Great to hear, from a zoo that can feel a tad desolate.
Twycross Zoo to be transformed by Eden Project designer - BBC News
Twycross Zoo to be transformed by Eden Project designer - BBC News
Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo news 2017 #1
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Martin B
Well-Known Member
Great news. We are members at Twycross and we visited last Saturday, my wife and I were talking about the modernisation which is required. They have made some good progress with the addition of Gibbon Forest but it sort of sticks out like a sore thumb against the other enclosures.
There was a master plan a few years ago which showed that African Lions would return to the zoo near to the giraffe enclosure if I remember correctly. I'm sure the same master plan also featured tigers.
There was a master plan a few years ago which showed that African Lions would return to the zoo near to the giraffe enclosure if I remember correctly. I'm sure the same master plan also featured tigers.
It was going to be Asian lions( with associated species) but that plan was all dropped, probably for financial reasons.
A more recent announcement indicated the eventual disappearance of the existing brick and glass-walled Ape enclosures in favour of a large modern complex- of which a 'Chimpanzee Eden' (in the corner of the Zoo the Lemur Forest side of the Giraffes) is the first planned phase. Originally mooted for this year, I could see no sign of any development starting yet.
The landscaping news is very welcome- its always been a flat open site that is in need of softening.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
I have a sudden feeling of de ja vu,the zoo has been here with grand plans it could never reach or achieve before,and more to the point could not fund!I hope I am wrong this time and they do but even today the days of Mrs Boardmans,time at the zoo still brings back very bitter and sad memory's of this time of grand plans and false dawns!!
News of a thought provoking / challenging new design concept for the zoo is all well and good.
My first interest would be: When will they start on the Great Ape redesign project specifically ... period?!! Chimps first, what next ... timeframes and planning confirmation granted? Anyone for 2017????
My first interest would be: When will they start on the Great Ape redesign project specifically ... period?!! Chimps first, what next ... timeframes and planning confirmation granted? Anyone for 2017????
The Chimpanzee part was announced originally I think to open this year-so I would have expected the usual formula of building in the Winter followed by opening at Easter. but before Xmas there was no sign of any development on the ground. I don't know if planning permission etc has been sought/approved. The rest of this complex would come later, you'll have to find the relevant thread containing the original publicity announcement from the zoo on this for a time frame, but it seems to have all gone rather quiet on that front.
They badly need this Chimp build now- the inside of the current house for the main group is permanently offshow, probably owing to the 'patch-up' measures(grille windows) they've had to make since the chimps moved in. So they are effectively offshow unless they come outside, which they don't that often. The house containing the smaller onshow group is quite archaic too.
Re the landscaping, I imagine bulldozing some earth mounds as windbreaks and mini-hills would be a start, followed by some fairly massive planting. As you know its an exposed site- the area around the new Gibbon Forest is particularly cold and exposed, at least in winter, due to the open fields stretching for miles directly behind.
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May be a bit of an understatement, each onshow indoor area is literally prison cell size!
Personally I think they need to get on with moving Samantha over from the Chimp Complex to Jambo's group, to reduce drama in the smaller group and to allow Peter and Danny to finally meet peacefully. Then introduce the two groups in the new housing.
As for new ape enclosures, I think that chimps definitely need new housing first, followed by gorillas, then bonobos and finally orangutans. The gorillas' outdoor area is shoddy, at the very least the bonobo group has enough room to show their arboreal sides and for fission-fusion to be implemented, and despite the orangs' poor living conditions they recently did the revamp giving them more height so they won't be refurbing there any time soon!
It is an understatement.
Its a horrible house, it still smacks of the 'old' Twycross.The Chimps are clearly the ones most in need of new housing there, except it doesn't seem to be happening to the schedule they outlined. IMO the Gorilla enclosure is okay- for what it is, the Orang enclosure as you said has recently been improved, at least internally, so extending its life. Its still the Chimps that are the priority but there has been no further news about this for a while now.
Planning Permission for the new Chimpanzee Complex was submitted in March 2016 and granted in November 2016. Details and plans can be found on the following link.
16/00251/FUL | Erection of a chimpanzee house and associated landscaping | Twycross Zoological Park Burton Road Norton Juxta Twycross Atherstone Leicestershire CV9 3PX
However, the above planning docs are for a revised down-scaled Chimpanzee complex. Previous plans were granted planning permission in July 2015.
I visited over Xmas and no work had been started and there was no sign of anything starting imminently.
16/00251/FUL | Erection of a chimpanzee house and associated landscaping | Twycross Zoological Park Burton Road Norton Juxta Twycross Atherstone Leicestershire CV9 3PX
However, the above planning docs are for a revised down-scaled Chimpanzee complex. Previous plans were granted planning permission in July 2015.
I visited over Xmas and no work had been started and there was no sign of anything starting imminently.
Just to add to that. The planning permission granted in November was for a further revision to the plans that superseded the 'Great Ape Centre'. In the latest revision they have removed the tunnels to the old Gorilla House and replaced the wet moat with a dry moat. I popped in on Saturday to see if they'd started work and nothing doing.
If they only got planning permission for this most recent version in November maybe that accounts for some of the delay. Omitting the tunnels to the current house may be a cost-saving exercise, also the change from the watermoat design, though that's a plus in my view. Even if work still hasn't commenced yet, that does sound hopeful.
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Thanks rubymurray I had mistakenly put a slightly older version of the plans up. The elevated tunnels were to connect the new chimpanzee exhibit with the old but the amendment states this is no longer an operational requirement for the zoo.
I am very much looking forward to the more open feel of this exhibit, similar to that of Gibbon Forest, rather than looking through perimeter glass like the existing enclosures.
[QUOTE="Brownie, post: 1009228, member: 11725] The elevated tunnels were to connect the new chimpanzee exhibit with the old but the amendment states this is no longer an operational requirement for the zoo.
[/QUOTE]
Presumably that means the zoo decided to drop the connecting tunnels idea themselves?
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Presumably that means the zoo decided to drop the connecting tunnels idea themselves?
I'd expect development of the new chimpanzee exhibit to start this year.
Found this link earlier, seems to be a presentation by the CEO introducing the new master plan a few years ago. Runs through to 2024 and indicates a desire to bring Rhino (I'm guessing on the secondary elephant paddock) and tigers, somewhere in the central zoo area. It would be good to get a few more major species on the books.
https://www.nationalforest.org/document/visitor/Industry/CEOTwycrossZoo.pdf
Found this link earlier, seems to be a presentation by the CEO introducing the new master plan a few years ago. Runs through to 2024 and indicates a desire to bring Rhino (I'm guessing on the secondary elephant paddock) and tigers, somewhere in the central zoo area. It would be good to get a few more major species on the books.
https://www.nationalforest.org/document/visitor/Industry/CEOTwycrossZoo.pdf
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
Were there Tigers there in the early/mid 70's? I have faint memories of a school trip with cubs almost being in reach of us, but might be mistaken.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Yes they used to be in what is now the Spider monkey enclosure,which before that was the home for the Amur leopards.
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
So they were behind glass and not wire fencing?
Ah, I'm with you now. I was thinking the Variegated variety.
Cheers
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Nope the old Tiger enclosure was knocked down when they built the enclosure that housed the Amur Leopards,think what the Dholes now live in and make the fence a bit taller and you have the old tiger enclosure,but on the same foot print as used now!
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
After a quick google I found this. I'm sure you guys know more about this and have discussed it here. I'll have to include this memory in a website i'm planning to create.
A Siberian tiger in an Indian jungle? The saga of Tara the tigress has
A Siberian tiger in an Indian jungle? The saga of Tara the tigress has