I remember them in here too- I think it was when they just had males. IMO a mix of this sort of rockwork plus an open grassy area would work best- but they do need a very extensive area if the grass is not to be all eaten and the soil left bare- its their principal diet in the wild, they shuffle along plucking it with their fingers.
I'm mildly disappointed they've not tried to increase the height of these enclosures, which I think may be the oldest left onsite, along with temporary Sun Bear (ex-Orang) exhibit.
J
jm9748
I may be wrong as I have only visited Colchester once myself, but did this ever contain an Amur Leopard????
As the Asiatic black bear was still alive & in the right hand enclosure in 2001, this must be the other one, which did hold a single amur leopard temporarily about 3-4 years ago.
I cant remember what it held between the gelada & leopard, but it subsequently held the smooth coated otters before their new enclosure was built and now holds Geoffreys cat
