Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo news 2016 #2
- Thread starter ShonenJake13
- Start date
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
Otter enclosure looked finished, but on approaching it, I noticed the Bonobo were out and they are a main attraction for me.
Also noticed the climbing frames have gone from the Chimps enclosure necxt to the Chippie (maybe been mentioned before)
Amur Leopard cubs out before lunchtime and much bolder than their older brother and sister. Cute as!
Also noticed the climbing frames have gone from the Chimps enclosure necxt to the Chippie (maybe been mentioned before)
Amur Leopard cubs out before lunchtime and much bolder than their older brother and sister. Cute as!
All 12 bonobos together?
Also, I'm assuming this is the group of six. In which case, I hope this means intros between both groups will start soon!!
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
They've been together for a few weeks now.
Also, I noticed earlier when I first arrived, that they shared one indoor room while the other was empty.
Ah fantastic. How's Maringa doing with Lopori? Is she still bullying her (rejected) daughter?
Visited on Saturday. None of the Gibbons were outside and i just feel that an opportunity has been missed here. The new enclosure just feels very clinical, the interiors are so boring and externally there is really no effort to naturalise the space. Also a couple of the external spaces are more like run ways than islands (if you look at the footprint i reckon there's more dead space than used space)..
The overall collection is great but some serious money needs to be spent, the Chimp and Orangutan enclosures are disgraceful..
The overall collection is great but some serious money needs to be spent, the Chimp and Orangutan enclosures are disgraceful..
Agreed on all fronts, plus they need to send on their excess siamang stock. They have four that don't have the added space the family in Gibbon Forest do, which is a shame.
There won't be any updates to GF and the orangs for a while as they were recent refurbs/exhibits...but the new chimp house is on its way. We can take solace in that.
The interiors may appear boring, but there is no comparison with their old indoor accommodation, which would probably have been more suited to rabbits!
Maybe that is part of the reason they prefer to stay inside.
The outside area is clearly not working at the moment though, hopefully the Gibbons will start to use it eventually.
Martin B
Well-Known Member
During our visit last Sunday we saw the Siamang and Pileated Gibbon families using the islands. We visit Twycross regularly and this was the first time we had seen the Pileated Gibbons outside. We had previously seen the largest of the Northern White Cheeked Gibbons on the islands and they do to tend to spend a lot of time sat at the hatch which leads to the island. The Agile Gibbons were confined to their enclosure, with the hatch being closed shut.
I did take some photographs (of a very poor quality) on my iPhone.
I did take some photographs (of a very poor quality) on my iPhone.
I've been hearing from people that the siamangs and northern white-cheeked gibbons use their outdoors a lot. It's good to hear the pileated gibbons are interested now. I wonder why the agile gibbons still aren't allowed outdoors?
I think the problem has been the transition from covered cages to suddenly huge open spaces with no overhead cover at all- just a yawning sky all around outside. They are nearly all adults that no doubt find it less easy to transform to dramatic new surroundings like this, but it sounds like they are slowly doing so now.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
I think this is a little harsh! The new gibbon accommodation is not perfect, but it is pretty good (and a vast improvement on other areas of the zoo). The indoor area is spacious (although I'm not whether the problems of cleaning the various windows have been very well thought-out). The outdoor islands could - and should - be larger, allowing greater 'interior' space (at the moment they look very long and thin). Nonetheless, I did see Siamangs disporting rather gloriously on their climbing frame. Here is photographic proof!
Or here: http://www.zoochat.com/41/siamang-outdoor-enclosure-461542/
As a point of comparison, though, here is the Siamang island at the pretty basic Zoo Bassin d'Arachon in south-west france. I would imagine the budget was a fraction of what was spent at Twycross, and while the climate helps with plants, undoubtedly, it is nonetheless indicative of what can be done, pretty simply....
Or here:http://www.zoochat.com/2372/siamang-island-461543/
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I think this is a little harsh! The new gibbon accommodation is not perfect, but it is pretty good (and a vast improvement on other areas of the zoo). The indoor area is spacious (although I'm not whether the problems of cleaning the various windows have been very well thought-out). The outdoor islands could - and should - be larger, allowing greater 'interior' space (at the moment they look very long and thin). Nonetheless, I did see Siamangs disporting rather gloriously on their climbing frame. Here is photographic proof!
Or here: http://www.zoochat.com/41/siamang-outdoor-enclosure-461542/
Agree totally, this new exhibit isn't perfect ( but name one that is?!) But it is a massive improvement on what the Gibbons had before.
I think these Twycross islands are fine-they exceeded my expectations rather when I visited. The secret for Gibbons is how much climbing/brachiating space is available, rather than the ground space which is irrevelent for Gibbons anyway. The starkness of this new area will fade as vegetation grows and I feel sure they will use them more fully given time, they are already doing so more than at first. I think it has the potential for a good display- if not just yet.
Comparisons with a much cheaper exhibit are well and good too, but 1. Twycross has no natural islands they could convert and 2. with so many Gibbons in the collection, they either had to build something of this magnitude and along these lines, or get rid of a lot of them and have a simple single species exhibit.
Comparisons with a much cheaper exhibit are well and good too, but 1. Twycross has no natural islands they could convert and 2. with so many Gibbons in the collection, they either had to build something of this magnitude and along these lines, or get rid of a lot of them and have a simple single species exhibit.
What is the Next Exhibit that Twycross will Start Building? Will it be Chimpanzee Eden or a Completely New Exhibit/ Enclosure?
Very significant news; we won't see her like again in a hurry.
Apologies if this has been covered already, but does anyone know why the zebra and Nyala were separated?
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Well my best guess would that the zebra were kicking the crap out of the nyala, when ever they got the chance and Twycross wouldn't be the first zoo to have that problem with zebra.