Rare Species Conservation Centre RSCC closing

dean said:
I feel sorry for the keepers I hope they can get re employed locally at one of the other collections.
I went passed last month but decided not to call in i wish I had now, I went many years ago when the bears that are now at Colchester first arrived and the Malayan tapir area was being built.
I think the fact so many other collections are in such close proximity can't have helped, I know there was AR pressure to get shops to stop selling the coffee beans etc that the owner was making his money from, so maybe finances became a factor

All rather sad but possibly not so unexpected with the open, closed, open occasionally set up, in the zoo world I imagine you need to have set opening hours, as even when your closed mouths have to be fed. If the general public want a day out, they will spend the money at the next zoo if yours is closed. however rare the animals you keep.
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I think you are right, you cannot mess around with the opening times like that without it having some negative effect on visitor numbers unfortunately. ZooChatters aside, many people were probably rather confused as to whether it was open or not most of the time. I don`t want to knock the place but you have to be realistic.
 
Visited today, staff said everything that is currently there should be staying until they close so hopefully that helps for anyone hoping to go.

60% of the people there today seemed to be zoo ethusiasts or zoo keepers from other zoos, funnily enough I briefly met zooman64 but had to rush off ( it would have been good to chat to you more!)
 
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stubeanz said:
Visited today, staff said everything that is currently there should be staying until they close so hopefully that helps for anyone hoping to go.

60% of the people there today seemed to be zoo ethusiasts or zoo keepers from other zoos, funnily enough I briefly met zooman67 but had to rush off ( it would have been good to chat to you more!)
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That's good to know, still trying to persuade the wife to take a trip on Saturday. What animals did you manage to catch?
 
I saw
sun bear
Malayan tiger
Maned wolf
Red ruffed lemur
Clouded leopard
Jaguarundi
Binturong
Fossa
Fanaloka
slow loris
Vontsira
Boky Bok
Dusky pademelon
Cock of the rock
Smooth costed otter
Banded palm civet

I didn't spot the echidna sadly but saw the bark chip moving when they breathed!

There were also giant otters but these were shut in for pond cleaning whilst I was there.
 
I didn't see the jaguarundi on Monday or Tuesday so figured they'd been moved on.

Where was the slow loris?
 
The Slow loris was where they always have been in the port holes in a shed opposite the adult clouded leopard pair. The Jaguarundi were the last two there and next door to the adult clouded leopards near the doorway to the otters/tigers etc
 
I know a few of the animals have been moved (bush dogs, flamingos, cassowary), what about the rest of the birds, primates etc, are they on site and on show, or have they gone, or off show?
 
Still trying to persuade the wife to visit Saturday, would be an all day visit, is there anywhere on site for drinks/snacks?
 
migdog said:
I know a few of the animals have been moved (bush dogs, flamingos, cassowary), what about the rest of the birds, primates etc, are they on site and on show, or have they gone, or off show?
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The only remaining birds on show are the two pairs of cock-of-the-rock. The only remaining primates on show are the red ruffed lemurs and slow loris.
 
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migdog said:
Still trying to persuade the wife to visit Saturday, would be an all day visit, is there anywhere on site for drinks/snacks?
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The cafe is still open but they aren't replenishing stock so there won't be a full menu available.
 
migdog said:
I know a few of the animals have been moved (bush dogs, flamingos, cassowary), what about the rest of the birds, primates etc, are they on site and on show, or have they gone, or off show?
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Did you see my list in a previous post, the only stuff on that list that I didn't see but were still on display were the yellow throated marten and the aardwolf.
 
stubeanz said:
Did you see my list in a previous post, the only stuff on that list that I didn't see but were still on display were the yellow throated marten and the aardwolf.
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The Bamboo lemurs were still there on Sunday, but I notice they're not on your list, so they have gone since then?
 
Thanks devilfish and stubeanz, should now have enough info to try and convince the wife to visit tomorrow!
 
Really enjoyed my (first and only) visit there today, very sad to see it go. The staff were all so friendly and helpful and so very dedicated to the animals and their conservation, I really want wish them all well for whatever the future brings.
 
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