Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo 2022

Fantastic news to hear from Paignton, when was their last birth out of curiosity?
 
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Angry people on Facebook reporting being turned away from the zoo as opening has been delayed because of operational issues (up to an hour ago).
 
Paignton Zoo will remain closed to visitors for the rest of today.
As part of our daily security checks we discovered an issue with one of the security doors in an off-show area of the Ape House this morning. We take our Health and Safety responsibilities extremely seriously and made the decision not to open until this issue had been fully resolved. We are pleased to say that the cause of the issue has now been addressed and we look forward to opening as normal tomorrow. Our gorillas remained safely within their off-show areas for the duration of the morning while our teams worked to resolve the issue.
Steve Nash, Head of Campaigns and Programmes, added: “Given yesterday’s exciting news about the birth of a critically endangered Bornean orang-utan in the zoo's Ape House, the work has taken a little longer than usual, in order to minimise noise and disturbance in the gorilla home next door. However, mother and baby are settling in well, and we hope to be able to introduce our new arrival to the public soon. We would like to say thank you to all those whose visit was affected today; your understanding is much appreciated, and we hope you can come back soon to visit us here at Paignton Zoo.”
Visitors who had pre-booked tickets for today will be contacted with opportunities to rebook or request a refund.


Source: Log into Facebook
 
Another day closed for Paignton, they have had a pretty rough year! Hoping the public perception isn't going down because of all the recent unfortunate events.
 
Couldn't be helped. Just one of those things and better to be safe than sorry regarding upsetting any of the apes, as they can all be very highly strung.
 
Bornean orangutan Chinta emerged from behind the scenes today to show her new son to the TV cameras. I was lucky enough to be there - photo in the Gallery.

Work is continuing in the giraffe enclosure - new fencing and so on.

Apparently the zoo is closing for two weeks from 9 January 2023 in what seems to be becoming an annual event.
 
Went today for a wet & windy walk. A few observations:
- The sacred ibis are now in the crane aviary adjacent to the Spoonbill nr the Maned Wolf.
(There are now no birds in any of the four netted aviaries opposite the cassowaries - they are due to be pulled down I believe. I’m not sure families will make the diversion from the ‘new’ lakeside path to see a Cassowary - as much as I love them?)
- There appears to be only one Lar Gibbon now.
- The juvenile Cuban croc is off-show with the two male tomistoma having access to two exhibits.
- I spent quite some time near the kangaroos and could see only one wallaby. That whole hillside is wasted.
I would really welcome the zoo sharing their master plan with members/public going into their centenary year.
 
TriUK said:
Went today for a wet & windy walk. A few observations:
- The sacred ibis are now in the crane aviary adjacent to the Spoonbill nr the Maned Wolf.
(There are now no birds in any of the four netted aviaries opposite the cassowaries - they are due to be pulled down I believe. I’m not sure families will make the diversion from the ‘new’ lakeside path to see a Cassowary - as much as I love them?)
- There appears to be only one Lar Gibbon now.
- The juvenile Cuban croc is off-show with the two male tomistoma having access to two exhibits.
- I spent quite some time near the kangaroos and could see only one wallaby. That whole hillside is wasted.
I would really welcome the zoo sharing their master plan with members/public going into their centenary year.
Click to expand...

I've spotted the second Lar Gibbon a couple of times recently. He's confined to the right hand section of their house it seems. A bit of body contorting by the electric fence and peering through the reflections required.

The zoo's announcement that they're offering 60,000 free visits to school pupils next year isn't quite the celebratory news I'd have hoped to hear.
 
Croc Swamp closed.
Also of note is that the zoo no longer recognise the giraffe house and nocturnal house as exhibits and therefore don’t mention they are closed.
One moment, please...
 
"We currently have a few empty enclosures whilst we await new animals and birds, and also make some updates and improvements around the zoo."

Animals And birds ?
 
…I know right! After a few years of having the bird collection decimated from its former glory, there is talk of bird imports! I couldn’t be happier, if not pleasantly surprised. Here’s to a positive 2023 at Paignton.
 
TriUK said:
…I know right! After a few years of having the bird collection decimated from its former glory, there is talk of bird imports! I couldn’t be happier, if not pleasantly surprised. Here’s to a positive 2023 at Paignton.
Click to expand...
Let’s hope so. Several years back, a very senior member of the then Whitley team expressed the hope that the combined bird collection across the three sites would soon rival Walsrode.
 
TriUK said:
Croc Swamp closed.
Also of note is that the zoo no longer recognise the giraffe house and nocturnal house as exhibits and therefore don’t mention they are closed.
One moment, please...
Click to expand...
It is actually getting quite embarrassing to take family who haven't visited for a while. My daughter wanted to go there yesterday - had to explain why there are no lions, male orang Wousan was hogging the show den so no chance to see the new baby, you still can't walk straight through Monkey Heights, the Tropical House is a shadow of its former self without the birds flying round, so much just looks empty. She wanted to go to Croc Swamp so was disappointed to find the 'Closed' sign when we got there. I'm sure she must wonder why we keep going back. I'm beginning to wonder myself.
 
Pertinax said:
Is 'Arid Lands' another name for the Desert House?
Click to expand...
Yes; another expensive re-branding exercise that hasn’t really shown any tangible signs of being successful. The Tropical House - which is now a botanical walk-through with some vivariums and a pair of pheasants is now called ‘Tropical Trails’.
 
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