mhale
Well-Known Member
Whilst staying in Cornwall for the weekend, I made the most of my annual membership to Paignton Zoo and visited Newquay Zoo (the first time in three years). There have been a lot of developments there since my last visit, so I was really looking forward to seeing the changes. The first thing I noticed was that you don't get a refund on the car parking fee anymore. The sign said that this is because of a change in the agreement with the council.
There has already been a comprehensive review of the zoo on here, so I will just add my own personal comments about my visit.
I was excited about entering the Wildlife at Night exhibit, as it houses Seba's fruit bats and a pair of six-banded armadillos called Scratch and Sniff in one enclosure, and kinkajous and pacas in the other enclosure. I was fortunate enough to see all four of these species, but found it very difficult to get good photographs of them (obviously flash is not allowed). I had never seen a kinkajou before and this one came right up to the glass and walked along a ledge in front of me. I was really pleased
It's a shame there isn't a tamandua at the zoo anymore.
The Monkey Walk had three cages and their associated indoor dens (all of which had viewing windows). The first cage held a pair of female Diana monkeys, the middle one held the seven newly-arrived squirrel monkey brothers and the third one held yellow-breasted capuchin brothers called Pataxo and Tuxa. I thought these enclosures were a bit small really.
The Tropical House is very interesting as it is two storeys high and mixes a real variety of species, such as Hoffmann's two-toed sloths, Northern tree shrews, Rodrigues fruit bats, lesser Malayan chevrotains, golden lion tamarins, Swainson's rainbow lorikeets, Bali starlings and various other birds.
The Village Farm exhibit houses Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, goats, Quessant sheep, turkeys, etc. and the village barn houses cusimanses.
The Sulawesi black crested macaques had a couple of youngsters, which were a joy to watch.
I was fortunate enough to be admiring the pair of fossas (Mavis and Harry) when the keeper came over to train them. She explained that they could not be kept together because Mavis was very aggressive towards Harry, so they have adjacent enclosures instead. Their climbing skills were very impressive as they fully stretched up the front of the cage to be fed small pieces of meat. This gave the keeper a good look at them as well as enabling her to feed them medication if necessary.
The pair of Eurasian lynxes (Willow and Boomer) were absolutely beautiful They are in the old puma enclosure which has the viewing window at the top. It said on the fence that they are in a rabies quarantined enclosure.
The meerkats are located where the raccoons were last time I visited, and I am sad that the raccoons are no longer kept at Newquay. It is a nice sized enclosure for meerkats though.
The Humboldt's penguins have a few chicks.
I didn't see the capybaras at all, but the pair of Brazilian tapirs were out in the paddock. There was also a pied tamarin on the island in the enclosure.
I saw a free-roaming mara in the picnic area opposite the tapirs, which is exactly where I saw one three years ago!
Access to the viewing window of the Owston's civet and Prevost's squirrel enclosure was still blocked, to allow the civets some privacy with their new cubs. I had been looking forward to seeing civets for the first time, so I was a bit disappointed not to have seen them, but I totally agree that they need privacy at the moment.
I like the small monkey islands dotted around the zoo. The various tamarins and marmosets were all very active.
The African Savanna exhibit is really just a bit of waste ground, as has already been mentioned, but the variety of species housed there is good. Unfortunately, the black wildebeests (Lazar and Malaga) and the Chapman's zebras (Mzee and Zigga) were both kept on the hardstanding, whereas ostriches, nyala, guineafowl, lechwe and grey crowned cranes were all mixed in the paddock.
The new enclosure for the fishing cats looks very good, as does the one for the Visayan warty pigs, Taer and Dilang. There was one Philippine spotted deer in the outdoor paddock that used to house the zebras.
Sandy and Julius, the red pandas, were very active which made a nice change.
As a small zoo, I really like the species kept at Newquay
There has already been a comprehensive review of the zoo on here, so I will just add my own personal comments about my visit.
I was excited about entering the Wildlife at Night exhibit, as it houses Seba's fruit bats and a pair of six-banded armadillos called Scratch and Sniff in one enclosure, and kinkajous and pacas in the other enclosure. I was fortunate enough to see all four of these species, but found it very difficult to get good photographs of them (obviously flash is not allowed). I had never seen a kinkajou before and this one came right up to the glass and walked along a ledge in front of me. I was really pleased
It's a shame there isn't a tamandua at the zoo anymore.The Monkey Walk had three cages and their associated indoor dens (all of which had viewing windows). The first cage held a pair of female Diana monkeys, the middle one held the seven newly-arrived squirrel monkey brothers and the third one held yellow-breasted capuchin brothers called Pataxo and Tuxa. I thought these enclosures were a bit small really.
The Tropical House is very interesting as it is two storeys high and mixes a real variety of species, such as Hoffmann's two-toed sloths, Northern tree shrews, Rodrigues fruit bats, lesser Malayan chevrotains, golden lion tamarins, Swainson's rainbow lorikeets, Bali starlings and various other birds.
The Village Farm exhibit houses Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, goats, Quessant sheep, turkeys, etc. and the village barn houses cusimanses.
The Sulawesi black crested macaques had a couple of youngsters, which were a joy to watch.
I was fortunate enough to be admiring the pair of fossas (Mavis and Harry) when the keeper came over to train them. She explained that they could not be kept together because Mavis was very aggressive towards Harry, so they have adjacent enclosures instead. Their climbing skills were very impressive as they fully stretched up the front of the cage to be fed small pieces of meat. This gave the keeper a good look at them as well as enabling her to feed them medication if necessary.
The pair of Eurasian lynxes (Willow and Boomer) were absolutely beautiful
They are in the old puma enclosure which has the viewing window at the top. It said on the fence that they are in a rabies quarantined enclosure.The meerkats are located where the raccoons were last time I visited, and I am sad that the raccoons are no longer kept at Newquay. It is a nice sized enclosure for meerkats though.
The Humboldt's penguins have a few chicks.
I didn't see the capybaras at all, but the pair of Brazilian tapirs were out in the paddock. There was also a pied tamarin on the island in the enclosure.
I saw a free-roaming mara in the picnic area opposite the tapirs, which is exactly where I saw one three years ago!
Access to the viewing window of the Owston's civet and Prevost's squirrel enclosure was still blocked, to allow the civets some privacy with their new cubs. I had been looking forward to seeing civets for the first time, so I was a bit disappointed not to have seen them, but I totally agree that they need privacy at the moment.
I like the small monkey islands dotted around the zoo. The various tamarins and marmosets were all very active.
The African Savanna exhibit is really just a bit of waste ground, as has already been mentioned, but the variety of species housed there is good. Unfortunately, the black wildebeests (Lazar and Malaga) and the Chapman's zebras (Mzee and Zigga) were both kept on the hardstanding, whereas ostriches, nyala, guineafowl, lechwe and grey crowned cranes were all mixed in the paddock.
The new enclosure for the fishing cats looks very good, as does the one for the Visayan warty pigs, Taer and Dilang. There was one Philippine spotted deer in the outdoor paddock that used to house the zebras.
Sandy and Julius, the red pandas, were very active which made a nice change.
As a small zoo, I really like the species kept at Newquay
