Twycross Zoo Negative Facebook Feedback

Status
Not open for further replies.
littleRedPanda

littleRedPanda

Well-Known Member
Personally, I dont like seeing this sort of thing posted openly on facebook. I think if someone has an issue, they should first send the institution a private message to see how they respond. I quite liked one of the replies of "Footpath Expert" as it really irritates me overhearing people make the usual comments at zoos, without knowing the full facts of an animal. This young lad has a "college qualification" though, so he must know what he is talking about?

Hi there,
Recently I visited your establishment.
I wasn't particularly impressed in fact I was rather disappointed.
I viewed lots of enclosures and I made lots of worrying observations:
Many animals where extremely bored, the Amour Leopard for example was pacing backwards and forwards, in my experience this means it does not have enough enrichment opportunities to express it's natural behaviour, this should not happen in captivity.
There where a few animals with little water left in their water bowls , this should not happen and should be monitored throughout the day when appropriate, as all animals have the right to have fresh food and water daily and when appropriate in captivity.
I also noticed that there was lots of urine and animal waste within some of the enclosures, this concerned me greatly because urine and animal waste cause illness and disease.
Lots of the primates looked frustrated and unstimulated primates are highly intelligent animals if not challenging ones to look after , they need to be constantly stimulated to compensate for their high energy and mental ability levels .
I completely understand how busy a working day in a zoo can be and how hard things like funding can be to secure better quality facilities, but could you please look at the issues I have underlined above in some further detail please ?
As we as visitors want the best experience possible for both ourselves as visitors and all the animals concerned.
Thank you
Click to expand...
 
My only question is 'Are these fair comments?'
I haven't been to Twycross recently enough to be sure of the answer to this question. Perhaps some are not fair while others are, but have sensible explanations (eg in my experience howler monkeys look existentially bored unless they are eating or howling). Maybe one or two are entirely justified.
If the zoo's management are sensible they will check things out carefully and provide detailed answers to the points made - with explanations of the reasons for any problems and of any actions to alleviate problems: nothing else will do in this modern age.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
My only question is 'Are these fair comments?'
I haven't been to Twycross recently enough to be sure of the answer to this question. Perhaps some are not fair while others are, but have sensible explanations (eg in my experience howler monkeys look existentially bored unless they are eating or howling). Maybe one or two are entirely justified.
If the zoo's management are sensible they will check things out carefully and provide detailed answers to the points made - with explanations of the reasons for any problems and of any actions to alleviate problems: nothing else will do in this modern age.

Alan
Click to expand...

My Dad was blocked off Twycross Facebook just for asking simple innocent questions, he was not happy about it at the time as he went there for years and was always very welcome:(
 
gentle lemur said:
My only question is 'Are these fair comments?'
I haven't been to Twycross recently enough to be sure of the answer to this question.
Click to expand...

I was there a week or so ago. Still plenty of things wrong at Twycross but its the buildings mainly that still let them down. I would say that day to day care/management of the animals themselves over the years has always looked to be pretty good there IMO. One thing I did notice is a sort of pale crumbly-looking Primate 'cake' they are feeding now- a lot of the monkey cages had some of this lying around uneaten, and it could be mistaken for faeces/uncleaned cages by someone unfamiliar.

Regarding 'pacing leopards'- that could probably be levelled at Leopards, and other Big Cats in many zoos. They will pace at certain times of day. e.g. before feeding, irrespective of how much 'enrichment(if any) is being provided. The old chimp row cages now double to provide a very roomy (albeit still pretty ugly) Leopard enclosure.

Regarding facebook comments generally- they seem, even for the same place, to vary hugely, from things like 'marvellous place and happy animals' to 'a ******** with miserable animals', and it goes to show how differently people perceive things. I guess the zoo will give a measured response but in this case I think these are probably mostly unjustified critisisms.
 
I'm sure Twycross are well aware of the 5 freedoms. That user sounds like he's just finished an animal management course and knows how a zoo is run and therefore is an expert. I certainly wouldn't type any review until I had to spoken someone at the zoo so I could get the appropriate answers. There's nothing more annoying than people making accusatory comments without asking first.
 
