Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo News 2017
- Thread starter TriUK
- Start date
Gigit
Well-Known Member
It is very good news. It was the same situation with the tigers - Shakira didn't want anything to do with Tenang, but when Fabi arrived it looked like love at first sight.
I always think of the school holidays at Easter as the first busy period of the year for zoos and I expect that zoos will try to have things ready to attract visitors at this time of year. I realise that this is a rather artificial concept (as Easter is the archetypal movable feast) and that the summer holidays are the peak period, particularly for a zoo in a holiday area.
Certainly Paignton Zoo was very busy on Monday, but the place looked unprepared for these new visitors. Regular visitors realsied that the plans for the Savanna development were back on the shelf as soon as the big display in the entrance hall disappeared. The only trace that remains is the fenced off area opposite the turs and Barbary sheep, which is earmarked for the takin.
Some work is in progress around the zoo, but the only part that is nearly ready is the lobby between the Tropical House and the Desert House. The three new aviaries at the rear of the house are complete, and now hold pairs of white-crested laughing thrush, grey-backed thrush and scarlet-faced liocichla. The area between these aviaries and the public path has new fake rockwork with a stream and a pool, but was still to be planted and stocked; and of course once the plants start to grow, the birds in the rear aviaries will be very hard to see.
The two small paddocks below the baboon rock have been empty all winter. On Monday two people were working on the new roof for the indoor housing at the back, which seemed almost complete - so perhaps the pudu and agouti will return soon, or some other species will take their places. At long last some new vivariums are on display in the Amphibian Ark, but there is still a lot of work to do there. The big vivarium in the Reptile Nursery is empty. Lots of visitors were looking for the reptiles in the enclosures in the Desert House, but the reptiles had not been moved in and there was just one small notice in the third enclosure to explain this.
There are two more long-standing problems. The two lory aviaries in the parrot section, mentioned in the very first post in this thread, are still incomplete. The old tenrec house is empty and the notices saying that it will be adapted for the lorises have disappeared.
Of course there may be good reasons for these delays. But when a major development is postponed and several minor projects take so long to complete, I'm starting to get a little concerned.
Certainly Paignton Zoo was very busy on Monday, but the place looked unprepared for these new visitors. Regular visitors realsied that the plans for the Savanna development were back on the shelf as soon as the big display in the entrance hall disappeared. The only trace that remains is the fenced off area opposite the turs and Barbary sheep, which is earmarked for the takin.
Some work is in progress around the zoo, but the only part that is nearly ready is the lobby between the Tropical House and the Desert House. The three new aviaries at the rear of the house are complete, and now hold pairs of white-crested laughing thrush, grey-backed thrush and scarlet-faced liocichla. The area between these aviaries and the public path has new fake rockwork with a stream and a pool, but was still to be planted and stocked; and of course once the plants start to grow, the birds in the rear aviaries will be very hard to see.
The two small paddocks below the baboon rock have been empty all winter. On Monday two people were working on the new roof for the indoor housing at the back, which seemed almost complete - so perhaps the pudu and agouti will return soon, or some other species will take their places. At long last some new vivariums are on display in the Amphibian Ark, but there is still a lot of work to do there. The big vivarium in the Reptile Nursery is empty. Lots of visitors were looking for the reptiles in the enclosures in the Desert House, but the reptiles had not been moved in and there was just one small notice in the third enclosure to explain this.
There are two more long-standing problems. The two lory aviaries in the parrot section, mentioned in the very first post in this thread, are still incomplete. The old tenrec house is empty and the notices saying that it will be adapted for the lorises have disappeared.
Of course there may be good reasons for these delays. But when a major development is postponed and several minor projects take so long to complete, I'm starting to get a little concerned.
I agree with you! To add to your observations; platform (demolished house in Lemur wood) still out of bounds, Croc swamp labels still wrong, Vertical greenhouse now a picnic area(?) and Nocturnal House still open despite no inhabitants when meerkats outside. The place needs a good shine up and polish!
Any official confirmation for all this.
Note: the plans were just recently - early January 2017 - re-affirmed (see page 1 this thread)!
Gigit
Well-Known Member
Over the years I've noticed that projects get started and then, rather than finish them, the workforce go off and start something else. So, when I see the things you describe I just tend to sigh and think 'typical
'. I hope the current state of affairs is nothing more serious than a continuation of that scenario. Projects do get completed when contractors are brought in, for example the new 'beach' by the lake, the large play area and the fake rockery in the 'lobby'. I agree with your comments about this, by the way. I was looking forward to its completion but we had to get binoculars out to spot the new residents. Consequently, a crowd gathered round us and had no idea what we were looking at.
The netting over the meerkats' outdoor enclosure was removed last week (it used to keep the bats in). We saw a lorry load of 'telegraph poles' being delivered a few weeks ago but they haven't materialised anywhere yet. I was hopeful that they were bound for the orangutan islands which are supposed to be on the list of pending improvements.
0:0:1 Rothschild's Giraffe born on the 19th of April to mum Sangha and Dad Yoda
Giraffe birth at Paignton Zoo
Giraffe birth at Paignton Zoo
With the new addition the herd is 7 strong (1:5:1)
The calf has been confirmed as a female
I think the new savannah exhibit needs doing soon (although the master plan will be downsized due to lack of funding) just to allow giraffe herd to have some more space. In the meantime, they could move the peccaries and add some more space.
There are some fantastic new chameleon exhibits in the tropical house.
Solomon Island Skink have been added too.
The new aviaries between the desert & tropical house will hold Vietnamese birds, at least in the short term.
The upgraded parrot aviaries have improved the housing and, as Gigit pointed out, the citron crested cockatoos from the university study have moved back in.
The Diana monkey grouping is still a bit ad hoc and I feel that enclosure deserves a bigger group. Maybe the spider monkeys would be better in there?
just in case this has been missed by the paignton regulars
The unfortunate owl and the pussycat
The unfortunate owl and the pussycat
Gigit
Well-Known Member
This is similar to an incident in the lion enclosure a few years ago. The wild owls must be nesting fairly close to the zoo's owl exhibits behind the lion and tiger enclosures.
Wasn't there an incident much earlier in the year when two 'orphaned' Tawny Owl chicks were found in/around Paignton zoo and handraised? Seemed very early in the year for breeding but a lot isn't known about Owls...
Gigit
Well-Known Member
Male orang, Wousan aged 8, arrived from Cologne on 5 May. As a result Naomi, the Grey gibbon, has moved out of the ape house to one of her former residences just outside Lemur Wood. The Squirrel monkeys, who had been living there temporarily, have gone back to annoy (that's what I've always imagined anyway) the Howler monkeys beside the lake.
