Best UK Capybara enclosure

[Lafone]

Capybara fun! Some of the smaller collections have the nicest Capybara spaces, perhaps they are more of a feature species than at some of the larger places. Sometimes the Capybara share with other species (at CWP the Capybara even have their own duck, not kidding) like Tapir, rhea etc so a mix also works.

Shepreth's enclosure is roomy, an interesting shape where you can see the Capybara in different places and has a good water feature. There are also prairie dogs in the same space and that makes for fun viewing. Excellent to see the youngsters there too.

I enjoy Beale Park's as it is a varied space and you get good views with a nice backdrop and the flow between there and the Tapir pond is great. There's a lovely old fountain opposite the pond and you can sit with a coffee and watch the capybara go by. Mellowing.

CWP have Capybara across a couple of enclosure spaces, both the one in the picture as well as one next door to it and one opposite, with a good amount of water, sharing with Tapir on and off. The wooded area offers them lots of shade and shelter.

Dudley is ok but it doesn't feel adventurous or like you are looking into the Capybara world, it's more standard enclosure but the pool space is nice and they seem to use it a lot. Wolds is ok size wise with a couple of pools but lacks a mix of planting and it feels like it misses the 'super' next step. Noah's ark has good views and a good pool but feels like a paddock for hoofstock as little planting.

Chester was a bit disappointing for me as it didn't feel tailoured to the Capybara, though it is vast compared to many other places. Of all the enclosures at Chester it felt the least well designed, though it's a great size and lots of grazing etc and it's more by comparison that it suffers a bit. The anteater were certainly trundling around in it.

All Things Wild is a good space, sharing with Rhea and a well done pond with some decent planting. One side of the viewing is in a kid's play area however, which is a tad weird if you are visiting without small sized humans as you are practically standing in a play castle. That's the best angle for viewing too as it is nearest to the pond.

I enjoyed seeing the Capybara at Exmoor as on the warm day they were in the muddy pond and making the most of running about covered in it, the enclosure seemed a good size.

YWP is enjoyable as the Capybara are in the Amazona walkthrough, they have access to a large and varied space with planting and a good sized pool where they were splashing around on my last visit. Although not a species specific enclosure I really enjoyed being able to see the Capybara in different places and for them to decide where to spend their time.

Overall voting other for YWP, CWP running second. All my favourites are in 'other' anyway.

 

[Kalaw]

There are a few too many enclosures for me to take into account those that I haven't seen, as I would normally attempt to do on these polls. Instead, I thought I would simply rank the ones that I have seen.

11. Paradise - a little small, but decent
10. Chessington - probably the smallest, but the large pool is nice
9. Hemsley - again quite small, but not bad especially for just one individual, and well-planted
8. Howletts - decent but very basic
7. Longleat - again, very basic, but by no means poor
6. Exmoor - lovely setting, active animals and the pool is great
5. Chester - massive space, but a bit basic and dull
4. Woburn - large space and great terrain make it great for the animals, but the mock rock is an eyesore
3. Noah's Ark - many enclosures, multiple pools, long grass and the largest indoor space
2. Dartmoor - huge space, huge pool, wetland-like plants and good viewing
1. Cotswold - lovely wooded setting, incredible amount of space, multiple pools, good separation options etc

It really comes down to Noah's Ark, Dartmoor and Cotswold for me, but I will give a very slight edge to Cotswold, just because the woodland-like environment is lovely, and the separation facilities are far better, probably larger than my lowest three enclosures in their entirety. The onshow indoor area gives it an edge over Dartmoor, and although Noah's Ark barn is better, the outdoors is ever so slightly behind. As such, I voted other, which in this case means Cotswold Wildlife Park.

I was quite surprised to find out that Marwell no longer holds Capybara, as I always loved watching them there. Its a great space, somewhat similar to Chester's enclosure in that size is all it really has going for it, but I loved the meadow-like aesthetic with many plants. I would have probably placed it above Noah's Ark but below Dartmoor.

 

[Jennings]

Ok thanks for letting me know. ZTL must just be out of date because it still lists them a a holding

All Conwy has now is a pair of ASOCs, a pair of Mandarin Ducks, a pair of Reeve's Pheasant, some Red-Eared Sliders, a few domestic ducks, some chickens, and a Chinese Goose, plus a few display tanks of tropical fish and a couple of ponds for Goldfish and Koi around the aquarium shop.

