Langur House at Twycross Nov 08

Currently home to groups of Spectacled (Trachypithecus osbcurus) and Javan Brown (T. auratus auratus) Langurs and a single female Phayre\'s Langur (T. phayrei). Purple-faced Langurs have recently departed.

Spectacular collection of rare langurs, but not exactly the most beautiful building. Are the monkeys all viewed through glass or is there an inside area for visitors?

I imagine that the glass would be hard to look through from the outside because of glare from the sun.

PAT said:

I imagine that the glass would be hard to look through from the outside because of glare from the sun.

Click to expand...

Much less of a problem in the English Midlands than in Victoria, I fear!

There is a public viewing corridor with glass-fronted, tiled indoor exhibits in typical Twycross style - functional and adequate but uninspiring.

@Maguari: does Twycross have any fantastic, knockout exhibits? The primate collection is impressive, but what are the two or three main attractions at this zoo?

Snowleopard, in my opinion, Twycross has a great collection but the majority of enclosures are just average and do the job. The ape enclosures are very disappointing as well.

The elephant enclosure is pretty good, as are a few other enclosures, but these could probably be defined as slightly above average.

For the record, I agree with CZJimmy!

Twycross's current buildings and exhibits are nothing special - it's the collection that makes it worth the visit. Even the better exhibits seem to have built-in problems - there's quite a nice new wetland area but most of the labelling is done on laminated bits of paper tied to the fences with after a couple of weeks of weather are peeling and look incredibly scruffy.

The reptile house has been done up into a nice little tropical house with bats, sloths, chachalacas, dove, marmosets... that you can only go around by picking up a (free but limited availability) ticket to be taken round by a keeper or volunteer... who rushes you past some things, leaves you for ages looking at others and prevents you from taking photos all the while giving you a painfully over-rehearsed speech about the animals leaving not even a pause for breath to talk to your companions or watch the animals. It's mildly annoying if you only visit occasionally, incredibly frustrating if you visit regularly.

That said, the place still has Tufted Deer, Phayre's Langur, Crowned and Red-tailed Guenons, Aardwolf, the UK's only Bonobos... it's a place for great animals in adequate exhibits not for great exhibits.