Best UK Tiger enclosure

Best UK Tiger enclosure?

  • Total voters
    47
  • Poll closed .
B

britishzoofan

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Tigers 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.

Unfortunately I couldn't find photos of all exhibits, so if anyone has been to Knowsley, Port Lympne, Dartmoor, Woburn, WMSP or Drayton Manor could they describe the exhibit, compare it to others and possibly provide photos. Furthermore, I failed to find good overview photos of the enclosures at Banham and Marwell so could members perhaps provide further detail on them too.

If you want to vote for: any of the options not explicitly mentioned in the poll then vote for the other option and post in the thread to highlight which collection you have voted for.

Hamerton (Malayan)

full


Big Cat Sanctuary (Siberian)

full



Banham (Siberian)

full


Howletts (Siberian)

full


Blackpool (Siberian)

full

full


YWP (Siberian)

full


Paradise WP

full

full


Colchester (Siberian)

full


Whipsnade (Siberian)

full


Knowsley (Siberian)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality. From what I understand it is a new exhibit and of very high quality.

Linton (Siberian)

full


Port Lympne (Siberian)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality.

Isle of Wight (Siberian)

full


Dartmoor (Siberian)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality.

Marwell (Siberian)

full


Woburn (Siberian)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality.

Highland (Siberian)

full


Blair Drummond (Siberian)

full


WMSP (Sumatran)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality.

Chester (Sumatran)

full


South Lakes (Sumatran)

full


Dudley (Sumatran)

full
 
London (Sumatran)

full


Flamingo Land (Sumatran)

full


Paignton (Sumatran)

full


Shepreth (Sumatran)

full

full


Drayton Manor (Sumatran)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality.

Thrigby (Sumatran)

full


Twycross (Sumatran)

full


Edinburgh (Sumatran)

full

full


Welsh Mountain (Sumatran)

full

full


Manor WP

full


Lincolnshire WP

full


Woodside

full


Wingham

full
 
My personal top 3 tiger enclosures in the UK are all for Siberian/Amur tigers:

  • HWP, because it's large, very pretty and most resembles their natural habitat.
  • Whipsnade, because it's a large and naturalistic enclosure with a good amount of trees/foliage.
  • YWP, very similar to Whipsnade but *just* not quite as nice, however they do have two of them side by side.

Very difficult to choose between them (all have great viewing opportunities too), but overall I'll have to vote for YWP as best because of the set up they have of having two very nice, near identical, enclosures as opposed to one.
 
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My top two choices of the ones I've seen would be;

HWP for Siberian- as most resembling natural habitat (the birch trees help).
ZSL for Sumatran- this is their best recent enclosure IMO and its both spacious and well-landscaped.
 
I feel slightly guilty voting for London, because I'm not sure whether it is because of the actual enclosure quality or if it is in part due to some of the excellent views of the tigers and the cubs I have had in the past. Then again, the fact that the enclosure provides excellent views of the tigers and that they have bred suggests that it is a good enclosure. :)
 
Voted London as, followed by Penguin Beach, it’s the best of the “new” exhibits that have been constructed in recent years at RP, and makes clever use of incorporating an old, listed building (the Stork & Ostrich house).

Whipsnade’s Amurs are let down in my view by poor housing and by a lack of privacy due to an increasing number of visitor-made dirt paths around the enclosure.
 
HWP & London are really good. However, you should not omit Paignton! It has good viewing, it has opportunities for privacy and the tigers have a lot to look out onto to. It is well vegetated, shaded and the breeding record is reasonable.
 
Knowsley is by far the best tiger enclosure that I have seen in the UK. I've yet to see HWP or Blair Drummond, both look good but out of those I've seen knowsley is on another level. The enclosure are very natural, set in a wooded area with a natural stream running through them. They are huge too.
 
TriUK said:
HWP & London are really good. However, you should not omit Paignton! It has good viewing, it has opportunities for privacy and the tigers have a lot to look out onto to. It is well vegetated, shaded and the breeding record is reasonable.
Click to expand...

Paignton was one of the collections that just missed the cut to be included as a option on the poll by itself. I'm assuming your vote was for Paignton.
 
Overall, I think that tigers have among the highest quality enclosures among the panthera species, especially compared to leopards/jaguars. For me, YWP gets the vote again for having two spacious enclosures that include wooded, grassy and marshy elements with multiple hiding spots and great views along the boardwalk. It is IMO the most immersive as it is set among the marshy surroundings. HWP and Knowsley however are also extremely strong contestants. I have mixed feelings about Chester’s Sumatran Tiger encl.
 
TriUK said:
However, you should not omit Paignton!
Click to expand...

Whilst Paignton do have a nice exhibit for their Tigers, it can't compete with the likes of Knowsley, Chester, Whipsnade, Edinburgh, YWP or Colchester...

My vote goes to Knowsley - it's a fantastic exhibit which encompasses a natural woodland with multiple paddocks, a large house, and great theming/viewing for visitors.
 
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Knowsley all the way. Two large paddocks, close to 2 acres in side when combined. Natural stream running through with a massive pond in one. Mature trees, mounds and rocks. One of the most impressive tiger enclosures I have ever seen. If you haven't seen it you need to once all this is over. I may have some pictures which I can post on here at some point.

In my opinion it makes YWP's (still a very good set of enclosures) look rather bland.
 
Tau said:
I may have some pictures which I can post on here at some point.
Click to expand...

They would be great to see as it is clearly a strong contender and being a relatively new exhibit there may be quite a few members who have not seen it. Anyone else who has photos of the exhibit please do share.
 
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This is not easy, Whipsnade is a good enclosure but is let down being just one large enclosure with a very small separation area and not great housing.

Neither of YWP 2 large enclosures are as good as Whipsnade but together plus the decent sized separation pen probably put the 2 level.

Colchester, London and Paignton are all a good size and give good views of the tigers from different levels but not as good overall as the first two mentioned.

I've not been to HWP or seen Edinburgh 's new exhibit so for me the best I have seen has to be Knowsley - 2 very large impressive, natural adjoining enclosures with some glass viewing areas.
 
PaleoMatt said:
I voted Whipsnade, the coverage with the trees and large amount of space is fantastic.
Click to expand...
I can understand anyone who picks Whipsnade, I thought it was comfortably the best before I saw YWP, but Knowsley has to beat both now
 
I would be interested to head peoples justification for voting for London (currently in the lead with 8 votes) :)
 
Whipsnade's outdoor enclosure is great but it has quite a small separation area which is vital if male/female aren't compatible around cubs.
 
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