Twycross Zoo A first time visit to Twycross

daystar12uk said:
Shorts lol, are you reading my mind. We often visit Colchester although it takes us 2/3 hours to get there. We are card carrying members of Banham Zoo and have recently started visiting YWP, which is starting to look exceedingly good. Told you we are zoo mad. I too would like to go back to Twycross and hope that this will be possible in the future.
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Not mind-reading, we're both just acting intelligently and rationally to the situation. Fortunately for Twycross, given it's locality (negligible competition in the area), I suspect it's the only zoo a lot of its visitors go to which means that they've nothing to compare (unfavourably) with -hence visitor numbers stay fairly resilient. Also up until fairly recently the entry fees were fairly low compared to other "family attractions" (and fairly cheap for a zoo of its size). Let's hope the zoo uses and repays this loyalty well.
 
LeeMac13 said:
It may sound like im being overly criticial but im struggling to see how a zoo which calls itself the World Primate Centre can have such poor conditions for some of its species.
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That name has always been ridiculous in many ways. Self-appointing yourself 'World...' something is a very silly thing to do if you're genuinely the best at something. If you're not even particularly good at it it's entirely counter-productive.
 
LeeMac13 said:
Within five years, Twycross Zoo will be recognised as being one of the world's top fifteen zoos
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That statement is at least a year old now, which gives them four years to leap frog (probably) several hundred zoos* -if you're an optimist I'm sure the bookies will give you some very good (long) odds on that:D

*it's more than a hundred and it's too late to count accurately
 
LeeMac13 said:
I think that one of the big problems is that it seems to me atleast as though the zoo has tried to fit as many different species into a small space with no real thought of what goes where.
I understand that the majority of the enclosures have been around for a very long time but surely and not wanting to repeat myself or other people here but the 1 million pound spent on the "Elephant Trail" could have been used to improve the primate facilities rather than to built " a very nice dirt path".
It may sound like im being overly criticial but im struggling to see how a zoo which calls itself the World Primate Centre can have such poor conditions for some of its species. I was actually reading the zoos five year vision plan from its website which reads: -

At a time when the world's flora and fauna are under such great pressure, TZEMS is an organisation that cares and will strive to make a significant and meaningful difference.

Within five years, Twycross Zoo will be recognised as being one of the world's top fifteen zoos for our contribution in the areas of:
■Animal Welfare, Research, Conservation, Education and Sustainability. Sharing our learning on these topics using innovation in technology.
■Best business practice, being efficient, focussed and productive. With close attention paid to planning, ecologically sound design and environmental detail.
■Outstanding "Value for Money" for all who visit us. Providing fun, entertainment, learning and above all an opportunity to engage and assist us in achieving our vision. A standard bearer of excellent customer service, we will always listen to our visitor feedback, responding and adapting accordingly.
■Positive staff experience. We will be an employer of choice for the way we develop and care for our people and the opportunities we provide for them. Our first class leadership will ensure a fully engaged and happy workforce.

Now in all honesty can anybody say that they are achieving those targets?

I think the best thing that they could do would be to move out the majority of its Primate and mammal species, things such as the sealions, otters, Tapir, Bat eared fox etc and concentrate its time and whatever finances it has on becoming what it claims to be a "world Primate centre"

Concentrate on the great apes get their enclosures up to scratch especiall the chimps and then build on from there.
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LeeMac13, well said. This issue is not going to go away any time soon. I very much hope that Twycross can start building a future for itself and the animals in its care. I am all for educating the public and encouraging them to want to save the planets wildlife but to do this Twycross needs to set a good example.
 
I agree with Shorts and Daystar and im sure many other people id really like to see Twycross become a World Class Primate Centre and to have the money they have invested wisely and not wasted on things that are not needed. I wouldnt say its a terrible zoo maybe one that has lost its way or is that be being kind? Im not sure.

We can but hope a change of leadership within the zoo takes place sooner rather than later and somebody can be brought in to drive the zoo in the right direction.
 
daystar12uk said:
LeeMac13, well said. This issue is not going to go away any time soon. I very much hope that Twycross can start building a future for itself and the animals in its care. I am all for educating the public and encouraging them to want to save the planets wildlife but to do this Twycross needs to set a good example.
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I agree i really hope Twycross can turn it around. Id also like to say I feel sorry for the Keepers at the zoo who im sure work very hard taking care of the animals and trying to enrich the animals on the budget that is given to them. I cannot blame the keepers for this as in my mind the buck stops with the Director and the Trustee's and this is the first place the zoo needs to make changes on its path to building itself a succesful future.
 
I wonder if Chester fans with longish memories can compare Twycross as it is with Chester as it was in the late 1970s/early 1980s?

Both were the creation of idiosyncratic individuals who died in harness at great ages, way beyond normal retirement age. Issues arise from that.

I have been visiting Twycross for twenty years and it's sobering just how little has really changed in that time. Even in 1990 it seemed odd to have "one size fits all" ape houses, the giraffe house looked poor, the big cats looked cramped, and there seemed to be a lot of needlessly large mowed areas of lawn.

As a zoo nerd in South Northants I really, really want to see the place succeed, without it divesting itself of the wealth of primates it possesses. But to read the posts on this site tells me that something is wrong there.
 
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