Best UK Malayan Tapir enclosure

[britishzoofan]

This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Malayan Tapir's in the UK. I have added a few photos from the gallery to make it easier for members to compare the different exhibits.

If anyone wants to make an argument for a particular enclosure, please feel free to do so. Also, I would encourage people to perhaps list the enclosures in order of what they determine to be the best.

If anyone has a photo of the enclosure at Belfast please share it or if you don't and have visited please describe the exhibit.


Chester

Port Lympne

Belfast

Edinburgh

 

[The_melford_manatee]

Don’t London Zoo have Malayan Tapir?Their enclosure wouldn’t win or give much competition but I do not remember the species being removed(and they definitely exhibited them once).

 

[LucasRyan]

Don’t London Zoo have Malayan Tapir?Their enclosure wouldn’t win or give much competition but I do not remember the species being removed(and they definitely exhibited them once).

Not anymore, last one died last year.

 

[Fallax]

Chester has an outdoor pool, right? Not shown in the images but I'm pretty sure they do.

As for who to vote for, I'd say Chester but Port Lympne looks alright. I would appreciate it if someone who has been there can say more about it.

 

[taun]

This is where years on an exhibit will help. When the trees mature at Chester the outdoor area will be ten times better. On par with Port Lympne?

 

[Benosaurus]

The following video shows what Chester's enclosure is like;

(tapir enclosure is shown at 8 minutes and again at 15 minutes 15 seconds)


Can anyone describe what the tapir indoor facilities at Port Lympne are like?

 

[Panthera1981]

Can anyone describe what the tapir indoor facilities at Port Lympne are like?

The stables are very basic I believe, nothing special. But to anyone unfamiliar the outdoor paddock(s) is pretty much what you see in the photo. Large forested paddock with heavy amount of cover situated in the centre of the park. Simple but very effective and with no “gimmicks.”

If I remember correctly, the old Sumatran rhino paddock was situated off to the left of this and, for a brief period, they were cohabiting.

 

[TriUK]

If anyone votes for Edinburgh’s shocking facility then I’d be very surprised!

 

[The_melford_manatee]

If anyone votes for Edinburgh’s shocking facility then I’d be very surprised!

Agreed.

Is there anything else to it or do they only have stables and a large mud wallow?

 

[zoosafari123]

The stables are very basic I believe, nothing special. But to anyone unfamiliar the outdoor paddock(s) is pretty much what you see in the photo. Large forested paddock with heavy amount of cover situated in the centre of the park. Simple but very effective and with no “gimmicks.”

If I remember correctly, the old Sumatran rhino paddock was situated off to the left of this and, for a brief period, they were cohabiting.

Do they have a pool in the outdoor area at port lympe?

 

[pipaluk]

Do they have a pool in the outdoor area at port lympe?

They have several pools, at least one in each paddock, of which there are at least 4 or 5

 

[pipaluk]

If anyone votes for Edinburgh’s shocking facility then I’d be very surprised!

I'm sure at least one person will!!

 

[Panthera1981]

With regards London, I can understand the reasoning behind moving their Malayans to the Casson (and to be fair they made a decent fist of improving the outdoor area) but I much preferred seeing them on the Cotton Terraces where they seemed to be more “showy.”

However, even if London was included in this poll it would never have won it.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

If anyone votes for Edinburgh’s shocking facility then I’d be very surprised!

Is there anything else to it or do they only have stables and a large mud wallow?

I'm sure at least one person will!!

I doubt anyone will vote for it, and nor should they given it is miles behind Port Lympne and Chester - however, in the interest of fairness it must be noted that it is nowhere near as bad, or small, as that photograph (taken at a foreshortened angle and during a period of bad weather which had waterlogged the main paddock and made it look - as @The_melford_manatee notes - like a mud wallow) would imply. The exhibit comprises the indoor stables, an outdoor pool/wallow, a primary outdoor paddock and a secondary outdoor paddock.

For the sake of fairness, these images taken from Google Streetview give a somewhat more accurate picture of the enclosure, albeit one absent the outdoor wallow (which isn't on Streetview) and with the ground damage caused by the waterlogging still visible. As of my last visit (October 2019) the grass has returned.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Chester has an outdoor pool, right? Not shown in the images but I'm pretty sure they do.

They do, yes; the first image shows the exhibit during the construction and planting process, the second "in use".

Also the indoor area is a lot larger than that single photograph (showing the indoor pool and not much else) implies:

The access to the offshow indoors is hidden behind that mock-rock crag at the rear, incidentally. Note that the onshow "indoors" seems to be open to the air, with a mesh and netting roof allowing shelter from the elements and some level of shade whilst also allowing fresh air into the exhibit I believe the offshow indoors is fully internal.

 

[ShonenJake13]

Should quickly jump in here and make the point that Port Lympne have multiple paddocks for their four tapirs (think we’re looking at four or five), and only TWO of them are as open as the above photo suggests. The rest are all in dense woodland.
Whilst, in typical Aspinall fashion, their indoors isn’t onshow (point to Chester in that side of things) the enclosure complex is by far the best in the UK, possibly one of the best in Europe.
EDIT: just seen that pipaluk has mentioned the number of paddocks

 

[Zia]

Port Lympne is one of my least favourite collections to visit... but I will be suprised if it doesn't win this one. I would like to understand why people are voting for Chester over PL in this insance? (other than just blind devotion to Chester obv).

 

[Antoine]

Port Lympne is one of my least favourite collections to visit... but I will be suprised if it doesn't win this one. I would like to understand why people are voting for Chester over PL in this insance? (other than just blind devotion to Chester obv).

The problem for PL is not the outdoor, sure the best in Europe. As I have ever seen on many pictures, the buildings in PL are really poor in general. I suppose it's the same for malayan tapirs. It's important for cold time and Chester makes the difference here.

 

[Azubaa]

As I have ever seen on many pictures, the buildings in PL are really poor in general. I suppose it's the same for malayan tapirs. It's important for cold time and Chester makes the difference here.

Especially for a species that tends to be very sensitive to the cold of the U.K. (knowledge from the individuals I’ve encountered), this is exactly why I’d vote Chester; indoor areas are sometimes overlooked yet for some species just as important obviously.

 

[pipaluk]

The problem for PL is not the outdoor, sure the best in Europe. As I have ever seen on many pictures, the buildings in PL are really poor in general. I suppose it's the same for malayan tapirs. It's important for cold time and Chester makes the difference here.

So have you actually seen the tapir housing at Port Lympne? Have you seen inside Chester's housing? The only photos available are of Chester's indoor exhibit which granted is good, but judging PL on the 'general' standard of its housing doesn't seem fair, particularly when Port Lympne's outdoors are significantly better!