Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo news 2024

TriUK said:
I visited yesterday, on a very brief walk around some of the site.
All of the birds have now been removed from the desert house. It feels very strange indeed! My guess would be that meerkats would move in when the baboon rock area gets re-developed, or, vivarium pods will be installed to exhibit some of the large collection of off-show reptiles?
The tropical house has had some tree/plant work done and the open top (tortoise & turtle) enclosures have had new lighting & shelters installed. The species line up is the same.
The rhino house was blocked off completely, so I hope both individuals are ok and well.
The fencing around the capybara and echidna enclosures have been removed and blocked off, with a generic ‘…change is coming…this area will be redeveloped…’ with no indications of what will happen there.
There have been no further works on the new baboon enclosure during the two week break.
The wooden walkway works in monkey heights have now been completed but the Pied Tamarin enclosure is still blocked off and empty.
The giraffe were still conditioned to stay in their house and tiny hard stand, with access to the main elephant paddock still open.
I’m sure there was lots of change and maintenance works done in off-show and keeper prep areas, but in all honesty there was very little evidence of change.
There were three members of staff monitoring the children’s soft play signing in and non-member entrance fees.
The cages to move the baboons have been installed.
I could still see a crocodile through the door of the swamp building.
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So……that’s two formerly bird rich areas effectively morphed into reptile houses, lake now given over to wild birds, the one bright spot maybe the baboon development, which will have a hard job competing with the Rock
 
FBBird said:
So……that’s two formerly bird rich areas effectively morphed into reptile houses, lake now given over to wild birds, the one bright spot maybe the baboon development, which will have a hard job competing with the Rock
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I agree, but I think the new baboon enclosure will be an upgrade for the primates and the visitors alike. My concerns are the same as they have been for a while - too many abandoned enclosures and exhibits erased from the zoo map. It’s old ground, but it’s tougher to accept the decline in the absence of a transparent long term vision. I was promised, as a ‘valued member’, that I’d hear something by the end of January - so not long, but I’ll undoubtedly be left disappointed again. It’s sad, but only because I truly care about this place that I genuinely hold close to my heart.
 
TriUK said:
I agree, but I think the new baboon enclosure will be an upgrade for the primates and the visitors alike. My concerns are the same as they have been for a while - too many abandoned enclosures and exhibits erased from the zoo map. It’s old ground, but it’s tougher to accept the decline in the absence of a transparent long term vision. I was promised, as a ‘valued member’, that I’d hear something by the end of January - so not long, but I’ll undoubtedly be left disappointed again. It’s sad, but only because I truly care about this place that I genuinely hold close to my heart.
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I think you have your sights set too high in terms of what’s coming or planned. If you lower them, you might not be too disappointed.
 
polarbear said:
I think you have your sights set too high in terms of what’s coming or planned. If you lower them, you might not be too disappointed.
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Thank you Polarbear, I guess the talk of private investment may only cover new infrastructure (entrance, restaurant, car parking etc). ? My worry is that locals will lose faith and tourists who visit from areas that have bigger & better zoos won’t bother.
Thanks again for your obvious inside knowledge.
 
….out of interest, does anyone know if the Glowild event was considered a success following the hefty investment?
 
Tropical Trails & Arid Lands are back open now!

After major gardening work was done during the zoos closure, apparently the roof of Arid Lands was then damaged in recent storms! Luckily the maintenance staff have managed to repair it so it can reopen to the public.
The gardening team and volunteers have also helped to spruce up Tropical Trails whilst the zoo was closed.

Paignton Zoo | Paignton

It sure looks like the team has done a good job from all the photos!
 
I was unable to attend the members talks last week, did any fellow zoochatters go and feel like they can share anything? Cheers in advance.
 
TriUK said:
I was unable to attend the members talks last week, did any fellow zoochatters go and feel like they can share anything? Cheers in advance.
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Surprised there's been nothing in the local media on it yet. Either they didn't announce anything that interesting or the Herald Express is asleep on the job.
 
What's going on at Paignton Zoo? It seems to me a once successful zoo has lost direction and is going to end up closing. Their solutions don't seem brilliant. I know one of them was to make a senior manager redundant though I'm not sure how that's going to help.
 
TriUK said:
Sad news today that the iconic Cottage Aviary will be closed to the public, along with the parrot aviaries, from today. I know improvements are ‘going to be announced’, but in the absence of that knowledge that’s another area gone.

Ongoing Improvements • Paignton Zoo
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Things are just getting worse. Used to be a great bird collection. Whitley will be turning in his grave.
 
Out of interest, are there any members of the Whitley family still alive? If so, would they have any ties to the zoo?
 
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