HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
Made my first visit to Marwell since Jan 2024 - On this visit the Bush Dogs were a no-show and Thriving Through Nature was closed, so this, accompanied with the developments since then were all new to me. Thought I would share my (extensive) notes on the zoo.
Zoo Visit - 15/04/2025
The zoo in general was extremely quiet, possibly the quietest I have seen since I started visiting - which was unusual for Easter Hols & contrasts what others have noted from their visits… but not complaining!
The entrance was obviously removed and work was being completed for the new Keeper’s Kitchen, so used the temporary entrance between the gift shop and the penguins. This was fine, however it skewed my standard route around the zoo, I normally go down the South Road, however I went past the Giraffes and Sitatunga today, which, alongside other changes/developments I will get to later, made it feel like I was new to the zoo.
Penguin Cove was still closed and was actively being worked on. The trio of Plains Zebra were down by the fence, which was nice as they were the only ones to enter the paddock the entire time I was there, with the 3 Rothschild Giraffes not allowed access and the 2 Roan Antelope sticking to their housing/smaller paddock. Today the Red River Hogs had access to the Sitatunga Paddock, and both species (including Winnie’s new calf) were down by the fence.
Servals were a no-show on my first visit, however one made a distant appearance on my way out. Visayan Warty Pigs have been moved to the old Warthog enclosure. Visitors have access to their house as they did when Warthogs lived here. They work well here in my opinion and were gathering much more attention than when they did in Life Among The Trees - considering Servals are generally not super showy and there are low numbers in the main paddock, it's nice to have a showy and reliable species in this part of the zoo. All 3 Giraffes showed themselves in the house, however Lemurs were inactive and did not see the Red-Bellied. I still feel this is not a very good exhibit.
To finish off this section, I finally saw 2 female Lesser Kudu, after various visits where I haven’t - so obviously this was a positive! Eastern Bongo were in their housing, which I must say is looking very derelict and neglected, the fish tanks were murky and looked quite empty, with the skull display being an obvious negative.
The old Clouded Leopard exhibit has had all the netting and walkway removed as previously mentioned. On viewing it without all of these, I reckon it’ll actually make a stellar Red Panda exhibit - with good access to the trees and standard tree viewing for visitors. Blesbok, Arabian Oryx & Dik-Dik were all showy - which was pleasant and unusual, especially for the Blesbok. Wild Explorers was also a great exhibit as usual, however I still feel the indoors is lacking some sort of small mammal. Offers great views for all 3 species currently kept there though.
Meerkats are down to low numbers, and the Prezwalskis Horse were difficult to view but I guess that's what happens with the only viewing being from Cafe Graze. Seeing the 2 Addax and 3 Dorcas Gazelles in Aridlands is always a treat - one is Extinct In The Wild and the other Extinct in UK Zoos (apart from Marwell obviously. Desert Carnivores (of which it was formerly known) has been done up for the Cusimanse, which were all asleep when I was there! Yellow Mongoose were also a no-show, which is unusual for them! The Ostrich and Wild Ass exhibit is expansive but for only 5 animals (2 female ostrich, which were sitting on eggs and 3 female Wild Ass, with a male next to the Banteng) it seems like a bit of a waste! Caracara as always are great for viewing, and the Bush Dogs made an appearance on my second attempt, both species fit nicely here!
Saw both the Banteng Calf and the Beisa Oryx - The Banteng herd is looking very strong and do make a good exhibit here. I did notice continuing further down the old Red Panda Exhibit is still empty, and there is an exhibit I believe was either used for Coatis or Meerkats, between Tropical House & Bantengs, which is also empty. No complaints in regard to the aviary at the top of the hill, both Red Pandas and the Wallabies were also active in "Fur, Feathers & Scales" - if we can still call it that! Hartmann's Mountain Zebra are beautiful animals, I hope the herd grows as the paddock looks very empty.
The New Native Species Zone is actually really nice, and makes a nice use of the space. Saw a sand lizard in their new enclosure, they work nicely there! Cold Blooded Corner and the Swift Parrot exhibit, I reckon, are on the way out/will be replaced - they don’t fit with the new theme. Cold Blooded Corner is also an odd “reptile house” to be honest, not a huge fan of it. Eco Island is still empty with the Siamang Brothers in the indoors - this NEEDS to be the next enclosure development at the zoo, but I wonder if there may be an excess of Siamangs in the UK - the ones at Twycross seem to be in a subpar exhibit aswell.
