Best UK Sloth enclosure

Best UK Sloth enclosure?

  • Total voters
    31
  • Poll closed .
felis silvestris

felis silvestris

Well-Known Member
This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Sloths 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 list the enclosures in order of what they think is best.

The Langur and Maned wolf polls are closing soon if you haven’t yet voted do so before it closes.

If you want to vote for Newquay, Banham, Folly Farm, Belfast, Birmingham, Paradise WP, Hemsley, Hamerton, Living Rainforest, Woodside, Amazon World, Paignton, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Longleat or Wingham please vote for the "Other" option in the poll.

Newquay (Hoffman's)

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Drusillas

full


Banham

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Folly Farm

full


Belfast

full


Birmingham WCP

full


Paradise WP

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Cotswold

full


Chester

full


full


Colchester

full


South Lakes

full


full


Dudley

full


full


Edinburgh

full


Hemsley

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Hamerton

full


Living Rainforest

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

London

full


Woodside

full


Amazon World

full


Paignton

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Isle of Wight

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.
Jersey

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.

Longleat

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.[

Marwell

full


Wingham

full


Photo credits to @MagpieGoose @Big Rob @gulogulogulo @ro6ca66 @Devi @Mr Weasel @felis silvestris @Benosaurus @JamesB @Maguari @Crowthorne
 
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Voted Chester. They have the most active sloths that I have ever seen with the sheer number of ropes in the hall encouraging a lot of very impressive climbing, and with the outdoor area attached they are probably the only sloths in the country to have access to a live tree, from which they are able to feed.

I do feel that London deserves an honourable mention, although it sort of feels like cheating since they are not the sole focus of the enclosure, rather one of several free-ranging species in a tropical house, and they have breed twice in the past three years. Similar things can be said about Cotswold, whose Tropical House is far taller than the photo above suggests, but it sadly only holds one individual.
 
Kalaw said:
do feel that London deserves an honourable mention, although it sort of feels like cheating since they are not the sole focus of the enclosure, rather one of several free-ranging species in a tropical house
Click to expand...
Newquay’s enclosure is the same - they share the Tropical House with free-flying birds and free-ranging reptiles and amphibians. So @felis silvestris if you want a photo of it any clear image of the main animal area in that house would suffice.
Also noteworthy for being the only Hoffman’s sloths in the UK.
 
Banham sloths share a large tropical house with a water feature that runs through it, enclosures viewable from the space for sun conures, titi monkeys and armadillo then there are also free roaming birds. There's a glass fronted exhibit with underwater viewing for the Cuvier dwarf caiman. The sloths have free range of the house, moving across a variety of ropes and tree branches and using the structure of the house itself as a climbing frame. It's a lovely space to spend time in and the sloths are often active. There are live trees in the exhibit (Chester is not the only place to feature that as suggested in this thread, quite a few tropical houses do) and a great mix of planting. The house also has a sustainable heat pump system which is really positive to see.

I enjoy Banham's exhibit as well as the Colchester one, where the sloths are in with the free roaming small primates in two different exhibits (the photo as Rajang mentioned shows the other half of one of them, the sloths are housed on the other side) which is lovely to see and enjoy. I do like Dudley as there is a good house and a lot for the sloths to do (seen them out and about on the frames a lot). I didn't see the sloth out at Woodside but again the Tropical house there is great, there is great planting, free flying birds, live trees and good rope and the house in general has the merit of being the landmark Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory which they saved from demolition and rebuilt on the site. CWP also has a great space for the sloth (holding one compared to Banham's two) and the house is such a treat particularly late in the afternoon when people have left and you can sit with potoroo and Victoria crowned pigeon, watch the squirrels rush past in their enclosure mesh tubes and wait (patiently) for the sloth to come out.

Hamerton have very successful breeding and the sloths are lovely but not always easy to see.

Hard choice but I prefer a mixed exhibit and of those that I have visited, Banham just edges it for me.
 
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I've seen three of these but it has got to be either London or Chester for me.

London has a huge amount of climbing opportunities with real trees and I suppose the enrichment from other species like tamandua and callitrichids.

Chester meanwhile has both indoors and outdoors with lots of height and privacy options.

Not sure who to vote for here!
 
