Visited today for the first time in many years - I have very few memories of my previous visits, and what little I do remember is dampened by the controversy that surrounded the zoo at the time. As such, I have always been fairly critical of the zoo, but I actually rather enjoyed this visit.
I made my way directly to the Spix's Guan, which was a lovely animal. He shared the larger of the two macaw aviaries with three Green Military Macaw, and was perched in the door between the indoor and outdoor enclosures, before leaping down and vanishing into the vegetation. It looked very charismatic overlooking its enclosure in the sunlight, and it is a shame that he is, to the best of my knowledge, the last of his species in Europe.
Among my other target species, the Brahminy Kite was visible, as were the Malayan Box Turtles (the younger individual, who is still considerably smaller than the others, was active throughout the day), although sadly the Bredl's Python evaded me, and I am not sure if the zoo even houses Aplomado Falcon (unless they are kept behind-the-scenes and used only for presentations, which is quite possible).
I was really impressed to see an extensive South American zone, which isn't all too common among British collections, and was mostly new since my last visit. The Spectacled Bears in particular were incredible - the cubs have grown quite a lot, and one was scaling the fence of the enclosed area near the indoors. The Six-banded Armadillos seemed to be settling in well, but the Giant Anteater less so - didn't seem to be familiar with electric fence, as it approached it and got somewhat injured. I imagine this happens a lot with new arrivals at zoos, although I have never observed it prior.
The highlight for me, by far, was Elephant Eden. Certainly the largest elephant enclosure which I have ever seen, covered in grass, and set on a hillside, so as to ensure that the elephants are visible regardless of how far back they venture. The elephants looked stunning there, especially Shaka, who may be one of the most impressive bull elephants which I have ever seen. Sutton was roaming the smaller paddock at the front, where he seemed to be settling in nicely, while Shaka and Janu roamed the field at the back. They were investigating each other through the fence, at times, which was nice to see.
In one part of Elephant Eden was the willow plantation, in which the elephants have access to a forest of live trees for them to forage among. I believe this was a more recent extension of the exhibit, as I don't recall seeing anything like it, but I loved the concept.
The Giraffe House is open to the public again, which was great to see, although the Walkthrough Aviary sadly, but understandably, remained closed.
My thoughts on the zoo are mostly positive, although it still has some major shortcomings. The domestic focus isn't as agitating as I had expected it to be, as there are several choice breeds (the Sutton Punch were very impressive and the British White Cattle were delightful, with the latter allegedly expecting calves). The large empty spaces between enclosures was agitating, and overall it felt like a lot of the zoo was wasted space. However, much of it was planted quite well with orange blossom, which helped with the atmosphere of the zoo. My main issue is how understocked many enclosures seem to be. 3 African Elephants is forgivable, as it is a bachelor group, but 2 White Rhinos, 2 Giraffes and 3 Bactrian Camels was a little disappointing, considering how spacious the enclosures are.
Overall, a very enjoyable visit to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, that made me feel somewhat guilty to have criticised it so much in the past...