Pertinax said:
I did notice is a sort of pale crumbly-looking Primate 'cake' they are feeding now- a lot of the monkey cages had some of this lying around uneaten, and it could be mistaken for faeces/uncleaned cages by someone unfamiliar.
Click to expand...

I wonder if that was the "Valentine's Cake" they were giving them

10923660_1006774339336072_7889962277147845586_o.jpg



I have noticed the male Leopard 'pacing' on recent visits, but hadn't seen him do it in previous months. Would it have something to do with the age of the cubs from which he is still separated (and will continue to be I guess)?
 
littleRedPanda said:
I wonder if that was the "Valentine's Cake" they were giving them

I have noticed the male Leopard 'pacing' on recent visits, but hadn't seen him do it in previous months. Would it have something to do with the age of the cubs from which he is still separated (and will continue to be I guess)?
Click to expand...

My visit was the week before Valentine's Day but this 'cake' base looks rather familiar- its possible they used it in this too. There were lumps of it on shelves etc in a number of enclosures.

Leopards. I would think his pacing isn't related to the cubs unless he is restricted from part of the enclosure he could previously/can normally access. I did not notice if he was or not.
 
Pertinax said:
Leopards. I would think his pacing isn't related to the cubs unless he is restricted from part of the enclosure he could previously/can normally access. I did not notice if he was or not.
Click to expand...

The cubs and mum only have one of the sections, while dad has the rest (three or four sections I think). I've only seen him pacing in the section closest to the cubs and mum, so maybe he is just reinforcing his boundary. One visit a few weeks ago, I did see that the cubs & mum were given extended access into some of his territory, while he was blocked from it.
 
ISOE2012 said:
I'm sure Twycross are well aware of the 5 freedoms. That user sounds like he's just finished an animal management course and knows how a zoo is run and therefore is an expert. I certainly wouldn't type any review until I had to spoken someone at the zoo so I could get the appropriate answers. There's nothing more annoying than people making accusatory comments without asking first.
Click to expand...

This is definitely the case, I have met many students who have just learnt about the 5 freedoms or certain animal behaviours and now believe the are experts.
Whether it's excitement from learning something new or just the thought that they are now qualified 'experts'... Usually most will grow out of it once they learn there is more to animals in captivity and understand the reasons why certain behaviours show themselves... Either that or they join CAPS :D
 
stubeanz said:
This is definitely the case, I have met many students who have just learnt about the 5 freedoms or certain animal behaviours and now believe the are experts.
Whether it's excitement from learning something new or just the thought that they are now qualified 'experts'... Usually most will grow out of it once they learn there is more to animals in captivity and understand the reasons why certain behaviours show themselves... Either that or they join CAPS :D
Click to expand...

Yes, there was another comment on there from someone who said something along the lines of 'I've studied animal management and it opens your eyes to things you wouldn't think of noticing when looking into an enclosure'.

Comments like these are slightly annoying too. I'm not saying people who do these courses haven't learnt anything (I did this course and enjoyed it and it was informative) but if you stuck me infront of an enclosure when I was doing that course I wouldn't have noticed half the things I do now, 6 years on in my job. Depending on the course level, learning about animal collections is very limited and basic.
 
The guy cant just criticise Twycross for poor quality. They are the UK's leading primate centre and also zoo
 
lowland anoa said:
The guy cant just criticise Twycross for poor quality. They are the UK's leading primate centre and also zoo
Click to expand...
Everyone is free to be able to say what they like,its called freedom of speech!

Depending which enclosure they are on about,they could even be right in what they say,the place is far from perfect but its slowly dragging itself in to the twentieth first century,instead of the mid twentieth century that it has been stuck in since the late 1980's /early 90's!
 
littleRedPanda said:
I wonder if that was the "Valentine's Cake" they were giving them

10923660_1006774339336072_7889962277147845586_o.jpg



I have noticed the male Leopard 'pacing' on recent visits, but hadn't seen him do it in previous months. Would it have something to do with the age of the cubs from which he is still separated (and will continue to be I guess)?
Click to expand...

That cake looks yummy:D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top