My Zoo Reviews

[Prochilodus246]

As @Springbok is interested in seeing some of my other verdicts on different zoos I thought I'd just make a topic relating to the zoos I have visited and will update the thread when I visit a new or previously not reviewed zoo.

Collection: Exmoor Zoo, UK

Date of Visit: 27/10/2022

Reason for Visit: Rarities

As a collector of species photographs much like @Sicarius Exmoor was high on my wish list of zoos to visit due to its immense amount of rarities this collection has to offer. Below is my review of the collection:

We arrived at Exmoor on an overcast October morning at the very beginning of opening to make the most of the day. We queued for a short while and then we entered the park! Although the queue seemed large people filtered out quickly and the park felt very quiet throughout the entirety of our visit. We followed the map numerically as we saw that the rarities were spread all across the zoo and thanks to reading other ZooChatters’ comments and sending the zoo an email prior to our visit we decided to revisit the enclosures of some species that didn’t appear on our first circuit round notably the ringtail, honey badgers and clouded leopards.

The park had a good layout to it and we occasionally stumbled upon enclosures we had missed by going down a wrong turn and this was a pleasant surprise. Although it was overcast and had a slight nip in the air most if not all species, I had anticipated in seeing were active or at the very least photogenic and viewable. At the time of my visit the lake was being refurbished so species such as the Pink-backed pelicans were not on exhibit and the recent death of the zoo’s melanistic leopard left that enclosure empty as well but this didn’t in any way spoil my visit.

We felt that almost all enclosures were suited well to the residents with good climbing opportunities for the clouded leopards and cougars to the well planted aviary for the shoebill. I personally found enclosures for the black & white ruffed lemurs a tad on the smaller side compared to the expansive enclosure for the Ring-tailed lemurs. Our favourite exhibit would have to go to the sitatunga which although minimal in terms of infrastructure it offered so much for this species due the naturally boggy valley at this end of the zoo and the large size of the paddock as well.

Now, on to the rarities. You wouldn’t think a small zoo just outside the Exmoor National Park would be heaving with such a wide range of taxa that are only held in a handful or the only European public collection, would you? The soul animal that made me decide that Exmoor was in need of a visit desperately was the recent addition of the first shoebill in the UK for over 50 years and we were worried her stay may only be a fleeting one so a couple of days after she had been made public, we booked ourselves a holiday in the South West of England.

After having a very successful day closing time neared. We made our way back to the enclosures of the species which had been no-shows and they didn’t disappoint. The ringtail was happily out of its den sitting patiently in its indoor enclosure awaiting its evening meal and the clouded leopard was active and walking the beams of its enclosure.

A truly fantastic collection packed full of rarities making it a zoo nerds paradise and we left the collection feeling that we would have to come back at some point and possibly visit the other zoos that this part of the country has to offer!


No. Species Seen: 81
No. Lifers: 29

 

[Jambi]

As @Springbok is interested in seeing some of my other verdicts on different zoos I thought I'd just make a topic relating to the zoos I have visited and will update the thread when I visit a new or previously not reviewed zoo.

Collection: Exmoor Zoo, UK

Date of Visit: 27/10/2022

Reason for Visit: Rarities

As a collector of species photographs much like @Sicarius Exmoor was high on my wish list of zoos to visit due to its immense amount of rarities this collection has to offer. Below is my review of the collection:

We arrived at Exmoor on an overcast October morning at the very beginning of opening to make the most of the day. We queued for a short while and then we entered the park! Although the queue seemed large people filtered out quickly and the park felt very quiet throughout the entirety of our visit. We followed the map numerically as we saw that the rarities were spread all across the zoo and thanks to reading other ZooChatters’ comments and sending the zoo an email prior to our visit we decided to revisit the enclosures of some species that didn’t appear on our first circuit round notably the ringtail, honey badgers and clouded leopards.

The park had a good layout to it and we occasionally stumbled upon enclosures we had missed by going down a wrong turn and this was a pleasant surprise. Although it was overcast and had a slight nip in the air most if not all species, I had anticipated in seeing were active or at the very least photogenic and viewable. At the time of my visit the lake was being refurbished so species such as the Pink-backed pelicans were not on exhibit and the recent death of the zoo’s melanistic leopard left that enclosure empty as well but this didn’t in any way spoil my visit.

We felt that almost all enclosures were suited well to the residents with good climbing opportunities for the clouded leopards and cougars to the well planted aviary for the shoebill. I personally found enclosures for the black & white ruffed lemurs a tad on the smaller side compared to the expansive enclosure for the Ring-tailed lemurs. Our favourite exhibit would have to go to the sitatunga which although minimal in terms of infrastructure it offered so much for this species due the naturally boggy valley at this end of the zoo and the large size of the paddock as well.

Now, on to the rarities. You wouldn’t think a small zoo just outside the Exmoor National Park would be heaving with such a wide range of taxa that are only held in a handful or the only European public collection, would you? The soul animal that made me decide that Exmoor was in need of a visit desperately was the recent addition of the first shoebill in the UK for over 50 years and we were worried her stay may only be a fleeting one so a couple of days after she had been made public, we booked ourselves a holiday in the South West of England.

