Axe Valley Wildlife Park Axe Valley bird and animal park

F

foz

Well-Known Member
After a tiny snippet of news In the Sun newspaper mentioned baby tree porcupine had been born at this place (it also claimed that only 12 had done so in the UK) I had to look it up. Has anyone been here? what is it like? this is the first I've ever heard of it though from the species list it sounds like a pleasant small zoo

Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park
 
I agree I never heard of this place and Wingz Birds Sancutary before neither. Their website state that most animals have come from Exmoor Zoo. Exmoor Zoo has successfully bred North American Porcupines.
 
I've visited this place a couple of times. It would best be described as "home made".

It has a nice selection of species but nothing particularly rare. Mammal-wise there are ring-tailed and black and white ruffed lemurs, skunks, meerkats, common palm civets, crested and North American Tree porcupine, ring-tailed coati and raccoon, oriental short-clawed otters, patagonian cavy and red-necked Wallaby. Birds include emu, rhea, sacred ibis, green peafowl, blue-winged kookaburra, crowned crane, oystercatcher, purple gallinule, plus a host of waterfowl, pheasants, "pet" bird species (i.e. rosellas, ring-necked parakeets and the like) and many domestics.

With the downsizing/closure of Cricket St.Thomas just down the road this place might well benefit.
 
Yet again another zoo seems incapable of realising that birds ARE animals! It never ceases to amaze me how many zoos talk about 'birds and animals'; quite a few of the larger places who really should know better are just as bad. Apologies for cutting in on thread and here ends my rant!
 
moloch gibbon said:
Yet again another zoo seems incapable of realising that birds ARE animals! It never ceases to amaze me how many zoos talk about 'birds and animals'; quite a few of the larger places who really should know better are just as bad. Apologies for cutting in on thread and here ends my rant!
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Could it not just be that they wish to emphasise the relative strength of their bird collection?
 
Gentle Giant said:
I agree I never heard of this place and Wingz Birds Sancutary before neither. Their website state that most animals have come from Exmoor Zoo. Exmoor Zoo has successfully bred North American Porcupines.
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Wingz Bird Sanctuary is actually very interesting, when they open in May they will have the only Crimson-rumped Toucanets on public display in the UK. I wonder if they have imported these from breeders eg in the US or whether they have been breeding this species themselves for a while....

Wingz Bird Sanctuary
 
CGSwans said:
Could it not just be that they wish to emphasise the relative strength of their bird collection?
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Hi CGSwans, no, I think it shows a total lack of basic knowledge in which they should know better - especially as part of a zoo licence is related to education. Sorry, but I can't take anywhere seriously that talks like this. Whatever next -a zoo that calls itself a bird and reptile and fish and animal park! Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me! :)
 
moloch gibbon said:
Hi CGSwans, no, I think it shows a total lack of basic knowledge in which they should know better - especially as part of a zoo licence is related to education. Sorry, but I can't take anywhere seriously that talks like this. Whatever next -a zoo that calls itself a bird and reptile and fish and animal park! Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me! :)
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Frankly, I think the objection is ridiculous. Any four year old knows that birds are animals. It's clearly intended to highlight the fact that the particular strength of the collection is the bird collection.

There are similar examples here in Australia that undermine your argument. Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary surely does not suggest that koalas are not wildlife - only that koalas are a particular focus of the park.
 
CGSwans said:
There are similar examples here in Australia that undermine your argument. Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary surely does not suggest that koalas are not wildlife - only that koalas are a particular focus of the park.
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Similarly, many parks that start out in life as Bird Parks widen their scope as time goes by. The public know them by their Bird Park title so they retain that and add the word Animal to indicate their expansion into mammals and reptiles.

This doesn't indicate any lack of intelligence on their part or on the part of their intended visitors.
 
Steve Robinson said:
Similarly, many parks that start out in life as Bird Parks widen their scope as time goes by. The public know them by their Bird Park title so they retain that and add the word Animal to indicate their expansion into mammals and reptiles.

This doesn't indicate any lack of intelligence on their part or on the part of their intended visitors.
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Good point. I think Ballarat Wildlife Park started out as Ballaarat (shame they dropped the historic double-a, btw) Reptile Park, became Ballarat Reptile and Wildlife Park and then finally dropped the 'Reptile' bit a few years ago.
 
moloch gibbon said:
Hi CGSwans, no, I think it shows a total lack of basic knowledge in which they should know better - especially as part of a zoo licence is related to education. Sorry, but I can't take anywhere seriously that talks like this. Whatever next -a zoo that calls itself a bird and reptile and fish and animal park! Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me! :)
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Animal definition - animals are multicellular organisms that obtain energy by ingesting food. All animals are capable of moving at least some parts of themselves, and many can move from place to place.
 
Gentle Giant said:
Animal definition - animals are multicellular organisms that obtain energy by ingesting food. All animals are capable of moving at least some parts of themselves, and many can move from place to place.
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Indeed, so Bird and Animal Park is a clear tautology.


It does annoy me, though I'm prepared to accept that it may have some kind of 'classical rhetoric'-style value in the name of a place to emphasise a specialty. Anywhere that says it has 'hundreds of birds and animals' though... yeesh.
 
Would it not then have to list 'reptiles, mammals and invertebrates etc' if it was to correctly advertise itself? Most paying visitors would be extremely annoyed if they turned up at a facility advertised as an 'animal park' to find a bird collection.

You sort of know what you're getting with 'bird and animal', its not going to be birds together with lions or giraffes, yr talking mara, wallaby, domestic stock, maybe some primates...this is probably the only place on the internet where a potential boycott scientifically incorrect collection naming might start.....so I don't think they'll be changing the name anytime soon.
 
johnstoni said:
Would it not then have to list 'reptiles, mammals and invertebrates etc' if it was to correctly advertise itself? Most paying visitors would be extremely annoyed if they turned up at a facility advertised as an 'animal park' to find a bird collection.
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As I said, I can live with it in the place's title for exactly the reasons you mention.

But in the case of 'we have hundreds of birds and animals', what's so difficult about 'we have hundreds of bird and other animals'? ;)
 
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