From what i can remember I think Lions of the Serengeti and what I can see in the pictures I have there was one large area within the House I'm not sure whether they were seperate smaller dens but Im pretty sure they must of had more than one area.
Lion Rock was very much designed just for Subu and Ashanti with no forward thinking.
Lion Rock and Lions of the Serengeti are very very similair in design and fencing consisting mainly of glass and wood with plenty of fake rock. Lions of the Serengeti has not been changed outside very much at all infact it has only had climbing structures added and quite alot of vegitation cleared - Nothing else at all to the outside. This shows how easily a simple Colchester Enclosure can be changed for a completely different species. Of course plenty of Electric fencing has been added onto the top of the fences.
From what i can remember I think Lions of the Serengeti and what I can see in the pictures I have there was one large area within the House I'm not sure whether they were seperate smaller dens but Im pretty sure they must of had more than one area.
Lion Rock was very much designed just for Subu and Ashanti with no forward thinking.
Lion Rock and Lions of the Serengeti are very very similair in design and fencing consisting mainly of glass and wood with plenty of fake rock. Lions of the Serengeti has not been changed outside very much at all infact it has only had climbing structures added and quite alot of vegitation cleared - Nothing else at all to the outside. This shows how easily a simple Colchester Enclosure can be changed for a completely different species. Of course plenty of Electric fencing has been added onto the top of the fences.
There was 1 fairly large den for the lions with 3 small dens as well. When I was little I used to say "daddy lion, mummy lion and baby lion" whilst passing the dens. There was also an exhibit for sand lizards where the tortises are now you used to be able to walk into it then.
"Lion Rock" is a lot more spacious outside than their prvious home was. But it isn't much better really in any other way.
This is one basic, ugly primate enclosure at the Colchester Zoo. Garish red fencing with multiple layers of electric wire, red metal poles placed around the enclosure, short-cropped grass and an overall feeling of a "hodge-podge" collection of metal, wood and an assortment of ropes. Does the enclosure work well for holding mangabeys? Maybe, but it won't induce visitors to donate to conservation efforts around the world and it certainly is not pretty to look at. One lonely little bush in terms of greenery, and it would be nice if the zoo actually made some minor, tiny little attempt at creating a natural environment for the monkeys. Even a real tree or two would not go amiss in what is in my opinion a terribly disappointing exhibit. But of course now several fans of this zoo will rise up in opposition, declaring this mangabey enclosure to be an amazing, top-notch enclosure. I'd call it below average at best.
Lion-tailed macaque exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle:
From being around many, many average UK zoo visitors, I would seriously doubt that many of them would start voluntarily donating to conservation funds based on looking at a naturalistic enclosure...
Perhaps it's a different mindset on that side of the atlantic, but in my mind, your typical "day-out visitor" in the UK wouldn't go out of his/her way to start contributing if that red fence magically became a planted, realistic backdrop and the enclosure was interspersed with African forest planting.
A sad case? maybe...
That being said, i'm still baffled as to why this was nominated by one member as a world-class exhibit in the UK
But of course now several fans of this zoo will rise up in opposition, declaring this mangabey enclosure to be an amazing, top-notch enclosure. I'd call it below average at best.
Lion-tailed macaque exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle:
In my eyes its not that ugly really.
You cant say an enclosure's that bad if its ugly - I love an enclosure to look nice but it has to be good for the primates aswell.
For an Enclosure that has recently been turned from a Lion Enclosure to a Primate Enclosure I think its not too bad and I also think they've done a great job of it.
Now Colchester is by no means my favourite at all it has the sort of over done approach to some of its 'World-Class' Enclosures and the Outdoor Space in Orangutan Forest I do not like very much at all. Yes the Visitors do get a lot closer to the animals but the enclosures are very modern and 'realistic' but quite cramped with not much privacy. It is a great Zoo and all of the animals are looked after superbly its design however is not one that I favour. I really dont like the Zoo-Style one bit but it is slightly like those in America and so on.
Thanks for that picture Snowleopard but honestly I prefer this http://www.zoochat.com/54/lion-tailed-macaque-open-topped-enclosure-73071/ - None of the large trees are hot-wired and they have freedom to go in them and they are surviving very well.
Its just what I prefer I think it looks better and very peaceful, Gives the animals loads of privacy to roam where they like and there is only one public path round it so they dont have visitor eyes looking at them all the time.
Indeed. There's a tendency on here for every exhibit to classified as 'brilliant' or 'despicable'. Why is nothing ever OK? This is OK. It's not world class. Nor is it rubbish.
There's a whole spectrum between the best and the worst - not just 'good' and 'bad'.
EDIT: And you're correct about visitors and donations - I really don't see a naturalistic exhibit making any detectable difference to giving habits of UK zoo visitors. Most won't give any more than the donation on the entrance fee - those that will make further donations will do that whatever the exhibit.
This Woodland Zoo sounds brilliant well the orangutan and lion-tailed maquaque enclosures defineately!!
As for this exhibit I think snowleopard was a bit over the top! Although fair enough to disagree!
To me this is a good enclosure. Spacious and with lots of climbing equipment. Yes not the best of its kind but certainly better than their new orangutan encloure! IMO its quite naturalistic it has a few plants and plenty of grass. But maybe a bit too much fake rock work!
But we can't complain!! I actually don't think this is unattractive. And I do enjoy seeing these!
I unleashed the floodgates of supporters for this "mangabey mansion", and I have to agree that I was over the top in my assessment of the enclosure. I claimed that it was "average at best" but in reality it is definitely at least average and in fact is much better than many truly atrocious primate exhibits all across the globe. (I maintain that calling it "world-class" is totally ridiculous.) My problem that I constantly wrestle with on this forum is that I often come across as hyper-critical in my beliefs and thoughts on specific animal exhibits. I live near a multi-award-winning zoo in Seattle and thus I find it hard to accept what I perceive as enclosures that could be so much better than what is presented to the public.
There are a handful of ZooChatters whom I've met in person, and they all know that I'm very laid-back and not nearly as critical in the flesh. I really would love all zoos to abandon the idea of constructing simple, average enclosures, and instead strive to create natural landscapes by hiding ugly fences, bars or walls in plain sight. What is wrong with having some foliage obscuring the barriers in any zoo enclosure? The size of the exhibit would not change, but it would look more naturalistic and I'm convinced that visitors would appreciate the change.
