Are all of the exhibits at South Lakes so bland and uninspiring? The big cats (Amur Tigers, Lions, Jaguars, Snow Leopards) have boring, dull enclosures with basic wood platforms and disastrously ugly indoor rooms; the Reindeer paddock is an abysmal mess; and seemingly every creature from Mandrills to Pygmy Hippos are all placed in generic paddocks that are interchangeable. Where is the excitement? I suppose that the much discussed South American mixed-species yard (Spectacled Bears, Tapirs, Primates, etc) is interesting but I'm amazed that this place survives. Does anyone know what the annual attendance is?
Are all of the exhibits at South Lakes so bland and uninspiring? The big cats (Amur Tigers, Lions, Jaguars, Snow Leopards) have boring, dull enclosures with basic wood platforms and disastrously ugly indoor rooms; the Reindeer paddock is an abysmal mess; and seemingly every creature from Mandrills to Pygmy Hippos are all placed in generic paddocks that are interchangeable. Where is the excitement? I suppose that the much discussed South American mixed-species yard (Spectacled Bears, Tapirs, Primates, etc) is interesting but I'm amazed that this place survives. Does anyone know what the annual attendance is?
Excellent assement of the enclosures in this place!!As for attendance I believe its around 450,000-500,000 a year now.But then having free admission between December to Febuary certainly gives it a huge boost to its numbers!
General public on the whole are not selective about visiting Zoos. If this is the nearest place for zoo visiting, people will still visit from the surrounding areas regardless of the quality of the experience, so its quite possible(IMO) to run a zoo with low standards if enough people visit. General visitors will not notice many of the shortcomings or be critical in the same way people on here are.
