Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo news 2025

TriUK said:
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active, but the thought of younger more active gorillas being kept ‘down there’ with little space feels inadequately out of date?
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My thoughts exactly on keeping other gorillas full time in the off show areas, even with rotation with others. Not an ideal set up.
 
polarbear said:
My thoughts exactly on keeping other gorillas full time in the off show areas, even with rotation with others. Not an ideal set up.
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I would never advocate keeping gorillas permanently in an offshow area. There is also a small outdoor cage underneath the walkway ramp but again not really suitable for longterm occupancy. But afaik at Paignton the gorillas which use the offshow dens can have access to the main outside, seperately from the large showden. The second group(or pair as I think that's the maximum they could take) -if necessary- would be in the large indoor showden- then rotate them, perhaps on a daily basis. Bachelor male accomodation is still at a premium in Europe and I'm just suggesting Paignton could house a couple more if push came to shove. If I'm wrong on the outdoor access arrangement then no, its not feasible.
 
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Pertinax said:
I would never advocate keeping gorillas permanently in an offshow area. There is also a small outdoor cage underneath the walkway ramp but again not really suitable for longterm occupancy. But afaik at Paignton the gorillas which use the offshow dens can have access to the main outside, seperately from the large showden. The second group(or pair as I think that's the maximum they could take) -if necessary- would be in the large indoor showden- then rotate them, perhaps on a daily basis. Bachelor male accomodation is still at a premium in Europe and I'm just suggesting Paignton could house a couple more if push came to shove. If I'm wrong on the outdoor access arrangement then no, its not feasible.
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Bang on! I think we’ve discussed before how gorilla in captivity in colder climes especially, seem to spend more time indoors, unless they are in large covered cages like at Aspinall? Modern zoo designs should perhaps find ways of creating ‘canopies’ with sustainable heated areas to make them feel safe and encourage the gorillas outside?
 
TriUK said:
Bang on! I think we’ve discussed before how gorilla in captivity in colder climes especially, seem to spend more time indoors, unless they are in large covered cages like at Aspinall? Modern zoo designs should perhaps find ways of creating ‘canopies’ with sustainable heated areas to make them feel safe and encourage the gorillas outside?
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Yes, I often thought about a 'canopy' idea in the past as a way of getting gorillas to better use their outdoor areas. Nobody has devised one yet to my knowledge, it needs to be a sort of awning...while the zoos building new enclosures still create enormous outside areas that are relatively little-used but of course its much easier/cheaper to create an outdoor island of any size than the expensive indoor area. Bristol are currently following the usual model with their new building too.

Returning to the Paignton gorillas, two is the least they ever had since the arrival of Klaus & Pertinax and that soon changed with younger males being added, a number passed through that enclosure for a while as they matured and moved to other zoos. But the current two (formerly three) are not genetically needed for breeding so I can't ever see them leaving. I don't know how visible they are nowadays as that is really the important thing for the zoo as far as keeping public happy.
 
If I were able to wave my curatorial wand over the Ape complex at PZ, I'd stick to one species; Preferably the Orangutans. That would offer a huge amount of space for separating individuals if needed whilst giving the public better access to animals that would typically be kept off show. The orangs are more active outdoors too, and the gorilla island offers space for suitable climbing structures to be built.
 
TNT said:
If I were able to wave my curatorial wand over the Ape complex at PZ, I'd stick to one species; Preferably the Orangutans. That would offer a huge amount of space for separating individuals if needed whilst giving the public better access to animals that would typically be kept off show. The orangs are more active outdoors too, and the gorilla island offers space for suitable climbing structures to be built.
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I would also make it a single species exhibit, for a different reason. I would like to see the whole house given over to gorillas, a bachelor group and male/female group, or even two male groups. I think the indoor areas are better suited to gorillas and overall they make a better exhibit than the Orangs if there is a decent-sized group. One can dream and of course for varieties' sake its unlikely to ever happen.
 
Zorro said:
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
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As much as it’s early days, Chester’s mixed their grevys with roan antelope ostrich and giraffe and no problems as of yet I don’t think
 
Typhlonectes said:
Could someone please tell me if the Orlitia borneensis turtle is on display?
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Yes :) I saw one yesterday. I visited Tropical Trails three times, and on my second visit I saw a head sticking above the water, while the body was hidden under a banana leaf floating on the surface. Mind you, they have always been shy and hard to see, and the keepers have always used these banana leaves to give them a sense of security.
It was nice to be able to go into Tropical Trails again, but I would have liked to see more creatures - the Vietnamese box turtles, Chinese crocodile lizards and Fiji banded iguana were out of sight, as were the pleasing poison dart frogs and Asian giant toads (moved across from the Amphibian Ark). I asked a keeper why the male and female Peruvian bush lizards were in separate exhibits, he replied that they weren't trying to breed them as they had more off-show - which actually begs the question of why they couldn't put more on-show.
Moving on, there was a notice saying that the sloths are still off-show because the night are still cold: does that mean that the heating is not working? And I really dislike the unsightly porcupine enclosure in the Desert House.
There is a reorganisation underway at the dart frog end of the Amphibian Ark and I heard a rumour of a new project starting, which sounds interesting - perhaps there will be an announcement eventually.
 
gentle lemur said:
Yes :) I saw one yesterday. I visited Tropical Trails three times, and on my second visit I saw a head sticking above the water, while the body was hidden under a banana leaf floating on the surface. Mind you, they have always been shy and hard to see, and the keepers have always used these banana leaves to give them a sense of security.
It was nice to be able to go into Tropical Trails again, but I would have liked to see more creatures - the Vietnamese box turtles, Chinese crocodile lizards and Fiji banded iguana were out of sight, as were the pleasing poison dart frogs and Asian giant toads (moved across from the Amphibian Ark). I asked a keeper why the male and female Peruvian bush lizards were in separate exhibits, he replied that they weren't trying to breed them as they had more off-show - which actually begs the question of why they couldn't put more on-show.
Moving on, there was a notice saying that the sloths are still off-show because the night are still cold: does that mean that the heating is not working? And I really dislike the unsightly porcupine enclosure in the Desert House.
There is a reorganisation underway at the dart frog end of the Amphibian Ark and I heard a rumour of a new project starting, which sounds interesting - perhaps there will be an announcement eventually.
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Latest Updates • Paignton Zoo
Perhaps the heating is broken?
 
