The week before last I was lucky enough to spend a week on the delightful Isle of Wight (ten miles, twenty minutes and thirty years away as one ZooChat member once succinctly and perfectly put it). Obviously I visited all the major animal collections on the island (sorry butterfly farms and tiny aquariums and bird of prey centres don't do it for me) so I thought it appropriate to post a few thoughts and updates relating to them.
I also visited Marwell on the way down but I'm saving my thoughts on that for another day/post (my home internet's down at the moment and I've drove twenty miles to work to do a little work and a lot of ZooChat catch-up reading and need to leave soon to meet my wife for lunch).
Isle Of Wight Zoo
Enclosure-wise there seemed to be no major changes since my last visit three year's ago but there has been ongoing improvements to current enclosures which are still in progress. If you've never visited the place before it's like a more dynamic and larger (enclosure and probably area-wise) version of Linton with a couple of elaborately designed/themed enclosures thrown in. It has a certain rustic charm (I've got a soft spot for the place) and the animals there always seem fairly active (especially the primates, despite seeing them for years at Twycross I've never seen Spider Monkeys interact and vocalise so much before). The labelling here is comprehensive and good There's a nice new, large, Meerkat enclosure which is shared with Crested Porcupines -it's probably the largest enclosure for the latter species I can recall in the UK. They've now got a fairly sizable lemur collection (Ring-tailed, B&W Ruffed, Red Ruffed, Black, Mongoose, Brown White-fronted & Grey Mouse. New species wise they've added Racoon and, saving the best till last, a Geoffroys Cat which was completely elusive over two visits and is apparently a seizure.
Seaview Wildlife Encounter
It's not really changed in three years except there are now even less fractionally interesting species than before. On the plus size they still have three species of flamingoes (Lesser, Chilean and a large, breeding, Caribbean group) and super friendly wallabies in their hands-on feeding demonstration.
Amazon World
It's fairly recently acquired a chunk of adjoining land and this seems to have spurred improvements all around the place (which is good as on my last visit (three years ago) there was negligible change from my previous visit two or three years earlier and the place needed change). There's still some way to go but I can't fault a place with below average enclosures that shows momentum and change. Switching to bullet points for speed (don't wanna be late for lunch):
1. 9 Banded Armadillos no longer held
;
2. Prehensile Tailed Porcupines not on show (didn't ask if still hold);
3. Desert Zone has effectively become an Armadillo (only) House
housing 3 Banded, 6 Banded, Greater Hairy and Lesser Screaming Hairy (sod's law, last one a no-show over 2 visits and multiple viewing attempts);
4. They seem down to three Plains Vischaca (larger than I remembered which are very difficult to see in the glass-fronted enclosures at the side of the Desert Zone;
5. Sloth carrying youngster;
6. Old (very poor) otter enclosure has been knocked into an adjacent enclosure (still not massive) and includes a bizarre mix of birds (flamingos, ibis, night herons, oyster catchers, stilt);
7. In new grounds were the following:
a. Mixed South American exhibit (including usual suspects (Tapir, Rhea, Capybara) and a pair of (no show) Paca;
b. Red Panda enclosure (reminiscent of Banham's, perhaps a tad smaller);
c. Meerkat enclosure (backing onto Red Panda enclosure with similar sized "footprint";
d. Ruffed Lemur enclosure;
e. New (sorely needed) penguin pool -not yet opened, not huge but nicely designed and OKish;
f. New wallaby enclosure -not yet opened, wallabies in there "acclimatising" prior to walk-through experience"
8. Keeper told me the plan is to overhaul the Nocturnal Zone next.
Overall, still got some very nice species (though less than before) and good to see it moving forward.
Owl & Monkey Haven
This place is great and the one place I would recommend above the others to non-zoo people. It's all so well done, looks great and all the animals are active. Three or four new enclosures (including a particularly good one for Barbary Macaques) since I last visited (all good for their inhabitants) and plans afoot for further building per staff member I spoke with. The labelling is great and tells you information about both species and individual animals -I'd never picked up what langur meant before my visit
. A nice touch is that a guide book is given as part of the entrance fee. Given enough visitors and funds this place could grow into something very special.
Hawk Conservancy
I know it's not "technically" in the Isle of Wight but thought it worthy of a mention as I visited on my journey home (and others may choose a similar option on route to/from the island). I'd never visited before and I was very impressed by the place, it's up there with the very best bird of prey places in the UK. It's got a great species selection, good enclosures, excellent demonstrations (one including a Secretary Bird, something I'd never been lucky enough to witness before, excellent) and a gift shop that only seems to stock merchandise relating to species held (I'm always moaning about places having stuffed animals they don't have). Big news is they (frustrating for me) no longer hold the Great Bustards -they've gone to Birdworld (Farnham) for breeding purposes.
