I don't expect you to necessarily reveal which zoos, but were there any other UK zoos on 'the list'?
Flamingo Land Snippets from Flamingo Land
- Thread starter Parrotsandrew
- Start date
I was meant to say Rothschild's ... (it was damn late), so excuse me a slip of the mind pen.
The ISB Volume 11 - Publisher Zoologischer Garten Berlin (2009).
(it has been the compiler of the studbook for years, somewhat a tradition)
I believe there is even a further volume 12 from Berlin Zoo out there.
Incidentally, the Amersfoort calf is definitely a FEMALE.
So, do not believe everything posted on a FB page.
Odd, looking back through the news article, I can't see any reference to the Amersfoort animal being a calf, can you?
She was born 19/11/2011, hence only 1.6 months old.
johnstoni.
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't be surprised if Flamingoland go ahead and construct something on a par with or better than any other accommodation in the UK. It may be a working class area, but working class folk (who don't always have the luxury of affording a trip to a zoo separately from a theme park) deserve to see rare animals as much as wealthier families. Not saying anyone disputes this, just think it was time for that point to be made.
Edinburgh are using an adapted giraffe house which, while I haven't seen it in its current state, is apparently unsuitable for adult rhino and therefore any attempts to breed. ZSL were able to house their two breeding cows in a similar way as young animals on the Cotton Terraces in London (in what is now the okapi house) in the late 90s. As others have said, large projects may have been delayed at Edinburgh although I'm hopeful that the revenue from the pandas might alleviate this, and heartened that the area thought to be earmarked for Indian rhino is now listed as a 'development area'. It would be nice news if someone turns up a planning application on here soon.
Edinburgh are using an adapted giraffe house which, while I haven't seen it in its current state, is apparently unsuitable for adult rhino and therefore any attempts to breed. ZSL were able to house their two breeding cows in a similar way as young animals on the Cotton Terraces in London (in what is now the okapi house) in the late 90s. As others have said, large projects may have been delayed at Edinburgh although I'm hopeful that the revenue from the pandas might alleviate this, and heartened that the area thought to be earmarked for Indian rhino is now listed as a 'development area'. It would be nice news if someone turns up a planning application on here soon.
Sorry, can't buy into your argument at all! Surely it would be better if there was a top class zoo in the north eastern part of England charging probably £50-60 for a family of 4, so that those who dont want the theme park aren't forced to pay £120 to see the rare animals!? Theme park zoos/safari parks are a rip off for those more interested in the animals! How can those working class families afford 120 for a day(& that's just to get in!).
Can you name them(or some anyway)?
a.o. Fota Wildlife Park, Zoo Parc Overloon, Blackpool Zoo, Givskud Zoo. Edinburgh Zoo was discussed and discounted sadly (pandas over Indian rhino). Bristol's NWCP (but yet years down the line). Plus, plus.
Another non - hence unlikely - first contender as a new holder was surely Touroparc in France. They received the male Fanindra ex Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo.
That said: I do believe that Flamingoland will do well with the species.
I have good faith in how the dealt with giraffe husbandry and adhering to every requirement the EEP put for them. Much better response and handling than South Lakes.
It would be worthwhile seeing the building and siting plan for the Indian rhino house. Two major questions: 1) will they have soft substrates inside and outside? 2) will they provide for mud wallows and pools inside / outside. 3) individual sizing of the outside exhibits (I do expect both male and female to have separate areas)?
On another note: the location you were talking about vis a vis WAZA Studbook White Rhino is Disney AK in Florida.
Whatever happened to the white-lipped deer that were in the top paddock? Not there on my last visit earlier this month....
The theme park prices are a major quibble for many people who are interested in the zoo alone - I have lost count of the number of people who have told me they would love to visit the zoo and wish there was some kind of split entry. I paid £30 on 31st May purely because I was desperate to visit in May as it was 50 years since I had first been taken to the zoo (it was cheaper then!), that said I had a wonderful day. The winter zoo opening offers excellent value (£7.50 for adults in 2012/13), but of course there are more likely to be weather considerations. I am cursing myself for not buying a season ticket that covered the end of last season, winter and the 2013 season for a bargain £60 with a voucher from a Sunday newspaper.
Ah yes, the isb must have passed from Disney to Flamingo Land, was it at Berlin before Disney then?
I just feel sorry for people like you who want to visit their local zoo. Why cant they charge normal zoo prices, say £15 & 10 then another 10-15 for a wristband for the theme park?! To charge over 3s £ 30 is a joke, they probably cant go on most of the theme park anyway!
Berlin Zoo discontinued the white rhino ISB in 2010. Retained the ISB for black rhino only.
Believe me: tracking every move / transfer / birth / death in white rhinos is a giant task not to be taken lightly.
Believe me: tracking every move / transfer / birth / death in white rhinos is a giant task not to be taken lightly.
Seems quite impressive then for a smallish zoo like Flamingo Land to be doing the ISB for white rhinos. I was also told they do the stud books for hamerkop, warthogs and possibly flamingos?
