Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo 2023
- Thread starter TriUK
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Only took 7 years.....
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, it's an exciting experience, given it's the only one in the UK, but £225 for a single animal experience is a lot of money in a cost of living crisis.
£225 for 75 minutes works out at £3 per minute! I suppose that's less than Mr Farage gets in the jungle or Mr Lineker gets in the MoD studio, but they can talk and they don't need to be given worms to eat (although Mr F might, I suppose
). I could give myself a tour of the zoo ('This is the maned wolf paddock, but I can't see it. Those little sheep are where the Darwin's rheas used to be. This used to be the elephant paddock, perhaps I'll see a giraffe there one day . . . . ' and so on. And I could survive without the delicious bap. So if I claim a Member's discount, please could I do a deal to have 10 minutes with our kiwi for £20?
There is little demand for kiwi and they are generally solitary. Frankfurt and Berlin, who are Europe's main kiwi breeders basically only breed on demand when they know there is interest in the chick.
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Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
£225 for 75 minutes works out at £3 per minute! I suppose that's less than Mr Farage gets in the jungle or Mr Lineker gets in the MoD studio, but they can talk and they don't need to be given worms to eat (although Mr F might, I suppose
I could give myself a tour of the zoo ('This is the maned wolf paddock, but I can't see it. Those little sheep are where the Darwin's rheas used to be. This used to be the elephant paddock, perhaps I'll see a giraffe there one day . . . . ' and so on. And I could survive without the delicious bap. So if I claim a Member's discount, please could I do a deal to have 10 minutes with our kiwi for £20?
I'm not saying it should be silly cheap, but when most experiences are priced £89-109, it feels somewhat of a jump to £225.
I paid £250, to do the Keeper Experience at Paignton, and whilst educational, it was not enjoyable and there was no real experience at all to it. For £250 it didn't even include lunch, and apart from 3 scatter feeds for Diana Monkeys, River Hogs and Tapir, the day consisted of cleaning, food prep and making enrichment, but not actually really seeing any animals and it only covered Primate (no apes), Hoofstock, LVI and the Desert House. To say it was underwhelming was an understatement and it's only in front of Wingham as the worse keeper experience I've done.
I probably will end up paying the £225 to do it, but I would be very surprised if it sells out or gets a mass of bookings, given how it has been priced.
Things like the Sloth Experience for £89 is good value, when you consider it includes entry as well.
They also don't offer discounts to members, who naturally would have already had their entry to the zoo. Mind you, with Paignton membership, you only get 2 free visits for Newquay each year, where in reality, you would have hoped unlimited visits to both parks would have been included.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Are they difficult to keep? Or is there something else driving the low demand? I’d have said they’d be popular with visitors not just zoo fans though birds do seem to attract less general viewing.
Thanks Lintworm. It's a shame.
I agree, I find it odd. Even though birds (beyond penguins..) are less popular, Kiwi's are an iconic animal and I would have thought they would have attracted more interest than most.
Not sure if they're difficult to keep but I would have thought they'd be in high demand for nocturnal exhibits, but they are increasingly rare these days. Come on London! Show some imagination and get some Kiwis!
They aren't very good display animals. In a diurnat setting they are basically invisible, bar the odd individual (Zlin...) and even in nocturnal houses they are quite often invisible. They do best in larger enclosures and are sensitive to light and noise disturbance, so overall not the best candidates for exhibits unfortunately.
Honestly, if you're able to travel, that £225 would get you most of the way to Zlin and, on my experience, you'd probably see more kiwi for your money..!
Sounds like you got a very accurate-to-the-job keeper experience at Paignton then
I suspect the fact it wasn't a flashy "play with the animals" experience speaks more to your personal tastes than the quality and value-for-money of the experience!Honestly, if you're able to travel, that £225 would get you most of the way to Zlin and, on my experience, you'd probably see more kiwi for your money..!
I can second this
earlier this year myself and Helly spent about twenty minutes watching the Zlin animal, and then I left her at the exhibit so that I could check a few prior no-shows and use binoculars to see if I could spot any offshow animals from afar, as Helly wanted a rest and sit down anyhow; after about an hour I returned to Helly *still* watching the kiwi, and it was still trundling around the place when we tore ourselves away from the enclosure shortly after that!This actually sounds like a pretty accurate description of a keeper experience. Cleaning/food prep/ other non-animal contact activities are what a keeper's day mostly comprises!Sounds like you got a very accurate-to-the-job keeper experience at Paignton then
Re Kiwis, I remember London Zoo had one in the 1960's in the old Ostrich house. It was put 'on exhibit' at a stated time in the afternoon when it was extricated from its box and encouraged to be active. Free of charge in those days of course...generally Kiwis are poor exhibits even in nocturnal houses. Hence the lack of popularity for what is such an interesting bird. Even in New Zealand where several tourist towns have a 'Kiwi house' with a nocturnal exhibit, they are often invisible.
I remember seeing a pair of kiwis in the Moonlight World at Regent's Park in the 1980s, in one of the larger enclosures near the corner at the end of the first row, long before the modifications caused by the construction of the rainforest. I have never seen a live one since, except on Paignton's CCTV.
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you got a very accurate-to-the-job keeper experience at Paignton then
Having done a lot of experiences, no I wouldn't say I like "flashy play with animals as you put it". I don't even handle or play with my own animals, as I don't like to be too intrusive of them and most are rescues, but when doing a paid experience, It's nice when there is a mixture of cleaning, learning about animals, enrichment, training, observation and feeding etc.
When you charge for an experience, people have paid for an experience, not to effectively be a volunteer for a day, so you have to provide a product that people will enjoy. To spend an hour cleaning a animals house, and not even see the animal in question, is not really an experience.
You have to have a balance, and some of the best experiences I've had have been far from playing with animals, but more the training and health care assessment side of things, which are very interesting and enjoyable, and allow you to learn more about the animals. Banham for instance, you do a healthcare training session with the Gelada, then you get to do spot training to increase confidence with the Maned Wolves, as well as a bit of cleaning and observation. You do the normal tasks and are shown this, but there is also the part of seeing and working with the animals up close.
£225 for 75 minutes works out at £3 per minute! I suppose that's less than Mr Farage gets in the jungle or Mr Lineker gets in the MoD studio, but they can talk and they don't need to be given worms to eat (although Mr F might, I suppose
We can but dream, although I’m sure most of us would serve up something else for Nige first (maybe worms as a side order!)
It would be great to have Paigntons Kiwi on nocturnal display. Perhaps when the zoo ‘finally’ launch & announce their master plan we’ll find out if the Kiwi is part of the long-term thinking? I’m sure having him is fantastic for bird keeper professional development and for research/science etc, but surely the aim should be to breed?
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Thanks - I guess I’d still wait for ages to see them heh but their mass appeal might be lower. Shame though as they are awesome.