Sorry for spelling mistakes/poor grammar. Any questions?
Rushing to that lunch (late) now.
I also visited Marwell on the way down but I'm saving my thoughts on that for another day/post (my home internet's down at the moment and I've drove twenty miles to work to do a little work and a lot of ZooChat catch-up reading and need to leave soon to meet my wife for lunch).
Isle Of Wight Zoo
Enclosure-wise there seemed to be no major changes since my last visit three year's ago but there has been ongoing improvements to current enclosures which are still in progress. If you've never visited the place before it's like a more dynamic and larger (enclosure and probably area-wise) version of Linton with a couple of elaborately designed/themed enclosures thrown in. It has a certain rustic charm (I've got a soft spot for the place) and the animals there always seem fairly active (especially the primates, despite seeing them for years at Twycross I've never seen Spider Monkeys interact and vocalise so much before). The labelling here is comprehensive and good There's a nice new, large, Meerkat enclosure which is shared with Crested Porcupines -it's probably the largest enclosure for the latter species I can recall in the UK. They've now got a fairly sizable lemur collection (Ring-tailed, B&W Ruffed, Red Ruffed, Black, Mongoose, Brown White-fronted & Grey Mouse. New species wise they've added Racoon and, saving the best till last, a Geoffroys Cat which was completely elusive over two visits and is apparently a seizure.
Seaview Wildlife Encounter
It's not really changed in three years except there are now even less fractionally interesting species than before. On the plus size they still have three species of flamingoes (Lesser, Chilean and a large, breeding, Caribbean group) and super friendly wallabies in their hands-on feeding demonstration.
Amazon World
It's fairly recently acquired a chunk of adjoining land and this seems to have spurred improvements all around the place (which is good as on my last visit (three years ago) there was negligible change from my previous visit two or three years earlier and the place needed change). There's still some way to go but I can't fault a place with below average enclosures that shows momentum and change. Switching to bullet points for speed (don't wanna be late for lunch):
1. 9 Banded Armadillos no longer held
;2. Prehensile Tailed Porcupines not on show (didn't ask if still hold);
3. Desert Zone has effectively become an Armadillo (only) House
housing 3 Banded, 6 Banded, Greater Hairy and Lesser Screaming Hairy (sod's law, last one a no-show over 2 visits and multiple viewing attempts);4. They seem down to three Plains Vischaca (larger than I remembered which are very difficult to see in the glass-fronted enclosures at the side of the Desert Zone;
5. Sloth carrying youngster;
6. Old (very poor) otter enclosure has been knocked into an adjacent enclosure (still not massive) and includes a bizarre mix of birds (flamingos, ibis, night herons, oyster catchers, stilt);
7. In new grounds were the following:
a. Mixed South American exhibit (including usual suspects (Tapir, Rhea, Capybara) and a pair of (no show) Paca;
b. Red Panda enclosure (reminiscent of Banham's, perhaps a tad smaller);
c. Meerkat enclosure (backing onto Red Panda enclosure with similar sized "footprint";
d. Ruffed Lemur enclosure;
e. New (sorely needed) penguin pool -not yet opened, not huge but nicely designed and OKish;
f. New wallaby enclosure -not yet opened, wallabies in there "acclimatising" prior to walk-through experience"
8. Keeper told me the plan is to overhaul the Nocturnal Zone next.
Overall, still got some very nice species (though less than before) and good to see it moving forward.
Owl & Monkey Haven
This place is great and the one place I would recommend above the others to non-zoo people. It's all so well done, looks great and all the animals are active. Three or four new enclosures (including a particularly good one for Barbary Macaques) since I last visited (all good for their inhabitants) and plans afoot for further building per staff member I spoke with. The labelling is great and tells you information about both species and individual animals -I'd never picked up what langur meant before my visit
. A nice touch is that a guide book is given as part of the entrance fee. Given enough visitors and funds this place could grow into something very special.Hawk Conservancy
I know it's not "technically" in the Isle of Wight but thought it worthy of a mention as I visited on my journey home (and others may choose a similar option on route to/from the island). I'd never visited before and I was very impressed by the place, it's up there with the very best bird of prey places in the UK. It's got a great species selection, good enclosures, excellent demonstrations (one including a Secretary Bird, something I'd never been lucky enough to witness before, excellent) and a gift shop that only seems to stock merchandise relating to species held (I'm always moaning about places having stuffed animals they don't have
). Big news is they (frustrating for me) no longer hold the Great Bustards -they've gone to Birdworld (Farnham) for breeding purposes.Sorry for spelling mistakes/poor grammar. Any questions?
Rushing to that lunch (late) now.