 

[Alwaysevergreen]

All Conwy has now is a pair of ASOCs, a pair of Mandarin Ducks, a pair of Reeve's Pheasant, some Red-Eared Sliders, a few domestic ducks, some chickens, and a Chinese Goose, plus a few display tanks of tropical fish and a couple of ponds for Goldfish and Koi around the aquarium shop.

Not to change tract on the thread, but according to the website of Conwy, the Asian Short Clawed Otters have moved on whilst changes are made to exhibits. It looks a beautiful site, I wonder what it's on the market for? Could make a beautiful resort / hotel with restaurant taking in rescued animals.

 

[Jennings]

Not to change tract on the thread, but according to the website of Conwy, the Asian Short Clawed Otters have moved on whilst changes are made to exhibits. It looks a beautiful site, I wonder what it's on the market for? Could make a beautiful resort / hotel with restaurant taking in rescued animals.

I understand it's on the market for £2m, as indeed it has been for some time. Trouble is it's an awkward site at the centre of which are some holiday cottages owned by other people so it couldn't really be developed as a resort. What you're buying is a trio of fishing lakes, one of which has been empty for years because it leaks, an aquarium shop, a restaurant, and a small nature trail/zoo. It's all very pleasant but as running a restaurant is a full time job and so is running an aquarium shop it is easy to see why there have been no takers.

 

[Strathmorezoo]

I have a Capybara conundrum, as there must be well over 40 collections with Capybara and I assume most are trying to breed them and if they have ,say 3 litters a year, where do all of the young go?The same could be said of many other non rarities Anybody got any answers?

 

[Lafone]

I have a Capybara conundrum, as there must be well over 40 collections with Capybara and I assume most are trying to breed them and if they have ,say 3 litters a year, where do all of the young go?The same could be said of many other non rarities Anybody got any answers?

I believe they produce one litter a year. Anecdotally from visiting a lot of collections with them, most places don't seem to breed them very often. I can only think of Shepreth where I have seen young ones recently and they were born last year.

Looking on google, Dartmoor have had a litter in 2023, along with PWP and Northumberland. Jimmy's farm had one last year along with Druscillas. Not sure if there is a stud book (guess there is) but breeding seems steady compared to the numbers kept, which I assume avoids a surplus.

 

[mrcriss]

I have a Capybara conundrum, as there must be well over 40 collections with Capybara and I assume most are trying to breed them and if they have ,say 3 litters a year, where do all of the young go?The same could be said of many other non rarities Anybody got any answers?

There’s a very simple answer to that.

Years ago, zoos were breeding capybara left right and center, and their youngsters would sit on the surplus list for ages, because introducing new capybara to an existing group is a chuffin’ nightmare! So everywhere started either neutering or keeping single sex groups.

Fast forward a few years and suddenly all these ageing populations are happening, and zoos (large and small) start panicking and sending out emails all over asking for capybara. Only 3 places at the time were breeding. Northumberland, South Lakes and Blackpool.

Then TikTok happened and the public went crazy for capys. Now there are a few more places breeding and they’re becoming the new meerkat.

 

[Strathmorezoo]

I believe they produce one litter a year. Anecdotally from visiting a lot of collections with them, most places don't seem to breed them very often. I can only think of Shepreth where I have seen young ones recently and they were born last year.

Looking on google, Dartmoor have had a litter in 2023, along with PWP and Northumberland. Jimmy's farm had one last year along with Druscillas. Not sure if there is a stud book (guess there is) but breeding seems steady compared to the numbers kept, which I assume avoids a surplus.

Apparently Drusillas are the studbook keeper for capybara in the uk

 

[Lafone]

While not changing my vote I found on my visit today that I had done a bit of a disservice to All things wild on their Capybara and Rhea mixed enclosure - I had not realised that it was actually in three parts.

The point on seeing some of the best viewing from the play park remains, though it was empty early on so I didn't look quite as odd standing around with a camera. I took the panoramic on my phone standing next to a wooden castle!

Does add up to quite a large space overall with some different heights and planting across the three paddock arrangement. The capybara and rhea had free access to all the different areas.

Added a few photos to the gallery.

 

[tennisfan]

The Chessington photo is a few years old and that area is now used for raccoon and skunk exhibits.
The Capybara are alongside the sulcata tortoises in exhibits on the path to the tiger exhibit.

