Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoo News 2021

I may be wrong but I thought under lockdown would have been the ideal time to start these major refurbishments while no one was around the zoo for safety reasons.
But according to the zoo not so, why?
 
I may be wrong but I thought under lockdown would have been the ideal time to start these major refurbishments while no one was around the zoo for safety reasons.
But according to the zoo not so, why?

Because it's rather difficult for workers to come on site and safely build large projects under all the restrictions of a national lockdown.
 
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oh I wonder how other organisations have managed to do work while under lockdown like builder's, traffic construction, must admit won't be visiting for a long time or if ever again. As the waterfowl exhibit been done this is not a major job just pruning and weeding needed.
 
oh I wonder how other organisations have managed to do work while under lockdown like builder's, traffic construction

I really don't understand why you take issue with something so trivial. Maybe the company doing the work had a backlog of other projects to complete first. Maybe there was a shortage of construction materials or a delay in getting them. It really doesn't matter.

As the waterfowl exhibit been done this is not a major job just pruning and weeding needed.

You've been bleating on about this for years. Did it ever occur to you that the exhibit for wildfowl is supposed to look wild and natural?
 
Yes I did think the waterfowl exhibit was supposed to look natural so why do they keep waterfowl species in it.
To be honest this is one area of the zoo that as been neglected for some time now and always the same excuse.
Yet they keep on they keep animals in natural surroundings so I take it they will be moving the waterfowl to a new exhibit shortly then.
Most waterfowl like OPEN water with short grass or reeds around the edge not over grown trees/shrubs weeds and concrete slabs and house bricks on the edge of the water.
All they need to do is open the area up and strim the overgrown part of the bank which to be honest is natural wildlife management as this is done on nearly all wildlife reserves at least every 3 years not 3 decades.
 
Yes I did think the waterfowl exhibit was supposed to look natural so why do they keep waterfowl species in it.
To be honest this is one area of the zoo that as been neglected for some time now and always the same excuse.
Yet they keep on they keep animals in natural surroundings so I take it they will be moving the waterfowl to a new exhibit shortly then.
Most waterfowl like OPEN water with short grass or reeds around the edge not over grown trees/shrubs weeds and concrete slabs and house bricks on the edge of the water.
All they need to do is open the area up and strim the overgrown part of the bank which to be honest is natural wildlife management as this is done on nearly all wildlife reserves at least every 3 years not 3 decades.
I'm assuming that the waterfowl are only there to fill up what would be an empty exhibit. Very few people, whether zoo fans or just the general public, are really interested in the waterfowl as much as other species so the zoo are probably prioritizing the more popular species who really need renovations in their enclosures over species that most people aren't interested by. I'm sure the birds are fine with more plants growing there because they are in an enclosure at a zoo not a huge nature reserve. There are more people and less space so having space to hide isn't a bad thing. There are lots of things that the zoo need to do before even thinking about trimming some hedges in a waterfowl pond which is probably why the zoo haven't done it yet.
 
Most waterfowl like OPEN water with short grass or reeds around the edge not over grown trees/shrubs weeds and concrete slabs and house bricks on the edge of the water.
All they need to do is open the area up and strim the overgrown part of the bank which to be honest is natural wildlife management as this is done on nearly all wildlife reserves at least every 3 years not 3 decades.

Yes but the entire front bank is short grass (albeit with a few wildflowers mixed in) and they did a massive cutback of all the foliage on the left hand side a few years ago. Here's an article from the time --> Opening waterfowl views – Dudley Zoo and Castle. In the article are the lines:

In a bid to encourage the grass growth, which the ducks enjoy feeding on, the team have felled an overgrown shrub on the bank.

“The shrub was a Portuguese laurel, that was over 30 years old and had become very overgrown.

“We’ve cut it down and will grass seed the bank...


The left hand side of the pool is open water and the right hand side contains that small willow tree where birds like moorhens have nested in the past and where the whistling ducks can often be seen perching.
 
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So I take it by your response that if people don't stop and look at the species in an enclosure the zoo should just neglect the enclosure.
On your way of thinking then why are the Orangutans being refurbished ahead of the main attractions in the zoo by this I mean Tiger's, Giraffe's & Chimp's as these attract more visitor viewing then the Orangutans.
As for people not looking at the waterfowl I will say what one person said 2 years ago and it as always stuck with me since because I thought the person was spot on they said if they can let species live in a enclosure like that it says alot about the people who work there.
There are many other parts fo the collection I could go on about but it would upset many people who love Dudley Zoo so I won't bother.
The waterfowl exhibit is the easiest exhibit to refurbish but if the zoo can't be bothered as you say then why should people be bothered to visit a collection that can't be bothered.
 
So I take it by your response that if people don't stop and look at the species in an enclosure the zoo should just neglect the enclosure.
On your way of thinking then why are the Orangutans being refurbished ahead of the main attractions in the zoo by this I mean Tiger's, Giraffe's & Chimp's as these attract more visitor viewing then the Orangutans.
As for people not looking at the waterfowl I will say what one person said 2 years ago and it as always stuck with me since because I thought the person was spot on they said if they can let species live in a enclosure like that it says alot about the people who work there.
There are many other parts fo the collection I could go on about but it would upset many people who love Dudley Zoo so I won't bother.
The waterfowl exhibit is the easiest exhibit to refurbish but if the zoo can't be bothered as you say then why should people be bothered to visit a collection that can't be bothered.
That's not what I was saying at all. There are a number of enclosures in far worse states than the waterfowl enclosure. The tiger, orangutan and giraffe enclosures are examples of this. Far more people will pay attention to the problems in these enclosures and in my opinion these enclosures are in a bigger need of renovations. I don't see anything much wrong with the waterfowl enclosure which can't be the case for the other enclosures which is why I don't understand why you have such specific complaints about the condition of the waterfowl enclosure.
 
Your not a bird lover then because if you were you would be going mad over the state of the enclosure but we will have to agree to disagree.
I hope all at the zoo stay safe.
 
After a 14 year absence, the world’s most dangerous bird species has returned to Dudley Zoo and Castle.

Again mis-information from the PR team as I took a photograph of a Double wattled cassowary on 23 / 11 / 2009 at the zoo, as can be seen in the gallery for Dudley zoo.
Now I’m not brilliant at maths but we are in 2021 and not 2023 or have I missed something.
 
After a 14 year absence, the world’s most dangerous bird species has returned to Dudley Zoo and Castle.

Again mis-information from the PR team as I took a photograph of a Double wattled cassowary on 23 / 11 / 2009 at the zoo, as can be seen in the gallery for Dudley zoo.
Now I’m not brilliant at maths but we are in 2021 and not 2023 or have I missed something.

That's funny, because just a few months ago you said this...

Sadly that image was taken in 2005 don't know why the information states 2009 it was in the corner exhibit by the aviaries next to the small picnic area opposite the Barbary Sheep

Dudley Zoo News 2020 [Dudley Zoological Gardens] - Page 10 - ZooChat

...or was that just "mis-information"?
 
As a huge Jurassic park fan this has got me really excited. The bird section seems to be doing quite well recently with the macaw aviary and flamingo upgrade a few years ago and more recently the ibis aviary opposite the sea lions and the new cassowary enclosure. It's really good to see the zoo moving forward and within a few years, at the rate it's going, it could easily be one of the best and certainly one of the most unique zoos in the country.
 
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