Banham Zoo Banham Zoo Mixed African Paddock?

Yes, it is best to pinion birds when they are VERY young but older than 3 days (certainly in Waterfowl anyways) This way there isn't much blood to make it bleed to death but they're just about old enough to cope with the process.

Also, at Banham Zoo we have a nice selection of Vultures which can fly quite easily in their aviary. They are however used in the main attraction of our seasonal Flying Displays where up to 9 vultures can be seen flying together.
 
I juts had a thought, what about southern ground hornbills? I know (think) they are found in various african mixed exhibits and would add some diversity to the exhibit.

I have to say I would of thought a non african mixed exhibit would be better seeing as the sister park specialises in african animals and there could be a niche for some more unsual mixed exhibits. For exmaple why not a malaysian forest exhibit with asian buffalo, etc
 
It seems that Eland are strong favourites, and gnu have been mentioned in this thread. These are two species which have disappeared from traditional zoos (as opposed to Safari Parks*) in the UK and I would love to see them return. Newquay and Marwell now have pairs of White-tailed Gnu, but a nice little herd of Brindled Gnu would look great. The fact that both species are still around in safari parks should also make them easier to acquire.

* I think Port Lympne's African Experience has to be treated in this category.
 
robmv said:
but a nice little herd of Brindled Gnu would look great. The fact that both species are still around in safari parks should also make them easier to acquire.

* I think Port Lympne's African Experience has to be treated in this category.
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They used to be a traditonal 'zoo' animal but in these conservation conscious days have totally disappeared from our mainstream zoos. Their odd appearance certainly makes them a more interesting exhibit than some other antelope.

PL's (I think) came from an Austrian Safari Park that was closing down. I don't know the history of the other groups of Gnu e.g. West Midlands. Any ideas?
 
Pertinax said:
PL's (I think) came from an Austrian Safari Park that was closing down.
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Possibly Ganserndorf? Strange little park with a superb monkey/chimp house built for ex-lab animals.
 
foz said:
I have to say I would of thought a non african mixed exhibit would be better seeing as the sister park specialises in african animals and there could be a niche for some more unsual mixed exhibits. For exmaple why not a malaysian forest exhibit with asian buffalo, etc
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I agree with foz here, i cant see the point in Banham creating an african exhibit when the sister park specialises in african animals, and is so close.

I can imagine that average zoo visitors would either visit Banham or Africa Alive, when the species kept are similar.
 
jacks zoo said:
I agree with foz here, i cant see the point in Banham creating an african exhibit when the sister park specialises in african animals, and is so close.

I can imagine that average zoo visitors would either visit Banham or Africa Alive, when the species kept are similar.
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I don't know if I'm speaking out of turn here or not, but the hopeful idea is to turn the old Grevy's Zebra paddock into a South American mixed species exhibit when the Grevy's are in with the Giraffe. So there will be (hopefully) another mixed species exhibit there, as well as the current Australian paddock which consists of Red Kangaroo, Emu, Black Swan and Australian Wood Duck.

I don't think visitors would choose between the two because Africa Alive! have got Southern White Rhinoceros and Ostrich, two very popular species with Zoo goers and two species we don't intend to acquire at Banham because of their presence at AA!.

Another idea for the African paddock, does anybody think it would be a good idea to build a 'waterhole' and place African waterfowl or Pelicans on it?
 
I still can see no point in Banham creating an African Enclosure either. Anyway, if thats what they are doing then I cannot complain. How about Eland, Waterbuck or Sable Antelope. All are quite unusual and seem fairly feesible. Also Gerenuk I like the sound of.
 
ZooLeopard said:
I still can see no point in Banham creating an African Enclosure either. Anyway, if thats what they are doing then I cannot complain. How about Eland, Waterbuck or Sable Antelope. All are quite unusual and seem fairly feesible. Also Gerenuk I like the sound of.
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I can see the point of it only if we acquire the more unusual species. I forgot about Sable Antelope!!
 
CiaranDUK said:
Another idea for the African paddock, does anybody think it would be a good idea to build a 'waterhole' and place African waterfowl or Pelicans on it?
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Think this may be a good idea as long as it doesn't turn into a new home for the local geese and ducks from the nearby park!

Maybe flamingoes and pelicans?
 
ZooLeopard said:
Think this may be a good idea as long as it doesn't turn into a new home for the local geese and ducks from the nearby park!

Maybe flamingoes and pelicans?
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Well I don't know if Banham would be too keen on getting another Flamingo species! We already have 45 odd Chileans. I think Pelicans would be a nice addition though!
 
CiaranDUK said:
Well I don't know if Banham would be too keen on getting another Flamingo species! We already have 45 odd Chileans. I think Pelicans would be a nice addition though!
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I like this idea as well. In addition to the Pelicans, perhaps various African waterfowl could be obtained (Egyptian Goose, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hottentot Teal, Northern Pintail etc).
 
redpanda said:
I like this idea as well. In addition to the Pelicans, perhaps various African waterfowl could be obtained (Egyptian Goose, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hottentot Teal, Northern Pintail etc).
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Why would anybody want Egyptian Geese in their collections?! They're a pest species in Britain! They're everywhere in the wild! I was thinking more of Cape Shelduck, Cape Teal, Cape Shoveler, African Combduck, African Pygmy Goose, Maccoa Duck

ZooLeopard said:
No, use the current chileans if you can.

If not how about some blue winged geese? or maybe white backed ducks?
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But they're South American! Lol! I like the idea of Abyssinian Blue Wings and White Backs!

ZooLeopard said:
could Banhams african spoonbill be located near or even in the new african enclosure?
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They could do but they need an aviary as they nest in trees and that means building a new aviary and then finding a species to replace them in their current aviary.
 
lechweoryx said:
CIARANDUK, you said you volunteered at the park. Do you work with the animals?
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If, when you say "with", you mean direct interaction, then some species, yes. But if you just mean volunteering with the Zoo Keepers then yes also. Why do you ask?
 
CiaranDUK said:
Why would anybody want Egyptian Geese in their collections?! They're a pest species in Britain! They're everywhere in the wild!
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Well they are locally in East Anglia. But rarer elsewhere and absent altogether in climatically wetter parts of UK, mainly because they need dry conditions for successful breeding.

Highly aggressive, they will fight and injure smaller ducks (as too will Shelducks) so I'd never recommend them in a mixed waterfowl collection anyway.
 
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