To start a new news thread, 2 maneless zebras have arrived at the park
Peak Wildlife Park Peak Wildlife Park News
- Thread starter Javan Rhino
- Start date
They came from where?
I am not sure that given the current state of the park we should rejoice or cry dear mother me …! Peak (ahum Blackbrook is not exactly well known for being climatically a suitable savannah area …, so if they do well is anybody's guess …).
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Very true words, they kept zebra back in the days of it being Blackbrook, and due to the conditions they spent about 8 months of the year, on the hardstanding and the house. Which for those that remember the old place is now the lemur house in the walk through, the hardstanding is the small concrete area in front of that house, so let's hope they have a large hardstanding than they, had in the past because they will need it!!!
Recent visit
I visited last Thursday , a warm August day . The place was very busy , the car park has been extended - I think over where the brown pelicans once were - and was just about full . It does appear to be popular with families , children were enjoying stroking wallabies and giant rabbits and getting close to lemurs , as well as using the play areas .
It was sad to see the remnants of Blackbrook enclosures and to remember what was exhibited here not long ago . The whole area where many of the storks , cranes , waterfowl etc. lived now has only play areas and a giant rabbit walk-through .
The maneless zebras ( one was virtually maneless , the other had a blonde mane ) are housed in a corner paddock behind the wallabies , the ground looked rather rough with more weeds than grass . The whole area below the current walk-throughs and down to the road seemed to have recently been surrounded by new fencing with double entry/exit gates . A few Vietnamese sika deer ( unlabelled , got the identity from Facebook ) are in here though not labelled .
I did not see any capybara in with the penguins , but several mara . No sign of brown lemurs , only two female black and white ruffed and a breeding group of ring-tailed . The meercat are still in their original enclosure , domestic sheep and goats in the adjoining 'African village' . In an aviary in the courtyard outside the cafe a red squirrel was seen ( not labelled ) .
A large covered but open-fronted food outlet is now open outside the cafe ( which only has a tiny counter area ) , the pizzas were popular and looked tasty .
Many of the exhibits are copies of those at Manor House WP - lemur walk-through with same fencing , wallaby walk-through , African village , giant rabbit walk-through .
As a zoo-nerd I much preferred the old Blackbrook but have to admit the new incarnation seems to be much more popular . It is a shame they are 'anti-cage' - like Yorkshire WP - which will limit possible future exhibits , especially as a lot of decent aviaries are still present .
I visited last Thursday , a warm August day . The place was very busy , the car park has been extended - I think over where the brown pelicans once were - and was just about full . It does appear to be popular with families , children were enjoying stroking wallabies and giant rabbits and getting close to lemurs , as well as using the play areas .
It was sad to see the remnants of Blackbrook enclosures and to remember what was exhibited here not long ago . The whole area where many of the storks , cranes , waterfowl etc. lived now has only play areas and a giant rabbit walk-through .
The maneless zebras ( one was virtually maneless , the other had a blonde mane ) are housed in a corner paddock behind the wallabies , the ground looked rather rough with more weeds than grass . The whole area below the current walk-throughs and down to the road seemed to have recently been surrounded by new fencing with double entry/exit gates . A few Vietnamese sika deer ( unlabelled , got the identity from Facebook ) are in here though not labelled .
I did not see any capybara in with the penguins , but several mara . No sign of brown lemurs , only two female black and white ruffed and a breeding group of ring-tailed . The meercat are still in their original enclosure , domestic sheep and goats in the adjoining 'African village' . In an aviary in the courtyard outside the cafe a red squirrel was seen ( not labelled ) .
A large covered but open-fronted food outlet is now open outside the cafe ( which only has a tiny counter area ) , the pizzas were popular and looked tasty .
Many of the exhibits are copies of those at Manor House WP - lemur walk-through with same fencing , wallaby walk-through , African village , giant rabbit walk-through .
As a zoo-nerd I much preferred the old Blackbrook but have to admit the new incarnation seems to be much more popular . It is a shame they are 'anti-cage' - like Yorkshire WP - which will limit possible future exhibits , especially as a lot of decent aviaries are still present .
The video in the article below mentions that if the appeal is successful then they'll be housed at MH in the current Tiger enclosure and the Tigers "will be housed elsewhere on the site". The current fundraising total stands at over £20,000 of there £25,000 target..
Campaign to bring mistreated Armenian lions to Tenby | Wales - ITV News
Campaign to bring mistreated Armenian lions to Tenby | Wales - ITV News
I suppose they could house the 3 lions alongside the young pair of tigers at Manor House . There are two outside enclosures and the house has a number of dens . The close proximity could prove stressful for both species . In the old days different species of big cats were housed very close to each other in Cat Houses e.g. London and Bristol .
I did look but was was surprised to see nothing about the Lion Rescue Project at Peak .
Zooreviewsuk
Well-Known Member
Okay just under 2 years ago I took my first visit whilst reviewing and gave Peak quite a high review for the park it was, the potential it had and based on a lot what keepers and staff said.
