When this enclosure was built, I thought it went totally against the previous Marwell 'thing'; age has not improved it at all. it's such an ugly little thing, and it's just sort of stuck in the middle of a path. It sums up all that is worst about a zoo which does have some very good points - but which needs some pretty serious landscaping!
As a whole, I like Marwell but there are certain enclosures that haven't been updated for a very long time. These include the meerkat enclosure and the coati enclosure. I feel that the area around Marwell Hall could do with an overhaul as the enclosures there (for the tamarins etc.) are very small.
They have done wonders with the new amur leopard and snow leopard enclosures, as well as improving the giraffe paddock, creating a penguin pool, creating the Australasian area and the various improvements to monkey enclosures, but other smaller enclosures have remained unchanged.
The coati enclosure will probably go, as in the masterplan the area is listed as the Congo Forest biome, and the gorilla enclosure which will be located on the left of the enclosure will probably demolish it. Not sure about the meerkat enclosure though.
I have been reading the threads regarding the proposed Congo Forest biome with great interest, especially as it sounds like there may be gorillas at my local zoo sometime in the future, which would be incredible. I really hope this happens.
Marwell has already made so many changes over the years, but it sounds as though there could be a whole lot more in the pipeline over the next few years. Fantastic!
It will happen, gorillas are one of Marwell's high priority animals for the masterplan, and if you look on the Masterplan map in the Education Centre you will see the label 'Great Ape Accomadation' in the current chapman's zebra paddock. The fact it doesn't just specify gorillas could mean chimps and/or bonobos might be included too.
