Best UK Baboon enclosure

Best UK Baboon enclosure?


  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
Having done a few calculations I got this result for the two areas of the exhibits:

YWP: 1581 m2
Flamingo Land: 2371 m2

Which tallies almost perfectly with the result had I done it via scale factors instead.

Anyway, I think Flamingo Land has been rather hard done by in this one so far. It is larger, has much more in the way of climbing opportunities, and though it is barren, some may argue, it is for Hamadryas baboons! YWP's is for Guinea baboons, yet it is essentially a rocky field for a species whose natural habitat is woodland savannas and sparse rainforest...
It is slightly confusing that Flamingo Land's exhibit should have significantly more climbing opportunities than an exhibit for a species that spends all night and a good portion of the day in trees.
 
Personally gone for Combe Martin, and that's due to the following. Nice mix of grass and 'rock' with nice climbing opportunities. But mainly be causing I'm a sucker for a sob story, I believe the small group were rescued and placed by a Spanish charity. Must be a huge improvement for the animals, I know might not be the best way to vote but there you go.
 
In a few poles Flamingo Land has been largely overlooked it is a very pleasing collection, but I think they deserve a strong second. Guinea Baboons, noting that I have viewed them in the wild, are pretty much exclusively terrestrial during the day, only going up into the trees for the odd snack or using them as a vantage point. YWP in what it provides is therefore the most ‘naturalistic’ because the terrain is a mix of rocks, grass and scrubby-like substrate with high-enough vantage points that come with the added bonus of being sheltered from the Yorkshire weather. The view from the play barn of the enclosure is a nice touch also. As for Hamadryas at flamingo land, the enclosure is a large meadow island which works very well for the troop. The adults and even young rarely use the climbing structures however preferring to sit on the rocks or grass, so I feel like a taller rock structure would fit the animals nicely. But overall I think YWP has the edge.
 
The cage near the entrance- actually outside it, only houses a few spare adult males. The main group is very large these days and has a 'tower'-type enclosure as well as (usually) access to the large ex-rhino paddock- at least that's how it was my last visit.
Still like that yesterday, it is by far the largest baboon enclosure in a UK zoo
 
Now I know the place is a marmite place and very few people have visited but why hasn't WAMS been included in this thread, while the place doesn't have the greatest enclosures, the baboon enclosure is one of the better ones, and someone could be stupid enough to vote for it.
 
Now I know the place is a marmite place and very few people have visited but why hasn't WAMS been included in this thread, while the place doesn't have the greatest enclosures, the baboon enclosure is one of the better ones, and someone could be stupid enough to vote for it.

Sorry completely missed it out here is a photo. If anyone wants to vote for this exhibit comment in the thread.

full
 
Score update. YWP currently have a 6 vote lead over Flamingo Land and Paignton are a little further behind. What has surprised me on this poll so far is how few votes Port Lympne has recieved.
 
Poll closed. Congratulations to YWP on winning the vote for Best UK Baboon enclosure. This is YWP's fourth poll win and first not in a Big Cat poll. Flamingo Land recorded their best performance so far coming second and Paignton did well coming third continuing their recent good performances in these polls.

YWP: 44.2%
Flamingo Land: 25.6%
Paignton: 18.6%
Combe Martin: 4.7%
Port Lympne: 4.7%
South Lakes: 2.3%
 
Back
Top