Thankyou for that Pipaluk!
I do like getting as much information as I can about the place, especially as I do volunteer there a bit now, it would be great to see any photos (especially those of the old lion enclosure). The old leopard enclosure that Lisa was housed was indeed demolished a couple of years back, am I right in saying there was another leopard enclosure next door to that on the left hand side? (According to an old guide book I have there was, but it would be nice to verify that!)
I can remember the feeling of accomplishment that some of the management had when that leopard enclosure was finally knocked down, I have a feeling it was probably one of the soul survivers of the older parts of the zoo left, but I have a feeling it wont be long until the space is filled again!
Im not totally sure about the leopard enclosures,but i think lisa had both of them,as they were only seperated by a hatch , i may be wrong though & there may have been another next to where lisa was.The last time i went the oldest lion & bear enclosures (1972)were still there,the garage like builldings opposite the tamarins!There are a few more enlosures nearly as old as those that were still there a year ago.
Aah I remember Lisa's old enclosure, I just wasn't sure whether there was one (probably identical in style) next to it, would have made sense as I think the enclosure which is right at the end of that path, between Lisas old enclosure and the snow leopards (what would have been the original lion enclosure) was a later edition, and as they bred leopards frequently, they must have needed more than that old enclosure in order to house them.
The old bear dens are indeed still there, undergoing development at the moment, so lets see what exciting things happen within them! If you have any pics of the zoo, especially the original lion enclosure it would be fab to see!
Will see what I can do re: photos, may be a while though! Would be good if I could find some of the earlier lion cages,bears and wolves as all these still exist, though I think I probably only saw the wolves about 3 times in 20 visits!
The wolf enclosure now just has ruppells griffon vultures in, did it have funny mock rock den type things in it when you visited?
And also I have had a look at a couple of old postcards that I have with a picture of the old lion Dusty in the old enclosure, it does look like they just put a roof over it and added a new house, It would be very interesting to see if you have any photos of the lion enclosure to compare it to what it has turned into now!
Also do you have any old guidebooks from the early days?
Yes, the mock rock dens were there & the wolves were nearly always in them! Not surprising really given the rest of the enclosure wasn't very good ! I think the Snow Leopard sleeping quarters are exactly what the lions had 20+ years ago & the enclosure perimeter is the same, not really adequate for lions today but a vast improvement on his original garage!
I have couple of guide books from the late 70s, but I don't think they produced any before that, or I would have bought them
Aah I can't see the problem with the old wolf enclosure, I suppose it was just a bit small, then again i'm looking at it nowadays, so I have no idea what it was like in the early days, probably looking a lot less mature with trees and everything as it is now.
So am I right in the saying that the lions were originally held in one of the old bear dens? And if it is the same old lion house it would be a breezeblock building with a glass window? (well it has one now).
Sorry for so many questions, but there is only so much asking at the zoo that you can do before you become irritating!!
The wolf enclosure was small, and from what I can remember was just grass back then.
Originally there were only 2 enclosures, dusty had one & a single asiatic black bear the other. They got a mate for the bear (from a pub garden I think!) and doubled the size of the bear cage.
Dusty was moved to what is now the snow leopard enclosure with a young female, who I first saw in a tiny cage in the binturong house( aged about 6 months I would guess).I think she came from Windsor Safari Park.
The lion enclosure behind that was built a few years later so they could keep some of the offspring.
I'm pretty sure the current snow leopard sleeping quarters are the same building the lions had.
Cheers for that Pipaluk, I had no idea that those dens started off for lions aswell!!
You are right Tanya did come from Windsor Safari Park, and I know exactly the enclosure that you are thinking of, It has been replaced at the beginning of this year, and was used for animals being hand reared from what I could see.
And that makes sense, Lucy and Jaspa were held back into the second enclosure, which all in all, is still not that bad, and easily extendable in the future.
Was the enclosure that held Dusty (snow leopards now) roofed over when it had lions and seperated in two?
I have no problems with the enclosure. If they add creepers to it like at PL / Howletts it is the best enclosure a clouded leopard could hope to have. And what is wrong with a bit of discovery?
