I think the new Gibbon area will definately get built, the existing house has a lot of empty cages now and some Gibbons have been relocated temporarily elsewhere in the Zoo. I don't know if they will demolish the existing Gibbon house afterward, as it is very ugly. But then so is the awful ChimpRow/GreenMile area which has been kept and pressed it into new service as a Leopard enclosure.
Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo news 2015
- Thread starter labrat
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I think the new Gibbon area will definately get built, the existing house has a lot of empty cages now and some Gibbons have been relocated temporarily elsewhere in the Zoo. I don't know if they will demolish the existing Gibbon house afterward, as it is very ugly. But then so is the awful ChimpRow/GreenMile area which has been kept and pressed it into new service as a Leopard enclosure.
Unless they have changed the plans, the current Gibbon House, the Colobus House and the paddocks behind them will all have to be demolished before they can build the new Gibbon House on the cleared site.
Alan
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
Most of those structures are well over forty years old, so due for replacement anyway.
I really would like to see Twycross build up some of its primate groups, and io retain (and ideally augment ) its diversity. It has never held Drill, Mandrill, baboons, Gelada, mangabeys, or (too all intents and purposes) macaques.
It would be wonderful to think of the site as being an English Appenheul. Then you look at the locations. The latter sits in the middle of a beautiful natural forest. Twycross may do so in eighty years' time, if the National Forest takes off, but at present it sits squarely in the middle of some pretty unremarkable farmland.
Many people here get quite worked up about Twycross' founders' actions. Personally, I think that having decided to concentrate on primates, Molly Badham is to be most seriously faulted for her inaction: she didn't plant enough trees.
When one considers the fact that certain species of macaque and baboon are extremely commonplace in captivity, it is quite an omission that the "World Primate Centre" lacks any representation of these groups - it would be very easy to get hold of Sulawesi Macaque and Sacred Baboon, for instance.
Overall, I think the site cannot really afford the space that a good Drill, Mandrill or Gelada exhibit would entail, but the other groups you cite certainly should be represented.
That explains why the Gibbon House is being emptied of its inhabitants then. There is a notice saying many of the cages are empty, but not why.
I think they will just continue with the species they have, occassionally adding something new if it becomes available maybe.
Regarding larger Baboons and other missing species- if the Chimpanzee complex ever gets built, the vacated houses would suit large monkeys like Baboons, Mandrills and Mangabeys well. Possibly they would obtain new species then, in order to fill those. Twycross nowadays is full of 'recycled' enclosures like that.
I would also like to see the existing species arranged more correctly in geographical context e.g. the Guenons in one house, the Langurs in another- at present they are about as mixed up as they could be.
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mazfc
Well-Known Member
Did this happen in the last day or so?
I was there earlier in the week and saw no sign of the above ones you mention or labels for them either..I looked closely at the Chimps in that house. There were ten in the one side (with nine labels), and one(Mongo) on show in the other side. The labels on that side said Mongo & Benji- but not Jambo, though Mongo was alone and Benji was not on show.
And the chimps were all very quiet too, indicating no recent changes/additions or such excitement.
A question; is 'Flynn' the one with the reduced pigmentation on face and ears and is he a castrated male?
It must have been, my friend was there on Wednesday and they were moved then.
Flynn is a fully intact male - he's a big skinny(ish) lad. He blows raspberries a lot. And likes people - especially old ladies like my mum
I can remember a large, free-breeding group of Colobus in the past, and a signboard showing how many they had bred. I guess they will soon be gone, same with the Javan Langurs perhaps. The Spectacled/Dusky ones are in a parlous state too if there are now only three adults+baby, but I hope they will be able to continue with these.
Yes, it looks like they have now dropped the 'World Primate Centre' tag. Better without IMO, as Twycross has always been a generalised Zoo, despite the large number of primates.
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It must have been, my friend was there on Wednesday and they were moved then.
Flynn is a fully intact male - he's a big skinny(ish) lad. He blows raspberries a lot. And likes people - especially old ladies like my mum
Thanks. I think he was interacting with people when I was there. Pity I missed the move day of the other group, but they might have closed the House for a while too.
Re the Flynn group, if the additional females are added to this it will now contain 12 or 13(?) chimps, but only two males(Flynn & Jomar). I've noticed that none of the other moves they have made in the past months have involved adding new males to the two existing larger groups, at least so far. Perhaps they won't do that that under the current housing regime.
After these introductions are completed, I presume the Chimps will be held as follows;
Old Gorilla House;
One side- 2 males 10 or 11 females. (unless the extra females go in with the three males on the other side?)
2nd side. 3 males (including the two bald ones.)
Chimp colony building;
One side. 2 males, 3 females.
2nd side. 3 males.
Original Gorilla House; none?
This gives a total of 23 or 24 Chimps by my reckoning.
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It seems the 'World Primate Centre' logo has been replaced. It was a self-styled title(or claim) and possibly they had come to feel it was misleading too- but in a different way to how some Zoochatters saw it,
- in so much as it may have given the impression to some would-be visitors that it was only Primates and nothing else there to see. In their 'about us' section they still describe themselves as a 'renowned Primate Centre' or similar.
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Animal Friendly
Well-Known Member
It must have been, my friend was there on Wednesday and they were moved then.
Flynn is a fully intact male - he's a big skinny(ish) lad. He blows raspberries a lot. And likes people - especially old ladies like my mum
Flynn was one of Miss Badham's favourite chimps, he was very attached to her.
I see the new Logo advertises not only 'Zoo & Aquarium( aquarium?
'Zoo & Aquarium' is a Facebook classification, so they've just chosen those categories to be shown in.
I wasn't suggesting he was suffering but thankyou for the explanation. Gorillas and Orangs sometimes suffer from a similar condition though I've not seen it in a Chimp before..
Sammy at Monkey World also has this.
A few weeks ago I was told by a workman there 'in three weeks' but it still looked way off completion at that time. I would hazard a guess at a target of Easter timefor the school holidays, but if its not being advertised yet, they may not be sure they can reach it.
Thanks, I may delay my annual visit for a couple of months then.