Life Among The Trees is a stellar exhibit, the Visayan Warty Pigs are obviously not there right now but I'm sure there will be a valid replacement in due course. I do still think the Siamang enclosure offers great viewing, as does the otter exhibit. Work was still being done in the Binturong extension - no sign of the current resident however. The Emperor Tamarins are currently in the first exhibit with the cage on the right, and, as NMM mentioned, the Golden Lion Tamarins are no longer signed in either the exhibit with the Saki or the Brazilian Cavy/Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin exhibit. Saki Monkeys were active and saw the baby Titi Monkey as well - was adorable! Chacoan Mara, Goeldi’s Monkey, Bokiboky, Red Ruffed Lemur and obviously the Cotton Top Tamarins are also in this section, with 5 adults and 2 babies in this exhibit, and another 2 up on the lawn!
Tropical House is nice enough, there is 100% something mammalian needed on the floors or treetops in the walk through. Thriving Through Nature is aso an unusual experience, having Hyrax back in the collection is obviously a plus, and the building is very sensual and well themed. Viewing for the Snow Leopards & Tigers were completely returned to normal, the Snow Leopards were interacting through the mesh, with Warjun stalking his keepers in the back! The new female is such an entertainment, she was jumping everywhere and playing with a box and sac in her portion of the exhibit. This new extension also looks superb.
Finally, the Okapi exhibit is still astounding, I definitely think it is the premier exhibit in the country. Sole Lowland Anoa next to Marwell Hall still looks healthy, and is one of my personal favourites. I hope these still have a history at Marwell.
My general overview of the zoo was much better than my previous exhibit. There are definitely areas to improve on - areas such as as the Tropical House & Wild Explorers do need some additional species; areas such as the Lemur exhibit, Ostrich/Wild Ass Enclosure, Bongo House & Main Paddock need some reshuffling and restocking; and Eco Island, Warty Pigs, soon to be 2 Red Panda exhibits and some empty areas that used to have exhibits are still in nee to revitalisation. However, this does not draw from the experience as it has in the past - and it has moved my ranking of Marwell up and it was definitely a better experience than Twycross/Paignton which I have visited in the last few years.
Attached Photos are: Cusimanse Enclosure, Former Clouded Leopard Exhibit, New Enclosure for Visayan Warty Pig
Zoo Visit - 15/04/2025
The zoo in general was extremely quiet, possibly the quietest I have seen since I started visiting - which was unusual for Easter Hols & contrasts what others have noted from their visits… but not complaining!
The entrance was obviously removed and work was being completed for the new Keeper’s Kitchen, so used the temporary entrance between the gift shop and the penguins. This was fine, however it skewed my standard route around the zoo, I normally go down the South Road, however I went past the Giraffes and Sitatunga today, which, alongside other changes/developments I will get to later, made it feel like I was new to the zoo.
Penguin Cove was still closed and was actively being worked on. The trio of Plains Zebra were down by the fence, which was nice as they were the only ones to enter the paddock the entire time I was there, with the 3 Rothschild Giraffes not allowed access and the 2 Roan Antelope sticking to their housing/smaller paddock. Today the Red River Hogs had access to the Sitatunga Paddock, and both species (including Winnie’s new calf) were down by the fence.
Servals were a no-show on my first visit, however one made a distant appearance on my way out. Visayan Warty Pigs have been moved to the old Warthog enclosure. Visitors have access to their house as they did when Warthogs lived here. They work well here in my opinion and were gathering much more attention than when they did in Life Among The Trees - considering Servals are generally not super showy and there are low numbers in the main paddock, it's nice to have a showy and reliable species in this part of the zoo. All 3 Giraffes showed themselves in the house, however Lemurs were inactive and did not see the Red-Bellied. I still feel this is not a very good exhibit.
To finish off this section, I finally saw 2 female Lesser Kudu, after various visits where I haven’t - so obviously this was a positive! Eastern Bongo were in their housing, which I must say is looking very derelict and neglected, the fish tanks were murky and looked quite empty, with the skull display being an obvious negative.
The old Clouded Leopard exhibit has had all the netting and walkway removed as previously mentioned. On viewing it without all of these, I reckon it’ll actually make a stellar Red Panda exhibit - with good access to the trees and standard tree viewing for visitors. Blesbok, Arabian Oryx & Dik-Dik were all showy - which was pleasant and unusual, especially for the Blesbok. Wild Explorers was also a great exhibit as usual, however I still feel the indoors is lacking some sort of small mammal. Offers great views for all 3 species currently kept there though.
