You are correct, feeding was banned after Diksie fell in the moat, not after when Guy died,did Dicksie fall when attempting to take food from a visitor or was she pushed into the moat by Lakishmi, or perhaps a bit of both?, I realised my mistake yesterday, you have confirmed it!, I do think however I am correct in stating that Guy had tooth decay caused by visitors feeding him. Going off on a tangent now so back to South Lakes, it certainly has character, perhaps they have too many species crammed into the zoo at its size at present, perhaps if it is fortunate to expand this will remedy the situation as long as they don't just cram more animals in and make it more spacious and perhaps a better quality of animal housing. I certainly agree that everyone should visit themselves and draw there own conclusions from it, one thing I will always be grateful to South Lakes is realising what a fascinating animal the babirusa is, I hadn't really taken much notice of them before at other collections but I recall scratching one behind the ears just like a pet pig some years ago, a keener interest in this species resulted in this.
South Lakes Wild Animal Park A first time visit
- Thread starter LeeMac13
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You are correct, feeding was banned after Diksie fell in the moat, not after when Guy died,did Dicksie fall when attempting to take food from a visitor or was she pushed into the moat by Lakishmi, or perhaps a bit of both?, I realised my mistake yesterday, you have confirmed it!, I do think however I am correct in stating that Guy had tooth decay caused by visitors feeding him. Going off on a tangent now so back to South Lakes, it certainly has character, perhaps they have too many species crammed into the zoo at its size at present, perhaps if it is fortunate to expand this will remedy the situation as long as they don't just cram more animals in and make it more spacious and perhaps a better quality of animal housing. I certainly agree that everyone should visit themselves and draw there own conclusions from it, one thing I will always be grateful to South Lakes is realising what a fascinating animal the babirusa is, I hadn't really taken much notice of them before at other collections but I recall scratching one behind the ears just like a pet pig some years ago, a keener interest in this species resulted in this.
I think that “Diksie” leaned forward to take food from a visitor and, as she was balancing rather precariously on the edge of the moat, one of the other elephants (“Lakshmi” ?) pushed her - so it was a “bit of both”.
Indeed “Guy” did have tooth decay.
I agree with both these points; we’ve digressed enough from South Lakes.
I’ve never been there so it would be unfair for me to comment but, after reading so much on ZooChat, I’m keen to visit South Lakes to see for myself.
Mr T
Well-Known Member
lots of people are talking about the 'dangers' and 'accidents waiting to happen' in this establishment. As far as I am aware nobody has come away from the park with any serious injuries, although I may be wrong. I would assume that if there were any problems they would have been highlighted in the zoos inspection. Whenever problems have arisen from inspections the zoo seems to have solved them e.g. the hand washing facilities. Also if you have your own concerns about the park, have you been in touch with the park to clarify procedures or highlight you concerns? If you spot a problem regarding health and safety you have a public responsibility to investigate it and bring it to someone's attention.
I am not saying this establishment is perfect, it isn't, but you will struggle to find any zoo that couldn't be improved, but I do feel this zoo gets more bad press than it probably deserves (I am not Yorik in disguise I promise!).
I am not saying this establishment is perfect, it isn't, but you will struggle to find any zoo that couldn't be improved, but I do feel this zoo gets more bad press than it probably deserves (I am not Yorik in disguise I promise!).
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
I find myself for once agreeing with you,which I have to say is a strange feeling.While many of us think certain parts of the park are accidents,waiting to happen I'm glad they haven't but it can only be a matter of time.That said I wouldn't expect a zoo inspector to realise just how un-safe the railway,just like I wouldn't expect a Railway inspector to know that keeping Predator and Prey in the same exhibit is not a good idea.
Mr T
Well-Known Member
You obviously have a good knowledge of trains and the dangers they present, undoubtedly much more knowledge than a zoo inspector. Have you brought the issue to the attention of the park owner? If you feel there is a problem surely it would be a good idea to contact the park directly so that the problem could be resolved.
Free-flying (liberty) Macaws actually have a much more enriched and fuller life than those kept in aviaries as they are very powerful fliers and even aviaries don't really allow them full flight opportunities. Unfortunately far fewer places in UK keep them like this nowadays than previously, probably due to losses of these valuable birds. South Lakes is one of a few that do. I also noticed a photo of a very large and spacious flight aviary for them there, again this is the next best thing to free-flight. So perhaps Macaws are the high spot here.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Given the response I got when I pointed out that the Pygmy Hippo sign had a picture a Common Hippo on it,if I rasied my concerns about the railway I would full expect to get a pretty similar response or escorted off the site!