Pertinax said:
Yes, I often thought about a 'canopy' idea in the past as a way of getting gorillas to better use their outdoor areas. Nobody has devised one yet to my knowledge, it needs to be a sort of awning...while the zoos building new enclosures still create enormous outside areas that are relatively little-used but of course its much easier/cheaper to create an outdoor island of any size than the expensive indoor area. Bristol are currently following the usual model with their new building too.
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I would argue that a canopy has been devised, either (like you said) by Aspinall, or down the DAK/Bronx route of having a literal forest.

The problem is that the first is incredibly ugly (and I expect might attract some controversy if it became the standard) and the second is prohibitively expensive!
 
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Cat-Man said:
I would argue that a canopy has been devised, either (like you said) by Aspinall, or down the DAK/Bronx route of having a literally forest.

The problem is that the first is incredibly ugly (and I expect might attract some controversy if it became the standard) and the second is prohibitively expensive!
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Aspinall's design works a treat, it is effectively a canopy though I think he originally designed those enclosures to give the gorillas more climbing opportunities, plus they could be constructed in a more confined space. But the security they offer by being covered may have been an unintentional side effect. It did attract critisism though of them having no 'outside space' so when they built gorilla enclosures at Port Lympne they incorporated the large open 'gardens' too- which remain largely unused apart from the scatter feed times.

'Islands' that have more trees do (maybe) work better offering more security, particularly in summer, though gorillas can be hard on them unless the trees are protected from access. I think Bristol's new enclosure will incorporate a couple of small groves of trees which will be interesting to see how it affects outdoor usage. Of course temperature is another factor, they don't much like the cold or wind either so it may not always be about overhead cover.
 
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Pertinax said:
Aspinall's design works a treat, it is effectively a canopy though I think he originally designed those enclosures to give the gorillas more climbing opportunities, plus they could be constructed in a more confined space. But the security they offer by being covered may have been an unintentional side effect. It did attract critisism though of them having no 'outside space' so when they built gorilla enclosures at Port Lympne they incorporated the large open 'gardens' too- which remain largely unused apart from the scatter feed times.
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Spot on with this description. I suppose the real test is if an entirely new group of gorillas moved into Palace of the Apes and still used the covered area. The garden is quite open, to be fair. I do think there is a great irony in the situation, though!
 
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TriUK said:
I agree!
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?
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What was the reasoning behind starting it and prominently promoting it, if the zoo didn't have the funds to complete it? Another stupid decision by the previous CEO or was the funding diverted to re-open some of the other exhibits that had been left closed by said previous regime?
 
I don’t think
Gulls86 said:
What was the reasoning behind starting it and prominently promoting it, if the zoo didn't have the funds to complete it? Another stupid decision by the previous CEO or was the funding diverted to re-open some of the other exhibits that had been left closed by said previous regime?
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I don’t think the current leadership team are spending much time looking back at what’s happened; they are lazer-focussed on moving forward from what I’ve experienced. Though I’m personally frustrated by the seemingly slow pace of animal imports, I have faith in the long term plan for sustainability.
Re. Baboon hill - as far as I’m aware, there were huge mistakes in the original planning of Baboon Hill. The architects and building firms employed omitted to plan for the electrical power needed for the large house and keeper areas, a new sub-station is needed, apparently? It was unachievable to complete, and so vital funds were used to reopen buildings that should never have closed in the first place. The reopening of croc swamp, giraffe house etc is brilliant, but we mustn’t forget they’ve also completed an off show flamingo house, drained & dredged the moats, added much needed climbing structures for the Orangs and added car park lighting amongst other improvements.
The new baboon hill is a massive area to be sat empty and I personally think it would be easy, cheap and possible to temporarily house two herds of Devon Dartmoor & Exmoor ponies (contrast & compare experience for guests whilst telling a local story) or a herd of Llama over the summer months until they’re in a position to proceed?
The communication with members has been really good and welcome.
 
Firstly, there are some new additions to Tropical Trails, the Asian giant toad. It is rather hard to say exactly how many, but there is a definite minimum of 2.

Paignton Zoo | Paignton

Secondly, the parents of the successfully hand-reared pink pigeon from last year have laid another egg, marking a poignant full circle for visitors who have followed the featured bird’s journey from egg to adulthood. The new egg is currently being monitored in a specialised incubator at the zoo’s Avian Breeding Centre, where striking candling images reveal the developing embryo inside.

“Zoo visitors can catch a glimpse of this next generation through the Centre’s specially designed viewing windows, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at conservation work in action.”

Rare Pigeon Hand-reared At Paignton Zoo Marks Conservation Milestone • Paignton Zoo

Lastly, I believe that it has not been mentioned that, due to increased risk of bird flu in the region, the Chilean Flamingos have been temporarily relocated off show. This means that they will not be visible to the public until the risk of bird flu has passed. They are unsure of how long this will take, but hopefully bird flu is not as bad this year…

Latest Updates • Paignton Zoo
 
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Just looking through ZTL and thinking Paignton might have the best herp collection in the country. About 6-7 Ranitomeya species and 2 Atelopus, crocodilians, Pyxis tortoises just to name a few
 
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