There isn't an Egyptian lemur. ZTL says that Marwell has crowned, red ruffed, red-bellied and ring-tailed lemurs.
Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo as it stands - a depthly review
- Thread starter dillotest0
- Start date
HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
I meant wooly but typed Egyptian it seemed... Sorry abt that but Wooly wasn't there anyway Hopefully will see those red Bellied on my next visit as did not see last time I were there.
A new chapter will be releasing today.
In regards to what?
HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
Excited!
Not holding my breath here
Will be washing my hair.Not holding my breath here
I thought okapis lived in the rain forest.
At least that one washes their hair…..
HAPPY RETURNS
Since the last chapter's posting back in January of 2023, quite a few changes have arrived to Marwell. Some are more open-ended - the erstwhile marabou aviary now is reduced to a pile of woodchip. A singleton lego dinosaur is to be found - presumably to call Marwell home for the forseeable future in something of a shoehorned educational display about fossils. A few species mentioned previously left the collection - but in the same vain, many new ones have arrived. Or perhaps to say, many returning animals have arrived to the collection.
Marwell's apparent newfound focus on redeveloping areas of the zoo is not quite a radical new development - but rather, mayhaps, a reversal to what used to be. Exhibits like Night Life and the Amphibian Ark are only so likely to make a return given their makeshift architecture - but, as it would seem, not every erstwhile at Marwell is done for good.
And perhaps Marwell's greatest example of this came in the recent opening of their redeveloped iteration of the old Tropical World - 'Thriving Through Nature'. The exhibit's title is itself curiously vague - with the exhibit doing little to explain what it stands for, or why it is called that, or what the selection of species is about.
And it is a bit smaller than was Tropical World - with most of the greenhouse itself sectioned off by a rock wall, behind which there is a garden of fresh plants. The theme seems to be something of a sensual attraction - with things for visitors to touch and observe. The planting is interesting, though the main run of plants is in the animal area. The visitors are sectioned off from the animal activity by a wooden fence - behind which the exhibit seems to bring with it another interesting lesson - one of finding animals through trial and error.
Many of the animals here blend well into their surroundings, so finding them brings with them something of a reward. At current only a few species live here - one amphibian [European Green Toad]; four reptiles [Occelated Skink; Egyptian Uromastyx; Sudan Plated Lizard; Painted Agama] and a mammal [Rock Hyrax; formerly kept until 2010]. It's certainly a new step for Marwell - but should it be that the small animals here continue to proliferate, and the planting grow itself in, it could seal itself as a treat of an attraction.
Life Among The Trees has seen some restructuring as well. Mainly in the arrangement of the animal enclosures - but of most notability are the absence of Black-and-white-ruffed Lemurs, Midas' Tamarins, and the introduction of a curious grassland species - Brazillian Guinea Pigs - once again not a total stranger to Marwell, having been previously kept until 2006. In theory, the cavies make for an interesting display as they will eat what their neighbours, Pygmy Marmosets and Golden-headed Lion-Tamarins will not. In practice, however, they are shy animals, and seem to prefer dark seclusion. I do wonder whether something like an agouti would've made for a better display; albeit a marginally more commonplace animal... but the public does seem fond of the guinea pigs - immediately associating them with those of domestic variety.
Some love has also been given to Aridlands - in the form of the reopening of two enclosures - which earlier held two-spotted cricket and desert locust - but now both hold locusts. Interestingly one of the stalls used for hoofstock has been closed off, with a large wall of hay in close view. The reason for this unclear...
But in my opinion the most aesthetically pleasing; and interesting of Marwell's newer redevelopments is found close to the Okapi Playground - the carnivore redevelopments. Formerly intended for ocelot and bat-eared fox - the enclosures now contain crested caracara and bush dog respectively. And both of these are species that have been kept on different occasion at Marwell as well - until 1998 and 2002 respectively. And what is even more curious - older maps show bush dog in the enclosure where they have returned also! The caracara seem to make a good show; making interesting use of their; my opinion; aesthetically gorgeous exhibit. The bush dog enclosure has also seen very nice development - but seeing the dogs themselves is a bit of a hit-and-miss sort of thing.
I have come from my most recent visit to Marwell in 2023 with a sense of excitement for what will come next in Marwell's legacy - as it is a zoo that finds itself in an interesting situation - it lacks the venerity of London; the overwhelmation of Chester; the broad scope of Whipsnade; the tight centrism of Twycross. And maybe it is that; in the grand scheme of zoo developments, Marwell is relatively unremarkable. But should these redevelopments be a sign of what is to come, then so there is a good chance that Marwell could reinforce its status as a zoological powerhouse...
and I very much would like to see that!
Since the last chapter's posting back in January of 2023, quite a few changes have arrived to Marwell. Some are more open-ended - the erstwhile marabou aviary now is reduced to a pile of woodchip. A singleton lego dinosaur is to be found - presumably to call Marwell home for the forseeable future in something of a shoehorned educational display about fossils. A few species mentioned previously left the collection - but in the same vain, many new ones have arrived. Or perhaps to say, many returning animals have arrived to the collection.
