magnificent aviary, both this one and the aviary for the flamingo's, but quite surreal to view them for a car, can the visitors get out on foot to view the birds?
Are the flamingos now kept fully winged? I know when first introduced they were clipped but have they since been allowed to keep their primary feathers? I think they should cover the pelican lake in an avairy and let them be full winged too.
no the flamingos are still clipped for saftey reasons. and there is not enough room in the area for the pelicans to have a avairy bigg enough for them to fly about.
You are correct that they are being successful, but surely there is another reason why? Since Chester has one of the best breeding records for two species in the UK and is one of the only zoos in the UK that is able to hand-rear flamingoes sucessfully, and yet they have over 1 million people passing through their doors, and the enclosure is right next to two of the most popular exhibits in the zoo, Realm of the Red Ape and the Penguin Enclosure.
In saying that peace and quiet is needed, Dudley Zoo's flamingo enclosure is near the entrance but not many people head up that way and is next to a road but the zoo walls give it some protection from the noise. But they haven't bred their flamingoes in ages. This is most likely due to the lack of good nesting sites and a group that has too few members. Another example of this is Manor House's Flamingo enclosure - which looks nice and secluded and yet their poor keeping and lack of breeding sites means that they haven't bred so far.
So surely the breeding success can be attributed to either the access to a decent amount of nesting sites and that it has a decent sized flock.
I am going to admit I haven't been to Longleat since this exhibit has been opened, so I can't comment on the style of the enclosure - and I say well-done to the keeping staff to build what looks like a good enclosure from this photo, I hope these breed in the future.
