aignton
1) Develop the paddock behind Gibbon Island Restaurant that is currently used to exhibit Geese, Guineafoul and Cranes. Either create an informative, attractive Crane exhibit or make use of an amazing piece of land, after all, it is often one of the first enclosures visitors see after the Tropical/Desert House or after lunch. Unfit visitors walk up hill to find the Red Pandas, why not makee the climb rewarding?
(Cheetah, Maned Wolves, Cranes, Gelada, Mandrill, Dhole)
2) Cheetah Exhibit - Inform the public that there is a generously sized off-show enclosure behind the small one on view. Most visitors have a fairly dis-engaging experience with these amazing animals.
3) Re-stock the Brook Aviary (entry to the Lion enclosure). Though bird fanatics and budding zoologists will appreciate the species on show, for most, they are 'just' ducks and pigeons! This amazing aviary is a chance either to impact visitors at the very beginning, or the very end of their visit! WOW THEM!
4) Inform the public of what is going on behind the scenes in Crocodile Swamp - the species signage is always wrong, the Lillies and/or Matamata (which was the perfect exhibit) is a mess and some crocs are off-show! They will have more empathy and will display more positive behaviour if they are empowered with basic facts.
5) Move the Echidna, Magpie Geese, Emu and Cockatoo, plus Kookaburra to the Kangaroo enclosure and landscape a walk-through immersion exhibit to rival any in the World! You have the space, the experience and it would not cost too much if done wisely!
6) Mix the Kafue Lechwe, Ostrich and Ground Hornbill with the Zebra. In front of these paddocks use the Meerkat and Porcupine to draw visitors in. I realise the Lechwe are nervous but I have seen it done in North American collections. Imagine the view from above the Elephant enclosure!
The current summer/winter policy for exhibiting Ostrich is hideous!
7) Sort out;
The Tapir/Capybara exhibit - it's a mess!
The Gibbons at the end of Orang-utan Island. It is a welfare issue now!
The space between the Tropical and Desert Houses.
The shabby aviary/cages above the meekats housing the beautiful and enigmatic Abbysian Hornbills and Marabou Storks,
8) Celebrate the work done with Native Species (Curl Bunting, Water-vole etc) - Big 'wordy' sign boards are not the way! Paignton has the Woodland Walk which is wonderful! 99.5% of visitors never go in! While that's good for people like us, the Zoo is missing an opportunity to get British people into native woodland once a year!
9) Move the Snowy and Hawk Owls to the Cassowary area and open up the current Owl flights. Create at least one long Parrot flight that is parallel to the visitor.
10) The badger hide is an incredible facility for locals to use. Could they show a video during the day of these zoo residents? What about adding Honey badgers to a nearby enclosure to highlight differences? From a zoo visitor point of view, it is an empty wooded area!
I love spending most of my spare time at Paignton and Living Coasts. These are just suggestions....cheers.
1) Develop the paddock behind Gibbon Island Restaurant that is currently used to exhibit Geese, Guineafoul and Cranes. Either create an informative, attractive Crane exhibit or make use of an amazing piece of land, after all, it is often one of the first enclosures visitors see after the Tropical/Desert House or after lunch. Unfit visitors walk up hill to find the Red Pandas, why not makee the climb rewarding?
(Cheetah, Maned Wolves, Cranes, Gelada, Mandrill, Dhole)
2) Cheetah Exhibit - Inform the public that there is a generously sized off-show enclosure behind the small one on view. Most visitors have a fairly dis-engaging experience with these amazing animals.
3) Re-stock the Brook Aviary (entry to the Lion enclosure). Though bird fanatics and budding zoologists will appreciate the species on show, for most, they are 'just' ducks and pigeons! This amazing aviary is a chance either to impact visitors at the very beginning, or the very end of their visit! WOW THEM!
4) Inform the public of what is going on behind the scenes in Crocodile Swamp - the species signage is always wrong, the Lillies and/or Matamata (which was the perfect exhibit) is a mess and some crocs are off-show! They will have more empathy and will display more positive behaviour if they are empowered with basic facts.
5) Move the Echidna, Magpie Geese, Emu and Cockatoo, plus Kookaburra to the Kangaroo enclosure and landscape a walk-through immersion exhibit to rival any in the World! You have the space, the experience and it would not cost too much if done wisely!
6) Mix the Kafue Lechwe, Ostrich and Ground Hornbill with the Zebra. In front of these paddocks use the Meerkat and Porcupine to draw visitors in. I realise the Lechwe are nervous but I have seen it done in North American collections. Imagine the view from above the Elephant enclosure!
The current summer/winter policy for exhibiting Ostrich is hideous!
7) Sort out;
The Tapir/Capybara exhibit - it's a mess!
The Gibbons at the end of Orang-utan Island. It is a welfare issue now!
The space between the Tropical and Desert Houses.
The shabby aviary/cages above the meekats housing the beautiful and enigmatic Abbysian Hornbills and Marabou Storks,
8) Celebrate the work done with Native Species (Curl Bunting, Water-vole etc) - Big 'wordy' sign boards are not the way! Paignton has the Woodland Walk which is wonderful! 99.5% of visitors never go in! While that's good for people like us, the Zoo is missing an opportunity to get British people into native woodland once a year!
9) Move the Snowy and Hawk Owls to the Cassowary area and open up the current Owl flights. Create at least one long Parrot flight that is parallel to the visitor.
10) The badger hide is an incredible facility for locals to use. Could they show a video during the day of these zoo residents? What about adding Honey badgers to a nearby enclosure to highlight differences? From a zoo visitor point of view, it is an empty wooded area!
I love spending most of my spare time at Paignton and Living Coasts. These are just suggestions....cheers.