Marwell's apparent newfound focus on redeveloping areas of the zoo is not quite a radical new development - but rather, mayhaps, a reversal to what used to be. Exhibits like Night Life and the Amphibian Ark are only so likely to make a return given their makeshift architecture - but, as it would seem, not every erstwhile at Marwell is done for good.
And perhaps Marwell's greatest example of this came in the recent opening of their redeveloped iteration of the old Tropical World - 'Thriving Through Nature'. The exhibit's title is itself curiously vague - with the exhibit doing little to explain what it stands for, or why it is called that, or what the selection of species is about.
And it is a bit smaller than was Tropical World - with most of the greenhouse itself sectioned off by a rock wall, behind which there is a garden of fresh plants. The theme seems to be something of a sensual attraction - with things for visitors to touch and observe. The planting is interesting, though the main run of plants is in the animal area. The visitors are sectioned off from the animal activity by a wooden fence - behind which the exhibit seems to bring with it another interesting lesson - one of finding animals through trial and error.
Many of the animals here blend well into their surroundings, so finding them brings with them something of a reward. At current only a few species live here - one amphibian [European Green Toad]; four reptiles [Occelated Skink; Egyptian Uromastyx; Sudan Plated Lizard; Painted Agama] and a mammal [Rock Hyrax; formerly kept until 2010]. It's certainly a new step for Marwell - but should it be that the small animals here continue to proliferate, and the planting grow itself in, it could seal itself as a treat of an attraction.
Life Among The Trees has seen some restructuring as well. Mainly in the arrangement of the animal enclosures - but of most notability are the absence of Black-and-white-ruffed Lemurs, Midas' Tamarins, and the introduction of a curious grassland species - Brazillian Guinea Pigs - once again not a total stranger to Marwell, having been previously kept until 2006. In theory, the cavies make for an interesting display as they will eat what their neighbours, Pygmy Marmosets and Golden-headed Lion-Tamarins will not. In practice, however, they are shy animals, and seem to prefer dark seclusion. I do wonder whether something like an agouti would've made for a better display; albeit a marginally more commonplace animal... but the public does seem fond of the guinea pigs - immediately associating them with those of domestic variety.
Some love has also been given to Aridlands - in the form of the reopening of two enclosures - which earlier held two-spotted cricket and desert locust - but now both hold locusts. Interestingly one of the stalls used for hoofstock has been closed off, with a large wall of hay in close view. The reason for this unclear...
But in my opinion the most aesthetically pleasing; and interesting of Marwell's newer redevelopments is found close to the Okapi Playground - the carnivore redevelopments. Formerly intended for ocelot and bat-eared fox - the enclosures now contain crested caracara and bush dog respectively. And both of these are species that have been kept on different occasion at Marwell as well - until 1998 and 2002 respectively. And what is even more curious - older maps show bush dog in the enclosure where they have returned also! The caracara seem to make a good show; making interesting use of their; my opinion; aesthetically gorgeous exhibit. The bush dog enclosure has also seen very nice development - but seeing the dogs themselves is a bit of a hit-and-miss sort of thing.
I have come from my most recent visit to Marwell in 2023 with a sense of excitement for what will come next in Marwell's legacy - as it is a zoo that finds itself in an interesting situation - it lacks the venerity of London; the overwhelmation of Chester; the broad scope of Whipsnade; the tight centrism of Twycross. And maybe it is that; in the grand scheme of zoo developments, Marwell is relatively unremarkable. But should these redevelopments be a sign of what is to come, then so there is a good chance that Marwell could reinforce its status as a zoological powerhouse...
and I very much would like to see that!
A good time to take stock of things. After the long decline and then a few years where things seemed to have flatlined, this year had been the first for a long time that Marwell has shown a major improvement. Interesting to see what happens next as the zoo moves into a phase where it is adding rather than taking away, we should start to see signs of the management team's vision for the zoo.
May also have been worth mentioning the snow leopard extension that has been announced.
May also have been worth mentioning the snow leopard extension that has been announced.
"And what is even more curious - older maps show bush dog in the enclosure where they have returned" . Not so, the original bush dog enclosure was on the site of the former small-clawed otter enclosure which was to the west of the current enclosure. It is interesting too to note that others have also been very impressed by the current caracara exhibit, which you describe as "gorgeous" ,as it is, apart from new planting, essentially the same as when it was used for ocelots, including the large fallen tree-trunk - a good exhibit nevertheless and great to see this area back in use.
And before the Bush dogs, Bat Eared Fox, the area was home to Muntjac and Parma Wallaby.
Though I will say regarding reindeer ...
I was on flickr.com a few times looking through vast swathes of images taken at Marwell in the 2000s; from 2000 til '09.
I was able through this to find quite a few images of the old Encounter Village - pictures of sheep, goats, turkeys, guinea pigs, rabbits, pot-belly pig and zebu.
But somehow I was never able through this to find one picture of Marwell's reindeer.... I was wondering if there was a reason for this?
New Chapter for 2026! . . . ?
NEW READ ORDER
NEW READ ORDER