Having recently arrived back from a trip to Devon, I have decided to share a brief report of what I thought of Paignton Zoo.
One of the main high-points of the visit were the amazing number of primate species. Some of the enclosures were better than others, chiefly the gibbons, baboons, lemurs and the orang-utans (even though the orang-utans never emerged to use their island). I didn't find the time to explore all of Monkey Heights, and only managed to see the Sulawesi crested macaques, king colobus and Diana monkeys, the latter of which I particularly enjoyed seeing, following their departure from Colchester Zoo.
The Reptile Tropics and Desert House were both very well-stocked with interesting species. I particularly enjoyed seeing my first Papuan water python, hooded parakeets, mousebirds and captive hoopoe, and seeing guinea pigs exhibited in the Desert House was also unexpected and welcome. Unfortunately, I had two faults with this area. One was the seeming lack of signage for the birds in the Reptile Tropics (would anyone be able to post a full species list?) and the mixing of yellow anacondas and tokay gecko, which I would see as being extremely stressful for the latter.
Many of the larger species could have, I thought, done with better enclosures. A pair of black rhinoceroses were in the indoor area and none seemed to be using their outdoor paddock. The mountain zebras and lowland anoa had substantial enclosures, but the giraffes I feel could have done with a much larger enclosure. When the last elephant dies, does anyone know if the paddock will be enlarged to accomodate the giraffes? The camels had a nice spacious paddock, and the Barbary sheep, which appeared to be off the zoo map, had an excellent mountainous enclosure although none of the animals made an appearance.
The aviaries around the Avian Centre are exceptional, with an amazing range of species, although some enclosure were so well-planted that seeing everything was impossible. Oriental white storks, the red-billed blue magpies, grey-winged trumpeters, Temminck's tragopan, freckled duck, Socorro dove, Papuan hornbill, crested screamer and a black hornbill enclosure where you could really get a good look at the occupants, as opposed to Colchester's current aviary were all highlights. The bongo had a large paddock but they were all indoors.
Crocodile Swamp was rather disappointing overall. The main problem was not the species present (I had only seen two Nile crocodiles, the Colchester pair of Cubans and had never seen a saltwater crocodile before) but rather the general exhibit design. None of the focus species were exactly active, and the snake enclosure was exceptionally disappointing. No vegetation meant that the African rock python and reticulated python, both of which had smaller enclosures within a much bigger area, could not really hide away. In fact, the most active animals there were the cichlids in the Nile crocodile pool.
Overall, I'd say the main highlight was the number of rare species there. The common cusimanse and African brush-tailed porcupine enclosure was a joy to watch, as both animals were extremely active, but the Azara's agouti on the other side were also a nice addition. Only one Rodriguez flying fox emerged, and stayed in the small corridor between the enclosure and the Nocturnal House. The Nocturnal House itself had a small but interesting species range, but I still left having not seen the bushbabies or armadillos, the two species I was most desperate to see. Among rare birds, the freckled duck, hooded parakeet, Temminck's tragopan, Oriental white stork and grey gull were highlights, and among the smaller mammals some great animals were black-tailed marmosets, red pandas (one of which was positively racing around) and the short-tailed echidna, which did not move from its hollow in the enclosure corner. Perhaps my favourite area in the zoo however, was the small but fascinating Amphibian Ark. The species were diverse and mostly they showed to some extent. A complete list of species in there were reticulated, phantasmal, golfodulcean, splash-backed, yellow-banded, green-and-black and blue (incorrectly labelled as dyeing) poison dart frogs, common squeaker frogs (?), Budgett's frog, Amazon milk frogs, White's tree frogs, a false tomato frog, Anderson's salamander (?) that remained hidden and rubber eels.
The highlight species of the trip were:
Short-beaked echidna
Common cusimanse
African brush-tailed porcupine
Lowland anoa
Hartmann's mountain zebra
Papuan water python
Hooded parakeet
Saltwater crocodile
Budgett's frog
Rubber eel
Black-tailed marmoset
Grey gull
Freckled duck
Oriental white stork
Coming up soon, my review of Living Coasts! Photos for both zoos will be submitted when the laptop starts working again.