21 months later I made my second trip to Peak to see just what has happened in the best part of 2 years.
It's very rare I would look to be too negative about a park, but in the case of Peak, bitterly disappointed doesn't even come close.
Two years ago when I made my visit there was comments of the Aviary's near the entrance would be used, the African birds in with the Dik Dik would get new exhibits and so would the Dik Dik and that impressive exhibit would be used for something else. There was walk of doing work on the other side of the park and there was plans a foot to add wetland birds into the Wetland area near the Sika Deer,
21 months ago, there was a Tapir on show, Black Lemurs in the Lemur walkthrough, Capybara's with the Mara, African birds in the Dik Dik enclosure and a couple of other small Aviary's used.
Fast forward 21 months and the changes are sad, and disappointing. They now have Black and Common Brown Lemurs off show, they are down to 2 White and Black Ruffed Lemur, the Tapir is now offshow, in fact in the second side of the park, most of it has been fenced off, old impressive aviary's unused. Two paddocks full of goats but fenced off, what could have been great exhibits for larger birds like Vultures or Condor's fenced off. All that's on the far side of the park now, is Rabbits and Black Face Sheep, in fact the Black Face sheep used to be next to the Kune Kune Pigs but have been moved to the other side, in an exhibit which 2 years ago they said was going to be a new walkthrough exhibit for new species, but instead it now houses Black Faced Sheep.
The main park has seen the Kune Kune have access to the old Black Face Sheep paddock as well and the only improvements are that the Zebra now have a indoor stabling and hard standing area. The Sika Deer now only have access to the far side of the wetland area and a stable has been built for them there.
Added to this, work that started on the pond around the back of the penguins which was muted to be a new Otter exhibit to replace the old one, is in exactly the same state as it was 2 years ago and the housing area next to it, is now a workshop.
The old mini Aviary's which were going to have birds, are now labelled as nature spots where bees and other native animals can use.
No work has been done on any of the paddocks on the wetland.
Capybara's have left the collection and all the African birds in with the Dik Dik have now gone and the Dik Dik is still in there, but mainly staying in his heated off show house.
So in 21 months there have been no additions to the collection at all, but African Birds, and Capybara, have left the collection and the Brown Lemur, Black Lemur and Tapir are now offshow.
The only change is a hard standing area for the Zebra, and a house, and a stable for the Deer.
It's impossible not to be disappointed. They have a car park that holds around 500 cars!!!! They have increased admission from £10.95 to £11.95 and they do the sell to try and get people to buy annual membership.
The collection consists of;
Humbolt Penguins
Bennetts Wallaby
Mara (Could only see 2, was about 5/6 last time)
Meerkat
African Spurred Tortoise
Red Squirrel
Flemish Bunnies
African Pygmy Goats
Black Faced Sheep
Otters (These are also very old by the colouration of their coats)
Sika Deer
Ring Tailed Lemur
White & Black Ruffed Lemur
Kune Kune Pig
Visayan Warty Pig (Now appears to be only 1, was 3 before)
Cameroon Sheep (x 1 in with black faced)
Maneless Zebra
In fact the biggest change I noticed was a big indoor play area they had erected!
So what have they done to ask for a price increase, why in two years has the collection of animals decreased and not increased, why have they created more play areas, and a huge car park ?? For me it's beyond disappointing, and all the potential area they have is being wasted and not even maintained.
I fear that they will announce new exhibits and all it will be is the Brown and Black Lemurs now living in what is a fenced off exhibit opposite where the Tapir lives, this is same exhibit that had Brown Lemur in when it was on show and as was the Tapir, but are now off show.
So frustrated and so disappointed and if it wasn't for buying a cup of tea and a cake, I simply couldn't have spent an hour there.
2 years 0 progress, just regression. It would need major developments for me to visit again, I just can't see them happening. It would appear all the money is being pumped into their sister park in Wales, which is small on species wise but impressive exhibits and a lot of big ABC animals and at least an enjoyable half day. Peaks no change in 2 years is a nice site being wasted. Underwhelmed is an understatement.
21 months later I made my second trip to Peak to see just what has happened in the best part of 2 years.
It's very rare I would look to be too negative about a park, but in the case of Peak, bitterly disappointed doesn't even come close.
Two years ago when I made my visit there was comments of the Aviary's near the entrance would be used, the African birds in with the Dik Dik would get new exhibits and so would the Dik Dik and that impressive exhibit would be used for something else. There was walk of doing work on the other side of the park and there was plans a foot to add wetland birds into the Wetland area near the Sika Deer,
21 months ago, there was a Tapir on show, Black Lemurs in the Lemur walkthrough, Capybara's with the Mara, African birds in the Dik Dik enclosure and a couple of other small Aviary's used.