I agree that it is always worth visiting a place to judge for oneself. Personally I'm glad I left my visit until the winter when they were running a free entry promotion, as fiscally supporting the place would have sat ill with me
Mr T
Well-Known Member
You were correct to point out the hippo sign and if they don't want to act on it then that that is up to them, but remember that is not a health and safety issue. If you raise your concerns about the train and they fail to do anything and there is an accident, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Also if you feel there is a problem with it and someone got seriously injured without you bringing the problem to the attention of the owner, how would you feel then? I would suggest if you think there is a major issue you should write them a letter. A stern letter in response to your concern would surely be better than you not trying to do anything about it.
Waddi
Well-Known Member
I've learnt recently that all spider monkeys have access to the south American paddock, via aerial ropeways that connect the 2 enclosures.
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
The last time I visited (November last year) the two young females were still being introduced to the main group so they have obviously been successfully mixed now. I know the current group were mixed with the Bears/Tapirs/Capybaras etc previously.
To my regret I have only visited South Lakes once, a few years ago, but would like to return to see how things have changed. Several things stick in my mind about that visit.
1. The owner likes to experiment with mixed species exhibits, and not all of them are species that I would risk keeping together.
2. The lemur walk-through and the wallaby walk-through contained too many different species, in my view, with an obvious risk of closely related species hybridizing. The lemur walk-through, for example, contained no fewer than three taxa of ruffed lemur (Black & White, Ruffed, Belted) and we all know how easily ruffed lemurs hybridize. At a time when zoos are trying to phase out hybrid stock, I felt it was a bit irresponsible to keep the three kinds in the same enclosure (unless of course all the individuals were the same sex). The same applies to the wallaby species (though it was very nice to see wallabies other than just the all-too-ubiquitous Red-necked kind).
3. I was very (pleasantly) surprised to see Emus in a public walk-through, as I imagine Emus can be a bit tetchy at times (as I think some visitors have found). I'm not sure I would have attempted it, but it's good that some zoo owners are bold enough to try. After all, all the things we accept as the norm today came about because somebody once had the courage of their convictions to try something which had never been done before. Woburn Safari Park is not as brave, and in its wallaby walk-through it has the more docile Common Rheas to represent Emus, which I think is misleading as most visitors imagine what they are seeing ARE Emus, which is wrong because zoos must endeavour to be honest at all times.
4. There were loads of free-ranging Ring-tailed Lemurs at South Lakes. That's fine; I love to see free-ranging animals as much as anyone, and I was interested to see that as soon as the tigers were shut in for the night, the lemurs scurried over the fence into the tiger paddocks. They seemed to know when it was safe to do so. However, I did notice the Cheetahs feeding on something, and when I looked more closely I discovered it was a dead Ring-tailed Lemur, presumably a luckless individual that misjudged when it was safe to enter the Cheetahs' paddock.
1. The owner likes to experiment with mixed species exhibits, and not all of them are species that I would risk keeping together.
2. The lemur walk-through and the wallaby walk-through contained too many different species, in my view, with an obvious risk of closely related species hybridizing. The lemur walk-through, for example, contained no fewer than three taxa of ruffed lemur (Black & White, Ruffed, Belted) and we all know how easily ruffed lemurs hybridize. At a time when zoos are trying to phase out hybrid stock, I felt it was a bit irresponsible to keep the three kinds in the same enclosure (unless of course all the individuals were the same sex). The same applies to the wallaby species (though it was very nice to see wallabies other than just the all-too-ubiquitous Red-necked kind).
3. I was very (pleasantly) surprised to see Emus in a public walk-through, as I imagine Emus can be a bit tetchy at times (as I think some visitors have found). I'm not sure I would have attempted it, but it's good that some zoo owners are bold enough to try. After all, all the things we accept as the norm today came about because somebody once had the courage of their convictions to try something which had never been done before. Woburn Safari Park is not as brave, and in its wallaby walk-through it has the more docile Common Rheas to represent Emus, which I think is misleading as most visitors imagine what they are seeing ARE Emus, which is wrong because zoos must endeavour to be honest at all times.
4. There were loads of free-ranging Ring-tailed Lemurs at South Lakes. That's fine; I love to see free-ranging animals as much as anyone, and I was interested to see that as soon as the tigers were shut in for the night, the lemurs scurried over the fence into the tiger paddocks. They seemed to know when it was safe to do so. However, I did notice the Cheetahs feeding on something, and when I looked more closely I discovered it was a dead Ring-tailed Lemur, presumably a luckless individual that misjudged when it was safe to enter the Cheetahs' paddock.
interestingly enough, it is very common in Australia to have emus in walk-through enclosures (and also [usually female] red and grey kangaroos, which I gather is also unusual in walk-throughs elsewhere)zooman64 said: