I too am concerned about the two lions and what will happen to this enclosure in the future.... are they going to bring in a new pair once the females have died out??? It would be a great shame if Dudley were to go out of this majestic species.
Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter Benosaurus
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I too am concerned about the two lions and what will happen to this enclosure in the future.... are they going to bring in a new pair once the females have died out??? It would be a great shame if Dudley were to go out of this majestic species.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
How many Buffy headed capuchin monkeys does Dudley have at present ?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Dudley are now the international studbook holders for black lemurs. They have already been the European studbook holders for the species for almost two decades.
Conservation role expands! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Conservation role expands! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Awesome !
Work is going well on the new outdoor orangutan enclosure.
All of the old fencing has been dismantled, which will either be recycled, repurposed around the site, or scrapped for cash (which will be ploughed straight back into the project).
45 telegraph poles have been put up around the edge of the paddock, which will form the supports for the perimeter fence, which work has already started on. All of the ground work has had to be overseen by an archaeologist due to the close proximity of the enclosure to the grade I listed 11th century castle.
One of the next steps will be to build the climbing frame, which will be 7 metres high and 40 metres long and will include webbing and hammocks.
Orang work progressing well! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
All of the old fencing has been dismantled, which will either be recycled, repurposed around the site, or scrapped for cash (which will be ploughed straight back into the project).
45 telegraph poles have been put up around the edge of the paddock, which will form the supports for the perimeter fence, which work has already started on. All of the ground work has had to be overseen by an archaeologist due to the close proximity of the enclosure to the grade I listed 11th century castle.
One of the next steps will be to build the climbing frame, which will be 7 metres high and 40 metres long and will include webbing and hammocks.
Orang work progressing well! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
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Even though England moves into the final stage of easing Covid restrictions on Monday 19th July, meaning almost all legal restrictions on social contact will be removed, the zoo will still retain some safety measures in order to protect staff, animals and visitors.
These continued safety measures include:
These continued safety measures include:
- The online pre-booking system will continue for general visitors throughout the school holidays as the number of people allowed on site is still limited. However, members and ticket holders no longer need to book in advance and can just turn up with their passes at the entrance.
- Hand sanitizer stations will remain in place across the site.
- Face masks will still be required in the lemur walkthrough, however they will now be optional in indoor areas, including the gift shop.
- All animal exhibits will be open.
- The castle keep will be open.
- The land train and chairlift will be returning as normal.
- On-site catering facilities will be open as normal.
- The one-way route around the zoo will no longer be mandatory. However, after proving so popular over the last year, the yellow arrows on the path will be kept in place so that visitors can continue to follow it.
The zoo's Patagonian sea lion bull, called Oba, is alive and well (I could see no sign of him on my recent visit to the zoo) and turns 21 years old today.
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
That's quite a difficult question @Josh218 as I believe the zoo has 2 different groups of black-and-white ruffed lemur (and maybe a surplus pair) at the moment. They also have two male red-ruffed lemurs. You'd be better off emailing the zoo in this instance if you want a more detailed answer (however keep in mind that they could still be running at limited office staff at the moment so it may take them a while to get back to you).
You can now see black beauty stick insects (Peruphasma schultei) in the zoo's farm barn.
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
Visited 12/08/21 not a lot to say except I noticed one thing the incline next to the Otters leading to the Old Bird house is a little steep to push wheelchairs up and I guess if h&s were to be informed they would have to close the pathway as the incline is a little excessive.
On another point would it not be a good Idea to have signs letting people with pushchairs and wheelchairs know they have an alternative route around the collection instead of using the steps and steep inclines this wouldn't cost a lot to make visitors days out better and give the collection a better reputation.
On another point would it not be a good Idea to have signs letting people with pushchairs and wheelchairs know they have an alternative route around the collection instead of using the steps and steep inclines this wouldn't cost a lot to make visitors days out better and give the collection a better reputation.
That path has been in use for decades - if any H&S departments had an issue with it they've had plenty of chance to raise it. If paths like that one are to be banned then Edinburgh's certainly in trouble..!
The site is on a hill - the map and signage indicates the most extreme inclines to enable people to avoid them but some incline is necessary to move around the zoo, I'm afraid. Everyone's view of what is 'too steep' will vary so they're never going to satisfy everyone however much signage they put up and they risk making it an un-navigable mess of dead ends.
2.3 White's tree frogs have joined the collection from the recently closed Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World. They can be found in the zoo's farm barn.
Dudley Zoo - Posts | Facebook
Dudley Zoo - Posts | Facebook
After genetically determining the sex of the youngest 21 of the zoo's penguins by analysing their DNA, the zoo is able to say with 100% accuracy that their Humboldt penguin colony currently consists of 29 males and 39 females.
Analysing penguin DNA – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Analysing penguin DNA – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Last Summer the zoo was awarded a grant of £120,000 from the Getty Foundation to develop renovation plans for 4 of the site's Tecton structures.
These 4 Tectons are:
1.) The former elephant house (currently contains off-show aviaries)
2.) The discovery centre (formerly the moat café)
3.) The tropical birdhouse (currently empty)
4.) The Queen Mary restaurant
Over the past 12 months work has been going well. The zoo says, "Work has begun on documenting the condition of the structures and setting out a conservation plan with methods for protecting against decay.
The process includes surveys, concrete testing, paint analysis, photographic recording, design drawings and historic design analysis, referencing back to the Russian-born architect Berthold Lubetkin’s original design documentation".
Finalising the development plans is expected to take take until the end of the year, after which the zoo will need to source further funding to actually do the restoration.