One of the main high-points of the visit were the amazing number of primate species. Some of the enclosures were better than others, chiefly the gibbons, baboons, lemurs and the orang-utans (even though the orang-utans never emerged to use their island). I didn't find the time to explore all of Monkey Heights, and only managed to see the Sulawesi crested macaques, king colobus and Diana monkeys, the latter of which I particularly enjoyed seeing, following their departure from Colchester Zoo.
The Reptile Tropics and Desert House were both very well-stocked with interesting species. I particularly enjoyed seeing my first Papuan water python, hooded parakeets, mousebirds and captive hoopoe, and seeing guinea pigs exhibited in the Desert House was also unexpected and welcome. Unfortunately, I had two faults with this area. One was the seeming lack of signage for the birds in the Reptile Tropics (would anyone be able to post a full species list?) and the mixing of yellow anacondas and tokay gecko, which I would see as being extremely stressful for the latter.
Many of the larger species could have, I thought, done with better enclosures. A pair of black rhinoceroses were in the indoor area and none seemed to be using their outdoor paddock. The mountain zebras and lowland anoa had substantial enclosures, but the giraffes I feel could have done with a much larger enclosure. When the last elephant dies, does anyone know if the paddock will be enlarged to accomodate the giraffes? The camels had a nice spacious paddock, and the Barbary sheep, which appeared to be off the zoo map, had an excellent mountainous enclosure although none of the animals made an appearance.
The aviaries around the Avian Centre are exceptional, with an amazing range of species, although some enclosure were so well-planted that seeing everything was impossible. Oriental white storks, the red-billed blue magpies, grey-winged trumpeters, Temminck's tragopan, freckled duck, Socorro dove, Papuan hornbill, crested screamer and a black hornbill enclosure where you could really get a good look at the occupants, as opposed to Colchester's current aviary were all highlights. The bongo had a large paddock but they were all indoors.
Crocodile Swamp was rather disappointing overall. The main problem was not the species present (I had only seen two Nile crocodiles, the Colchester pair of Cubans and had never seen a saltwater crocodile before) but rather the general exhibit design. None of the focus species were exactly active, and the snake enclosure was exceptionally disappointing. No vegetation meant that the African rock python and reticulated python, both of which had smaller enclosures within a much bigger area, could not really hide away. In fact, the most active animals there were the cichlids in the Nile crocodile pool.
Overall, I'd say the main highlight was the number of rare species there. The common cusimanse and African brush-tailed porcupine enclosure was a joy to watch, as both animals were extremely active, but the Azara's agouti on the other side were also a nice addition. Only one Rodriguez flying fox emerged, and stayed in the small corridor between the enclosure and the Nocturnal House. The Nocturnal House itself had a small but interesting species range, but I still left having not seen the bushbabies or armadillos, the two species I was most desperate to see. Among rare birds, the freckled duck, hooded parakeet, Temminck's tragopan, Oriental white stork and grey gull were highlights, and among the smaller mammals some great animals were black-tailed marmosets, red pandas (one of which was positively racing around) and the short-tailed echidna, which did not move from its hollow in the enclosure corner. Perhaps my favourite area in the zoo however, was the small but fascinating Amphibian Ark. The species were diverse and mostly they showed to some extent. A complete list of species in there were reticulated, phantasmal, golfodulcean, splash-backed, yellow-banded, green-and-black and blue (incorrectly labelled as dyeing) poison dart frogs, common squeaker frogs (?), Budgett's frog, Amazon milk frogs, White's tree frogs, a false tomato frog, Anderson's salamander (?) that remained hidden and rubber eels.
The highlight species of the trip were:
Short-beaked echidna
Common cusimanse
African brush-tailed porcupine
Lowland anoa
Hartmann's mountain zebra
Papuan water python
Hooded parakeet
Saltwater crocodile
Budgett's frog
Rubber eel
Black-tailed marmoset
Grey gull
Freckled duck
Oriental white stork
Coming up soon, my review of Living Coasts! Photos for both zoos will be submitted when the laptop starts working again.
