Living Coasts (Closed) Living Coasts closed permanently
- Thread starter Jennings
- Start date
This makes me so incredibly sad...
Nooooooo 
Oh this is terrible. I hope a home is found for all the animals. Any possibility of saving it?
It was a really special place, which I had the pleasure of visiting. I'm very sad to see it go.
Oh this is terrible. I hope a home is found for all the animals. Any possibility of saving it?
It was a really special place, which I had the pleasure of visiting. I'm very sad to see it go.
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Why blame the government look at the whole situation first and ask why have they closed,
This doesn't look good for Paignton either
When did they make the decision as you don't just make decisions like this over night.
Hope all the animals get to go to new homes.
A great small collection but times are hard and I expect more to close.
This doesn't look good for Paignton either
When did they make the decision as you don't just make decisions like this over night.
Hope all the animals get to go to new homes.
A great small collection but times are hard and I expect more to close.
This is indeed very sad news and, I suspect, Living Coasts may not be the last collection that will close this year. But please do not blame "the government"; if you need to point blame to anything it is coronavirus.
Johnny Morris.
Well-Known Member
The Government welcomed the virus into the country with open arms, who else is there to blame?
Why did they need 44 members of staff at such a small site?
They had a substantial gift shop, and their restaurant and bar were open later than the collection which would have probably have bumped up their staff numbers.
Keepers, Maintenance, Cleaners, Cafe, Admin, researchers, admissions, shop...
I expect several of them will be part-timers.
The Hedgehog
Well-Known Member
This news is heartrenching,my family and I loved Living Coast's. My parents once bought me a Penguin feeding experience. On the way home My younger sister kept saying how much I smelled of fish. I must I couldn't understand why I personally think I went nose blind LOL.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the animal's that resided at Living Coast's find a home at the nearby Paington Zoo that is ironically Living Coast's sister zoo.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the animal's that resided at Living Coast's find a home at the nearby Paington Zoo that is ironically Living Coast's sister zoo.
"Subject to appropriate veterinary checks, and in accordance with the guidelines from the IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group, it may be possible to release some locally occurring species directly back into the wild. For most livestock this will not be possible because most of them were born/hatched at Living Coasts, do not naturally occur locally, and would not be able to cope with life in the wild without an unprecedented and substantial period of re-training."
The website implies that some native species could be released to the wild. I am presuming that they are referring to the guillemots, bearded tits, some of the fish and invertebrates etc. How feasible is this, do we think?
The website implies that some native species could be released to the wild. I am presuming that they are referring to the guillemots, bearded tits, some of the fish and invertebrates etc. How feasible is this, do we think?
Which collections might be best suited to taking in some of the species held? Perhaps Oceanopolis Brest, Nausicaa, a few Sealifes...
Zooboy - I didn't blame the government I was replying to a comment that as been taken down as they had blamed the government.
Important to note that it’s more complex than just the coronavirus situation as they say that falling visitor numbers are a factor and that “after nearly twenty years of operation the site also needed substantial maintenance that the Trust is no longer in a position to afford”.
Perhaps they would have been able to afford them in a different situation but that isn’t clear by any means.
Perhaps they would have been able to afford them in a different situation but that isn’t clear by any means.
This is horrible news! Living Coasts was one of my favorite collections I visited when I went to the UK in 2016...
And to be fair, the UK government has shafted zoos worse than pretty much any other business so imo they do get a fair share of the blame here. They refused emergency funding for zoos claiming zoos weren't forced to close, only people were banned from visiting. Then, when they allowed everything from restaurants to amusement parks to reopen (along with WWT zoos), they then told zoos they had to close to the public but would still not get emergency funding. The UK government has treated their zoos worse in this disaster than I think I've seen any other western country do.
~Thylo
And to be fair, the UK government has shafted zoos worse than pretty much any other business so imo they do get a fair share of the blame here. They refused emergency funding for zoos claiming zoos weren't forced to close, only people were banned from visiting. Then, when they allowed everything from restaurants to amusement parks to reopen (along with WWT zoos), they then told zoos they had to close to the public but would still not get emergency funding. The UK government has treated their zoos worse in this disaster than I think I've seen any other western country do.
~Thylo