Tecton work progressing – Dudley Zoo and Castle
The zoo has 12 surviving Tecton structures:
1. Original 'wave' entrance
These 4 Tectons are:
1.) The former elephant house (currently contains off-show aviaries)
2.) The discovery centre (formerly the moat café)
3.) The tropical birdhouse (currently empty)
4.) The Queen Mary restaurant
Over the past 12 months work has been going well. The zoo says, "Work has begun on documenting the condition of the structures and setting out a conservation plan with methods for protecting against decay.
The process includes surveys, concrete testing, paint analysis, photographic recording, design drawings and historic design analysis, referencing back to the Russian-born architect Berthold Lubetkin’s original design documentation".
Finalising the development plans is expected to take take until the end of the year, after which the zoo will need to source further funding to actually do the restoration.
Tecton work progressing – Dudley Zoo and Castle
The zoo has 12 surviving Tecton structures:
1. Original 'wave' entrance
- Already restored.
- Looks fantastic.
- Used frequently during the pandemic due to open-air design.
- Will soon have new exterior lighting.
- Already restored.
- Now the zoo's main entrance and gift shop.
- Looks fantastic.
- Already restored.
- Located near the chimpanzees.
- Looks fantastic.
- Unused.
- Unrestored.
- Located near the snow leopards.
- Looks reasonable. Small enough to blend into the background.
- Unused.
- Unrestored.
- 3 separate pit-like enclosures situated side by side originally housing lions, polar bears and tigers.
- Tecton structure looks in reasonable condition.
- Unsuitable now for polar bears and lions. Original lion pit now houses tigers in an average enclosure which is planned to be extended. Original polar bear and tiger pits now house much smaller species.
- Unrestored.
- Now contains educational rooms and is known as the Discovery Centre.
- Looks scruffy from the front and badly in need of restoration from the rear. From seeing photos the roof also needs a lot of work.
- Has the potential to look as good as the restored Station Café.
- Repaired recently.
- Look reasonable.
- Size of pools may not be felt as suitable for sea lions within the next 10 years, especially as other collections build larger enclosures for sea lions.
- Unrestored.
- Looks ok from the exterior. Interior looks tired and needs updating. Window frames need replacing. Toilet facilities also need a revamp. Windows at rear of seating area have potential to be utilised as viewing windows overlooking animal exhibits.
- Unrestored.
- Starting to look scruffy.
- Unused. Very difficult to turn into an exhibit of modern standards. Could be turned into a mini Tecton/ zoo/ castle museum.
- Repaired recently.
- Looks fine.
- Now a decent enclosure for meerkats.
- Restored.
- Looks fantastic.
- Planned to house bears again in the future.
- Unrestored.
- Looks abysmal.
- Used for off-show aviaries.
Emerald dove hatched on 29th June. The bird has since fledged its nest.
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
Dudley Zoo - Home | Facebook
Thank you for the overview - such a useful post!Last Summer the zoo was awarded a grant of £120,000 from the Getty Foundation to develop renovation plans for 4 of the site's Tecton structures.
These 4 Tectons are:
1.) The former elephant house (currently contains off-show aviaries)
2.) The discovery centre (formerly the moat café)
3.) The tropical birdhouse (currently empty)
4.) The Queen Mary restaurant
Over the past 12 months work has been going well. The zoo says, "Work has begun on documenting the condition of the structures and setting out a conservation plan with methods for protecting against decay.
The process includes surveys, concrete testing, paint analysis, photographic recording, design drawings and historic design analysis, referencing back to the Russian-born architect Berthold Lubetkin’s original design documentation".
Finalising the development plans is expected to take take until the end of the year, after which the zoo will need to source further funding to actually do the restoration.
Tecton work progressing – Dudley Zoo and Castle
The zoo has 12 surviving Tecton structures:
1. Original 'wave' entrance
2. Station Café
- Already restored.
- Looks fantastic.
- Used frequently during the pandemic due to open-air design.
- Will soon have new exterior lighting.
3. Kiosk one
- Already restored.
- Now the zoo's main entrance and gift shop.
- Looks fantastic.
4. Kiosk two
- Already restored.
- Located near the chimpanzees.
- Looks fantastic.
- Unused.
5. Triple pit enclosure complex
- Unrestored.
- Located near the snow leopards.
- Looks reasonable. Small enough to blend into the background.
- Unused.
6. Moat Café
- Unrestored.
- 3 separate pit-like enclosures situated side by side originally housing lions, polar bears and tigers.
- Tecton structure looks in reasonable condition.
- Unsuitable now for polar bears and lions. Original lion pit now houses tigers in an average enclosure which is planned to be extended. Original polar bear and tiger pits now house much smaller species.
7. Sea lion pools.
- Unrestored.
- Now contains educational rooms and is known as the Discovery Centre.
- Looks scruffy from the front and badly in need of restoration from the rear. From seeing photos the roof also needs a lot of work.
- Has the potential to look as good as the restored Station Café.
8. Queen Mary Restaurant
- Repaired recently.
- Look reasonable.
- Size of pools may not be felt as suitable for sea lions within the next 10 years, especially as other collections build larger enclosures for sea lions.
9. Tropical birdhouse
- Unrestored.
- Looks ok from the exterior. Interior looks tired and needs updating. Window frames need replacing. Toilet facilities also need a revamp. Windows at rear of seating area have potential to be utilised as viewing windows overlooking animal exhibits.
10. Reptile pit.
- Unrestored.
- Starting to look scruffy.
- Unused. Very difficult to turn into an exhibit of modern standards. Could be turned into a mini Tecton/ zoo/ castle museum.
11. Bear ravine.
- Repaired recently.
- Looks fine.
- Now a decent enclosure for meerkats.
12. Elephant house.
- Restored.
- Looks fantastic.
- Planned to house bears again in the future.
- Unrestored.
- Looks abysmal.
- Used for off-show aviaries.
