Charles
Well-Known Member
I would say that both Bristol and flamingo land have expressed that they want to swap their plains zebras for Grevy zebras so I think they’re pretty likely as well
Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo news 2025
- Thread starter TriUK
- Start date
The two Hartmann’s mountain zebra that Linton aquired from Planckendael in July 2019 were born in Antwerp Zoo: one on 21st April 2016 and the other on 16th June 2016
No just 2 very old females, late 20s have died in last 2 years
I went yesterday for the first time in nine years, only saw 1 binturong outside climbing in the tree,
was very dissapointed in the decline of the zoo.
Hardly any birds on show, I know the flamingos are off display due to the risk of avian flu.
lots of enclosures empty, and I realise you are not going to see everything but was shocked at how few animals there were. No orangs on show either inside or outside, 1 gorilla inside. saw the tigers and all of the lions, but i
I noticed a lot of the animals there are of least concern for conservation purposes.
was very dissapointed in the decline of the zoo.
Hardly any birds on show, I know the flamingos are off display due to the risk of avian flu.
lots of enclosures empty, and I realise you are not going to see everything but was shocked at how few animals there were. No orangs on show either inside or outside, 1 gorilla inside. saw the tigers and all of the lions, but i
I noticed a lot of the animals there are of least concern for conservation purposes.
The zoo is better than it was one year ago, in a number of ways, but stock levels (the numbers of actual animals) is very low. There are huge barriers to bringing in new animals, but my personal issue is that I don’t see other zoos experiencing quite the difficulty bringing stock in as Paignton do? They have had bad luck with TB, avian flu, poor investment in infrastructure by previous management and huge falls in tourist numbers, but like you, many people are not happy with huge areas of empty enclosures.
As we’ve said before, the staff have done brilliantly to reopen closed exhibits recently (giraffe house, binturong house, echidna house, croc swamp and bring in new Bongo, Colobus and Porcupine, but they’ve also lost key individual animals like gorilla, rhino, giraffe and zebra.
I don’t think it’s insensitive for zoo curators to plan for animal deaths based on known disease/health issues and old age.
I hope you see an improvement next time you visit - the interim CEO is making things happen behind the scenes so I do have faith things will improve further, but I hope paying guests have the same patience!
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I can imagine what a lot of the current comments on Tripadvisor and similar will be like....
the loss of the two zebra mares has come at an unfortunate time. The zoo without zebras and flamingos (on show that is) is missing two rather iconic species that people identify with as typical 'zoo' species. I hope they can get some more zebras (or something else..) again soon. I don't know what the plan is for flamingos but not having a noisy flock on show near the entrance is missing something.What is the situation with the planned Baboon enclosure, any movement there?
I agree!I can imagine what a lot of the current comments on Tripadvisor and similar will be like....
What is the situation with the planned Baboon enclosure, any movement there?
The baboon enclosure is on hold until they have the planning and funds to complete it. They’ve recently made on and off show improvements to baboon rock in line with zoo licensing, so it won’t be any time soon. I still think that they should ‘put something’ on show in that area (Dartmoor & Exmoor ponies), or a temporary playground or bird show, or Lego animal exhibit, just to fill the space temporarily?
I suppose technically they own Newquay's Chapman's zebras- from photos in the gaIlery I think its only three- but I don't think I'd like to see them leave there. I don't know how easy it will be for them to source some more or where from but imagine Hartmann's is out of the running at least in short term due to cost and time of what would probably need to be imported ones. Of course they may choose to fill the stables with something else if they can't source Zebra easily. Speculation obviously but it leaves a big gap at present.
I was also visiting yesterday + I did see all 4 orangs outside + both gorillas outside. Not bad considering I'm due an eye test!
Hi TonkGirl, I am one of the people speculating, and I have a different view to you. I understand the bonds between staff and their animals, but modern zoo animals are not pets, and they are held captive in zoos for conservation, research and education. People work hard to pay a lot of money to see the animals advertised by the respective zoo and in my opinion, the zoo should have a succession plan in place for the two zebra that had long term health conditions. In the context that the huge ‘Savannah’ area of the zoo is now fairly empty, I believe it is ok to think about what zebra, if any, will replace them.
To ‘take a moment’ may mean receiving poor reviews and less than satisfactory visitor experiences which in turn costs the zoo and lessens the conservation work they can achieve long term.
You are all entitled to speculate, all I am saying is that you should think before posting those thoughts on a public forum that may be read by keepers who have very recently lost an animal.
I also wondered about the Gorilla situation too. With currently only two males, they may be in a position to accept a couple of younger ones if EEP wanted/need to place any. Paignton have the space and if they couldn't integrate them altogether, there is room and the facility for keeping two 'pairs' though only one would have access outdoors at anytime, the same system as while Pertinax was seperate. But again, it would likely /might mean at least one import.
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I agree, and there is probably the sense that the two remaining males could mentor and oversee the maturation of younger males, which has been demonstrated before at Paignton. However, I think the off show bedrooms were ok for Pertinax in his later years as he was less active, but the thought of younger more active gorillas being kept ‘down there’ with little space feels inadequately out of date?
Moving the Savannah species from Newquay to Paignton makes sense, as long as the Newquay exhibit is either converted into another attraction before the summer, or closed off completely and that parcel of land sold off to raise funds to rebuild the main footprint of the zoo & improve & update infrastructure ?
The San Diego Wild animal park (now safari park) moved their Grevy's Zebra out of one of the main field exhibits because of aggression issues into their own enclosure years ago
They don't own the land, so that's a no go.