Bristol Zoo (Closed) Bristol Zoo news 2014

Being the eternal pessimist, I am expecting this exhibit to have Bennett's & Parma Wallabies, Kookaburra & nothing unusual! I will wait to be proved wrong, but if this were the case, I would suggest they might have done this more cheaply at Wild Place, as an easy way to boost species numbers there instead!
 
While there are plenty of interesting Australian birds that would fit within a Wallaby Walkthrough, I can't see the point of having an aviary 9m tall - many birds would be impossible to see that high up. Unless they are going to have large trees and some sort of elevated walkway as well?
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Pretty sure zebra finches are about the same size as those I suggested, mind you :p
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They are smaller than Gouldians and about the same as Star Finch, though stouter-looking, and Bicheno's, which is the Zebra's closest relative. I can't remember if Zebras occur in New Guinea but if so they would be smaller still- there's a Zebra finch subspecies on somewhere like Timor which is a lot smaller than the Oz version-a good example of the Tropical/temperate/North/South cline at work.
 
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gentle lemur said:
That why I suggested them - they are about the only species that are even more disappointing than diamond doves :p:p

Alan
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Diamond doves tend to be very inactive in aviaries, they usually haven't enough space( or reason) to make the rocketing flight typical of doves, so they just sit and do nothing, when not foraging on the floor. At least Zebras, like other finches, flit back and forth all the time.

If Bristol didn't already have Rainbow Lorikeets they could have a combined Wallaby and Lorikeet exhibit. Otherwise I think Budgies and Cockatiels( both wild-type) would fit the bill maybe. I like the idea of Kookaburra too but like the Doves, they tend to just sit in one place, and you couldn't have smaller species mixed with them.
 
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zooboy28 said:
While there are plenty of interesting Australian birds that would fit within a Wallaby Walkthrough, I can't see the point of having an aviary 9m tall - many birds would be impossible to see that high up. Unless they are going to have large trees and some sort of elevated walkway as well?
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The enclosure is roughly 30m long and 15m wide, so it is a decent size but not huge. The walkway is not elevated, but it winds between piles of rocks, which hints at a wallaby species. Stop Press I have just seen that the Arboricultural Assessment report actually uses the phrase 'Proposed Rock Wallaby Enclosure'.
Several trees within the exhibit area will be retained, which may partly explain the planned height, but there would be no need for a roof unless some birds are to be kept. The entrance and exit have double steel gates, but with relatively small wired lobbies.
I can't envisage finches in this enclosure: kookaburras, tawny frogmouths and crested bronzewing pigeons might work - but I still prefer the parakeets :)

Alan
 
Avid zoo guide collectors might be interested that Bristol has a new guide book. It has an A4 format and retails at a hefty £9.99. The usual glossy photos and little content.
 
Ned said:
Avid zoo guide collectors might be interested that Bristol has a new guide book. It has an A4 format and retails at a hefty £9.99. The usual glossy photos and little content.
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Finally.. they've been promising it since I went in May. Expensive though :eek: whats on the cover?
 
A large portrait of a gorilla, presumably Jock but to be honest I didn't take much notice of the cover other than to register there was a gorilla on it. Inside there's a couple of pages on each main attraction.
 
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