You should be okay at West Midlands on a weekday in termtime- should be really quiet.
At Twycross if you see any Gorilla keepers maybe you could enquire about news(if any) regarding the arrival of a new male Gorilla. However keepers there are often hard to find- I think they sometimes lie low when the public is in the Zoo.
Went to whipsnade yesterday and had a nose around at the elephant house! The windows down the front were all blacked out so couldnt see anything and the otherside was all fenced off but you can get a good view of the outside from all angles.
I was surprised seeing now (after seeing this picture of the insides) how small it is for 4 elephants!
The structure (to my untrained eye) doesnt look in bad nick its a real shame they cant open it so you could at least have a look inside.
Spent a lovely half hour watching the elephants being bathed out in theior paddock before there walk around the park - total contrast to how it must have been!
We are hopefully doing west midlands on the friday and Dudley on the saturday (and possibly back to west midlands in afternoon) and twycross on the way home so hopefully west midlands will not be to busy on the Friday
The windows are blacked out because it is now being used as a storage for foodstuffs and hay. Last time I was in there (after it had closed) the inside was in disrepair and the ceiiling was comming down and it was damp with most of the paint having come off the walls. The elephants suffered from foot issues so a bouncing rubber based floor was tried without success and it took a long time to remove by all accounts. The spikes were added after an elephant had ended up in the moat and as you can see they were still hobbled by one leg each night. Elephant rides were stopped as the zoo is on the flight path for Luton Airport and in the 1950/60s as air travel became more affordable the air traffic increased several fold and spooked the riding elephants, so after a couple of close calls this money spinner was stopped.
I can actually remember going in this House to see the elephants. I do not remember a watermoat though- I think by the time of my visits it was a dry moat. Also I believe they had added rails around the front part of each circular bay which are still there now.
I also can not remember a watermoat being there from my early visits, I have not seen these inside pens before without the tall circular fence which is not in this photo so I assume the photo was taken before my days of visiting
I think you could house some camels, ankole, bison etc in here without any welfare being compromised. Or the moat could be utilised for indoor bathing for hippos, tapirs etc, much like the Semi-Aquatic Mammal house at marwell.
At some stage in the 80,s this house was home to a Forest Bull elephant, who i belive was a gift to the queen in 1977.I belive this elephant was put down on safety grounds! dispite being offered a home at anorther collection with in the U.K.
At some stage in the 80,s this house was home to a Forest Bull elephant, who i belive was a gift to the queen in 1977.I belive this elephant was put down on safety grounds! dispite being offered a home at anorther collection with in the U.K.
