Cricket St Thomas Big animals to go

They will be put down I suppose. Does anyone know what they are getting rid of?
 
Sounds like the reverse of 'Fierce Creatures'.

A real shame; CST is a hidden jem, and the hoofstock looked fantastic in it when I visited in 2005.
 
Dont think getting rid of there larger animals will make them more money their the only reason i go to this place such a shame i remember when they had elephants and sealions there
 
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Stripes said:
They will be put down I suppose. Does anyone know what they are getting rid of?
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You can look at their species list to work it out but having been there very recently I can guess;

Bactrian Camels
Emus(20+)
Zebra (Chapmans)
Red Lechwe. S. H. Oryx. Sitatunga. Waterbuck. Axis deer. Fallow Deer. Amur Leopards. Cheetah. Hunting Dogs(aged pair) Brazilian Tapir. Prezwalski Horses.

Those are the main larger species they keep and would leave them with stuff from Capybara- sized downwards. But maybe they would resite other species too.

Its a sad day but I am not surprised-despite one of the best sites in the country for a wildlife park, the animal collection at Cricket has not developed at all really in the last few years. The last time I visited though, just a few weeks ago-the car park was choc a block full and the place was busy but there was some sort of music concert going on and that may have been the reason for the large number of visitors. Usually it is very quiet there.
 
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This all makes sense if the hotel owners basically 'kept on' the scaled-down wildlife park after they took over the manor house. It hasn't developed like a zoo that needs to evolve in order to survive - there have been no major new exhibits, no real packaging or marketing of these, and very few significant acquisitions. The odd new exhibit has sprung up, but tourists won't come for a new bush dog or coati enclosure, or to see a bachelor group of przewalskis horses. The park largely consists of hardy 'wildlife park' species, kept in rather bizarre combinations.

This place could have capitalised on the trend towards walk-through habitats, with the lemur wood setting a good precedent, but at least it is not closing outright. I suspect this scaling back may have more to do with the Warner chain as a whole; if having the financial drain of the running costs of a wildlife park is indeed an anomaly within their business model, I am sure there would be executives wishing to limit the expenditure on the place.

I would say that there is a strong chance that the collection will shrink and grow several more times over its life.

I don't think the former owners managed their sealions/fur seals or elephants at all well and I don't think going back to these kinds of taxa would be the way forward.
 
If this was my place Id be bringing in some more animals to attract the visitors back! I dont think gardens will make them any more money! I dont think they would be allowed to put down most of those animals, amur leopards etc. Emus would be easy to rehome in open farms (depending on their non BIAZA collections aquiring surpluses)
 
Couldn't some species like the antelope, camel, zebra and horses go to dartmoor, yorkshire wildlife park, trotters etc.
Dartmoor seam to have quite alot of paddock space and so does YWP and both could do with some new species.
 
Vulpes said:
I dont think gardens will make them any more money!
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That's not the point. It will save them money, both in food bills and staff.

I think Johnstonii is right that the current operation doesn't come up to the requirement of Warner Leisure who own it, either because it isn't making money, or not enough. There haven't been any major exhibit developments in recent years(compare this with the 'equivalent' Cotswold Wildlife Park) I can imagine the valley at Cricket without the large animals still being a tranquil and pleasant place for their 'Leisure' visitors, perhaps with smaller animal species for a little interest. Presumably it will still be open to other visitors also.
 
They are a member of BIAZA so they would put these animals on BIAZA available stock list.

Possibly, if Noah's Ark Farm Zoo affects Cricket's attendance falling, as Noah's attendance continue increasing over 120,000 this season.

I won't be surprised if they may close the wildlife park in the future to focus on hotel expansion or sell the property to pay off the debt like Windsor Safari Park or Blackpool Zoo! Fortunately, the Spanish leisure company purchased Blackpool Zoo two years ago.
 
I'm wondering if Longleat, although a little way from Chard, has also impacted on tourist destination choices in terms of wildlife attractions in the area. If you were holidaying in Somerset with a car and wanted to see animals, would you be likely to go there?
 
johnstoni said:
If you were holidaying in Somerset with a car and wanted to see animals, would you be likely to go there?
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If you had children there would be no contest- Longleat everytime...

I think Noah's Ark(Bristol) is really too far away to have any impact. But I suspect the wildlife side of Cricket has been failing for a long time now. I can imagine their smaller species disappearing too, over time until it is totally disbanded.
 
Pertinax said:
That's not the point. It will save them money, both in food bills and staff.

I think Johnstonii is right that the current operation doesn't come up to the requirement of Warner Leisure who own it, either because it isn't making money, or not enough. There haven't been any major exhibit developments in recent years(compare this with the 'equivalent' Cotswold Wildlife Park) I can imagine the valley at Cricket without the large animals still being a tranquil and pleasant place for their 'Leisure' visitors, perhaps with smaller animal species for a little interest. Presumably it will still be open to other visitors also.
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I do not think that a commercial company like Warner Leisure (where have I heard that name before ... not in the zoo business) is a purveyor of zoo management, even a commercial one.

To dispose off its larger animals and substitute it with gardens is the most ridiculous and visionless piece of *** I have ever heard. :D

Please keeping staff kick out the JAMS!!! They are blocking the view!!! :rolleyes:
 
This recession should be creating a boom in UK tourism as more people choose not to go away. I would be surprised if the park is not viable. It makes sense to me that this is being run by a company not geared to running wildlife parks. I hope they sell it and it gets some new life, it really is a breathtaking site.
 
johnstoni said:
I would be surprised if the park is not viable. It makes sense to me that this is being run by a company not geared to running wildlife parks. I hope they sell it and it gets some new life, it really is a breathtaking site.
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I think Warner Leisure bought the whole business which is primarily the Hotel, Leisure centre and Health Farm(?) with a view to developing all that side of it. It just happened to have a Wildlife Park tacked on too- and that has just been 'ticking over' for many years now. I am sure their major business is the Hotel/Leisure side(and by leisure I don't mean the animal park) and therefore they are not too concerned at the demise of the wildlife park as we know it.

Its not a case of them being in the wrong business, more a case of the wildlife park coming into the wrong ownership perhaps?
 
Exactly. The Manor house was not a hotel before Warner bought the site. Also, there was no physical separation between the house and the rest of the estate until the house was turned into a hotel. Now, the two exist separately.

Do you know when Warner bought Cricket St. Thomas? I'm not clear who owned it before then, and whether the previous owners were a company involving the Noel Edmonds theme park which owned the place outright, or whether there were long-term owners before this who just invited in business partners to develop the theme park idea alongside the existing wildlife park.
 
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