Best UK Gelada enclosure

Best UK Gelada enclosure?

  • Total voters
    37
  • Poll closed .
Dudley currently has 3 enclosures that are used by their gelada:
A.) The enclosure to the right of the chairlift (as viewed from the base).
B.) The enclosure to the left of the chairlift (as viewed from the base).
C.) The enclosure to the left of the spider monkeys further up the slope.

I believe that at the moment they have 3 separate gelada groups:
1.) The family group (although apparently the dominant male Ebano has now been castrated).
2.) The new bachelor group.
3.) The main bachelor group.

I think that generally the family group (1) and the new bachelor group (2) are rotated between the enclosures either side of the chairlift (A and B). The main bachelor group (3) tend to stay in the enclosure to the left of the spider monkeys (C).

I think the plan is to eventually merge the two bachelor groups (if they haven't been already), but the family group will likely continue to be rotated between enclosures A and B to give the grass chance to recover.

The family group of geladas used to swap enclosures either side of the chairlift with the zoo's Sulawesi crested macaques, however the macaques have since left the zoo and the new bachelor gelada group was formed after their departure.

Anyway, here's a few photos that show what each enclosure looks like...

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B.) (Unfortunately there are only photos of this enclosure on Zoochat during periods when it was occupied by the macaques, however, apart from the grass now being a bit more threadbare, it is still the same enclosure).
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C.)
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While the outdoor areas for the geladas at Dudley are all excellent imo, the indoor areas for all 3 enclosures do appear very small and viewing for all 3 outdoor areas does feel quite awkward, therefore my vote will have to go to YWP.
 
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I have only seen Colchester and Banham, but I could easily see myself voting for YWP, Wild Place/Bristol Zoo project, Banham, Dudley, or Edinburgh, as they are all impressive with different ways of presenting Geladas with mostly similar terrain with grass, rocks and a few climbing structures. Because of this I am not yet fully decided.
 
What strikes me is that all of the Gelada enclosures in the UK are not bad at all. Colchester regularly breed 2 or 3 a year, theirs is not the most attractive but it can't be too bad! Only one I haven't seen is Jersey
 
pipaluk said:
What strikes me is that all of the Gelada enclosures in the UK are not bad at all. Colchester regularly breed 2 or 3 a year, theirs is not the most attractive but it can't be too bad! Only one I haven't seen is Jersey
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i think most/many primates will breed whatever their surroundings, even in substandard ones as long as they are healthy and well-fed. Colchester's problem is the enclosure is too small for the size of the group so they've denuded the outside area. The wooden platforms are not very easy on the eye either so its very unnattractive as a result. The group is healthy and thriving nonetheless.
 
Score update. It's close between Dudley, Edinburgh, WP and YWP. Several of these enclosures are very nice. Should I start to refer to WP as Bristol from now on?
 
Benosaurus said:
Very surprised that Wild Place/ Bristol Zoo Project got so many votes. I don't see how it can be considered up there with the likes of YWP, Dudley and Edinburgh.

Google Maps

Bristol Zoo Project - Google Maps
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I'd agree - though it's a good, well thought out space and the group is fairly small so it caters to them well, there are more interesting enclosures in the list.

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Benosaurus said:
Very surprised that Wild Place/ Bristol Zoo Project got so many votes. I don't see how it can be considered up there with the likes of YWP, Dudley and Edinburgh.

Google Maps

Bristol Zoo Project - Google Maps
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As mentioned, I think it is by far the best from a visitor perspective, with excellent theming and very well-hidden fencing that gives the impression of the space being far larger than it actually is. Look at pictures of Bristol's Geladas on the gallery, and the beauty that I am referring to should become relatively obvious. And for the animals it is decent too, with decent climbing and massive undulation in the terrain to simulate their natural habitat. Its around 1,900 square metres. For comparison, the family group enclosure at Dudley is 1,400 square metres (although the combined area of all three will definitely be substantially bigger), Colchester is around 900, and Edinburgh is around 3,300.

I do think Edinburgh's enclosure is better, but Bristol (going to take me a while to get used to calling it that) still has an excellent exhibit in my opinion, which I considered switching my vote to on several occasions.
 
Kalaw said:
As mentioned, I think it is by far the best from a visitor perspective, with excellent theming and very well-hidden fencing that gives the impression of the space being far larger than it actually is. Look at pictures of Bristol's Geladas on the gallery, and the beauty that I am referring to should become relatively obvious. And for the animals it is decent too, with decent climbing and massive undulation in the terrain to simulate their natural habitat. Its around 1,900 square metres. For comparison, the family group enclosure at Dudley is 1,400 square metres (although the combined area of all three will definitely be substantially bigger), Colchester is around 900, and Edinburgh is around 3,300.

I do think Edinburgh's enclosure is better, but Bristol (going to take me a while to get used to calling it that) still has an excellent exhibit in my opinion, which I considered switching my vote to on several occasions.
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I agee the backdrop (the trees in the distance) in particular gives some great backgrounds for viewing and photos at BZP. However for me the different heights at YWP edges it, the viewing is pretty similar in terms of no fencing etc in the way and the geladas silloutted against the sky and roaming up and down the slopes is very attractive.

As has been said in this thread though, all the enclosures have merit, it's a well catered for species at the moment.
 
Unfortunately, Jersey's enclosure has been cropped to the ground. What is the solution? Is it just that a bigger enclosure is needed?
 
Will Bennett said:
Unfortunately, Jersey's enclosure has been cropped to the ground. What is the solution? Is it just that a bigger enclosure is needed?
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I think the only possible solution is the same solution as any grazing animal - to have two paddocks and to rotate the animals between them over long periods to allow the grass in the other paddock to recover (which is what they do in fact do at Dudley).
 
Surprised Howletts didn't get a few more votes...its the only one of the enclosures I have seen that doesn't appear to have suffered being denuded at all- its very large for the number of Geladas and looks (or it did) rather like a nice bowling green. Geladas' problem for zoo enclosures is their feeding method- pick pick pick with their fingers so that they pull up the roots as well as the grass stems/foliage.
 
Maguari said:
I think the only possible solution is the same solution as any grazing animal - to have two paddocks and to rotate the animals between them over long periods to allow the grass in the other paddock to recover (which is what they do in fact do at Dudley).
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I suspected as much ... sad those in charge didn't think of that. Of maybe they did - maybe that's why they sent away the Celebes Macaques who live next door. An endangered species swapped for a non-breeding group of Geladas.
 
felis silvestris said:
Something to say whilst this thread is active: I will might start doing Best UK reboot threads next year it will be 5 years by that time that they were first made. If people think it’s a good idea then say.
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My thought on the best enclosure threads is not to redo everything every X years, but to do a few each year for species that had major new developments in the previous 12 months.
 
NMM said:
My thought on the best enclosure threads is not to redo everything every X years, but to do a few each year for species that had major new developments in the previous 12 months.
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I think maybe ones with new developments could be updated, but others which haven’t changed shouldn’t then?
 
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NMM said:
My thought on the best enclosure threads is not to redo everything every X years, but to do a few each year for species that had major new developments in the previous 12 months.
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Ok, I will follow with this. A new thread with species originally done in the UK will come soon, though animals with few enclosure or zoo changes will not be rebooted.
 
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