After having a very successful day closing time neared. We made our way back to the enclosures of the species which had been no-shows and they didn’t disappoint. The ringtail was happily out of its den sitting patiently in its indoor enclosure awaiting its evening meal and the clouded leopard was active and walking the beams of its enclosure.

A truly fantastic collection packed full of rarities making it a zoo nerds paradise and we left the collection feeling that we would have to come back at some point and possibly visit the other zoos that this part of the country has to offer!


No. Species Seen: 81
No. Lifers: 29

Exmoor is one I am interested in visiting at some point, I've never been to that part of the country before, and I'd love to see the black leopard they have. Perhaps not this year or next, but I may plan a visit in 2025 or 2026.

 

[Prochilodus246]

I would definitely recommend visiting the collection but as you would be travelling a distance I would also pencil in some other collections while you're down there to make the most of the journey time.

 

[Prochilodus246]

I understand Fota Wildlife Park isn't in the UK but My Zoo Reviews thread is so I'll post it in here.

Collection: Fota Wildlife Park, Ireland

Date of Visit: 31/08/2023

Reason for Visit: Drills & Grey-cheeked mangabey (Mainly)


Part One:

We arrived at Fota on a nice sunny morning half an hour after opening. Upon entry into the park the whole place had a large open feel to it and that helped with the fact that the place was almost empty. We understood that schools had gone back but we really didn’t expect it to be just so quiet as we saw maybe only 70 or so other guests throughout our entire visit.

The first enclosures you come to at the park are the main savannah, cheetah run and an enclosure shared by Black and white colobus and Meerkats. Initially the colobuses weren’t out so we decided we would return to their enclosure later on but thy had lots of climbing opportunities available to them and the enclosure reminded me of the Barbary macaque enclosure at Folly Farm. We then came to the cheetah run which was home to a female cheetah and her three cubs. The enclosure was spacious with good amounts of cover as well as some logs for them to rest on if they desired.

Now onto the savannah. This large enclosure was home to Rothschild’s giraffe, Grant’s zebra, Common ostrich and Scimitar-horned oryx with the latter not having access to the enclosure on the day we visited. This enclosure could be viewed from all angles with the visitor having a great panoramic view of the inhabitants of this enclosure. I was happy seeing Grant’s zebra as this embarrassingly is the first time I have photographed the subspecies and only the second time seeing it. Along with the inhabitants of the enclosure a large group of Helmeted guineafowl were also making use of the enclosure as well as a couple of the free ranging Red-necked wallaby which have access to all parts of the zoo.

On the other side of the path was a large grassy enclosure for Lechwe and European bison. I must admit I found the combination a bit odd but it seemed to work. It was enjoyable watching some of the bison play fight with each other and also to see youngsters within the group.

As we continued down the path, we headed towards the Asian Sanctuary which is a part of the zoo dedicated to Asian fauna. We initially went down the right-hand path which took us towards two large paddocks for Indian rhinoceros, one for the male who was currently in his yard being target trained by his keepers to raise his left foot and the other for the female and her calf. Both enclosures had ample amounts of space well as a good-sized pool in each and it was my first time seeing a youngster so that was also a treat. As we carried on down the path, we came to a bridge which took us over part of the moat for the Lar gibbon island in which two of them were sat on the log between the house and the island grooming one another. All the primate islands at Fota had lots of trees which I can imagine if the inhabitants were on their islands viewing could be a little difficult during the summer months.

Continuing on we reached the Sumatran tiger enclosures which had lots of large trees and plenty of cover for the inhabitants. We only saw one individual on our visit and it sat resting on a wooden climbing structure, surveying its enclosure. Leaving the small tiger complex we visited some more primate enclosures this time home to Francois langur, Agile gibbon and Lion-tailed macaque. The langurs and gibbons had very similar enclosures to the Lars and it seemed that during our visit the langurs were confined to their indoor quarters making photography almost impossible due to poor lighting as well as a terrible glare from the glass. This was a shame as it was my first time seeing the species. The macaque enclosure was also lush but lacked the water moat that the other inhabitants had.

Moving on from the primate islands we reached the enclosure for Visayan spotted deer, Visayan warty pig and Red panda. The mesh for the deer and warty pigs was quite obstructive so made viewing quite difficult as well as the small windows for the indoor accommodation. The red panda enclosures were standard with a myriad of different trees, some climbing equipment and nest boxes. Nothing extraordinary but a nice catalogue of species and enclosures nevertheless. On our way out of the Asian Sanctuary we popped in to see if we could see the Asiatic lions. We only saw the two lionesses and they were being kept in their holding yards for ‘Welfare Reasons’ but the outdoor enclosure looked spacious and plenty of shade from the large tree.

On the plans for the Asian Sanctuary many species such as various cranes, markhor and a species of Asian bear were said to be included but the area didn’t seem large enough to accommodate any more species. We also read that the final phase of the area was de to be completed for 2017 and that was 6 years ago so I doubt anything more is to come in this part of the park.

