Baboon Rock needs knocking down. Massive safety hazard and isn’t adequate for the animals living there.
Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo news 2025
- Thread starter TriUK
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Safety hazard in what way? Imho they could add a flat foraging area and extend the offshow areas at the back. It’s still a very attractive exhibit
Staff can’t work in the enclosure to clean it without extensive safety gear (ropes/harnesses etc) and the concrete isn’t stable.
The offshow is decades out of date.
Mappin Terraces all over again then. It’s still imho a very attractive exhibit
A number of years ago, I suggested building an overhead tunnel to link the grass paddock behind the restaurant, and use the existing footprint of the current spider monkey house (originally built for Celebes Macaque) with an extension to house the Baboon group. The paddock could be hot wired, in the same way the proposed zebra hillside paddock would have been. Baboon rock, could be worked on in stages and eventually phased out or added as part of a larger enclosure.
I also suggested that until funds are available to build a new hillside exhibit (ex zebra enclosure), the zoo could add some Dartmoor & Exmoor ponies (with minimal stabling needed) which would tell a good local conservation story and highlight differences in the two horse breeds as well as ‘fill’ a space.
There seems to be very little ‘thinking out of the box’ and creativity in the curatorship at Paignton, much as I am supportive of the positive steps they’ve made under the stewardship of the current stand in CEO and his team to save our zoo.
Markhor sounds a great addition, at least as good as Takin, if not better.
So where does the cancellation of the new baboon area leave things? i.e. 1. will the baboons just stay on their rock indefinately, or does its poor state mean they will have to leave the zoo at some stage? 2. What will happen to the partially developed paddock and new building?
So where does the cancellation of the new baboon area leave things? i.e. 1. will the baboons just stay on their rock indefinately, or does its poor state mean they will have to leave the zoo at some stage? 2. What will happen to the partially developed paddock and new building?
I agree re. Markhor.
Re. Baboons - I think the new incoming CEO will be given the opportunity to decide, with the trustees, what happens next. As I stated before, I just feel they need to do ‘something’ short term as it’s a HUGE area (combined with the adjacent ex Lechwe and now vacant zebra and camel areas) to leave empty.
The maintenance and primate teams have made some improvements to the rock exhibit including new separation cages off-show, partly to meet zoo license regs, but also when they started to train the troop in readiness for their now cancelled move.
Its a difficult conundrum for them to sort out. Like ffbird, I hope the baboons stay where they are anyway, as I think it is a better and more natural exhibit for them than a field without the 'rocky' topography. But I also know the rock is structurally compromised and perhaps already past its useful life, but hope perhaps they can resurrect it somehow but that's more money needed from somewhere.
Regarding the hillside field and the rest, maybe the paddock and new housing could now be re-adapted for a new ungulate species without too much additional cost?
The giraffe herd is very edgy and hates change. They’re only using the elephant paddock infrequently and perhaps the keeper team are waiting until the old elephant barn is fully converted for the giraffe to move in to before adding more zebra/antelope? A confident bull may help?
The rhino house was closed yesterday and I’m really hoping the gentle Manyara is safe & well, fingers crossed!
I think that the entrance doors have to be altered, height wise (?), but also the feeding and husbandry furniture, including the veterinary crush pens, have to be moved/added. Also, to avoid undue stress on the giraffe herd, they didn’t want to physically force the giraffe into the elephant paddock, or knock them out to do so. They’ve had years to pass the threshold between the paddocks and it’s been a very slow process.
Thanks for your response. I think there has been a miscommunication here, for clarity, I meant was there not a reason that the giraffes could stay on there side, and the zebras placed in the old elephant side. Though your answer is illuminating regarding the changes they would have to make to the housing.
Considering it housed elephants I'm persuming it's bigger.
I had hoped that once all renovated they could have converted the old giraffe enclosure to house another large animal(Okapi possibly?)
Now that would be the dream!
Personally I would love to see them house common hippo but that would require so much work and funds which are just sadly never going to materialise
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I've said this a few times but unfortunately come to the same conclusion as you. If only!
"Easiest" solution would be to have a non-breeding group of white rhinos. I'd be surprised to see the zoo continue with blacks once the male passes, so they wouldn't have to worry about doubling up... not that it would bother us zoo folk.
I think there was a plan to house white rhino (into the future) once Duchess passed but this obviously got kicked to the side by all the problems. It would then have made sense to house the zebras in there, rather than build the stables / encroach on the giraffe paddock. May have been stopped by the zebras always having foot issues on their old enclosure as the old elephant enclosure is mainly grass. May have been easier to change that though than build the house?
Very sad! Thoughts with all the staff
Such sad news 
all my thoughts are with the keepers at Paignton. They just can’t catch a break
all my thoughts are with the keepers at Paignton. They just can’t catch a break