mazfc
Well-Known Member
Decided on an impromptu visit to Dudley zoo yesterday. It was my first ever visit. I will gloss over the traffic problems which turned an 80 minute journey into one that lasted over 3 hours!*
As a first time visitor I tried my best to be as objective as possible, so I'll split my report into the things I loved and the things I felt could definitely be improved. I'm afraid my reporting style isn't very scientific but I hope you find it informative and interesting anyway.
One of the highlights of my visit were the red pandas. They were a joy. I thought their enclosure was super - lots of levels and very natural. The pandas were very active and even before their feeding time, they were out and about and chasing each other around. I can honestly say I have never seen such active pandas. No sign of baby yet, but you can't have everything.*
My favourite part of the whole zoo was the lemur walk through. This is the best walk through I've seen so far. I think I fell lucky with the timing of my visit, as a couple were having a keeper experience feeding the lemurs. I followed them down the path - I was surrounded on both sides of the fence by black and White ruffs and the ring tails inches away from me - magical! When I got back to the entrance the black lemurs were both on the fence with the keeper, they are stunning animals. The keeper in the walk through was really nice as well - very friendly and full of enthusiasm for his lemurs. I really enjoyed chatting to him.*
I also really liked the bush dog enclosure - their little piece of woodland, full of natural things *and I really liked how it actually used the hilliness of the site. The bush dogs were very active around 4 o'clock and I spent quite a while watching them explore in the rain. I loved the noises they made.*
I liked the lynx enclosure as well. By the look of it, I'm presuming it's pretty new? The animal were really contented *and relaxed, and were taking full advantage of the different levels in their enclosure. I couldn't really see the point of the visitor tunnel,but I'm not 8 so that's probably why, and it didn't bother the cats at all.
I also liked monkey trails, again I'm presuming this is quite new? I got a good view of at least one of all the species on show, including the tiny baby squirrel monkey. The sakis were gorgeous as well. All the monkeys seemed very relaxed and were happily going about their business generally ignoring the visitors. Again there was a keeper there who was very nice and friendly.*
The otter family (I presume a family anyway) were very active, looking for fish and having great fun diving around their pool.
Other things I liked: the chimp indoor bedrooms which I though gave them a nice selection of levels; the orang bedroom wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe and the pair seemed very active - benji is an impressive lad; I also really liked the castle - I thought it was beautifully maintained and is well worth a look. Finally it was great to see Asha and Kyra, the two female asiatic lions from twycross. They seemed very happy with their new man and the 3 of them were constantly together the whole day. Whatever anyone thinks of the lion enclosure it's certainly a step up from their old twycross enclosure.*
Now onto to things that I felt could do with improving. I'm sure most of you would agree that the bear pit and tiger pits are not a great way of showing animals anymore. I appreciate that they are relics of the zoos past, but I actually found them quite upsetting. It's a shame they are some of the first enclosures that a visitor sees, as it really put me on a downer. Thank goodness the pandas were close by as they lifted me back up. Having said that though, the black bear (?) was out and about and totally ignored the visitors above it as it wandered round it's enclosure. For some reason I thought that there were 2 bears - am i mistaken as i only saw 1. I didn't see the tiger next door till about 4.30. Now the tiger was shut out and pacing to get back in, but as Dudley didn't appear to have a lock out policy and there was a keeper round the back, I presumed that it was pacing to be let back in for it's tea, as it was right next to the door!
I think the worst part of the zoo for me as a primate lover was the outdoor orang area. I saw the bedroom first and actually think it's a good bedroom, but outside was just awful. They have a good selection of frames, but surrounded by bright concrete and that awful moat, again a relic of another time. It would definitely be a priority area of improvement for me.*
As a regular twycross visitor i cant say much about the giraffe paddock as they are pretty much the same. As Dudley are very restricted with land space for any kind of expansion, are they considering moving their male on?*
A few other points: I did feel that many enclosures lacked areas of coverage to give the animals private space, and there seemed to be a lack of added enrichments in enclosures. I saw one ball in the chimps bedroom., a few boxes the orangs and a big ball in the tigers. I was looking carefully as it was criticism raised by another zoo chatter on here.*
I also think the front of the zoo could do with sprucing up a bit - though I do appreciate that arriving in the drizzle after a long drive doesn't show off a place at it's best.
Another quick general point: the car parking sign is partially obscured by bushes. I'm sure I'm not the only person who missed it on the first pass. So if anyone from the zoo is reading this nip across and cut it back!!
*
Overall I had a pleasant visit to Dudley, it's definitely a place of highs and lows. And definitely wasn't half as bad as I'd been led to believe. Overall the animals seemed settled and generally contented, apart from the tiger (who I'm sure just wanted it's tea) the only animal I saw showing any abnormal behaviour was the rhea which was pacing and pushing against it's fence.*
Because of the difficulty I had getting there I think it will be a once a year place to visit, but I've got to go back for the lemur walk through if nothing else.*
As a first time visitor I tried my best to be as objective as possible, so I'll split my report into the things I loved and the things I felt could definitely be improved. I'm afraid my reporting style isn't very scientific but I hope you find it informative and interesting anyway.
