Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoological Gardens in 2014
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
Not sure if Dudley's old giraffe house could handle another birth.
May I politely request info/pics on the new Blue Crane exhibit and how far they have got with the joint entrance with the Black Country Museum.
The suggestion earlier in the thread was that both female giraffes appeared heavily pregnant, I'm not sure what counts as heavily pregnant when you are pregnant for well over a year though!
I was wondering if they had a breeding season for example, which would mean calves being born close together, it'd be awesome if we saw two, regardless of their dubious genetics.
May I politely request info/pics on the new Blue Crane exhibit and how far they have got with the joint entrance with the Black Country Museum.
Of course, have the blue cranes gone in the old cassowary enclosure? Or am I remembering wrong?
Restored shop and entrance due to open at Easter
The restored safari gift shop and entrance are on schedule for re-opening at Easter. Restoration of bear ravine and kiosk 1 is due for completion in autumn this year.
Countdown to Tecton completion | Dudley Zoological Gardens
The restored safari gift shop and entrance are on schedule for re-opening at Easter. Restoration of bear ravine and kiosk 1 is due for completion in autumn this year.
Countdown to Tecton completion | Dudley Zoological Gardens
The blue cranes are due to go in the old cassowary enclosure but not sure how far they have got with refurbishing it.
The conversation I overheard seemed to indicate that the giraffe calves would be about a month apart. One was supposed to be born in January/February and the other in March.
Maybe one calf was late, in which case we could have another calf in the news few days or weeks, or the original estimate was wrong and we'll be waiting until April for the next calf.
The future blue crane enclosure looked like this two weeks ago, I don't know if more work has been done on it since.
http://www.zoochat.com/198/future-blue-cranes-356446/
I expect it's not finished, when it's done they will probably do a news story about it.
Maybe one calf was late, in which case we could have another calf in the news few days or weeks, or the original estimate was wrong and we'll be waiting until April for the next calf.
The future blue crane enclosure looked like this two weeks ago, I don't know if more work has been done on it since.
http://www.zoochat.com/198/future-blue-cranes-356446/
I expect it's not finished, when it's done they will probably do a news story about it.
All pics up as requested, maybe too many, I might take a few down later. Cassowary enclosure is gutted and full of what appears to be junk, I assume they are building some type of house for the cranes?
I am kind of sad about it, the heavily overgrown enclosures you could look into for ages, only for one of the dinosaur looking cassowary to appear from the bushes suddenly, always made me jump!
The ex shop is basically empty concrete, no glass or anything else really.
We took someone in a wheelchair this time, wow, that's hard work! I knew the zoo was hilly, but you don't know quite how hilly until you're pushing 8 stone up there!
Kito seems very unsure of public, he stayed pinned to the back wall and we visited him 3 times, he jumps when kids are noisy, and generally looks concerned, I felt pretty bad for him (and did shush strangers children, oops).
Anything else I can report for you all?
I am kind of sad about it, the heavily overgrown enclosures you could look into for ages, only for one of the dinosaur looking cassowary to appear from the bushes suddenly, always made me jump!
The ex shop is basically empty concrete, no glass or anything else really.
We took someone in a wheelchair this time, wow, that's hard work! I knew the zoo was hilly, but you don't know quite how hilly until you're pushing 8 stone up there!
Kito seems very unsure of public, he stayed pinned to the back wall and we visited him 3 times, he jumps when kids are noisy, and generally looks concerned, I felt pretty bad for him (and did shush strangers children, oops).
Anything else I can report for you all?
Dudley report male lion Mwamba has died, he has been under vet treatment since friday and they will report on the autopsy. I saw him yesterday and nothing was obviously wrong, he was next to one of the females and looked alert, but clearly something was going on.
Gigit
Well-Known Member
I knew him at Paignton.
Just found this on the local newspaper's website :-
Dudley zoo revamp 'finished by Easter' - Birmingham Mail
Nothing much in the way of news but apparently the entrance will be finished by Easter and there are some artists impressions of the new entrance. There are also some historical photo's attached to the story as well, including Cuddles the killer whale amongst others.
Dudley zoo revamp 'finished by Easter' - Birmingham Mail
Nothing much in the way of news but apparently the entrance will be finished by Easter and there are some artists impressions of the new entrance. There are also some historical photo's attached to the story as well, including Cuddles the killer whale amongst others.
Last edited:
Devi when you look into the old dinosaur enclosure, er I mean cassowary, did you look over the fence on the right into the woods?
I had a good look and saw old bars in the woodland. I was thinking, did the zoo used to entend into there or were the bars just put there to stop people getting in/animals getting out of the zoo?
I remember from my childhood that the zoo was certainly bigger but dont remember if this part was ever part of the actual zoo grounds.
I had a good look and saw old bars in the woodland. I was thinking, did the zoo used to entend into there or were the bars just put there to stop people getting in/animals getting out of the zoo?
I remember from my childhood that the zoo was certainly bigger but dont remember if this part was ever part of the actual zoo grounds.
Any particular reasons for this, Jackwow?
I've been visiting for a number of years (40+) and, as far as I know, the only bit of the zoo grounds that used to be open but isn't now is down by the red squirrels. There used to be a miniature railway down there that extended further out into the woodland.
Yep I remember that bit too Angel.
You can still see some animal housing down there if you crane your neck around enough.
I too remember the miniature railway, I'm 90% sure there were deer or an antelope that were visible from it?
Jackwow
Well-Known Member
Because it's a fairly small collection and it doesn't really have any special species or exhibits. It was nice to see the Snow Leopards but the Tigers and Lynx didn't show and I think there were also meant to be Geoffroy's Cats but they didn't show either. The lemur walkthrough has Collared, Black and white ruffed, Black and also Ring-tailed but of course only the Black and white ruffed and Ring-tailed showed both of which I've seen so many times whereas I've never seen Collared or Black. The aviaries were also poor. All in all just a poor experience.
As a Dudley regular I feel the need to comment. I agree with regards to the aviaries, they are not the best and the bird collection is a little, ahem, lacking. As a mammal fan this doesn't really bother me though!
The Geoffroy's cat... Welcome to my world. Only seen him twice in many, many visits and both in the very recent past.
The lemur walk-through is one of my favourites (Cotswold's wins hands down though!), the species might not be visible but you can't fault it as an enclosure.
As a zoo I think it's a decent zoo but I'm a regular, I know what to expect. To someone who has traveled much further afield I suppose it lacks the oomph of somewhere like Singapore and it's tropical setting. A hill in the Black Country probably doesn't compare. You haven't even got the scenery of somewhere like HWP compensate for the chilliness!
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your visit but I'm sure if you gave it another chance whilst knowing what to expect then you may feel a bit more amiable towards Dudley!
I'd suggest having the only Asiatic Black Bear in the UK counts as a somewhat special species and Geoffroys Cat is not exactly common either!
Anyhow, it's a shame you missed so many of the nicer species - I wonder if you would have felt more amiably inclined to the collection had you not had so many no-shows. Quite amazed you failed to see the tigers mind you, as their indoor and outdoor enclosures are entirely visible to the public - same with the lynx, actually.
and Geoffroys Cat is not exactly common either! Anyhow, it's a shame you missed so many of the nicer species - I wonder if you would have felt more amiably inclined to the collection had you not had so many no-shows. Quite amazed you failed to see the tigers mind you, as their indoor and outdoor enclosures are entirely visible to the public - same with the lynx, actually.