Here's a few photos of exhibits that weren't included in the original post
felis silvestris said:
Banham Zoo

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.
Click to expand...
full

full


felis silvestris said:
Newquay Zoo (Hoffman's)

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.
Click to expand...
full

full

felis silvestris said:
Belfast Zoo
Click to expand...
The sloths at Belfast are now held in a new exhibit in the tropical house, although I sadly have no photos as this exhibit has been built since my last visit to Belfast.

felis silvestris said:
Birmingham WCP
Click to expand...
full

felis silvestris said:
Paradise Wildlife Park

Unfortunately there are no photos of the enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or provide a photo of the exhibit that would be great.
Click to expand...
Just as a precursor, my photo of this exhibit is from 2017, so things may have changed since then
full

felis silvestris said:
Cotswold Wildlife Park
Click to expand...
full

full

felis silvestris said:
Colchester Zoo
Click to expand...
full
 
Again, I found this a struggle. As most Sloth enclosures are either in tropical houses, nocturnal houses, or not stand alone exhibits.

I don't dislike Marwells, or Cotswolds, and Colchesters feels small to me.
I wasn't struck on Longleats or Edinburghs.
Banhams, I do like, but I think the best of the options were Chester and London.
I like the height at Chester and that they have an outside, but I really like the tropical house at London and the mixed species they have and the vast size of it, and the two levels so to speak. The tropical house at London, is probably my favourite exhibit there (although not been since the Snowdon Aviary reopened) since the Reptile house is to close, and for mainly that reason, it gets my vote.
 
Rajang21 said:
Which of Colchester's sloth enclosures feels small to you? I would not describe either as small.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it's changed since I had last been there, but they were sort of in a passage way you walked through towards the Tamandua, and felt kind of low, not really allowing the Sloths to get that high, and think they shared the area with something else. It may have changed since I last visited and noticed them properly, but I just remember feeling it felt a little on the smaller size for what was essentially a tropical area
 
Fallax said:
I've seen three of these but it has got to be either London or Chester for me.

London has a huge amount of climbing opportunities with real trees and I suppose the enrichment from other species like tamandua and callitrichids.

Chester meanwhile has both indoors and outdoors with lots of height and privacy options.

Not sure who to vote for here!
Click to expand...
Chester's enclosure fits the theming of it's area very well. Although I haven't visited yet, London does look like a better enclosure in terms of realism. I have ,however, still voted Chester as I obviously haven't seen London. Although for me, Banham is up there.
 
Alwaysevergreen said:
I'm not sure if it's changed since I had last been there, but they were sort of in a passage way you walked through towards the Tamandua, and felt kind of low, not really allowing the Sloths to get that high, and think they shared the area with something else. It may have changed since I last visited and noticed them properly, but I just remember feeling it felt a little on the smaller size for what was essentially a tropical area
Click to expand...
Pretty sure you’re just thinking of the indoor area; they have access to the planted outdoor with (last I knew) was also home to golden lion tamarins.
 
In recent history (not counting the little on-show quarantine enclosure along from the chimps, used when the sloths first arrived at the zoo) there have been three sloth exhibits at Colchester Zoo, only two of which remain today:
  1. The South American walkthrough, near the entrance, shared with coppery titi and golden-headed lion tamarin, plus green iguana and yellow-footed tortoise in good weather. I think the sloths may have access to all three indoor areas shared with the primates, plus the netted outdoor walkthrough shown in post #10.
  2. The indoor area of the pied tamarin enclosure, no longer used. This was the smallest of the three recently-used enclosures, and I'm not sure if that sloth had any outdoor access. This enclosure has returned to its original use as a visitor corridor into the Worlds Apart building.
  3. The left-hand side of the Worlds Apart display, currently shared with pied tamarins. The sloths have been the sole species to remain in this enclosure since it opened - the silvery marmosets, golden lion tamarins and Chaco chachalacas have all either left or moved elsewhere in the zoo. They have a single fairly spacious indoor space, plus a netted outdoor enclosure. This enclosure isn't pictured anywhere in the thread.
If enclosure no. 2 was the only one a sloth was seen in, I could understand it not seeming to be very big or impressive. The other two are much better, with ample amounts of indoor and outdoor space, the outdoor enclosures all being well-planted and with plenty of climbing apparatus. That being said, I haven't seen anywhere near enough sloth enclosures to justify voting for anything.
 
Poll closed. Congratulations to London for having the Best UK Sloth enclosure. It was close between them and Chester, with both being great exhibits, but London just edged it and got their first win.

London: 45.2%
Chester: 38.7%
Cotswold: 3.2%
Dudley: 3.2%
Edinburgh: 3.2%
Marwell: 3.2%
Banham: 3.2%
 
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