Drusillas Park or Marwell Wildlife?

[fossda]

Which one should I go to? The Best Fun Family & Childrens Day Out In Sussex or Marwell Wildlife: Home Marwell is bigger, but both zoos have a few animals the other one hasn't. For example, only Marwell has giraffes, but only Drusillas have prairie dogs.

Both are about an hour away from me, any help choosing

Thanks, Fossda

 

[zooman1]

would have to be Marwell all the way for me

 

[fossda]

What's better about it? Also, both have trains to get around the park, but unlike Marwell, Drusillas has Adventure play frames as well as adventure golf.

 

[fossda]

What does everyone like more about Marwell than Drusillas??

 

[Pertinax]

There is really no comparison to be made between them IMO. Marwell is a major Zoological collection with the emphasis on African ungulates, big cats etc. Drusillas is a small child-orientated 'playpark' with virtually no large animals and fewer smaller ones. Completely different types of places.

 

[johnstoni.]

Pre 2000's, I would have said it depends on whether you have children, and on the time of year.

Marwell isn't the best in winter as virtually nothing is allowed out on the grass (although this has improved ever so slightly in recent years).

However, Drusillas to me lost its way when the current owners took over. Before around 1998, you had some of the most innovative exhibits in the UK: Beaver Country, World of Owls, Life on Earth, Monkey mountain, Penguin bay, Meerkat mound. Those with knowledge of these exhibits may not think of them as particularly special, but thats because so many of the ideas pioneered at Drusillas have been emulated many times throughout UK collections. Many of those exhibits have been shrunk down to make space for other species, or restocked with fairly random species unconnected to the original theme of the exhibit IMO.

I also feel that Marwell has lost its way but that has been discussed elsewhere in great depth.

 

[fossda]

Does Drusillas Park still have a meerkat mound? cos i like them

 

[johnstoni.]

Well maybe you should visit both. Drusillas have an excellent enclosure, though small by todays standards, which was designed by schoolchildren and built on the site of the old penguin pool. They were the first to use perspex viewing domes in the enclosure. Originally they had three older adults in a non-breeding group but I believe these were 'retired' to a 'sanctuary' so that a new group could be brought in.

Marwell has just recently opened a really good exhibit for this species, itss interesting to see how far we have come in keeping this species. When Drusillas opened theirs, only Cotswold and maybe Combe Martin had anything like decent enclosures. London used to just keep theirs in the small mammal house, now you can see the influence of Drusillas in the two London exhibits for this species.