Some impressions of a visit on 16 October
I'll try to remember just what I wrote before Pertinax sent it all into oblivion

Fortunately, I drafted it first .........
We were in the queue at 9.45am for our first visit for 10 years and headed straight for RORA. We had it to ourselves for a while but on our later visit there were a few people in and I can imagine that it could get beyond frustrating at busy times. It is clearly an excellent house for the Sumatrans, but maybe not so good for the Borneans and for visitors wanting a good look at them. The hanging straps are brilliant. The infants are the definition of the word 'joy' - and are a joy to watch.
I was surprised that there are no signs about individual animals and I had to rely on a friendly visitor to tell me what was what, and who was who of the orangs that were visible. It seems strange when you are able to identify chimps and elephants, for instance. We saw a Bornean female holding her arm while walking, and later one trying to dismantle the top of the wall. She had her hand under the wire and was lifting whatever is covering it. I'm not sure if she was the same orang.
Giraffes: I'm sure by now no Chester Zoochatter would feel the amazement I felt as I walked into the giraffe house with my feet on the same level as theirs. At Paignton, you look down on them inside and they're not that close outside. Their size and proximity and the sound of one of them stamping was quite something

I was also staggered by the size of the Indian Rhinos, not having seen one for some time and then not close up.
Comparing with Paignton again, it was good to see a large group of Mandrills. And I liked the sign explaining the difference between female and male Spider monkeys - one like that would be useful at Paignton to prevent the nerves of regulars being frayed by the inevitable comments.
At 3.45pm we realised we only had 45 minutes to visit the Black Rhino/Zebra/Spectacled Bears etc area so had to do this and the Bat Forest very quickly. The Elephants hadn't been out all day (sand digging going on) and we'd resigned ourselves to not seeing them. Then we realised that people were going into their house after leaving the zoo, so we followed and joined the crush. Having their house outside the zoo entrance is a bit odd
All in all, a great zoo as everyone already knows!
(Hands off, Pertinax


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