Could they not get a British Army technical/engineering unit up to TWZ and help them built a new Orang House and outdoor in twine with their own keeper staff? Or is this a lack of cash / dosh no-no?
Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo news 2013 #2
- Thread starter vogelcommando
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Could they not get a British Army technical/engineering unit up to TWZ and help them built a new Orang House and outdoor in twine with their own keeper staff? Or is this a lack of cash / dosh no-no?
Orangutans- they got some army battalion or other(Gurkas?) involved a few years ago to put in fresh climbing equipment outside- it was an improvement but largely of the more solid type platforms etc. I believe the outdoors has had yet another revamp since then also but I don't now what it looks like now.
The base line is they really need a completely new enclosure inside and out-that would cost a great deal of money to do it properly- if not done properly, no sense in doing anything.
The base line is they really need a completely new enclosure inside and out-that would cost a great deal of money to do it properly- if not done properly, no sense in doing anything.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
I can't see many collections willing to take on that great army of Chimps of indeterminate origin.
I fear that the Orang-Utans are the logical choice to rehouse elsewhere - although the odd design of that Gorilla House, with its high walls, MIGHT just lend itself to a pair of tall outside enclosures. Come to that, I have a feeling that the Gorilla House has more internal height than the present Orang accommodation..
I have to admit that with four cows of breeding age and no bull, if any expensive animals were earmarked to leave Twycross my choice would be the elephants. But I accept that with lions, tigers, giraffes and sealions all having left the collection in the last dozen years or so, that is leaving Twycross rather short of charismatic megafauna.
I fear that the Orang-Utans are the logical choice to rehouse elsewhere - although the odd design of that Gorilla House, with its high walls, MIGHT just lend itself to a pair of tall outside enclosures. Come to that, I have a feeling that the Gorilla House has more internal height than the present Orang accommodation..
I have to admit that with four cows of breeding age and no bull, if any expensive animals were earmarked to leave Twycross my choice would be the elephants. But I accept that with lions, tigers, giraffes and sealions all having left the collection in the last dozen years or so, that is leaving Twycross rather short of charismatic megafauna.
IMO I would transfer the gorilla house chimps (the one which is split in two) to a different zoo (enclosure is totally unsuitable for them) , then put the gorillas in there (more suitable for gorillas.) Then I'd put the orangutans in the new gorilla house and knock down that horrible peice of and orangutan house down. START THE DEMOLITION!
I can't see many collections willing to take on that great army of Chimps of indeterminate origin.
Probably only Monkeyworld could realistically do it, and it would be a major undertaking even for them. That's unless a Safari Park wanted an instant Chimpanzee colony!I can't imagine in reality they will ever leave Twycross, much as I might like to see them go.
I've got to say that I largely concur with this statement though realistically any amount spent to house Giraffes decently would hardly make much of a contribution to the significant amounts it would take to house Orangs properly/modernly. Personally, on idle moments, I wonder if Twycross isn't hamstrung by the financial pressures of trying to house four species of great apes (not cheap to do even half decently) and wonder if they'd be better off going out of one of the species. Of course I realise this would be a highly charged emotive and political issue which would probably be unpalatable to most. I suppose I'm questioning whether the great apes should be considered exalted enough to avoid the species reduction programme happening elsewhere in the zoo (notably with monkeys) in seeming attempts to stabalise the place. Then again, offloading great apes can't be straight forward.
I'm off to hide now
Regarding the suggestion that giraffes MAY be returning to the collection. If this is so I would say it would be a good thing, I follow with interest the comments made by visitors,i.e. the people who pay to keep the zoo running on the Twycross facebook page, Giraffes are very much missed by the visitors, more so that sea lions, tigers and lions put together, I do not know where they would be housed if they did return, a new house or refurbishing the old one. If it were the latter then considering how this zoo have become quite expert at refurbishing existing housing in recent times and at not a great expense, I am sure this would be in order, it does look, sad, tired and rather featureless at present, but with a thought and effort I am sure it could be transformed into something more attractive, it is still a functional building,and it may be a little old, but nowhere near the age of the giraffe house at another well known zoo which is still keeping giraffes in it successfully today.Some might ask why then did the zoo go out of giraffes last year, my answer to that would be was this the only bad decision made by the zoo's management in the past few years?, I suggest not!
The biggest problem for me regarding any return to the same space would not be so much the inside housing, but the barren desert outside, there's not much they can do with that in my view.