Folly Farm Notes on a Visit today
- Thread starter Bele
- Start date
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
Cusimanse and the Capybara have also bred.
I was going to say I didn't know they had Red River Hogs but I see they only got the pair last month from Woburn.
Didn't they tour with Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas?
Yes, the 1964 tour. Cusimanse later went solo and the Capybaras split up...
I visited last week and have posted a number of photos on the Gallery .
A number of developments since my last visit -
The hard-standing areas off the Giraffe House have been extended and a raised walk-way built into the new area , new stabling and hard-stand for a group of Nile lechwe also added . Mixed together now are 4 male giraffe ( the 5th is kept separate ) , 5 female Nile lechwe and 6 Chapman's zebra , including 2 recent foals .
New house and wooded ( very muddy ) paddock for red river hog at side of African paddock .
Now 2 meercat enclosures side-by-side , the black-tailed prairie marmot have gone , porcupines in original meercat enclosure .
New rather small aviary for white stork , black-crowned night heron , sacred ibis and white-cheeked touraco .
The indoor pet area is now the brightly decorated Folly Farm Interactive with representatives of inverts. , fish , reptiles and amphibia , birds ( 2 blue and gold macaw ) and mammals ( mixed exhibit of breeding group of common marmoset , grey-legged douroucouli and six-banded armadillo , the last 2 species not seen ) . Outside is a group of Swinhoe's striped squirrel - a lovely species .
A new , bigger , house has been attached to the cusimanse enclosure for the thriving , very lively group .
The S. American tapir now number 6 and some were swimming in the large lake ( moving considerable distances underwater before surfacing ) .
I assume the short-lived Virginian opossum are no more , their enclosure is empty . The enclosure that housed brown capuchin and six-banded armadillo was also empty .
No sign of proposed penguin pool .
A number of developments since my last visit -
The hard-standing areas off the Giraffe House have been extended and a raised walk-way built into the new area , new stabling and hard-stand for a group of Nile lechwe also added . Mixed together now are 4 male giraffe ( the 5th is kept separate ) , 5 female Nile lechwe and 6 Chapman's zebra , including 2 recent foals .
New house and wooded ( very muddy ) paddock for red river hog at side of African paddock .
Now 2 meercat enclosures side-by-side , the black-tailed prairie marmot have gone , porcupines in original meercat enclosure .
New rather small aviary for white stork , black-crowned night heron , sacred ibis and white-cheeked touraco .
The indoor pet area is now the brightly decorated Folly Farm Interactive with representatives of inverts. , fish , reptiles and amphibia , birds ( 2 blue and gold macaw ) and mammals ( mixed exhibit of breeding group of common marmoset , grey-legged douroucouli and six-banded armadillo , the last 2 species not seen ) . Outside is a group of Swinhoe's striped squirrel - a lovely species .
A new , bigger , house has been attached to the cusimanse enclosure for the thriving , very lively group .
The S. American tapir now number 6 and some were swimming in the large lake ( moving considerable distances underwater before surfacing ) .
I assume the short-lived Virginian opossum are no more , their enclosure is empty . The enclosure that housed brown capuchin and six-banded armadillo was also empty .
No sign of proposed penguin pool .
Its fairly unusual for Tapir to have access to more than just a conventional pool in zoos, but here's a chance to see them behaving semi-naturally, and exhibiting their aquatic nature.
I follow the development of these two 'rival' parks(Folly and Manor) on here with interest as I still wonder if this area can support two rather similar-sized animal parks longterm. I guess at present the main difference is the choice between the big 'signature' animals- Giraffes at Folly Farm or the new White Rhinos at Manor House.
I visited both collections on the same day last week and have posted some photos of developments at Manor House , including the rhinos .
There were a good number of visitors at Manor House and generally the place as if money has been spent generally tidying up . The map given to visitors indicates that something will be developed in the walled-gardens area , which used to house quite a few species .
This is great I live about forty minutes away from these places and I don't even recall hearing of Manor House, now I hear they've got Rhinos there.
I have been to Folly Farm, I went in 2007 to see the fosa, it was a wonderful experience the little thing seemed as interested in studying me as much as I Him(?). I assume that the fosa's not there anymore?
