowd puller as some of the other animals they could have considered...... think Big cats, Apes etc. I understand that a zoo has to run as a business so they are bringing in the Rhino to bring in the visitors. They are spending an awful lot of money on just one exhibit. If I where in their position with that kind of money I would consider forgetting the rhino in the short time and look at lions, or tigers! They would be a lot less expensive to look after and they could be sourced in the UK so no import fees. Giraffe would be my next acquisition and then maybe bears?
 
They are doing the right thing and bringing their accommodation for their current apes and monkeys, lemurs etc up to scratch. I doubt any EEP coordinator would touch them if they applied to keep great apes while they were holding a Siamang gibbon in a concrete-lined cage. It's early days!

Likewise, I'd rather they waited and grew a reputation before getting large carnivores. Otherwise they'd be likely to go the way of other nascent collections and before you know it there will be Bengal tigers coming to Wales......

I wouldn't be suprised if they acquire cheetahs in the future though, or possibly African Wild dogs.
 
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