Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell news

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There is a certain irony in the zoo receiving criticism for "going commercial". Back in the 1990's the Zoo was seriously close to being closed. It was loosing money, and effectively money that could have been used for conservation work was going towards keeping the gates open. The decision was made to continue the zoo, and to try and grow income to alleviate the loss. Thus the entry café, the glamping, and the introduction of meerkats amongst others. At the end of the day, every zoo is a commercial operation, it has to either live within its income or expand its income.

Jersey in not a mass family vacation destination. However in the '60's and '70's it was, and the zoo and the Trust did very well out of that. Apparently all that stopped with the introduction of cheap flights to the south of Spain. Add to that Durrell's illness and death which brought to an end the books and TV shows, and indeed his very presence, and the zoo was in strife.
 
It's a shame that GD never had an heir to carry on, or that no one with his charisma was able to carry on with TV series to publicise the zoo.
His books were always an event when I was a kid, even if I didn't get there until I was in my late teens, and never got the chance to meet him. I don't think he came over to the 2 conservation fairs that Marwell did, where I met Attenborough, Bellamy, Peter Scott and Johnny Morris. Sadly I've lost their autographs over time. I did get to be on Animal Magic in the background though!
I also regularly used to see John at Marwell, one of the great zoo men, with GD and Aspinall.
I miss them and their enthusiasm.
Even SLOTZ and Anival Park aren't enough for this zoo enthusiast!
 
GaryA said:
It's a shame that GD never had an heir to carry on, or that no one with his charisma was able to carry on with TV series to publicise the zoo.
His books were always an event when I was a kid, even if I didn't get there until I was in my late teens, and never got the chance to meet him. I don't think he came over to the 2 conservation fairs that Marwell did, where I met Attenborough, Bellamy, Peter Scott and Johnny Morris. Sadly I've lost their autographs over time. I did get to be on Animal Magic in the background though!
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With Dotty the Ring-tailed Lemur?
 
MRJ said:
Jersey in not a mass family vacation destination. However in the '60's and '70's it was, and the zoo and the Trust did very well out of that. Apparently all that stopped with the introduction of cheap flights to the south of Spain. Add to that Durrell's illness and death which brought to an end the books and TV shows, and indeed his very presence, and the zoo was in strife.
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Jersey was actually GD's 2nd choice of location for what became his 'island zoo'. His first was outside Bournemouth where I believe he had some connection. The site he looked at was Upton House, now a country park just outside Poole. It fell through however. Had it happened the zoo certainly wouldn't have suffered the isolation of Jersey as its close to a big conurbation of Bournemouth and Poole and a generally popular area. The site is literally right next to a dual carriageway also,
but wasn't to be...
 
Pertinax said:
Jersey was actually GD's 2nd choice of location for what became his 'island zoo'. His first was outside Bournemouth where I believe he had some connection. The site he looked at was Upton House, now a country park just outside Poole. It fell through however. Had it happened the zoo certainly wouldn't have suffered the isolation of Jersey as its close to a big conurbation of Bournemouth and Poole and a generally popular area. The site is literally right next to a dual carriageway also,
but wasn't to be...
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True, and in fact one of the options considered in the ‘90’s was moving the zoo back to the British mainland (I have no idea how seriously).
 
MRJ said:
True, and in fact one of the options considered in the ‘90’s was moving the zoo back to the British mainland (I have no idea how seriously).
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I remember from his books that the local council at the time turned him down flat. Idiots.
He kept some of the collection at a local department store to raise funds at the time.
Standards were different then!
I had not heard previously about the possibility of moving off Jersey.
What you have said does explain the massive downsizing between my two visits.
It would have made sense to partner up with somewhere like Marwell given their similar aims. There was/ is plenty of room for all the smaller animals.
 
Madzooman said:
Doesn't read at all like they are stressing that Gerald Durrell had them originally merely mentioning it which is nice they are respecting his memory
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I think this addition, along with the goats, aardvark and sloth should be viewed in the context of recent criticism of the direction of the collection.

It seems obvious to me that the narrative they are using to frame the capybara’s arrival is that it is consistent with the heritage of the zoo and Durrell’s vision rather than a commercially-focused “dumbing down” which undermines that vision.
 
Honestly, if it was anywhere else, people would be going "great, sloth/aardvark/gelada-I must pop along and see them".
But cos its Jersey, people DEMAND it must be a Javan Rhino or an Iriomote Cat.
OK, I'm not sure on the rare breeds thing with the goats, but most zoo's have some domestics-didnt somewhere have a dog on display only recently?
Goats could be used to explain how destructive they are to native habitats, so there is another reason for keeping them.
 
GaryA said:
Honestly, if it was anywhere else, people would be going "great, sloth/aardvark/gelada-I must pop along and see them".
But cos its Jersey, people DEMAND it must be a Javan Rhino or an Iriomote Cat.
OK, I'm not sure on the rare breeds thing with the goats, but most zoo's have some domestics-didnt somewhere have a dog on display only recently?
Goats could be used to explain how destructive they are to native habitats, so there is another reason for keeping them.
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Are Jersey locals actually complaining about the new species at the zoo not being endangered enough? Does the average person really know this?
 
GaryA said:
It was with a Serval. I assume Marwell had a hand raised one at the time, unless it was brought in for filming. It was in the middle of the fair area, not in an enclosure.
Wasn't Dotty at Bristol?
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I believe you are quite right, She aways seemed to be carrying twins.
 
Pertinax said:
Jersey was actually GD's 2nd choice of location for what became his 'island zoo'. His first was outside Bournemouth where I believe he had some connection. The site he looked at was Upton House, now a country park just outside Poole. It fell through however. Had it happened the zoo certainly wouldn't have suffered the isolation of Jersey as its close to a big conurbation of Bournemouth and Poole and a generally popular area. The site is literally right next to a dual carriageway also,
but wasn't to be...
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I think he had a relative in Bournemouth (his sister or aunt),it's been a long time since I read his books but I think it's referred to in a zoo in my luggage
 
Strathmorezoo said:
I think he had a relative in Bournemouth (his sister or aunt),it's been a long time since I read his books but I think it's referred to in a zoo in my luggage
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Margot and Mother lived there, and Leslie & his wife when they were homeless (irl, rather than mentioned in the books). I believe there were other relatives in the area pre the Corfu era.
 
After reading all the recent posts regarding endangered/nonendangered species I thought that the species list from 1980 might be of interest The zoo opened in 1959 and yet in 1980 there were
Mammals 32 species of which 15 were endangered
Birds 62 species of which 19 were endangered
Reptiles 16 species of which 6 were endangered
These numbers to me ,highlight the need even then to have species which the public may have found more appealing
 
It strikes me that either the staff concerned have been drinking the kool-aid or have some seriously blunt axes....

Seems to be an HR issue rather than a valid criticism of the zoo itself, IMO. The points raised seem petty at best and don't hold water when reviewed.

Certainly to complain the collection is becoming populist shows a mindset that needs shaking up.
 
I was not expecting the bears to leave! Being the first enclosure you see as you enter the zoo, I wonder what that enclosure will be used for?

The warty pigs will move to their new enclosure, leaving howler monkeys that tend to stay indoors and a bush dog. Perhaps the macaques or gelada will move over so they no longer stress each other out? Or perhaps a new species like anteater one side and tapir the other to keep the South American themed?
 
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