Delighted to learn about the opossums about five minutes ago, gutted to learn I'd already missed them about five and a half minutes ago.
I have been to Folly Farm, I went in 2007 to see the fosa, it was a wonderful experience the little thing seemed as interested in studying me as much as I Him(?). I assume that the fosa's not there anymore?
Delighted to learn about the opossums about five minutes ago, gutted to learn I'd already missed them about five and a half minutes ago.
just up from the giraffes, behind the penguins
A flock of Flamingos are now on show. Statement from Facebook:
You might do a double-take but your eyes are not deceiving you - the new family of flamingos at Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire are grey, not pink.
The new flamingo chicks, who only hatched last season, arrived at the Pembrokeshire Zoo grey and will remain that colour until their first moult.
Tim Morphew, Folly Farm’s zoo curator, said: “When flamingos are first hatched they do not possess their famous fuchsia feathers, they actually start their lives completely grey. Then after their first moult, and with the correct diet rich in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments, the pink feathers will appear.
“We are anticipating our flock growing their pink feathers after their first moult in September, but until then they will keep their fluffy grey appearance. We still think they are a beautiful addition to the family at Folly Farm and we will all enjoy watching in anticipation as their pink feathers start appearing later in the year.”
Flamingo Lagoon will initially be home to 10 Chilean flamingos as well as other waterfowl. They have been brought to the Pembrokeshire Zoo from a number of other zoos across the UK.
The aviary, which is situated next to the Folly Farm’s Penguin Coast attraction, has been specially designed to ensure that the beautiful birds can be fully flighted and have enough space to enjoy their time on Welsh soil. It is equipped with a heated house and two pools with different depths - one that is shallow for the birds to eat in and another which is deeper, recreating the species’ ideal mating conditions.
Due to their long thin legs and soft feet flamingos are delicate birds, so the pool has been filled with sand to give a nice soft finish underfoot. It has also been lined with a revolutionary new geo-synthetic membrane to give a natural look to the pool.
Tim added: “We’ve been looking forward to adding flamingos to our collection of birds for quite some time and we are excited to welcome them to Folly Farm.”
The aviary is particularly spacious as zoo keepers are hoping to expand the size of the flock in the future.
It is very difficult to determine the gender of flamingos while they are still juvenile but in order to ascertain how many females and males are living in the enclosure their feathers will be sent off for DNA analysis
You might do a double-take but your eyes are not deceiving you - the new family of flamingos at Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire are grey, not pink.
The new flamingo chicks, who only hatched last season, arrived at the Pembrokeshire Zoo grey and will remain that colour until their first moult.
Tim Morphew, Folly Farm’s zoo curator, said: “When flamingos are first hatched they do not possess their famous fuchsia feathers, they actually start their lives completely grey. Then after their first moult, and with the correct diet rich in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments, the pink feathers will appear.
“We are anticipating our flock growing their pink feathers after their first moult in September, but until then they will keep their fluffy grey appearance. We still think they are a beautiful addition to the family at Folly Farm and we will all enjoy watching in anticipation as their pink feathers start appearing later in the year.”
Flamingo Lagoon will initially be home to 10 Chilean flamingos as well as other waterfowl. They have been brought to the Pembrokeshire Zoo from a number of other zoos across the UK.
The aviary, which is situated next to the Folly Farm’s Penguin Coast attraction, has been specially designed to ensure that the beautiful birds can be fully flighted and have enough space to enjoy their time on Welsh soil. It is equipped with a heated house and two pools with different depths - one that is shallow for the birds to eat in and another which is deeper, recreating the species’ ideal mating conditions.
Due to their long thin legs and soft feet flamingos are delicate birds, so the pool has been filled with sand to give a nice soft finish underfoot. It has also been lined with a revolutionary new geo-synthetic membrane to give a natural look to the pool.
Tim added: “We’ve been looking forward to adding flamingos to our collection of birds for quite some time and we are excited to welcome them to Folly Farm.”
The aviary is particularly spacious as zoo keepers are hoping to expand the size of the flock in the future.
It is very difficult to determine the gender of flamingos while they are still juvenile but in order to ascertain how many females and males are living in the enclosure their feathers will be sent off for DNA analysis