Fast forward 21 months and the changes are sad, and disappointing. They now have Black and Common Brown Lemurs off show, they are down to 2 White and Black Ruffed Lemur, the Tapir is now offshow, in fact in the second side of the park, most of it has been fenced off, old impressive aviary's unused. Two paddocks full of goats but fenced off, what could have been great exhibits for larger birds like Vultures or Condor's fenced off. All that's on the far side of the park now, is Rabbits and Black Face Sheep, in fact the Black Face sheep used to be next to the Kune Kune Pigs but have been moved to the other side, in an exhibit which 2 years ago they said was going to be a new walkthrough exhibit for new species, but instead it now houses Black Faced Sheep.
The main park has seen the Kune Kune have access to the old Black Face Sheep paddock as well and the only improvements are that the Zebra now have a indoor stabling and hard standing area. The Sika Deer now only have access to the far side of the wetland area and a stable has been built for them there.
Added to this, work that started on the pond around the back of the penguins which was muted to be a new Otter exhibit to replace the old one, is in exactly the same state as it was 2 years ago and the housing area next to it, is now a workshop.
The old mini Aviary's which were going to have birds, are now labelled as nature spots where bees and other native animals can use.
No work has been done on any of the paddocks on the wetland.
Capybara's have left the collection and all the African birds in with the Dik Dik have now gone and the Dik Dik is still in there, but mainly staying in his heated off show house.
So in 21 months there have been no additions to the collection at all, but African Birds, and Capybara, have left the collection and the Brown Lemur, Black Lemur and Tapir are now offshow.
The only change is a hard standing area for the Zebra, and a house, and a stable for the Deer.
It's impossible not to be disappointed. They have a car park that holds around 500 cars!!!! They have increased admission from £10.95 to £11.95 and they do the sell to try and get people to buy annual membership.
The collection consists of;
Humbolt Penguins
Bennetts Wallaby
Mara (Could only see 2, was about 5/6 last time)
Meerkat
African Spurred Tortoise
Red Squirrel
Flemish Bunnies
African Pygmy Goats
Black Faced Sheep
Otters (These are also very old by the colouration of their coats)
Sika Deer
Ring Tailed Lemur
White & Black Ruffed Lemur
Kune Kune Pig
Visayan Warty Pig (Now appears to be only 1, was 3 before)
Cameroon Sheep (x 1 in with black faced)
Maneless Zebra
In fact the biggest change I noticed was a big indoor play area they had erected!
So what have they done to ask for a price increase, why in two years has the collection of animals decreased and not increased, why have they created more play areas, and a huge car park ?? For me it's beyond disappointing, and all the potential area they have is being wasted and not even maintained.
I fear that they will announce new exhibits and all it will be is the Brown and Black Lemurs now living in what is a fenced off exhibit opposite where the Tapir lives, this is same exhibit that had Brown Lemur in when it was on show and as was the Tapir, but are now off show.
So frustrated and so disappointed and if it wasn't for buying a cup of tea and a cake, I simply couldn't have spent an hour there.
2 years 0 progress, just regression. It would need major developments for me to visit again, I just can't see them happening. It would appear all the money is being pumped into their sister park in Wales, which is small on species wise but impressive exhibits and a lot of big ABC animals and at least an enjoyable half day. Peaks no change in 2 years is a nice site being wasted. Underwhelmed is an understatement.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Those of us that remember the place as it used to be when it was Blackbrook would say that it was always a backward step from that and much of what you suggested was what was their before the change of name.When it first opened I had a very interesting chat with the person in charge of the collection some of his plans were very interesting,the sum total of the plans that have been done are NIL and at least 25% of them should have been done by now from his timescale.When the place closes I for one will not be surprised because the plans were to ambitious for the location!!
I know there hasn't been any recent activity on this thread for a while but I just checked out the Peak WP website and there doesn't seem to be anymore mention of Brazilian tapir on their site, I even checked the park map only to find no sign of them on there.
Does anyone know if they still have Tapir at the park? If not then I am assuming it has most likely either left the collection or died.
Does anyone know if they still have Tapir at the park? If not then I am assuming it has most likely either left the collection or died.
Don't think it was ever in show accept for special gift experiences last christmas so it could still be there just not on public view.
Moorhunhe
Well-Known Member
Sorry to bump an old thread, didn't really seem necessary to make a new one though.
Has anyone been in recent times?
I just came across his place googling, and the posts here aren't very positive.
But as it's been since 2019, I wonder if the place managed to pick themselves up.
It looks good on their FB page with good comments on it.
Has anyone been in recent times?
I just came across his place googling, and the posts here aren't very positive.
But as it's been since 2019, I wonder if the place managed to pick themselves up.
It looks good on their FB page with good comments on it.
I recently went and hadn’t been before was pleasantly surprised my husband enjoyed the wallaby walkthrough where he could feed them the lemur and penguin areas are nice to there is building work going on by the zebras not sure what they are building it’s not a big place but nice enough
Moorhunhe
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
The boyfriend likes to go out riding, and I like to join when there is something at the end for me to do, haha (though he loves seeing animals too), so even if it's not that big, it'll still be a day out for both of us to enjoy.
I took a 10 year old for an animal experience day which was very good. Interacting with Tapirs, Lemurs, insects, and penguins. He thought it fantastic. It is a small place though, and a pity the previous bird collection is no longer present.