Dartmoor Zoo Developments on Dartmoor

R

redpanda

Well-Known Member
Dear all,

I went to Dartmoor recently.

There was a sign up on the door of a building next to the wolves saying that it would become a reptile house, although i am not sure when as not much seemed to be going on:confused:. Also, after the sudden death of the two pumas:(, they are converting the enclosure into one for lynx and there is a completed aviary style cage next to the racoons to house coatis. Finally, Ben says that he dreams of bringing giraffes and elephants to the park over a longer time-frame however i'm not sure how feasable this is considering the lack of space marked for future development on the map.

Does anyone know of any other future plans?

Thanks.
 
redpanda said:
Dear all,

I went to Dartmoor recently.

There was a sign up on the door of a building next to the wolves saying that it would become a reptile house, although i am not sure when as not much seemed to be going on:confused:. Also, after the sudden death of the two pumas:(, they are converting the enclosure into one for lynx and there is a completed aviary style cage next to the racoons to house coatis. Finally, Ben says that he dreams of bringing giraffes and elephants to the park over a longer time-frame however i'm not sure how feasable this is considering the lack of space marked for future development on the map.

Does anyone know of any other future plans?



Thanks.
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That sign was there back in April when i was there. There wasn't much going on then either.
 
I think it's been there since the park re-opened...
Is the new coati enclosure where the servel's cage is? Has she died?
 
ashley-h said:
I think it's been there since the park re-opened...
Is the new coati enclosure where the servel's cage is? Has she died?
Click to expand...
Must be no sign of a Serval on my visit,but the enclosure had been altered with alot of ropes in so would be quite suitable for Coati.
 
Can't remember from the last visit where the Serval was but the new enclosure is long and thin and inhabits the land between the path and the racoons on the opposite side to the bears.
 
Yeah that was her enclosure. She must have died.
 
For some time, the Chester Zoo has been advising and assisting the Dartmoor Wildlife Park's new owner. With the pumas gone and their enclosure refurbished for an influx of lynx ... is this a sign of future path!
Does anyone know what direction the Dartmoor Wildlife Park will take from here?
 
Did anyone see the stables that had been built in the 'walkthrough' exhibit and if so have any idea what it's for? It was roped off when I was there so i guessed a new animal would be joining the collection? I read/saw on the tv show that he was after Zebra?
 
yes i've read about this to, sadly cant find the book right now to quote from, also read that they wanted more flamingo's however they were reluctant as apparently they're quite expensive
 
When i went i could only see one flamingo. I think if they don't get more they should send the current animals away as at Lake Nakuru i saw 1 million of them together. They get really stressed being in such small groups.
 
I've always thought it's been kind of doomed, considering the owner never so much as volunteered in a zoo before. He does have some funny ideas, but he's done pretty good with the place. It was pretty abysmal before he bought it.
 
ashley-h said:
I've always thought it's been kind of doomed, considering the owner never so much as volunteered in a zoo before. He does have some funny ideas, but he's done pretty good with the place. It was pretty abysmal before he bought it.
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As long as he has the right staff to advise him, I dont see why he cant make it a success.
 
redpanda said:
When i went i could only see one flamingo. I think if they don't get more they should send the current animals away as at Lake Nakuru i saw 1 million of them together. They get really stressed being in such small groups.
Click to expand...

yes it was one in the programme, its such a shame.

i also heard the other day that the tapir passed away.
 
Yeah, the tapir did die :( I think they have a capybara in his enclosure now...
They deffinately had 2 flamingos when I went last year, one Chilean and one Greater If I remeber rightly.
 
Sad to hear that the tapir died. Does the capybara now have the huge field and the tapir enclosure or just the tapir enclosure. If the latter then it's a real shame because it did have a huge grassy paddock and a lake rather bigger than the two-foot deep pond of most zoos.

I don't know why people are still saying dartmoor is bad, when i went i thought it was looking pretty good but after all the bad press it is hardly surprising. There weren't many enclosures that were truly awful (except for the owl aviaries, some of which looked like they had been built for rabbits). The big cat enclosures could be extended and the enclosures for smaller animals were often not as big as i would like but it is far better than when i last went in 2001. The wolf enclosure is huge, the herbivore paddocks are expansive and the staff are all very passionate.

Good luck for the future Ben:)
 
I would assume the capybara is still in the small enclosure. I don't know why they moved the tapir out of the field, they could have got him a female, maybe some other south American animals and had a really good exhibit in the field where the pond is.
 
The original plan for this enclosure (before the park was sold) was indeed as a south american exhibit. There used to be Mara, Capybara, Tapir and Rhea (aswell as a few scruffy goats!)

The Tapir did very well in this enclosure and enjoyed the benefit of the large pool. It was always a very odd site seeing the tapirs swimming with the old grey seal though! :)

The final Tapir which recently died (ronaldo) was born at the park. I think it broke its leg trying to jump the fence after they placed the capybara with him in the small paddock with the house.

The remaining flamingos are well over 20 years old! Its amazing they have survived so long considerng they never received any kind of supplements or proper diet prior to the takeover! and also lived outside all year round with little shelter from the elements!
 
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