The rest of the review will come later in the day...

 

[Prochilodus246]

Part Two:

Leaving the Asian Sanctuary, we made our way towards the main lake which housed a number of primates being Lion-tailed macaque and Black howler monkey, again on islands as well as some waterfowl in the form of Greylag, Bar-headed, Barnacle, Emperor & Pink-footed geese and a lone Great white pelican. There was also a number of wild birds such as Black-headed gulls and some very confiding little grebes which allowed for some nice shots.

Back from the lake we made our way into the Tropical House which from the outside is very unassuming building but holds many interesting species within its walls. Upon entry the perimeter of the hall there are enclosures, tanks and vivariums for a number of herptiles, fish and invertebrates with the central part of the building climbing logs for a free-ranging Linne’s two-toed sloth & Green iguana. The first enclosure you come to is one for Greater Madagascar day gecko and Asian blue quail which is fairly large and well planted making spotting the geckos very difficult indeed and offers the quail some cover but they were easy to spot due to the number of birds present. The next 4 enclosures along were home to tortoises around of varying sizes, ages and species with Elongated & Red-footed tortoises held, with the latter sharing with a lone Northern bobwhite quail which seemed rather odd. Past the final tortoise enclosure was a spacious vivarium for a singular male Fiji banded iguana, a Mountain chicken frog and a small pool for Butterfly splitfin. I found it odd how the splitfins were exhibited in no more than a 3-inch pond of water at the front of the enclosure and thought it may not offer enough depth or relief from the other inhabitants that may come to use the water. Beside this enclosure was a tank for Dumeril’s boa which I was happy to see as previously I have only seen the back end of this species and finally got a front on view of it as it flicked its tongue.

We then carried on to the other side of the building which had a tank for Red cherry shrimp and many fish species including singular ones for Big belly seahorse, Golden skiffia & Clown anemonefish and larger mixed ones for species according to the habitat they reside in out in the wild.

Rainbowfish Tank: Boesmann’s, Red & Banded rainbowfish, Bristlenose pleco, Clown loach & Redline torpedo barb

Reef Tank 1: Palette surgeonfish, Clown anemonefish, Copperband butterflyfish & Orange-spined unicornfish

Brackish Tank: Spotted scat, Tete Sea catfish, Banded archerfish, African moony & Silver moony

Reef Tank 2: Horseshoe surgeonfish, Schooling bannerfish, French angelfish, Laced moray & Common foxface

After the series of fish tanks, there was accommodation for a second Linne’s two-toed sloth who unlike the one which was climbing above us sat sleeping in the top corner of the exhibit. After the sloth enclosure were a number of vivariums for herptiles as well as one for Prickly stick insect. The herptiles on show were the following: Borneo eared frog, Anthony’s poison frog, Dyeing poison frog, Tonkin bug-eyed frog & Jamaican boa. Only towards reaching the end of the Tropical Hall we noticed the building accommodates a small number of free flying butterflies with the following species seen: Forest giant owl, Postman & Menelaus blue morpho.

We left the Tropical Hall feeling sweaty but enjoyed seeing the species it had to offer and made our way back past the lake and towards the penguins. The Humboldt penguins had a very spacious body of water which all the birds seemed to be making use of as they preened in the water with the ever-hopeful grey heron on the banks watching the water for movement. I thought this enclosure could work well as being entirely netted over and some Inca terns, some sea ducks like eiders and smew or even another penguin species incorporated into the mix as there was plenty of room to accommodate more bodies. As we meandered round the lake, we came to the enclosure for Colombian black spider monkey. This enclosure had many trees as well as climbing equipment for them giving a nice lush feel to the enclosure.

Leaving behind the spider monkeys we walked down the tree lined pathway towards the further primate islands home to Grey-cheeked mangabey, Roloway monkey and Drill. All islands shared a similar theme with climbing opportunities in the form of both equipment and trees and gave the inhabitants plenty of cover if needed be. The Drill enclosure was most impressive with its large size and could have easily accommodated gorillas with the space on their island. The three species were also very pleasant to see as they aren’t all that common in European collections and it was my first time seeing the mangabeys and drills. The only downside with the drill indoor housing like much of the primate housing was reflective glass which made it almost impossible to see the inhabitants let alone photograph them properly. Of the three species it seemed only the mangabeys were making use of outside with them foraging in the sycamore trees and eating the leaves and branches whereas the other two seemed to only venture to their runway onto the island or just stay indoors. Across the pathway from the drills was a large lake for a group of 5 Chilean flamingo which seemed as though they had made their way to the enclosure by their own accord as it didn’t really feel like an enclosure just a part of the zoo between enclosures. Back up the path was a mixed aviary should I call it? For White-tailed eagle, Harbour & Grey seal. The enclosure gave plenty of room height wise but it seemed the seals were lacking in land area if so they desired to haul out.

Part 3 will likely come tomorrow.