Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2011 #1

chizlit said:
Why on earth would they want to add to the misery of this yard?
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I'd be the first to say it's not great, but "misery" seems a bit strong. It's not really any worse than London, Dudley, Noah's Ark or (possibly) Whipsnade's in terms of size (though I admit the others, with the probable exception, of Noah's look better).

The Sea Lion Pool though? That's another matter.......
 
Shorts said:
I'd be the first to say it's not great, but "misery" seems a bit strong. It's not really any worse than London, Dudley, Noah's Ark or (possibly) Whipsnade's in terms of size (though I admit the others, with the probable exception, of Noah's look better).

The Sea Lion Pool though? That's another matter.......
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Shorts lol! Can we agree on a word to describe it then?! I'll start with bare and horrible.
 
chizlit said:
Shorts lol! Can we agree on a word to describe it then?! I'll start with bare and horrible.
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But (I'm defending Twycross here!) by definition all Giraffe paddocks are bare and horrible because Giraffe will eat/destroy anything planted in them. When Twycross was first laid out this was a typical 'cindered' giraffe paddock(necessary to keep their hooves trimmed) and the size was relative to the(then) area of the early zoo.

I still think this enclosure is adequate- if dull- but the only real improvement would be relocating them into a 'greener' area of the zoo
with a much larger paddock to access. But it would still be flat and boring!
 
Pertinax said:
But (I'm defending Twycross here!) by definition all Giraffe paddocks are bare and horrible because Giraffe will eat/destroy anything planted in them. When Twycross was first laid out this was a typical 'cindered' giraffe paddock(necessary to keep their hooves trimmed) and the size was relative to the(then) area of the early zoo.

I still think this enclosure is adequate- if dull- but the only real improvement would be relocating them into a 'greener' area of the zoo
with a much larger paddock to access. But it would still be flat and boring!
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I tend to agree - it's no more bare than most giraffe exhibits just the all-round viewing and the hangover-of-the-old-ways substrate emphasise it.
 
A new female giraffe named Harriet has now arrived from Africa Alive. There are some pictures of her on the zoos twitter and facebook.
 
Pertinax said:
But (I'm defending Twycross here!) by definition all Giraffe paddocks are bare and horrible because Giraffe will eat/destroy anything planted in them. When Twycross was first laid out this was a typical 'cindered' giraffe paddock(necessary to keep their hooves trimmed) and the size was relative to the(then) area of the early zoo.

I still think this enclosure is adequate- if dull- but the only real improvement would be relocating them into a 'greener' area of the zoo
with a much larger paddock to access. But it would still be flat and boring!
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Pertinax, I'm sure you've seen Prague Zoo. Twycross's giraffes show some signs of madness (dont know if that is the best way to describe it, but I hope you know what I'm trying to say). Dudley has a similar size enclosure (but greener and has at least some shade from a tree), but I dont see their giraffes ever displaying constant rubbing and licking of bars.
 
At Dudley, London, etc, the giraffes can at least focus on trying to reach browse around the enclosure. They are designed to browse from trees, so to be housed in an enclosure with no surrounding foliage whatsoever would, unsurprisingly, result in more noticeable stereotyped behaviour.

I'm not sure if the very large, albeit equally treeless, giraffe exhibits I know of produce the same issues, but IMO Twycross has the worst public exhibit in the UK for this species.
 
johnstoni said:
At Dudley, London, etc, the giraffes can at least focus on trying to reach browse around the enclosure. They are designed to browse from trees, so to be housed in an enclosure with no surrounding foliage whatsoever would, unsurprisingly, result in more noticeable stereotyped behaviour.

I'm not sure if the very large, albeit equally treeless, giraffe exhibits I know of produce the same issues, but IMO Twycross has the worst public exhibit in the UK for this species.
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So we have discussed the giraffe house at Twycross and the general consensus seams to be it is not ideal however not much worse or not quite as good(which ever way you look at it) as other giraffe houses in the U.K. Well how could it be improved to bring it up to standard?, In my opinion the house itself could do with some internal refurbishment although this is not the main priority as it is still a functional building. The outside flooring of the outside paddock, if it has to be composed of gravel for the giraffe's feet why not sandy brown gravel instead of that depressing looking grey? As for the actual welfare of the animals themselves, more posts erected to enable more browsing and a shaded area for the animals to stand under,For the visitor experience an elevated viewing area similar to Blackpool and London, all of these improvements would in my opinion enhance the giraffe enclosure without costing mega bucks.
 
johnstoni said:
I'd actually like them to stop keeping giraffes altogether.
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Although I defended Twycross' giraffe enclosure above, I've often thought this is a species really far more suitable to the open spaces of Safari Parks and 'big' wildlife parks(e.g. Marwell). Although Twycross is right out in the country it is in many respects far more like an urban zoo!

I think all Giraffes in urban zoo surroundings suffer to a greater or lesser degree from the problems of inadequate opportunity to browse, which leads to the bar-sucking type sterotyped behaviours. Same for Okapi too.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Eventually opening up space for pure-bred giraffe at other zoos.
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Which is just why this move is being done,so that another collection can move out its hybrids and move into a pure herd of Reticulated Giraffe,in the UK.I think people should give Twycross a big pat on the back for this move,as they have done everything that the Studbook holder asked of them,unlike another collection in the Uk that recently went into a pure species of Giraffe!!!
 
Oh, god, thats even worse, this animal came from Africa Alive, to live out its days in that gravel pen...
Cooperation is important, but it is okay for zoological collections to have some agency over their own affairs, in the case of giraffe, maybe those 'A' list collections should take responsibility for all the hybrid giraffe they've produced over the years, rather than dump them elsewhere because a studbook coordinator has given them permission to hold pure-bred specimens....
 
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Why does the giraffe paddock at Twycross have to be gravel when the giraffe paddock at London is composed of sand?
 
TARZAN said:
Why does the giraffe paddock at Twycross have to be gravel when the giraffe paddock at London is composed of sand?
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It doesn't - they've just never made any attempt to change it!
 
zoogiraffe said:
Bloody awfull it may look to us,but its very good for the welfare of the animals hoofs!!
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But given that modern veterinary practice allows giraffes to be kept on softer substrate much of the time, would it not be preferable to convert (say) half the paddock to something softer to allow the giraffes the option?

(to be honest, with the amount of land they had, if money were less of a problem then a new house on one the fields at the rear with a purpose-built hardstand/grass paddock is the best option, but there's no way I could see it happening in the short/medium term)
 
A real issue of concern here is soft standing and hoof issues and arthritis and foot muscle inflammations. Hard standing is the preferred option.

And for once, it is great a zoo like Twycross opens up space for hybrids to be relieved off some zoos to go into pure-bred breeding groups.
 
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