I was pleasantly surprised by the improvements when I made a brief visit last Friday on my way to North Wales .
The new land does not adjoin the current main zoo area but is around the back of the hill where the lechwe and domestic stock are housed in paddocks .
The new Collection Manager - Joe Wood according to Facebook - has organised the tidying up of the place and the staff , with their green uniforms . New aviaries are being built and all the stock looked to be in excellent condition . It is still only a small zoo with fairly basic enclosures .
A number of interesting bird species have been added , I assume the new Manager's speciality . Notably a young pair of grey-breasted conure ( Pyrrhura griseipectus ) very pretty little birds , and said to be the only ones on show in the UK . Also rose-fronted conure ( Pyrrhura roseifrons ) with amethyst starling ; azure-winged magpie with Rickett's hill partridge ( Arborophila gingica ) ; great currasow with giant wood rail ; blue eared pheasant ; sandhill crane pair plus fulvous whisting duck and laysan teal ( in the old beaver enclosure split in two to separate cranes fom ducks ) ; demoiselle cranes . Their pair of emu had quite a few small chicks .
Amongst the mammals the meercats , common marmosets , parma and Bennett's wallaby all had young . The leopard did not appear to be using the extension to his enclosure very much ( very overgrown , though it was open to him ) . For the Zoochat Challenge I added patas monkey and vervet ( from the Dartmoor group ) .
I will post some photos later .