I've always found the price quite reasonable myself as it is not just a zoo, there is more here than you can do in just one day. Although the time of year is not great, as ParrotsAndrew has said the zoo only ticket, from November to march, over the last few years has been very good value indeed. With regards to rides, I've taken family along with children under three and there is plenty to do. The price can't be that bad as on all their flyers they call themselves the UKs most visited zoo, could that be true?
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Well its true if you include all the people that never set foot in the zoo,but just visit for the rides!
If that's the case then I reckon Chessington and Drayton Manor could also be contenders but as mentioned by ZG, a lot of these visitors have no interest in the zoo. The only time they see animals is when they go on ride/zoo hybrid rides.
Thanks KB..
Fota I think would be a good location for them- I think they have the land there, and there are no G.I. Rhino yet in Ireland..
Blackpool- not sure they have any decent- sized area available for them.
I also reiterate- Port Lympne have a perfect area in the low-lying flat paddocks at the bottom of the Park where the water buffalo are- it almost has 'Indian Rhino' stamped on it.
Flamingo Park- I imagine that having been selected to have a pair, that they will do everything in their power to provide good accomodation with indoor bathing etc. I would hope so anyway. If you monitor the Flamingo Park gallery, I'm sure ParrotsAndrew(or others) will be recording the changes/development of the area being prepared for them.
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
Thanks KB..
Fota I think would be a good location for them- I think they have the land there, and there are no G.I. Rhino yet in Ireland..
Blackpool- not sure they have any decent- sized area available for them.
I also reiterate- Port Lympne have a perfect area in the low-lying flat paddocks at the bottom of the Park where the water buffalo are- it almost has 'Indian Rhino' stamped on it.
Flamingo Park- I imagine that having been selected to have a pair, that they will do everything in their power to provide good accomodation with indoor bathing etc. I would hope so anyway. If you monitor the Flamingo Park gallery, I'm sure ParrotsAndrew(or others) will be recording the changes/development of the area being prepared for them.
I should be visiting in September also. Blackpool could house G.I. Rhinos if they demolished a few enclosures, the Dinosaur safari would be one to go!
Firstly, I would not describe the location of Flamingo Land ,i.e. Malton/Pickering, as being in a working class area, but I would say that the majority of its visitors from the surrounding area that it serves are, i.e. Yorkshire, Teeside, Wearside, Tyneside etc.are from working class backgrounds. The entrance fee of thirty pounds may appear to be high to the pure zoo visitor and may deter them from visiting in the Summer season, myself included, but I know a lot of people who go there with their families and pay this admission, they appear to be quite satisfied with their day out, coach trips to this park have always been popular right back to the sixties, they are always well patronised and I cannot recall any coach operator having to cancel a Flamingo Park trip during school holidays due to lack of interest. Here in the North East, Flamingo Land is the only zoo less than a hundred miles away where you can see the big stuff, apart from this the area is a virtual zoological wilderness, there have been a few poky little places open during my life time, thankfully they have all closed, and looking back at them it's a pity that they ever opened in the first place. Lambton Lion Park opened by Jimmy Chipperfield only lasted seven years, it is stated in his biography. "My Wild Life" that when he was driving to Lambton to start negotiations with the Lambton estate he liked what he saw, plenty of houses in Teeside and Tyneside which would provide the park with its visitors, which it did initially, until the novelty wore off, it closed in 1980. I would think Flamingo Land has survived with its zoo because of the fair ground, it would have been nice for it to develop into a Chester or a Colchester, unfortunately, its visitors live in the working class areas of the North, not the affluent home counties or the leafy lanes of Cheshire, as Andrew once stated, if it wasn't for the zoo there would be no theme park, and if it wasn't for the theme park there wouldn't be a zoo, that I think sums the situation up very well.
If a 'Chester' had been deveoped in the NorthEast, I'm sure it would be well attended also, as long as it was situated within reach of large conurbations where most leisure places, be it zoo, funfair or combination of both, draw their visitors from. I imagine that many(the majority?) of Chester's visitors are drawn from the large conurbations of Liverpool, Manchester, the Potteries etc rather than just 'leafy' Chester & Cheshire.
I always think the core clientel of all these places are families with school-age and younger children. For a day out they will visit whatever is available to them within easy reach, be it zoo, or zoo/thempark combined, or a themepark with no animals. In the South, Marwell is a popular such family destination for people from the neighbouring cities(Southampton & Portsmouth mainly)- it is a 'pure' zoo but I feel would be equally well patronised if it was a zoo/funfair combination.
On the other hand....
perhaps you are right in saying Flamingo Park's draw and 'financial safety net' is the fact it is zoo and themepark combined. It would be interesting to know if a 'stand alone' zoo could survive in that area- if it was the only one of course. If Lambton Lion Park failed, maybe it would also.
I visited Chester on a bank holiday and it was like walking into an episode of Brookside, there must have been at least 3 coaches from Liverpool unloading at once!