Meerkats are down to low numbers, and the Prezwalskis Horse were difficult to view but I guess that's what happens with the only viewing being from Cafe Graze. Seeing the 2 Addax and 3 Dorcas Gazelles in Aridlands is always a treat - one is Extinct In The Wild and the other Extinct in UK Zoos (apart from Marwell obviously. Desert Carnivores (of which it was formerly known) has been done up for the Cusimanse, which were all asleep when I was there! Yellow Mongoose were also a no-show, which is unusual for them! The Ostrich and Wild Ass exhibit is expansive but for only 5 animals (2 female ostrich, which were sitting on eggs and 3 female Wild Ass, with a male next to the Banteng) it seems like a bit of a waste! Caracara as always are great for viewing, and the Bush Dogs made an appearance on my second attempt, both species fit nicely here!
Saw both the Banteng Calf and the Beisa Oryx - The Banteng herd is looking very strong and do make a good exhibit here. I did notice continuing further down the old Red Panda Exhibit is still empty, and there is an exhibit I believe was either used for Coatis or Meerkats, between Tropical House & Bantengs, which is also empty. No complaints in regard to the aviary at the top of the hill, both Red Pandas and the Wallabies were also active in "Fur, Feathers & Scales" - if we can still call it that! Hartmann's Mountain Zebra are beautiful animals, I hope the herd grows as the paddock looks very empty.
The New Native Species Zone is actually really nice, and makes a nice use of the space. Saw a sand lizard in their new enclosure, they work nicely there! Cold Blooded Corner and the Swift Parrot exhibit, I reckon, are on the way out/will be replaced - they don’t fit with the new theme. Cold Blooded Corner is also an odd “reptile house” to be honest, not a huge fan of it. Eco Island is still empty with the Siamang Brothers in the indoors - this NEEDS to be the next enclosure development at the zoo, but I wonder if there may be an excess of Siamangs in the UK - the ones at Twycross seem to be in a subpar exhibit aswell.
Life Among The Trees is a stellar exhibit, the Visayan Warty Pigs are obviously not there right now but I'm sure there will be a valid replacement in due course. I do still think the Siamang enclosure offers great viewing, as does the otter exhibit. Work was still being done in the Binturong extension - no sign of the current resident however. The Emperor Tamarins are currently in the first exhibit with the cage on the right, and, as NMM mentioned, the Golden Lion Tamarins are no longer signed in either the exhibit with the Saki or the Brazilian Cavy/Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin exhibit. Saki Monkeys were active and saw the baby Titi Monkey as well - was adorable! Chacoan Mara, Goeldi’s Monkey, Bokiboky, Red Ruffed Lemur and obviously the Cotton Top Tamarins are also in this section, with 5 adults and 2 babies in this exhibit, and another 2 up on the lawn!
Tropical House is nice enough, there is 100% something mammalian needed on the floors or treetops in the walk through. Thriving Through Nature is aso an unusual experience, having Hyrax back in the collection is obviously a plus, and the building is very sensual and well themed. Viewing for the Snow Leopards & Tigers were completely returned to normal, the Snow Leopards were interacting through the mesh, with Warjun stalking his keepers in the back! The new female is such an entertainment, she was jumping everywhere and playing with a box and sac in her portion of the exhibit. This new extension also looks superb.
Finally, the Okapi exhibit is still astounding, I definitely think it is the premier exhibit in the country. Sole Lowland Anoa next to Marwell Hall still looks healthy, and is one of my personal favourites. I hope these still have a history at Marwell.
My general overview of the zoo was much better than my previous exhibit. There are definitely areas to improve on - areas such as as the Tropical House & Wild Explorers do need some additional species; areas such as the Lemur exhibit, Ostrich/Wild Ass Enclosure, Bongo House & Main Paddock need some reshuffling and restocking; and Eco Island, Warty Pigs, soon to be 2 Red Panda exhibits and some empty areas that used to have exhibits are still in nee to revitalisation. However, this does not draw from the experience as it has in the past - and it has moved my ranking of Marwell up and it was definitely a better experience than Twycross/Paignton which I have visited in the last few years.
Attached Photos are: Cusimanse Enclosure, Former Clouded Leopard Exhibit, New Enclosure for Visayan Warty Pig
