I visited Newquay zoo wednesday and It struck me just what a fantastic zoo it really is. Of course this stems from a personal bias (this zoo is very much repsonibile for my love of zoos and wildlife), i any case, the visit as prompted me to make the case for Newquay; a truly stellar zoo.
On my trip i was with 7 others, but these were all 'non-zoo-nerds', i found myself pleasantly suprised by their enjoyment of the zoo. I think what really makes Newquay such a stand out zoo is its small size had lead to a strive for quality of quantity, and has lead to an amazing level of visitor interaction. By this I dont mean with animals (although this has increased) but with the park itself.
New features include 'feed the meerkats' - buying a pot of meal worms for £1 and throwing them in for the meerkats. this is surely very clever of the zoo, utilising the meerkats silly popularity to the parks advantage, at the same time offering a very unique interaction with the meerkats. another new feature is the 'meet the lemurs' - where for an additional price pre-booked groups wade out to the ring tail lemur islands.
however it is not just this animal-visitor interaction (which is relatively small to other zoos) but the variety of activities. The Dragon maze invokes a sense of childhood joy as you mess around trying to find the other end (my group had erm...mixed results). The 'Tarzan Trail' again invites the hilarity of adults attempting to conquer the trail, whilst offering superb views of the zoo in pleasant wooded surroundings. But all of this is done with a degree of taste, for example even a random slide snaking down the hill around monkey islands seem to fit into the relaxed and comfortable surroundings.
Next is quality. Their is a limited ability to expand this small zoo at all, inevitably bumping the quality of the enclosures. One only has to peer at any of the tamarin/marmoset islands to see that even these small islands brim with a high degree of care. The fishing cat enclosure, lynx enclosure, meerkat enclosure (surely the best meerkat enclosure in the UK) etc are all fabulous to say the least. Of course the zoo has a few blind spots (the lion and fossa enclosures are the most obvious) but honestly I cant think of one 'bad' exhibit. The recently re-ladnscaped oriental garden is looking the best yet and truly impressed some of my less zoo-lenient friends.
The collection is a zoo-geeks dream; breeding owstons palm civets, narrow striped mongoose, hoffmans sloth, carpathian lynx, black rumped agouti etc. But at the same time the zoo boasts species that still retain the average visitor and beckons repeat visits; Lions, lynx, macaques, zebra, meerkat etc.
Many detractors argue that the zoo lacks major drawcards or that the zoo is too small. However as i found out the level of interaction makes the lack of major drawcards irrelevant and easily forgotten by the average visitor as they feed a meerkat or watch frolicking macaques. I feel the size is perfect, allowing for a comfrtable amble through the manicured gardens and allowing a relaxing amount of time between exhibits. The whole zoo experience is natural in a way - the size of the zoo making this possible.
All this makes Newquay zoo the overlooked star zoo fo the UK, the whole experience being more pleasant than say London zoo or West Midlands safari park, perhaps warranting the zoo a place in the top 10 of UK zoos. It is a park that goes from strength to strength and I really cannot wait for return visit.
apologies for any typo's
What do you think?
On my trip i was with 7 others, but these were all 'non-zoo-nerds', i found myself pleasantly suprised by their enjoyment of the zoo. I think what really makes Newquay such a stand out zoo is its small size had lead to a strive for quality of quantity, and has lead to an amazing level of visitor interaction. By this I dont mean with animals (although this has increased) but with the park itself.
New features include 'feed the meerkats' - buying a pot of meal worms for £1 and throwing them in for the meerkats. this is surely very clever of the zoo, utilising the meerkats silly popularity to the parks advantage, at the same time offering a very unique interaction with the meerkats. another new feature is the 'meet the lemurs' - where for an additional price pre-booked groups wade out to the ring tail lemur islands.
however it is not just this animal-visitor interaction (which is relatively small to other zoos) but the variety of activities. The Dragon maze invokes a sense of childhood joy as you mess around trying to find the other end (my group had erm...mixed results). The 'Tarzan Trail' again invites the hilarity of adults attempting to conquer the trail, whilst offering superb views of the zoo in pleasant wooded surroundings. But all of this is done with a degree of taste, for example even a random slide snaking down the hill around monkey islands seem to fit into the relaxed and comfortable surroundings.
Next is quality. Their is a limited ability to expand this small zoo at all, inevitably bumping the quality of the enclosures. One only has to peer at any of the tamarin/marmoset islands to see that even these small islands brim with a high degree of care. The fishing cat enclosure, lynx enclosure, meerkat enclosure (surely the best meerkat enclosure in the UK) etc are all fabulous to say the least. Of course the zoo has a few blind spots (the lion and fossa enclosures are the most obvious) but honestly I cant think of one 'bad' exhibit. The recently re-ladnscaped oriental garden is looking the best yet and truly impressed some of my less zoo-lenient friends.
The collection is a zoo-geeks dream; breeding owstons palm civets, narrow striped mongoose, hoffmans sloth, carpathian lynx, black rumped agouti etc. But at the same time the zoo boasts species that still retain the average visitor and beckons repeat visits; Lions, lynx, macaques, zebra, meerkat etc.
Many detractors argue that the zoo lacks major drawcards or that the zoo is too small. However as i found out the level of interaction makes the lack of major drawcards irrelevant and easily forgotten by the average visitor as they feed a meerkat or watch frolicking macaques. I feel the size is perfect, allowing for a comfrtable amble through the manicured gardens and allowing a relaxing amount of time between exhibits. The whole zoo experience is natural in a way - the size of the zoo making this possible.
All this makes Newquay zoo the overlooked star zoo fo the UK, the whole experience being more pleasant than say London zoo or West Midlands safari park, perhaps warranting the zoo a place in the top 10 of UK zoos. It is a park that goes from strength to strength and I really cannot wait for return visit.
apologies for any typo's
What do you think?