One of the highlights of my visit were the red pandas. They were a joy. I thought their enclosure was super - lots of levels and very natural. The pandas were very active and even before their feeding time, they were out and about and chasing each other around. I can honestly say I have never seen such active pandas. No sign of baby yet, but you can't have everything.*
My favourite part of the whole zoo was the lemur walk through. This is the best walk through I've seen so far. I think I fell lucky with the timing of my visit, as a couple were having a keeper experience feeding the lemurs. I followed them down the path - I was surrounded on both sides of the fence by black and White ruffs and the ring tails inches away from me - magical! When I got back to the entrance the black lemurs were both on the fence with the keeper, they are stunning animals. The keeper in the walk through was really nice as well - very friendly and full of enthusiasm for his lemurs. I really enjoyed chatting to him.*
I also really liked the bush dog enclosure - their little piece of woodland, full of natural things *and I really liked how it actually used the hilliness of the site. The bush dogs were very active around 4 o'clock and I spent quite a while watching them explore in the rain. I loved the noises they made.*
I liked the lynx enclosure as well. By the look of it, I'm presuming it's pretty new? The animal were really contented *and relaxed, and were taking full advantage of the different levels in their enclosure. I couldn't really see the point of the visitor tunnel,but I'm not 8 so that's probably why, and it didn't bother the cats at all.
I also liked monkey trails, again I'm presuming this is quite new? I got a good view of at least one of all the species on show, including the tiny baby squirrel monkey. The sakis were gorgeous as well. All the monkeys seemed very relaxed and were happily going about their business generally ignoring the visitors. Again there was a keeper there who was very nice and friendly.*
The otter family (I presume a family anyway) were very active, looking for fish and having great fun diving around their pool.
Other things I liked: the chimp indoor bedrooms which I though gave them a nice selection of levels; the orang bedroom wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe and the pair seemed very active - benji is an impressive lad; I also really liked the castle - I thought it was beautifully maintained and is well worth a look. Finally it was great to see Asha and Kyra, the two female asiatic lions from twycross. They seemed very happy with their new man and the 3 of them were constantly together the whole day. Whatever anyone thinks of the lion enclosure it's certainly a step up from their old twycross enclosure.*
Now onto to things that I felt could do with improving. I'm sure most of you would agree that the bear pit and tiger pits are not a great way of showing animals anymore. I appreciate that they are relics of the zoos past, but I actually found them quite upsetting. It's a shame they are some of the first enclosures that a visitor sees, as it really put me on a downer. Thank goodness the pandas were close by as they lifted me back up. Having said that though, the black bear (?) was out and about and totally ignored the visitors above it as it wandered round it's enclosure. For some reason I thought that there were 2 bears - am i mistaken as i only saw 1. I didn't see the tiger next door till about 4.30. Now the tiger was shut out and pacing to get back in, but as Dudley didn't appear to have a lock out policy and there was a keeper round the back, I presumed that it was pacing to be let back in for it's tea, as it was right next to the door!
I think the worst part of the zoo for me as a primate lover was the outdoor orang area. I saw the bedroom first and actually think it's a good bedroom, but outside was just awful. They have a good selection of frames, but surrounded by bright concrete and that awful moat, again a relic of another time. It would definitely be a priority area of improvement for me.*
As a regular twycross visitor i cant say much about the giraffe paddock as they are pretty much the same. As Dudley are very restricted with land space for any kind of expansion, are they considering moving their male on?*
A few other points: I did feel that many enclosures lacked areas of coverage to give the animals private space, and there seemed to be a lack of added enrichments in enclosures. I saw one ball in the chimps bedroom., a few boxes the orangs and a big ball in the tigers. I was looking carefully as it was criticism raised by another zoo chatter on here.*
I also think the front of the zoo could do with sprucing up a bit - though I do appreciate that arriving in the drizzle after a long drive doesn't show off a place at it's best.
Another quick general point: the car parking sign is partially obscured by bushes. I'm sure I'm not the only person who missed it on the first pass. So if anyone from the zoo is reading this nip across and cut it back!!
*Overall I had a pleasant visit to Dudley, it's definitely a place of highs and lows. And definitely wasn't half as bad as I'd been led to believe. Overall the animals seemed settled and generally contented, apart from the tiger (who I'm sure just wanted it's tea) the only animal I saw showing any abnormal behaviour was the rhea which was pacing and pushing against it's fence.*
Because of the difficulty I had getting there I think it will be a once a year place to visit, but I've got to go back for the lemur walk through if nothing else.*
