New saltwater crocodile arrived from crocs of the world.
Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens News from Thrigby Hall
- Thread starter Badgerman91
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Given that there are quite a number of impressive yet critically endangered Crocodylus taxa about, a very disappointing choice.
Saltwater crocodile are something like the A-B-C commoner's choice of choice: it almost seems like a poor zoo PR scam.
In what way?
Showing off a big big bad bad crocodile to get in the punters. Does not transgress the Animal Planet fixations some of the animal documentaries invariably seem to carry.
Yet more importantly, from a conservation perspective a even badder choice (viz my first and most important rationale for not jumping up and down for joy on this new species at Thrigby).
All zoos are poor right now, especially ones like Thrigby who's income i imagine relies more on tourism to the area rather than people who live locally or attracting zoo-nerds.
It's a good PR move for them. They need to survive. I understand in the grand scheme of things saltwater crocs aren't a pressing conservation matter, but it's not like the rest of their collection is particularly ABC. They have far less ABC animals than the majority of other collections. Best of luck to them.
My personal view remains that this is a case of the white lion in the room. I honestly do not believe a saltwater crocodile for a new species in stead of f.i. Cuban crocodile or Indian gharial would not make a difference in the public's eye and perceiving it to be interesting or not.
I am not saying that Thriby Hall is not a great collection, but if the zoo is poorly placed in terms of local population and visitor appeal Corona is not going to be the end all of that as it would seem this is truly an issue termed with the site's location pre "pandemic" and perhaps the general appeal of the animal collection.
I am not saying that Thriby Hall is not a great collection, but if the zoo is poorly placed in terms of local population and visitor appeal Corona is not going to be the end all of that as it would seem this is truly an issue termed with the site's location pre "pandemic" and perhaps the general appeal of the animal collection.
They've been there since 1979.
Again - I'm not sure if there's maybe been a recent gap in holdings since my last visit in 2017 but up to then Thrigby had kept Saltwater Crocodile for at least 15 years - probably 20 - it's not a new species to the zoo. It's an established stalwart.
EDIT: 40, in fact - thanks @Benosaurus !
EDIT: 40, in fact - thanks @Benosaurus !
I remember (1980s?) watching them feeding dead rabbits to the two Crocodilian species they had at the time:
*American Alligators—these just sat there politely waiting to be handed their bunnies by keepers who just walked up to them
*Salties — one keeper held up a board above the fence line while the Salties hurled themselves at it, and a second keeper lobbed their lunch over the top.
Indeed - this is new blood for an established group, not a new holding entirely.
And given the fact Thrigby also keeps Mugger Crocodile I think it's a bit silly to complain they are neglecting crocodilian oddities!
As other have pointed out - saltwater crocodile is not a new species for them - this is simply a new individual. I still don't understand what you mean by 'PR Scam'. The post on their facebook is hardly showing off the 'big bad croc'. It is three guys jiggling a croc out of a tube...
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1979 as in Thrigby hall wildlife gardens first opened in 1979. I've no idea when they first started keeping saltwater crocs.
I'm fairly sure both the Mugger and Saltie holdings date back to the very beginning
Ah, fair do's. They certainly had them back at least to 2003 though from a quick check of my photos.
A more endangered species may have not been available from other collections. In addition to this, saltwater crocodiles may be more endangered than is known since the last time they were assessed on the IUCN was 1996. Yes, an endangered species would be nice but they not have the capacity for breeding (I know little about this zoo so maybe they do) so there would be little point moving an endangered species to a non-breeding location.
Amur Leopard IONA, born 15 October 2017, has finally moved from Thrigby to the USA, arriving safely at Niabi Zoo, Coal Valley, Illinois on 2 June.
Oh no, that's dreadful newsVisited today, major thing of note was that Ipoh, the Asian Golden cat, passed away earlier this month
It's a species I was really hoping to see after missing Exmoors pair. @TeaLovingDave will be very sad about this news (which he's probably already aware of).
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Really sad news, the Asian Golden Cat was always a highlight for me at Thrigby, the first place I ever saw one and may possibly be the last (for a while anyway)!Visited today, major thing of note was that Ipoh, the Asian Golden cat, passed away earlier this month