Exmoor Zoo
Having conquered Combe Martin with only mild hypothermia and slightly aching legs it was time to move on to a highly anticipated collection. Since getting into this zoo enthusiast malarkey two previously unknown (to me) collections stood out for their species line-up. Number one was Hamerton, which I got to last year (see
East Meets West (Midlands) for more details), and Exmoor, which I visited on the 29th of February 2020 (see below for details). Now I'm at a loss as to which collection should be my next priority...
Exmoor and Combe Martin are extremely close to each other and make an ideal double up if you happen to be in the area. You could even throw in Tropiquaria in the summer to make it a triple, but alas, I couldn't make it work this time.
Upon arrival at Exmoor you're greeted with a very nicely done entrance/exit area, which inevitably leads onto the gift shop, and also the tropical house. Unlike CM's attempt this one contained only animals behind glass and no planting, in fact it wasn't very tropical at all. The three largest exhibits housed dwarf mongoose, Cuvier's dwarf caiman, and a large but sterile enclosure for large hairry armadillo and Arabian hyrax. Told you it wasn't very tropical... Thee are two invert' tanks and two reptile tanks set into one wall with the highlight being prehensile tailed-skinks. Other than a rhinoceros iguana in the main zoo and some poison dart frogs by the entrance that's it for herp's. Not to fear though, there are plenty of avian and mammalian delights to be found here, which makes up for the lack of herptiles in my opinion.
After doing the tropical corridor we ventured out to try and find some of my lifers, i.e. ringtails, fanalokas, and Indo-Chinese binturong. I was aiming for Chacoan mara as well but had been informed by
@gentle lemur the day before that they were no longer there. Never mind, at least three lifers still had potential...
Upon entering the zoo proper the first thing I noticed was just how densely packed it was, animals to the left, animals to the right, even animals above in the wire runs going from enclosure to enclosure. Absolutely fantastic! Second thing I noticed was just how much wood and wire was used, definitely a theme to this mini jaunt.
But anyway, onto animals. first exhibit I encountered outside was for ringtail, of which one was running around it's exhibit like any small carnivore. Fantastic to see, impossible to photograph. Next door was yellow-throated martens, which remained stubbornly hidden at first. But yeah, ringtails and martens as the first two enclosures really sold me on this zoo immediately. Along with these two species here's a list of other carnivores here; meerkats, African civets, singing dogs, maned wolves, hunting dogs, grey wolves, caracal, cheetah, sand cat, serval, puma, margay, rusty-spotted cat, fishing cat, lynx (signed as Eurasian to subspecies Carpathanian), bat-eared fox, leopard, along with the species mentioned earlier and possibly others as well. I had the fortune to see all but the binturong (boo!) and rusty-spotted cats. Housing for these was very much of a uniform style. Wood and wire cages, maybe a glass panel or two for better viewing, and logs and climbing equipment inside. Some enclosures were better planted than others, and the caracals, cheetahs, and canines had open-topped enclosures but still all had a similar aesthetic. Overall these enclosures work well but I felt the ringtails, leopards, and pumas could do with more space.
Primates and Prevost's squirrels were housed in the same style but some species had overhead tunnels connecting indoor to outdoor enclosures. Species-wise the highlights would be howler monkeys, two species of gibbon, douroucouli, and the usual suspects amongst the smaller New World species and lemurs. As I said earlier, most exhibits are similar to the carnivores but tend to work better for certain species. I didn't see the the lemur paddock in use as the lemurs weren't as stupid as me and Thomas, and elected to stay indoors.
The rest of the mammals are found in nondescript paddocks with one exception, the sitatunga enclosure is possibly the best individual antelope enclosure I've ever seen. A long valley that's well planted and stretches down a long way to a natural water source, absolutely beautiful. Other paddock animals included a variety of macropods including pademelons and swamp wallabies, tapir, mara, and reindeer, along with Darwin's rhea which are always good to see.
Apart from the mammals Exmoor also has a spectacular collection of ibis and waterfowl displayed in imaginative, if uniform (seeing a pattern here?), aviaries, and include such delights as straw-necked ibis and Andean goose, amongst many others. The larger wading birds do all right as well, bar the four flamingos who just didn't look right in their enclosure. Birdy highlights have to be the palm-nut vultures, the newer parrot aviaries (including thick-billed) that are far more substantial than most other enclosures, and finally the pelican lake which is just idyllic. A shame it no longer houses penguins but, along with the sitatunga, was definitely the best looking enclosure there, despite my reservations about wing-clipped/pinioned birds.
If you can get to Exmoor then I suggest you do so, a very enjoyable zoo for the enthusiast, and some of the species are enough to make any serious species hunter salivate. Definitely recommended.
After this there's a bit more to tie up the day, and I'll try and do a comparison.
It's pretty clear that the tropical house is understocked at the moment due to the season, when I went in the summer it was much more vibrant and "alive".
