Northumberland College Zoo Kirkley Hall / Northumberland College Zoo news
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
As the collection is well-established now, I felt that Kirkley Hall merited a true "news thread" rather than posts being made in the thread discussing the opening of the collection some years ago now 
hence my moving the prior post into this new thread.
The impetus for this action is the very welcome news that Kirkley Hall now holds a pack of 6 Bush Dogs
their origin is, as yet, unknown to me however.
hence my moving the prior post into this new thread.The impetus for this action is the very welcome news that Kirkley Hall now holds a pack of 6 Bush Dogs
their origin is, as yet, unknown to me however.
The impetus for this action is the very welcome news that Kirkley Hall now holds a pack of 6 Bush Dogs
On Sunday, Chester's group of males had disappeared from their usual exhibit (leaving just the two females in the former Yellow Mongoose enclosure) which could explain the source of this group....
Kirkley Hall have now confirmed via a comment-reply on Facebook that these individuals came from Chester Zoo
Kirkley Hall - looking good!
I visited back in August and was very surprised by what a good little collection this is. Its low key and family friendly, 'raw' and intimate. Its one of those places where you can walk around and easily miss 3-4 enclosures if you're not careful, but go for a coffee or an explore around the estate, return to the wee zoo and find the Civet awake or a Racoon Dog feeding. Its large lemur exhibit and wetlands aviary are the centre pieces but they've used the space well and its clear the place has education at its heart.
I wish them luck and prosperity. The North East of England is a desert for zoological collections and this may turn out to be an oasis!
I visited back in August and was very surprised by what a good little collection this is. Its low key and family friendly, 'raw' and intimate. Its one of those places where you can walk around and easily miss 3-4 enclosures if you're not careful, but go for a coffee or an explore around the estate, return to the wee zoo and find the Civet awake or a Racoon Dog feeding. Its large lemur exhibit and wetlands aviary are the centre pieces but they've used the space well and its clear the place has education at its heart.
I wish them luck and prosperity. The North East of England is a desert for zoological collections and this may turn out to be an oasis!
Kirkley Hall has welcomed 2 male Armadillo's from Bristol Zoo.
"We have been wanting to home armadillos for some time now, so our Manager was delighted when Bristol Zoo got in touch saying they had two boys available! Come and meet Grumpy and Stinky in the Walk of Life, if you're lucky you may even see them at exercise time outside the enclosure!"
"We have been wanting to home armadillos for some time now, so our Manager was delighted when Bristol Zoo got in touch saying they had two boys available! Come and meet Grumpy and Stinky in the Walk of Life, if you're lucky you may even see them at exercise time outside the enclosure!"
I don't see the point of creating an entirely new thread for 2017, so I'll post some current news here:
- Four male common squirrel monkeys have arrived at Kirkley Hall from Budapest Zoo.
Announced via Facebook.
- Four male common squirrel monkeys have arrived at Kirkley Hall from Budapest Zoo.
Announced via Facebook.
Visited here yesterday. Since the last update the zoo has added Palawan Binturong, Leopard Cats, Dik Dik, Pied Tamarin and Crowned Lemurs to the collection. I feel like this is one of the most species rich collections in the country for the amount of ground it covers meaning a number of animals live in small, cramped cages. For example, three black and white ruffled lemurs share a small mesh cage and the Genet, coati and leopard cats share a shed. However, the squirrel monkey, ring tailed lemur and dik dik enclosures are nice enough and the zoo has an interesting aquatics collection.
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
The Leopard Cat and Genet may be in the same area, but the exhibits are good sized. From the visitor view, it may look small the way it's designed, but you only look into the exhibits, they are not just a "shed" and having been in both exhibits, they are far from small.
Fair point, as you don't see the entire area although like you say from the visitor view both sections appear small.
I visited today for the first time in around 10 years (can’t remember much from last time as I was a child). I was quite impressed by some of the enclosures, particularly the squirrel monkeys, the callitrichids, the raccoon dogs and the new bush dog enclosure - especially given the size of the zoo.
I was also able to see the genet and the leopard cats, both of which (from what I can remember) are new species for me.
The dik diks are housed in the old bush dog enclosure. The old wetland aviary has been made into a new bush dog enclosure and a male and female have arrived recently.
I did also overhear a keeper saying that the male red crowned crane arrived two days ago, to join the female they already had.
I was also able to see the genet and the leopard cats, both of which (from what I can remember) are new species for me.
The dik diks are housed in the old bush dog enclosure. The old wetland aviary has been made into a new bush dog enclosure and a male and female have arrived recently.
I did also overhear a keeper saying that the male red crowned crane arrived two days ago, to join the female they already had.
Does anyone have any information on the leopard cats? Where they came from and what subspecies they are? I’ve had a look on zootierliste and the species isn’t there for this collection - however according to ZTL there’s indochinese leopard cats at Northumberland country zoo - I’m fairly sure there isn’t, maybe a mixup?
ItsZach
Well-Known Member
Bit late however: they currently hold a pair (unknown sex, presuming 1.1) of P. b. bengalensis, a lot of the animals at the two Northumberland zoos (N Country + N College) have their collections all mixed up on ZTL
Northumberland Country don't own this species at this time
These are my local zoos ^
ItsZach
Well-Known Member
Yeah it was an odd choice, but it makes sense if they wanted it to be closer related to the college which runs it I suppose
Could of went with something more creative than yet another NCZ zoo but hey ho
It’s on the site that used to be the African aviary.
ItsZach
Well-Known Member
For some reason I can't place that in my head, would that be the large empty aviary right next to the "rare breed ducks" that used to have a few birds in, or is it elsewhere? The only other place I could think of is between the dik-dik and temminck's tragopan (tragopan enclosure now seemingly demolished) opposite the coati & leopard cat.