 

[Jennings]

Conwy update: I was there yesterday and the site has now changed hands. All the livestock bar the Koi in the pancake house pond has now been rehomed, the ASCOs have been returned to the private breeder from whom they were purchased, and the aquarium shop is down to five sales tanks, so presumably the new owners who will be taking over in three weeks have no intention of keeping either the aquarium shop or the small zoo going.

 

[Anteater Shrub]

Greenacres is the winner here! One of my favourite animal parks with some great enclosures. Pretty underrated wolf enclosure aswell.

 

[felis silvestris]

Poll closed. Congratulations to Chester for having the Best UK Capybara enclosure. The huge space for them gave them a win. Many people haven’t speculated on who they voted for so they could be upturned for the win. @demonmoth @speedycheese @sparkes12 @Trudie @Willem123 @Guniea Fowl @Gabriel Furr who did you vote for?

Chester: 17.1%
Port Lympne: 11.4%
Knowsley: 8.6%
Northumberland: 5.7%
Dartmoor: 5.7%
Folly Farm: 2.9%
Greenacres: 2.9%
Dudley: 2.9%
Drayton Manor: 2.9%
Cotswold: 2.9%
YWP: 2.9%
Newquay: 2.9%
Jimmy’s Farm: 2.9%
Beale: 2.9% (guessing @mrcriss voted for them)
Other: 25.7%

 

[Alwaysevergreen]

Surprised by this result. An exhibit for a semi aquatic species which has next to no water access, very little cover (except on far fence) and as a result they've often hidden by the far fence out of view. Also whilst it is not a small exhibit, it's by no means as big as Dartmoor, Folly Farm, Port Lympne etc. It sometimes feels like people vote Chester on every poll as it's their favourite zoo or their local zoo, which kind of takes away from these polls in my opinion.

 

[Keelan]

I voted for knowsley because in my opinion there is no greater capybara enclosure that I have seen. Though there isn't much cover as in trees there is a lot of long grass and reeds which the capybara love to hide in. The enclosure is huge with a section of natural lake and a small amount of space over the other side of the lake aswell

 

[felis silvestris]

Surprised by this result. An exhibit for a semi aquatic species which has next to no water access, very little cover (except on far fence) and as a result they've often hidden by the far fence out of view. Also whilst it is not a small exhibit, it's by no means as big as Dartmoor, Folly Farm, Port Lympne etc. It sometimes feels like people vote Chester on every poll as it's their favourite zoo or their local zoo, which kind of takes away from these polls in my opinion.

Yes, Chester have won a lot of these polls. Although some people disagree, they have the most votes, so they win. I personally wouldn’t have voted for them.

 

[mrcriss]

Beale: 2.9% (guessing @mrcriss voted for them)

Wouldn't be so vain as to vote for ourselves, thank you....although as a decent sized enclosure for the number of animals, natural planting, and a very large natural pond, I'd say we were in the top 3. Especially as with the pampas walk, it probably has the best backdrop for photos.

But out of the enclosures I've seen, I think I liked Flamingoland the best tbh. This was probably back in.....2016 (ish), when they offered me a job. Huge, with mixed species, but I don't remember much else.

Most of the ones listed above are a bit sub-par. Not into calling out specific collections online, but one that has received compliments is tiny with a concrete mud bath for a pond!

*EDIT...actually, looking back through the pics, Drayton Manor's look lovely. That gets my vote

 

[demonmoth]

Poll closed. Congratulations to Chester for having the Best UK Capybara enclosure. The huge space for them gave them a win. Many people haven’t speculated on who they voted for so they could be upturned for the win. @demonmoth @speedycheese @sparkes12 @Trudie @Willem123 @Guniea Fowl @Gabriel Furr who did you vote for?

Chester: 17.1%
Port Lympne: 11.4%
Knowsley: 8.6%
Northumberland: 5.7%
Dartmoor: 5.7%
Folly Farm: 2.9%
Greenacres: 2.9%
Dudley: 2.9%
Drayton Manor: 2.9%
Cotswold: 2.9%
YWP: 2.9%
Newquay: 2.9%
Jimmy’s Farm: 2.9%
Beale: 2.9% (guessing @mrcriss voted for them)
Other: 25.7%

i voted for the cotswold wildlife park xx

 

[Jacob Blackwood]

I like Northumberland's enclosure and the baby capybaras seemed to enjoy it