Rare Species Conservation Centre RSCC animal transfers and general news

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I also visited on the 5th and it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be.
It really did feel like visiting a private collection.

The keepers were very friendly and happy to answer questions and chat about the animals. In a way, I felt like I shouldn't be there, at least not unsupervised :)
It all felt like we were behind the scenes at a zoo rather than in the zoo itself.

They don't have the safety barriers at the Malayan tiger yet so instead they are giving guided tours round to that area, which was amazing.

I was told the price will be £15 when the work is finished, although I really hope they offer a season ticket or it'll cost me a fortune!
 
callum said:
Outside on your left is the fishing cat enclosure and next to it is a temporary home for the bush dog. Opposite these are a small Madagascan area which has bamboo lemur, red ruffed lemur and fossa. Next to the fossa is clouded leopard and golden cheeked gibbon. Right from this was a pair of rescued snow leopards in a temporary enclosure. Opposite these were sun bears and aardwolf. A walkway that goes between the bears and leopards allows you to get a glimpse of the tigers and see the other bearcat enclosure.
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At the risk of coming across like a real miserable sod:

1. Where were the Snow Leopards rescued from? I've never heard of rescued Snow Leopards before? Were they held by poachers, dodgy animal dealers or another zoo?

2. Apologies to RSCC but I'm starting to notice a lot of places, more "exotic pet shops" to be fair, seemingly using "temporary enclosure" for what turns into a long-term ducking of responsibilities. No conclusions here, but I'll be watching:).
 
spike241 said:
I was told the price will be £15 when the work is finished, although I really hope they offer a season ticket or it'll cost me a fortune!
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I really must have got out of the wrong side of bed this morning.:D

At that price I think the place will, very sadly, struggle on a long-term basis. I hope I'm wrong as it's really exciting with the new species they bring in but I fear Joe Public will prefer Wingham, not far down the road, which delivers far more in headline/ABC species. Additionally, being at the far end of Kent doesn't help.

That said, I really hope I'm wrong, and wish the place all the best for a long and fruitful existence.
 
There's not really much wrong with either temporary enclosure, size wise.
The bush dogs seemed happy and active and the snow leopards are both partially blind and not very active at all.

I know the flooding pushed back a lot of their plans and they did point out where the Bush dog enclosure will be and their plans for it so I'm prepared to wait and see what happens.

EDIT: I won't pretend to have a clue what their aim is but I don't think they're hoping for a lot of visitors like Wingham gets. Wingham is a far bigger site than RSCC (and Wingham isn't that big), although it may seem bigger when it all opens.

I don't think they need the income either. The place has been mostly closed for years but still continued to grow so I think (and hope!) they'll be ok.
 
when I was last there about 7 years or so ago they were building even then, the walk way was over a grass paddock that was to house malayan tapirs, but i think now houses dingos. It was nearly empty of visitors then, too, but I liked that, I spoke to the owners girlfriend as she was the only person on view at the time apart from the builders. she told us all about the pro[posed new works and the new animals that were coming in at the time Madagascan animals were high on the list.
The shop sold a lot of insects and arachnids in chocolate and toffee which I found at odds with the idea of conservation and the civet poo coffee of course.

Did any one see the news that Sainsbury weren't going to stock the civet poo coffee any more due to pressure from the AR brigade? They said it was cruel the way the civets are kept, but just as likely they Knew the profit from it went to the zoo, a no no for any AR group.

I would like to go back when it is fully open, Sandwhich is a lovely historic town in it's own right, and worth a walk around. I took this photo of a very un PC notice at the harbor.
 

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Tim May said:
No, frustratingly, the tarsiers are not currently on display. I’ll certainly visit again as soon as they're on exhibit.



There was certainly no possibility yesterday of paying extra to see the tarsiers; otherwise I would have done so. (It is many years since I last saw a tarsier and I’m eager to see one again.)
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So it is planned to put them on Exhibit, and do they have a nocturnal exhibit to show them active to the vistors ?
 
spike241 said:
I don't think they need the income either. The place has been mostly closed for years but still continued to grow so I think (and hope!) they'll be ok.
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I hope that's right too but, if that's the case, I do wonder why it closed down before? I suppose it's entirely possible that the owners plans can change (and back) over time. I suppose the place needs to take in at least enough money to cover the costs of keeping it open to the public (or enough such that any shortfall can be happily met by the owner's other income sources).

I think, given past history, I'm just a little paranoid the place will close before I get chance to get (way) down there and check out the beauties it contains.

Personally, I'm holding fire on visiting until I can get a chance to see the maximum amount of the creatures they have (however that needs to be).
 
dean said:
The shop sold a lot of insects and arachnids in chocolate and toffee which I found at odds with the idea of conservation and the civet poo coffee of course.
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As I understand it , 'bush tucker' sales pay for the place . The company Todd Ltd. produces and sells these - I saw a big display in the Food Hall in Fortnum and Mason .

The RSCC is operated by a Charity - Rare Species Conservation Trust - charity number 1119230 . The Accounts are available on the Charity Commission website . It appears that the Charity gets much of its income from donations / loans from Todd Ltd. , or the director of the charity and company Todd Dalton .

Hope I have got this right .

With regards to the snow leopards , I understood there was a purpose built enclosure for them with artificial rock-work when the Centre was last open .
 
The first births since the re-opening of the RSCC have been revealed- a pair of emperor tamarins and a pair of Palawan binturong. Both were born last weekend.
 
Bib Fortuna said:
So it is planned to put them on Exhibit, and do they have a nocturnal exhibit to show them active to the vistors ?
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It’s difficult to be sure as plans can obviously change but, as I understand the situation after a conversation on Saturday, the intention is that the tarsiers will be exhibited in due course; however, I don’t know when that will be or whereabouts on the premises they will be housed.

I will be checking the website regularly and will definitely visit again as soon as possible after the tarsiers go on display; similarly, I will also return after the cuscus and dorcopsis are put on show.
 
They now have an enclosure with 2 lesser bamboo lemurs.

I'm sure the enclosure wasn't even there Saturday so work is going quickly. They were sorting out the safety barriers and platforms today.

Just round from the sun bears and civet there is an area with 4 circular windows. There was one small enclosure right in front of the window and a few cages behind that. I think I saw a tarsier sleeping in front of a window but I can't be certain.
 
spike241 said:
They now have an enclosure with 2 lesser bamboo lemurs.

I'm sure the enclosure wasn't even there Saturday so work is going quickly. They were sorting out the safety barriers and platforms today.

Just round from the sun bears and civet there is an area with 4 circular windows. There was one small enclosure right in front of the window and a few cages behind that. I think I saw a tarsier sleeping in front of a window but I can't be certain.
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They used to have Bengal and Slow Loris in those windows last time it was open could it have been a Loris!
 
Any idea what's in the enclosure between the civet and loris?
It was hiding when we walked past but looked like a cat, possibly another rusty but I didn't get a chance to ask.
 
spike241 said:
Any idea what's in the enclosure between the civet and loris?
It was hiding when we walked past but looked like a cat, possibly another rusty but I didn't get a chance to ask.
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Have you tried reading Callums enclosure by enclosure review in this thread that might help you to work it out,as of yet I have not visited since it re-opened!
 
Yeah, I did. Callum doesn't mention anything round there.
Thanks for your help with the loris and tarsiers, that's really useful!
 
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